After the way Ryan Zimmerman handled Spring Training, taking the majority of his at bats on the back fields in controlled minor league action and appearing in just one Grapefruit League game, it was almost guaranteed that any struggles he had would draw additional scrutiny.
When he was slow out of the gate in 2018, the way Zimmerman, Nats’ GM Mike Rizzo, and the Nationals’ first-year manager Davey Martinez handled the veteran first baseman was a topic all three were asked about repeatedly.
They were, however, fairly consistent in how they explained their thinking.
“Zim is getting a lot of at bats on the back fields,” Rizzo told MLB Network Radio hosts Steve Phillips and Eduardo Perez in March.