Could Eye-Opening Lineup Decision Be Sign of Things to Come for Nationals?

An interesting lineup decision might foreshadow what the Washington Nationals do for the rest of the season.

Aug 24, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez (4) makes a pitching change against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Truist Park | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

This year is about development for the Washington Nationals and their young players.

While they would love to win more games than they have the past two seasons, the most important thing for this franchise is seeing which one of their rising stars can be cornerstones for this team going forward.

That's why the lineup decision made by manager Dave Martinez on Saturday was eye-opening.

At second base was Amed Rosario instead of Luis Garcia Jr.

Coming off the best year of his career, it seemed like Garcia had proven enough to the Nationals where he'd be the guy at second no matter what the situation is, especially after he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and stolen base on Opening Day.

But that wasn't the case in just the second game of the season.

Is there anything to take out of this?

Dave Martinez says no.

"It's early. I want to try to get everybody in there, try to get some at-bats to some of these guys. And the reason why we signed Rosario is because he hits lefties really well. So we'll give him some at-bats today," the skipper stated before Saturday's game, per Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

Well, Rosario did his job.

He went 3-for-5 with a solo homer.

After his performance, it's hard to imagine there wouldn't be a bit of a platoon at second base when lefties are on the mound. Rosario was brought in to be a veteran leader but also provide value to this team at the plate and in the field, something he can do in these matchup situations.

With Garcia still having struggles against left-handers compared to righties, Martinez might look to roll out this lineup going forward, despite what his comment suggested.

That would be an interesting development.

Garcia was expected to be in the no-brainer everyday second baseman role this year, and while he still has two more seasons of club control remaining which doesn't require the front office to make a rash decision about his future right now, it would be better if they had as much information as possible when it comes to projecting his long-term standing with the team.

This will be something to keep an eye on.