These Nats have spent spring in brand new spots on the diamond

This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Spring Training is time for getting different looks, and this year the Nationals have tasked several players with manning positions they did not play a lot of last season -- or, in some cases, at all.

“It’s not really experimenting,” first-year manager Blake Butera said. “It’s experience and getting those guys some time there.”

Starting second baseman Luis García Jr. is a candidate to fill the open first-base position, middle infielder Nasim Nuñez is getting his first playing time at third base and James Wood and Daylen Lile are getting reps in each corner outfield position.

“The biggest thing for me is I don't want guys to be put in a position they've never played before, that don't feel comfortable, in a game that counts,” Butera said. “I think it's our job as a staff, if there's any possibility of something happening, getting in front of it as soon as we can and talking to them about.

“‘This might happen. Don't know if it will, but would rather err on the side of getting you some time there just to see what it looks like, get your feet wet.’ That way, if we do need to do this at some point in the season because of injuries, certain matchups, things like that, it only helps to have guys that can play in different positions.”

Luis García Jr.: First base
Major League experience: 4,189 innings at second base, 584 2/3 innings at shortstop, 16 innings at first base

Manager’s perspective: “It was funny: the first game, he got, like, everything,” Butera said. “He got the ball hit to him; he got to be involved in a PFP [pitcher fielding practice]; he got a pickoff where he tagged a guy out; he picked the throw from Drew Millas and then stepped on first; he picked the throw from an infielder. He got a little bit of everything, and he made all the plays.

“But honestly, the biggest thing for him is just making sure he feels comfortable. Like when a ball is hit in the gap, where he's supposed to go. Because he's always been at second base, so I'm sure his head always goes to, ‘I'm the cut-off man on this ball,’ and then all of a sudden you're in a different position. It's like, ‘Wait, where do I go?’ So making sure he feels good, where he's lining up and things like that. But that's tough because I don't want to see them hit a bunch of doubles, right? So we do a lot of that in practice.”

Nasim Nuñez: Third base
Major League experience: 338 1/3 innings at shortstop, 91 innings at second base

Manager’s perspective: “It’s a totally different vantage point than the middle infield, but he looked comfortable over there,” Butera said. “I think the biggest thing was just positioning, especially when guys are going to bunt. He’s really athletic, and he wants them to bunt because he wants to show it off. So some of it is just talking to him about, ‘We want to take the bunt away. We'll take it away.’ I talked to him after and he's like, ‘It was probably a little bit different than I expected.’

“The biggest thing for him was knowing where to stay on certain hitters. A left-handed hitter, when you're at third base, sometimes you feel like you're in no man's land because you're kind of that spot between short and third in that hole, and it just feels weird. I told him, whenever you're not sure, we'll have someone in the dugout always lining him up. But he enjoyed being out there.”

Daylen Lile and James Wood: Left field/Right field
Lile’s Major League experience: 445 1/3 innings in right field, 179 innings in left field

Wood’s Major League experience: 1,765 innings in left field

Notable Minor League experience:
Lile: 1,329 innings in left field, 534 2/3 innings in center field, 382 innings in right field

Wood: 1,442 innings in center field, 434 1/3 innings in right field, 198 innings in left field

Manager’s perspective: “We're going to continue mixing them around,” Butera said. “If we see something over spring where it's like, ‘You know what, they're way better in these two spots,’ we'll go with that. But if not, just having that versatility is nice. Then also [it is helpful] getting feedback from both those guys and where they feel comfortable.

“I don't think there's anything we've seen to this point where it's like, ‘Oh yeah, he definitely has to play right field every night, and he definitely has to play left field every night.’ So far, they've been good in both spots, which is a good thing.”