WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton was removed from Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Orioles with left hamstring tightness. The club took him out as a precaution.

"If we were during the season, I probably wouldn't have taken him out," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "We're going to be very cautious with these guys right now."

Eaton tried beating out a grounder in the first, then took his position in right field for the top half of the second before jogging in and being replaced by Andrew Stevenson.

According to Martinez, Eaton mentioned something to teammate Howie Kendrick, who relayed a message to his manager.

Tuesday marked Eaton's sixth appearance in Grapefruit League action this spring. He played in 151 games in 2019 after combining for just 118 in his first two seasons with the Nationals from '17-18.

"I don't know if he started off tight, but it was tight on him, so like I said, I'm not going to take a chance on that right now," Martinez said.

The fact that Washington is exercising caution this spring is nothing new. Players have been eased back in all spring after an extended 2019 season.

The club has already been without center fielder Victor Robles (left oblique) since last Wednesday, though he has been hitting in the cages and will run on Thursday. The anticipation is Robles will return to game action sometime this weekend.

"I want full baseball activity," Martinez said. "Once he shows me he can do that without any soreness, then we'll let him get out there and play a few innings and go from there."

Eric Thames (left calf tightness) hasn't played in a game since last Tuesday. According to Martinez, the first baseman continues to swing and take ground balls. The hope is to have him serve as the designated hitter over the weekend.

Scherzer works on sequencing
For his third spring outing, right-hander Max Scherzer allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings. He threw 54 pitches (40 strikes).

Scherzer continues to build on 15-pitch increments, which means the new challenge is facing hitters multiple times in a start.

"I wouldn't say necessarily there's a pitch that takes longer to get back, it's just putting all the sequences together and moving between each pitch, understanding where the extension needs to be on each pitch, kind of what sequence makes you fail, where you don't execute a pitch in a sequence," Scherzer said. "That's working with [Kurt Suzuki], understanding what pitches we want to put together and just continuing if we fail, do it [better] the next time out."

Reunited and it feels so good
Utility player Emilio Bonifácio, who played for the Nationals in 2008, is making the most of his chances as a non-roster invite this spring.

In Monday's 3-2 win over the Marlins, Bonifácio provided the walk-off hit against his former club to improve to 5-for-15 at the plate.

Bonifácio has appeared at all three outfield positions as well as second, third and shortstop in the Majors. Martinez compared the 34-year-old's energy to that of veteran Gerardo Parra last season.

"It feels great, and I'm enjoying it," said Bonifácio, who debuted in 2007. "Trying to do my best to help the team to win ballgames."

This opportunity also reunites Bonifácio, who last appeared in the Majors in 2017, with right-hander Aníbal Sánchez and senior advisor to the general manager Jack McKeon. Bonifácio and Sánchez played together with the Marlins from '09-12, with McKeon managing them for roughly half of '11.

"As soon as you feel healthy and you can still compete at this level, it's really good," said Sánchez, who considers Bonifácio his brother in baseball. "He's a great baseball player. There's no doubt. Just a couple up and down [years]. But for me, he's the player that I think every team wants in the clubhouse."

Added McKeon: "I remember Bonifácio having his best year for us that year in his career. Good kid, very, very talented. He could play multiple positions."

Up next
The Nationals are off Wednesday before hosting the split-squad Cardinals at 6:05 p.m. ET on Thursday. The game can be streamed on MLB.TV.

"They want the off-day right now," Martinez said. "I told them, 'Unless you're injured, I do not want to see anybody here. Stay home, go be with your family. Whatever you want to do.' I told them, 'I'm going fishing.'"