Williams praises Strasburg's work on slide step

VIERA, Fla. -- Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg had his first bullpen session in front of Matt Williams on Sunday, and impressed his manager as he worked on his slide step and varied his looks toward home plate.

Strasburg has often said he would like to do a better job at holding runners. Nationals pitchers allowed runners to steal bases over 80 percent of the time last year.

"That's the attention to detail I'm looking for. So he is concerned about it. He wants to improve on it. I think that is a really good thing," Williams said. "The fact that Stephen is taking the initiative for himself and for our team is good. He is taking the bull by the horns and that's good."