Washington Nationals outfielder Victor Robles isn’t clowning around, contrary to thoughts of Madison Bumgarner. Lost in the recent headlines over the weekend, Robles has got in a groove at the plate and now he’s being rewarded.
Robles has been bumped into the leadoff spot in the Nationals’ lineup for Monday’s game at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
CF Robles
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 25, 2022
2B C. Hernández
RF Soto
1B Bell
DH Cruz
LF Y. Hernandez
SS García
C Ruiz
3B Adrianza
SP Espino
The bump in the lineup comes a day after Robles trolled Bumgarner over his comments, calling Robles “a clown” for pimping his home run blast in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game.
The next day, Robles wore a clown nose in the dugout prior to the Nationals-Diamondbacks series finale.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez wasn’t pleased with Robles’ antics, saying “not who we are” before saying he will talk to the young player about the situation. Apparently, the talk went well, considering Robles is now batting leadoff.
As relayed by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, Martinez says he has been thinking about bumping up Robles for a while. Robles will now have the chance to stick at leadoff moving forward.
The 25-year old Victor Robles hasn’t batted higher than eighth in the lineup this season. He batted ninth in the lineup 53 of his 66 starts. The other 13 starts he was eighth.
Once tabbed the center fielder of the future for the Nationals. But he struggled mightily since the Nationals World Series title in 2019. Instead, his status with the team has been less certain, especially after being demoted last year.
His struggles have carried over into this season. He’s hitting a pedestrian .236/.300/.321 with three home runs and 24 RBI and 11 stolen bases. However, as of late he has heated up at the plate.
Robles has recorded at least one hit in seven of his last nine starts. He’s hitting .273 with an .818 OPS with two home runs and four RBI in his last 14 days.
In the infamous game against Bumgarner, Robles went 2-for-3 which included a bunt single and his home run blast that irked the Diamondbacks pitcher. Robles also had a stolen base and scored both of the Nats’ two runs in their 7-2 loss.
The Nationals haven’t produced much at leadoff all season. Leadoff hitters for the Nationals are slashing .218/.283/.282 with one home run, 25 RBI and 33 walks against 82 strikeouts. With that lack of production, the Nationals have been unable to protect the middle of the order of Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz and Josh Bell.
The Nationals now will cautiously move him to leadoff. Hopefully being the first at the plate won’t alter his approach and maybe Robles can solidify role for himself.
