Washington Nationals news & notes: Lane Thomas and Nats beat Giants, 8-1 in series opener; Sean Doolittle  …

Violation at Oracle:

Lane Thomas started his second season and appeared in 28 games with no extra base hits, three walks, and eight Ks in his first seven games and 32 at-bats.

Thomas, 28, played in a career-high 156 games and set career highs in doubles (36), home runs (28) and stolen bases (20), batting .268/.315/.468 with an over 3.0 fWAR. It ended with. 682 PAs in 2023.

Although he got off to a slow start this season, he had a good performance in the series against the Philadelphia Phillies held in the nation’s capital last weekend, recording three walks and four stolen bases in a two-hit game.

“He’s just trying to stay at the top of baseball,” Davey Martinez said when asked about Thomas’ improvement at the plate after he had multiple hits in the second game against the Phils. , we’re not trying to do too much.”

The day before, Martinez diagnosed Thomas’ early problems as a timing issue.

“He just needs to step in on time and start hitting the ball forward and just think about driving the ball into left-center field,” the captain said. “When he does it, he’s good.

“And just keep using his fastball,” Martinez added. “You can’t look for three or four different pitches there. That doesn’t work. So he’s a really good fastball hitter.

“When he gets the ball and he’s right, he doesn’t necessarily miss the ball. And he’s missing the pitch, so you have to get him to stop the fastball.”

Last night in the series opener at Oracle Park, Thomas nailed a curveball off Giants reliever Landen Loup and hit a two-run 402-footer to center field for San Francisco, giving San Francisco a 5-1 lead in the first inning. This week, the Washington Nationals and Giants have three.

This was Thomas’ first home run, and he didn’t hit his first home run last season until May 1, but Ildemaro Vargas hit an RBI double late in the third inning, and the visiting team edged the Giants 6-1. In the end, they won 8-1 on the road.

Thomas went 5-for-3 overall in the opening game, but went 7-for-11 in the final three games with a home run and two walks.

“I think it will happen with more at-bats,” Thomas said. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN After winning the series opener:

“Obviously, we’ll have plenty in the spring. But spring training at-bats, there won’t be a lot of people in the stands. Things will accelerate (as the season starts). To play in a stadium like this again. Once you get used to it, you’ll start to feel better about it.”

“He’s getting ready a little early before he steps up to the plate, which is great,” Martinez said in the postgame press conference. “I tell him, ‘Hey, when you hit the ball to right field, it’s because you were ready, you were on time, and the ball went off the plate. did really well. He’s playing good baseball. He’s running the bases well. He’s doing everything right and you’ll see that first today. [home run] It was good to get him out of the way and it helped us win some important games. ”

Did Thomas make any adjustments or did he just increase the reps like he says?

“We’re always talking with him about contact points and hitting the ball up front. He’s been doing that consciously the last few days,” Martinez said.

“Even if he hits the ball the other way, he has to get the barrel out in front of the zone. He’s done it. He’s done it well, and when he does it, he’s really good at it. .”

Also:

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Abrams to miss season opener against Giants:

CJ Abrams missed Game 2 and Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend in D.C., and manager Davey Martinez has the lineup for last night’s Nationals series opener against the Giants at Oracle Park. The decision was made to remove Washington’s shortstop.

Abrams, 23, was diagnosed with a bone contusion in his left little finger after sliding awkwardly into second base while trying to extend a single during last Friday’s game against the Phils. Abrams made it all the way to the end of that game, but hasn’t played since.

There was a bright spot in the team’s practice Friday in San Francisco.

“He felt better today,” Martinez said before last night’s game. “He’s going to go out and do all the baseball activities.

“Hopefully he can be a pinch runner, a pinch hitter, whatever we need him to do. But if he gets through everything well, he’ll probably be back in the lineup tomorrow.”

What’s holding Abrams back right now is gripping the bat when he swings, or at least gripping the bat without feeling pain in his fingers.

“He swung the bat better in the cage today,” Martinez explained. “Because that’s his top hand.”

Photo by Jason Morley/Getty Images

“Every time he turns like that,” Martinez demonstrated, moving his hands on the swing. But they put tape on him and he said the tape helped. I hope he goes to the game today, takes batting practice and gets on the field.

“The good thing is it’s not his throwing hand. But he definitely has to hold the glove, so when the ball goes in there and hits there, how does he feel?” We’ll see what happens.”

For now, the only question is when Abrams can endure the pain in his finger.

“They’ve been doing ultrasounds on him,” Martinez said of the treatment.

“But now I just have to endure the pain. I looked at it today and the swelling had gone down a lot, so I’m really glad.”

Doooooo! ! ! ! :

Sean Doolittle was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, and spent much of his youth in New Jersey, but at one point lived in Atwater, California, a few hours outside the Bay Area. He and his family were commuter passes. After an 11-year career that began in 2012, when he made his debut with the Athletics, where he was a first-round draft pick in 2007, he told reporters when he announced his retirement last summer at the Oakland Coliseum. He was the owner.

“This is all I ever wanted to do,” Dolittle said of his time away from baseball. When I was a kid, he had a package of season tickets to A’s games and I grew up loving baseball going to those games. ”

His time with the Athletics meant a lot to him, and the relief pitcher developed a unique bond with Athletics fans, something he also realized during his time with the Nationals (2017-20 and 2022-23).

Photo by G. Fiume/Getty Images

Shortly after Doolittle informed the club of his decision to retire, Washington GM and Director of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo offered Doolittle the job of staying with the club as a coach and joining the team as a pitching strategist on manager Davey Martinez’s staff. I asked him about it.

Doolittle returned to the Bay Area (San Francisco) last night, and reporters at Oracle Park wanted to know how the pitcher he now coaches and mentors is doing.

“He was unbelievable. He really does,” Martinez said in the pregame press conference before the series opener against the Giants.

“But I knew about him — having managed him here, the experience he had here, that he’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s very much in this coaching role. He took it seriously and did a really, really good job. He helped me. [Pitching Coach Jim] Hickeys come out in different ways. The players — he just got taken out of the game, so he understands the players, the pitchers. I love having him. It’s true. We have really good conversations. he learned a lot. He learned a lot from Hickey. [Bullpen Coach] ricky [Bones]But he’s very vocal and, as you probably know, he’s not afraid to say what he thinks, which I love about him. ”