Nationals Go Back To Basics On Defense

'New Energy' Yields Positive Early Returns

DENVER, Aug. 6 -- Last weekend, Manager Manny Acta tried something new, both because his team needed it and because, finally, he had the young players who wanted it. He asked his team to take a rudimentary infield practice. The Nationals fielded grounders. They turned double plays. They honed their timing.

For some of those involved, that Saturday afternoon drill felt like more than a practice. It felt like the commemoration of a new team -- one that was willing to learn, even if it meant doing things that might have caused eye-rolling among veterans. In the infield that day, Emilio Bonifacio and Alberto González took grounders at second and shortstop; both had been with the Washington Nationals for two days. Meanwhile, the old second baseman, Felipe López, was gone -- released Thursday night, as part of a veteran purge that altered the dynamic of the team.

"I don't think it's so much a statement," said Kory Casto, who stood at first base that day. "But it's Manny telling everybody that we are going to work. And you've seen it the last few days: The defense has been better."

In recent days, since Bonifacio and González have joined the team, the Washington Nationals have emphasized the basics -- in part because players are no longer subversive about participating. One day after the infield drill, the team took a Sunday morning batting practice, a rarity for big league teams.

The Nationals' game Wednesday evening against Colorado at Coors Field was rained out, folded into a doubleheader Thursday. In the five previous games, Washington's fundamentals flourished. The Nationals committed one error in that stretch. They have a .995 fielding percentage. Contrast that with their production in July, when the team's fielding percentage lagged at .974.

To be sure, the acquisitions of both González and Bonifacio were made with defense in mind. General Manager Jim Bowden compares the two to former Pittsburgh Pirates Rafael Belliard and José "Chico" Lind, defensive specialists whose arrival with that organization helped, at once, the pitching staff and the winning percentage.

Perhaps more than anywhere else, the Nationals' improved chemistry -- "a new energy in the clubhouse," Bowden called it -- has translated into defense, where effort and attentiveness alone can help.

Of his infield drill over the weekend, Acta said: "We've done it [in the past], but not with as many guys. But it's something we like and the guys like."

Some of the veterans, such as Ronnie Belliard, were excused from participating. But those who stood on the infield that afternoon represented much of Washington's new demographic. Standing at first, Casto studied his teammates' throws. González, he learned, throws arrow-straight. Bonifacio's throws, especially when he made plays up the middle, tended to tail.

"I enjoy that stuff," Kasto said. "I like to get out there. . . . Obviously we're young, but for me, [the roster changes] put us more on a level playing field. Not in the sense of talent or anything, but it lets guys be themselves. We have a bunch of young guys out there. Maybe before older guys were kind of looking down on you; well, not really looking down on you -- it's kind of hard to say. But you don't feel the pressure of somebody thinking, 'Hey, this guy isn't doing something right.' It feels like everybody is just playing together as a team."