Washington Nationals’ lineup for the 1st of 5 with the Miami Marlins in D.C.

Noting last week that third baseman Carter Kieboom was making some slick plays on the right side of the infield in the shift, a reporter asked if, after the injury to Starlin Castro in Baltimore opened up a spot at second base, Davey Martinez had given any thought to moving Kieboom, who was drafted as a shortstop and spent more time at short and second in the minors than at third, over to second base.

Washington’s top infield prospect (after Kieboom), Luis García, took Castro’s spot, however, and the Nats’ skipper said he was happy with that decision.

“We thought about it earlier,” he said of shifting Kieboom from third, “but I really like Luis at second base. I really do. I don’t want to make that change in the middle of the season. He’s comfortable over there.

“I know he’s worked with Trea [Turner], Trea’s talked to him, they work good together, so for right now we’ll keep him over at second base.”

Kieboom, Martinez has said all along, is doing work at third base every day, and the third-year manager said he has liked what the 22-year-old has accomplished at the hot corner, though when they go into the shift, they decided to put Kieboom on the right side of the infield.

“He’s been doing well. It’s funny, because it’s actually a position that he’s more comfortable with right now, and that’s playing over on the other side,” Martinez said.

“When we started doing our shift, and talking about it, we wanted to make sure we put him on that side as much as possible. But he’s actually handled third base fairly well.

“He’s had some pretty difficult plays the last series, and he’s done well.

“He’s getting better. We talk a lot about moving his feet, and he’s actually really done well with that. He’s doing a lot of agility drills to keep his feet quick.

“He’s doing a lot better over at third base. Whenever we get a chance, we’ve been shifting a lot. Based on the information we get, we’ve done a lot of shifting, and we like him when he goes over there. He does a great job over there when we have to shift.”

Kieboom is over at third as usual and García’s at second base tonight for the first game of five that the Nationals and Marlins are playing this long-weekend in the nation’s capital.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE SERIES OPENER WITH THE FISH: