Washington Nationals vs Miami Marlins: Grapefruit League GameThread

Before he left last night’s game after tweaking something in his back on a play in center, Victor Robles was 2 for 4 with a double and a home run, leaving him 10 for 32 so far this spring (.313/.405/.688) with hits in three straight and seven of his last eight games.

Washington Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez said the key for Robles, 23, has been staying in the zone, and the adjustments he’s made to his two-strike approach this spring.

“The biggest thing for me is he’s limiting his chase — he’s getting the ball in the strike zone, and he’s staying on the ball, and he’s hitting it hard,” Martinez explained.

“His two-strike approach is getting better, which is good. So far, I like everything that he’s done.

“He’s taken his work into the games, which is really, really nice, and he’s having good at bats.”

Unfortunately, Robles did tweak his back late in the game, and though Martinez didn’t seem too worried about it, they did remove the center fielder.

“He’s got a little back tightness,” Martinez said after a 10-9 come-from-behind win.

“He actually did it before the throw, he kind of slipped a little bit when he went to go throw the ball, and we saw him go backwards a little bit. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.

“So it was precaution we took him out and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

What happened on the play? “He slipped,” Martinez said. “He put his plant foot down and slipped a little bit.”

The manager’s level of concern?

“He walked off fine. I talked to [team trainer] Paul [Lessard] during the game and he’s going to get some treatment and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Is Robles back in the lineup tonight? Nope. Andrew Stevenson is in center field for the 6:05 PM ET matchup with the Marlins.

HERE’S THE NATS’ LINEUP FOR TONIGHT’S GAME WITH THE MARLINS: