Danny

Espinosa

One issue with the Mets’ roster currently is that they lack a legitimate backup option to Amed Rosario at shortstop. Espinosa could fill that niche, but it’s hard to see room for him on the team unless someone gets hurt. Espinosa never appeared in the majors last season and hit just .195/.239/.312 in 221 at-bats for three Triple-A clubs.

He also walked and scored a run. The rookie second baseman has struggled for most of the second half, but is hitting .383 (18-for-47) with two homers, five doubles and six RBI over his last 13 games.

Espinosa has batted second in all 17 of his starts this season, but he’s hitting just .209 (14-for-67) and the Nationals are desperate for offense. Steve Lombardozzi will slide into the No. 2 spot Friday while filling in for the injured Ryan Zimmerman (shoulder) at third base.

Nats skipper Davey Johnson had a meeting with Espinosa before Friday’s game about his struggles, and Espinosa has responded with a pair of consecutive strong performances. He finished the night 2-for-3 with the homer and also stole a pair of bases. He’s only hitting .205 on the season and has struck out a whopping 40 times, but perhaps he’s finally coming out of his early-season rut.

Another new spot in the order for Harper, who has batted second, third and seventh since being called up from the minors nearly two weeks ago. Roger Bernadina will slide into the No. 2 spot Thursday while the struggling Danny Espinosa bats sixth.

The Nationals only want to see how Espinosa looks just in case Ian Desmond gets hurt during the season. This is just a hypothetical, but if Desmond missed significant time, Espinosa could slide over to shortstop and Steve Lombardozzi could potentially take his place at second base.

In his 70th at-bat, Espinosa finally picked up his first RBI of the spring. He’s going to find his stroke, and he could be a pretty good fantasy shortstop while hitting second for the Nationals. We just think it’s the whole batting-him-second idea that’s the mistake.

On the plus side, he never struck out today after going 0-for-6 with five strikeouts his previous two games. Espinosa, though, has had a miserable spring and is looking like a poor choice to hit second for the Nationals ahead of Ryan Zimmerman. Batting him sixth or seventh would make more sense.

Espinosa took the shot to the head while trying to field an errant throw from Henry Rodriguez while covering first base in the bottom of the ninth inning. He was alert enough to make a quick throw to third base and managed to stay in the game, so we don’t expect him to miss any time.

Espinosa dealt with some dizziness after taking an elbow to the head in Monday’s loss, so the Nationals are likely just giving him a day off to rest. Steve Lombardozzi will make the start at second base and bat second against Dillon Gee.