Danny Espinosa has been the Nationals’ starting second baseman since late 2010, playing 210 games since then, but a slow start this season has the 25-year-old worried about a demotion to the minors.
Espinosa has hit just .182 with a league-leading 32 strikeouts in 24 games, which is abysmal production even for the modest standards he set last season, and manager Davey Johnson has moved him to the sixth spot in the batting order after using him mostly as a No. 2 hitter previously.
Espinosa told James Wagner of the Washington Post that he was “nervous” about a demotion, but then Johnson took him aside during batting practice yesterday to give him some encouragement.
Of course, there’s also no indication that Johnson and the Nationals have ruled out demoting Espinosa if he continues to struggle and it’s worth noting that those struggles actually date back to last season when he followed up a strong first half by hitting just .227 after the All-Star break.
