Ryan Zimmerman has been playing left field for the Nationals since coming off the disabled list last week, but manager Matt Williams made it clear that he’ll return to third base once Bryce Harper is ready to come off the disabled list himself.
Here’s what Williams told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post:
Of course, “coming back really soon” in Harper’s case means early July, so it’ll be several more weeks still until it’s an actual issue for the Nationals. Zimmerman moving back to third base would also mean Anthony Rendon moving back to second base and Danny Espinosa going to the bench.
However, it may not be quite that simple because, as Kilgore writes, Zimmerman has seemed very happy with his move to the outfield and has hinted that there’s some reason to doubt if his chronic shoulder problems can still handle third base regularly. Something tells me this whole thing won’t go exactly as Williams’ “plan” suggests.