'This kid can hit': Nats sticking with Rosario amid struggles

ARLINGTON -- Eddie Rosario came to the Nationals with nine years of Major League experience, one World Series championship and an NLCS MVP honor. He also had a history of struggling at the plate in March and April.

So when Rosario made the Opening Day roster from a Minor League deal and his early-season offensive woes appeared, the Nats did not turn their back on the 32-year-old veteran outfielder.

“It’s early,” said manager Dave Martinez. “You’ve got to give him a chance, you really do. I’m not going to sit him down yet right now. He’s got to go out there and play. … I’ve seen him play before. This kid can hit. He can put you on his shoulders.”

Rosario is hitting .086 in 23 games this season, including an 0-for-2 performance with a pair of strikeouts in the Nationals’ 6-0 loss to the Rangers on Thursday at Globe Life Field. In a Nats outfield with matchup options, Martinez is tabbing the lefty hitter to face right-handed pitchers, against whom Rosario has a .264 career batting average.

Since belting a home run off Reds righty Emilio Pagán on Opening Day in Cincinnati, Rosario has tallied a total of five more hits.

“This is probably the worst month of my career, by far,” Rosario said on Tuesday. “I’ve never felt like I’ve been in this position. I’ve hit balls very well, and it seems like every time I hit a ball well, it’s right at someone. I keep working hard, going out there and trying to have good approaches. But I can’t wait for this month to be over with.”

A career .265 hitter, Rosario has batted just .205 in 178 games played in March and April. Those numbers have jumped when the calendar turns, hitting .286 for his career in May.

“I’ve always had, unfortunately, a bad start, a bad month in April,” Rosario said. “I’ve always made good adjustments in May and had good May months. It’s a process. Part of it is just your timing, getting your timing down, seeing more pitchers and more pitches and just getting adjusted to them as well.”

This season, Rosario’s average exit velocity (88.6 mph) and hard-hit rate (38.5%) rank just below league average. Where there is a noticeable struggle is the sweet spot, which quantifies batted-ball events with launch angles ranging from 8-32 degrees. Rosario ranks in the bottom 1% of all players with a 13.5 sweet spot rate.

Rosario’s ground-ball rate is up to 48.1 percent from 39.8 percent last season, but his percentage of topped balls (44.2%) is up 15 points.

“It’s always a good feeling when you’re hitting the ball and making good contact, regardless, having good at-bats,” Rosario said. “You always feel good about that. There’s parts of my career where I’ve had little bloop hits or high ground balls that get through, and obviously that helps as well. But I’ve always been able to mentally stay focused and stay mentally tough out there. You hope that you keep having good at-bats.”

Martinez has expressed his confidence to Rosario in him finding his rhythm at the plate. Rosario has the eighth-greatest gap between expected batting average (xBA) and actual batting average of any qualifier at -0.072.

“I’ve talked to him plenty. He understands how I feel about him,” said Martinez. “Watching him over the years and what he can do, when this guy gets going, he’s going to help us win games.”

On a new team, Rosario hopes he can get back to his old ways in May.

“It’s one of those things where it’s tough, especially the way it started,” Rosario said. “Knowing that staff -- whether it’s the coaching staff or the manager -- is there and supporting you and having your back and giving you as much of their hand in helping you as much as possible, it’s a great feeling knowing that they’re there to help you any way they can.”