Notes: Taylor's new hobby; Robles arrives

WASHINGTON -- When Michael A. Taylor was done working out with his bat and glove during the shutdown, he’d swap his baseball tools for the more conventional kind.

“Before camp started, I did a lot of woodworking at home,” he said Saturday. “That’s probably my favorite hobby.”

With extra downtime, Taylor tapped into an activity he was introduced to by a carpenter friend five or six years ago. Back then, his friend built him a dining room banquette. Taylor assisted, and thereby discovered a new interest.

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“From there, he just kind of helped me out with a couple tools that I would need to get started,” Taylor said. “I started tinkering.”

Fast forward to the past few months, and Taylor became the proud builder of several pieces of furniture. Among his completed projects: a desk and chaise lounge chairs.

“I just really enjoyed the product,” Taylor said, “having a finished piece that you built yourself.”

Taylor -- literally -- has carved out a new role for himself in the offseason. When he reported to the Nationals' Summer Camp, he was back in the familiar spot of an on-call outfielder.

Last season, Taylor bounced around 57 games at Double-A Harrisburg and 53 with the big league club before being used in eight playoff contests. His readiness has been needed so far this season, too, as Victor Robles has not yet been cleared to play. Taylor started in center field in Saturday’s 7-2 exhibition loss against the Phillies.

“I think over the years I’ve learned a lot as far as being flexible and not really knowing what role I’m going to be in,” Taylor said. “This year, my focus has just been being ready to play -- whatever role that is -- and just going out and enjoying the game.”

Robles re-joins team
After more than two weeks, Robles was cleared to join Washington at Nationals Park on Saturday. He worked out and was in the dugout with the team during its exhibition contest, but he did not play. The center fielder is slated to log plate appearances in a sim game Sunday.

“Very excited to have him back,” said manager Dave Martinez. “I saw him after the game, and he said he feels OK, a little tired. But he’ll bounce back tomorrow.”

Even if Robles is not ready to start on Opening Day on Thursday, the Gold Glove Award finalist from a year ago may still be included on the 30-man roster regardless.

“It’s a good possibility,” Martinez said. “We’ll have to see how much he can handle right now. It’s Saturday, we open up on Thursday. He’s not going to get a whole lot of at-bats. We’ll see.

“My biggest concern with him is he’s a runner. He plays really hard. You can’t tell him not to go out there and play at 100 percent, because he’s not going to listen. We have to be very careful with how we handle him.”

Third base exhibition platoon
Carter Kieboom and Asdrúbal Cabrera split third base duties against the Phillies -- Cabrera started and played the first five innings; Kieboom the final four frames. Kieboom had been tabbed the starting third baseman, but the 22-year-old could share time at the position with the veteran Cabrera, Martinez made clear on Saturday. Pitching matchups, such as the Yankees starting Gerrit Cole on Opening Day, could factor into the assignments. Cabrera is also a candidate to play first base, second base and designated hitter.

Baby shark shoutout
Trea Turner, who strick out twice in Saturday's tune-up, gave kudos to both a fan and player favorite by donning a “Parra Shark” T-shirt after the game.

"Always got to keep G.P. here,” Turner said of Gerardo Parra, the cult hero who now plays in Japan. “He was big for us last year, so I enjoy wearing anything with his name on it."