Nats’ new OF drill heightens communication

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Three players lay chest-down on the grass in center field facing away from left field. There, first-base coach Eric Young Jr. placed one, two, three and then a fourth ball into a fly ball launcher. The players sprung up as soon as they heard the sound of the machine in left, then had to quickly spin around and navigate tracking down one more ball than there was glove before the next trio tried to nab all four in the communication-building exercise.

“They were getting after it,” manager Dave Martinez said. “I heard them; it was a big competition.”

Martinez gave the prompt to his coaching staff to incorporate fun on Friday morning, the Nats’ final workout before games begin on Saturday. Young, a former outfielder who played 10 seasons in the Majors, came up with the idea. While some players had seen the drill before and others had not, they shared a common reaction to it.

“That was a fun time,” said Alex Call. “We were getting our communication in, we’re talking pre-pitch, we’re talking during the play and then we’re testing the environment to make it a little bit tough. Credit to EY for coming up with something like that.”

Communication will be a strong component of the Nationals’ outfield this season. Victor Robles is returning to center field, Lane Thomas is shifting to right field and Corey Dickerson is joining the group in left field for his first season with the Nats. Potential backups Call and Stone Garrett have experience at all three outfield spots, and Joey Meneses is expected to be tabbed in left field when he is not playing first base or designated hitter. That adds up to different players at different positions on a given day.

“I love it,” Martinez said of the Nationals’ outfield depth. “We’ve got some good left-handed batters, got some good right-handed batters and guys that can do multiple things -- play corners, some guys can play center field as well. But that’s great. That’s a good problem to have.”

Running through this drill during Spring Training could have long-lasting effects. While starters Robles and Thomas have been teammates since the second half of the 2021 season, Thomas played to Robles’ left for most of last year. (He moved to right field in mid-September and played his final 19 games of the season there.) Robles and Thomas were in the same group in the drill, along with Garrett.

“I think it was good to be in a drill like that with Vic because it showed that we communicate well,” said Thomas. “Hopefully, that carries over into the season.”

Communication was tested by not only the defensive drills taking place in the field, but also the screaming by others when it was not their turn. Thomas said at some points, that noise overpowered the sound of the machine launching the balls. Martinez noted Garrett and Robles were among the most audible in their groups.

Combine that with a variation in the trajectory of the launched balls, and there were multiple factors to consider when tracking them down in sequence.

“You’re communicating before the balls get shot, like who’s going deep, who’s going in, who’s got the middle ball,” said Thomas. “After that, it’s kind of like, ‘I’ve got this, you get this one.’ We’re all talking a lot. I think it’s just a big communication drill, because sometimes you can lose the ball in the sky and you have to do that stuff in real life, too.”

The competition heated up when Young put eight balls at once in play. The groups of Garrett, Robles and Thomas and Call, Derek Hill and Yadiel Hernandez both achieved the feat.

“We didn’t really keep score,” Thomas said. “If you were going to ask me, yes, we absolutely won. But I think they would think differently.”

Said Call, “I think we were coming out on top, but the results might be disputed.”

By the end of the drill, the goals of communication and team-building had been accomplished. It even inspired Martinez, a former outfielder, to want to join the group.

“At one point, I was like, ‘Man, I want to get out there,’” Martinez said, laughing. “But those days are over.”