If he doesn't start coming around pretty soon, then no matter how painful it might be to do, the Nats are simply going to have to move him down in the lineup until whatever the hell is wrong with him finally gets corrected. You just can't have a guy in the three hole killing your team like this night in and night out.

If Zimmerman moves down (and I'm not going to suggest that that isn't a good idea) who does Davey move to the 3 spot?
Desmond?
Pretty much everyone is in a hitting funk now out side of ian.
LaRoche has lost 100 points on his BA over the past 6 weeks; Morse is hitting a nifty .230 or so.
Espinosa shows brief flashes of getting on track only to fall back to his old unselective swinging ways.

Unfortunately there are no clear answers right now.

It's too early to panic on Morse after 60 ABs. I don't know what's wrong with Zim. He always did hit a lot of ground balls to shortstop but this year it's an epidemic..and he's slugging .322. the obvious issue is that they don't get enough baserunners. Their top five obp men:Gorzelanny, Solano, Strasburg, Werth, Harper..and the first three are not qualifiers..Desmond, while showing some power, just doesn't get on base (.292). Espinosa is hitting .230 and has struck out 77 times already.

We may see Moore a lot if this continues..this team probably could use another bat. Still, the pitching should keep them in it.

If Zimmerman moves down (and I'm not going to suggest that that isn't a good idea) who does Davey move to the 3 spot?

Alfonso Soriano! Or Strasburg on the days he pitches.

You just can't have a guy in the three hole killing your team like this night in and night out.

Doesn't seem to have hurt that much - the Nationals are in 1st place.

I'd say he seems hurt but his defense is still at a high level...hopefully he'll come around soon.

Doesn't seem to have hurt that much - the Nationals are in 1st place.

Considering some of the losing streaks the Braves have been one and they're only like three back... seems like the Nats should have pulled away. If they do get caught, by the Braves or the Mets, then this past month or so where they were unable to capitalize on some chances to earn some breathing room will be the time that they regret.

The scary thing to me is that just two years ago, Zimmerman was one of the very best players in baseball, and now at just 27 years old, he looks like a shell of what he was.

He says he's fine, but I say that's bull****. Something is definitely wrong, and I'm starting to become worried that we might never see the old Zimmerman again.

If he doesn't start coming around pretty soon, then no matter how painful it might be to do, the Nats are simply going to have to move him down in the lineup until whatever the hell is wrong with him finally gets corrected. You just can't have a guy in the three hole killing your team like this night in and night out.

Having watched Zimmerman's in-game soft tosses to LaRoche from the stands behind the 3B dugout, it seems unlikely that he is not hurt. If anyone needs to be shut down, it should be Zim, not Strasburg.

Since we are now told the three-hole is an overrated position in the lineup, is it really such a bad thing if he remains there for a while?

Morse is fine, albeit a bit rusty. His home run off of David Price two nights ago was a laser to right-center.

EDIT: Also, don't forget that the Nats just gave Zimmerman a contract extension.

You just can't have a guy in the three hole killing your team like this night in and night out.

Better than getting killed in the two hole.

Do you know who's good at spotting a collection of profitable holes? Lord Baelish.