WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals have added to their bench in signing Adam Lind, who will get $1 million this year with the deal including a 2018 mutual option and a $500,000 buyout.
This addition provides a little insurance at first base should Ryan Zimmerman’s troublesome plantar fasciitis flare up again, or he suffer any other injury.
Lind, 33, can play first base and some outfield and is a career .271 hitter, owning a .328 on-base percentage with a .462 slugging percentage in 11 Major League seasons, with 186 career homers and 664 career RBIs.
A left-handed hitter, Lind has hit 20 or more home runs over six of the last eight seasons and spent last season in Seattle, where he hit .239 with 20 homers and 58 RBIs. The season before that, he was with Milwaukee; the previous nine, with Toronto.
Lind’s left-handed bat off the bench joins infielder Stephen Drew, who also hits left; catcher Jose Lobaton, a switch hitter; and right-hand hitting outfielder Chris Heisey.
The future of Clint Robinson could be in jeopardy after Lind’s signing, as Robinson, a fellow left-handed first baseman who can also play some outfield, only hit .235 with 5 homers and 26 RBIs last season.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly gave the number of home runs Clint Robinson hit last season.
