Nats’ Desmond is ‘refocused…hungry’

Bill Ladson of MLB.com (@washingnats) has posted an interview with Nationals’ projected opening day shortstop Ian Desmond in which they talk about contract status and expectations for 2014.

Desmond expresses his excitement to play behind recent trade acquisition Doug Fister and understands that the ground ball game is a huge part of the tall right-handers’ methods. He said that he welcomes the idea of having a guy on the mound every fifth day that will keep him on his toes and constantly moving.

He admitted that he never really felt right during the 2013 season, and although he put up decent numbers (.280/.331/.453, 20HR, 80RBI), Desmond knows he left a lot of runs on the basepaths when he was finished with his at-bat.

"I could have had 100 RBI. It’s not as if that number is important to me. But that would have been 20 more runs  that would have been produced during the course of the year for our team, especially me hitting in the five-hole. A lot of times, I felt I was walking back to the dugout saying, ‘Man, I wish I would have drove those runs in.’"

Ian said that he has talked to new manager Matt Williams, and that Williams has brought some ideas to help him improve his already impressive shortstop defense.

When asked about an extension, Desmond, like so many extension candidates do, brushed it off professionally. He reiterated that he would love to stay with Washington, a team he’s been with since its days as the Montreal Expos, but understands the business side and is just concentrating on being a better player every year.