8 Danny Espinosa, 2B

With just one hit over the last four games, the Nationals opted to give infielder Danny Espinosa the day off to clear his head Thursday against the Padres.

Espinosa is batting just .177 on the season, with three home runs and 12 RBI. 

Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Tuesday against the Dodgers, putting him in an 0-for-13 slump in his last three games and dropping his season average to .175.

"Danny's best side is right-handed. [Left-hander Clayton] Kershaw made some good pitches on him and he had some pitches to hit and I think he is trying to do too much," manager Davey Johnson said after Tuesday's game, per MLB.com. 

Teammate Tyler Moore is also mired in a hitting slump and hitting coach Rick Eckstein said they are struggling because both players are missing on fastballs.

"They have to get back on the fastball," Eckstein said. "You can't be in between. …. When you are facing guys as tough as Kershaw, you are not going to get too many pitches that are over the heart of the plate. The breaking stuff, when it's down in the zone, it has late sharp bite on it. It's pretty good. You have to get on the fastball. Anytime you are sitting in between, you are late on the heater and early in the off speed. You have to get back on the heater."

Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa picked up a hit for the fifth time in six May games Friday, as he continues to try to turn his season around. Espinosa now has five RBI and a .273 batting average in May after he hit just .173 in April.

Epinosa will never been known for his batting average, as he has yet to hit better than .250 in a season. But he is also certainly better than he looked in April, making him a solid buy-low candidate for Fantasy owners.

If you are looking for a potentially cheap source of power from the middle infield position, Fantasy owners can do worse than trying to poach Espinosa from a disgruntled owner. 

Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa bumped his May line to .357/.375/.643 with a 2-for-3 performance Wednesday against the Tigers. After finishing April with a .173/.212/.333 line, he owns a .200 batting average for the first time since April 10.