Johnson to make debut today

VIERA, Fla. — For 10 days, they worked out among themselves across four sun-baked practice fields, getting back into shape and a baseball mind-set.

All along, Washington Nationals coaches and front-office officials watched closely, hoping to draw some early conclusions on the state of their team and those players who are fighting for jobs.

But there’s only so much that can be gathered from those morning, intrasquad workouts, which consist of only bullpen sessions, fielding drills and batting practice.

No, the real evaluation period of spring training begins tonight, when the Nationals open their exhibition season against the Florida Marlins two hours down the road in Jupiter. Suddenly, manager Manny Acta, general manager Jim Bowden and their staffs have actual, in-game evidence of a player’s performance level.

Not that anyone’s going to make or break his chances in the first Grapefruit League game.

“The first two or three games, I don’t put much into it,” Acta said. “It doesn’t mean if you do well, I don’t notice it. But I don’t take so much into consideration if you do bad or something.”

Acta will have plenty to watch tonight. Second-year left-hander Matt Chico will start against Florida’s Scott Olsen and will pitch two innings, with rookie right-hander Garrett Mock behind him.

Most of the regular position players will make the trip, except for third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, first baseman Dmitri Young and the two catchers still working their way back from offseason surgeries — Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada.

But the focus will be on first base, where Nick Johnson returns for his first organized game since breaking his right leg Sept. 23, 2006.

Johnson — who attempted to come back last season but could not overcome the lingering pain in his thigh and hip from the titanium rod and screws inserted following his injury — has looked and felt strong in camp while participating fully in drills.

But until he stands in the batter’s box against a live pitcher, fields a hard smash to his right in the field and slides hard into third base in an actual game, neither Johnson nor the Nationals truly will know how close he is to 100 percent.

“It’ll be fun to get out there and just do everything, to be in a real game and see how the leg feels,” Johnson said. “I want it to hold up.”

Baserunning could be Johnson’s toughest test. He ran through a sliding drill with teammates yesterday for the first time and struggled.

“It could have been better,” said Johnson, who was slow to get up from the slides and walked gingerly afterward. “I was never a good slider in the first place. I think it will be a little better when game time comes, where I have to just get down there and do it. Just during a game, just go. I can’t be thinking about it. If I think about it, then I will be a mess.”

The Nationals will be thinking plenty about Johnson in the next month as team officials decide whether to give the starting first baseman’s job back to the 29-year-old or instead to Young, last season’s NL comeback player of the year.

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