New approach, teammate's advice helps Bernadina

Posted on: 2012-09-06
by Bill Ladson / MLB.com

"Nationals outfielder Roger Bernadina is having his best season in the big leagues. Entering Thursday's action against the Cubs, Bernadina was hitting a career-high .304 with four home runs and 23 RBIs.

Bernadina said one of the reasons for his success is that he is more focused at the plate. Instead of trying to hit for power, Bernadina's approach is to hit the baseball up the middle. It also helps that he has an idea when he will get into a game while coming off the bench.

"My approach is to go more up the middle and try not to do too much with it," said Bernadina, the man affectionately known as "The Shark." "[In the past] I tried to do too much. Sometimes I would get a pitch I could hit and I would foul it off.

"Now, I'll probably get one AB a night. You have to be ready for that pitch. Whenever you don't start, you have to be more patient and look for your pitch. It's like that moment, you have to focus on that AB. You do whatever you can do. You have to have the mentality day in and day out."

Bernadina also credits teammate Mark DeRosa for telling him to use a lighter bat. To start the season, Bernadina was using a 34 1/2-ounce bat. He now uses 33- and 31-ounce bats.

"All those things together [sticking to his plan at the plate and DeRosa's advice], it's turned out well," Bernadina said. "Coming from the bench, you have to have a different mentality. It worked out well this season.

"[DeRosa] is a great teammate. He definitely brings a lot in the clubhouse. He has been in the league for a while. He always has something that he sees. He is ready to help. He is definitely a great teammate.""

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Roger Bernadina: the Nationals’ muscle man in the midst of a career season

Posted on: 2012-08-27
by James Wagner / The Washington Post

"Roger Bernadina’s teammates tease him, as good teammates often do, about his build. But it’s really flattery. He’s a chiseled 6-foot-2 outfielder in the midst of the best season of his career. He’s perhaps the most muscular player on the Nationals, a team full of 6-foot-plus, well-built athletes.

“The guy is a Greek god,” said teammate Chad Tracy, whose locker is adjacent to Bernadina’s at Nationals Park. “I’ve played against him but you don’t realize how solid he is until you see him with his shirt off.”

In fact, Bernadina, 28, didn’t always look like this: defined arms, tree-trunk forearms and thin legs. Three years ago, Bernadina weighed 215 pounds. Since then, he has slimmed down to 205 pounds, replacing the mass with lean muscle. Each offseason, it’s as if he shows up to spring training even better built than before. (He looked jacked last season, too.)

Three years ago, Bernadina decided to take conditioning, and particularly weight lifting, more seriously. He felt tired near the end of the season and wanted to avoid that in the future.

“Everybody is going to get tired,” he said. “But I wasn’t lifting at all. I started doing that.”

He hired a personal trainer in his native Curaçao. They did whole body training and lifting for about 90 minutes five days a week. He has done that every offseason since. During the season, he works out two to three times a week to maintain. He adapted his diet, too, loading up on proteins such as chicken and choosing natural foods. (There’s still some fast food in his diet but his metabolism can clearly handle it.)

Now, Bernadina is in tremendous shape. He looks much different than he did when he first received significant playing time for the Nationals in 2010. This season, given the injuries to several outfielders, he has filled a larger role than expected and performed well. He began using a lighter bat at the urging of teammate Mark DeRosa and fixed a hitch in his swing. He has made spectacular catches. He is known as “The Shark,” for his ability to hunt down balls in the outfield."

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Nationals pound Giants in battle of division leaders

Posted on: 2012-08-13
by USA Today / USA Today

"SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Kurt Suzuki drove in four runs, Danny Espinosa and Roger Bernadina each knocked in three and the Washington Nationals routed the San Francisco Giants 14-2 Monday night in a matchup of NL division leaders.

Gio Gonzalez (15-6) tied a Nationals record for wins in a season, boosted by Washington's highest-scoring game of the season.

The Nationals led 14-0 in the fifth inning and won for the 11th time in 13 games. They are 7-1 on this road trip.

NL ERA leader Ryan Vogelsong (10-6) allowed eight runs and nine hits in 2⅔ innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Pinch hitter Brandon Crawford homered and drove in both runs for the Giants, who have lost three of five. The defeat dropped San Francisco into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead.

Gonzalez returned to the Bay Area for the first time since the Oakland Athletics traded him to the Nationals during the offseason. He won his second straight after going 1-3 in his five previous starts.

Gonzalez gave up two runs and six hits over 6⅔ innings.

Every Nationals position player, with the exception of late-inning replacement Cesar Izturis, either scored a run, drove in a run or got a hit. Bernadina had four of Washington's 21 hits while Steve Lombardozzi, Ryan Zimmerman, Espinosa and Suzuki each had three. Suzuki's three-run double capped a seven-run third that made it 8-0.

The 21 hits were most by a visiting team at AT&T Park.

Vogelsong ended up the evening with the fourth-best ERA in the NL. Of the 19 batters he faced, 11 reached base. He had not pitched fewer than six innings in any of his previous starts this season, and had not allowed more than two runs in any of his 11 previous home starts."

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Roger Bernadina 2 | LF Full Name: Rogearvin A. Bernadina  Born: Height: Weight: Bats: Throws: College: MLB Debut: June 12, 1984 in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles 6' 2'' 200 lbs Left Left N/A June 29, 2008