The Washington Nationals are not off to the best start, (1-6) heading into tonight’s series with Atlanta. But there’s plenty of reasons to stay positive.The Washington Times reports that Ryan Zimmerman is trying to do just that while reflecting on a difficult first week for the Nationals. “At least we know how to play from behind late in the game,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman joked. “I guess you could look at it that way.”Starting pitcher, Shawn Hill echoed the same sentiment. “[I]t’s a long season, and we just haven’t got off to the hottest start.”Manny Acta and Austin Kearns are optimistic too. The AP is reporting that “Acta smiled when asked about this silver lining: For the next six games, at Atlanta and the New York Mets, the Nationals get to bat first and therefore have a chance to score first for a change.””I laugh at people who press the panic button after the first week,” Kearns said. “Yeah, it hasn’t gone well, we know that. But if we hit the panic button after the first week, come August, I guess, you guys expect to see guys hanging themselves in here. It’s a long year. You can’t hit the panic button. Yeah, we know we have to get better, but you keep playing. That’s all you can do.”We all knew this would be a year of rebuilding — of shaping a young team for brighter days. And there will be brighter days.”So for people to be nervous or people to get uptight — there’s no reason to. … If we can learn this year as a team, I think it’s going to help us, because a lot of us are younger,” Zimmerman recently said.

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