Dave Martinez, the Washington Nationals' rookie manager, is making sure his players are well prepared for literally every in-game situation that may arise.

During the Nats' pregame baserunning drills Saturday, Martinez took the unorthodox step of having the team work on their walk-off celebrations. Every player went to a back field and mimicked a home run, then trotted around the bases while doing their best to enjoy the moment. All of this just in case they end up sending D.C. fans home happy with some game-ending heroics this summer.

"I tell them, just like everything else, we work really hard, I also want them to have fun," Martinez told The Associated Press. "(I told them that) it's going to happen. One of you guys are going to hit a walk-off home run."

Although Martinez did not explicitly tell his charges to practice as though they had hit a walk-off homer, all of them rounded the bases anyway.

"They all ran around the bases like it was a home run," Martinez said. "If it was me, I would have walked to first base and got a base hit, and game over."

Some of the celebration techniques practiced by the Nationals included a leaping high-five at first base courtesy of diminutive catcher Jhonatan Solano, while shortstop Trea Turner channeled his inner Sammy Sosa and copied the 600-homer legend's trademark "bunny hop" out of the box.

In 2017, Washington won nine games via walk-off, three thanks to homers - the most memorable of which was Howie Kendrick's walk-off grand slam on Aug. 13.

For the record, Martinez had four walk-off hits during a 16-year playing career that spanned 1986-2001, but only one of those game-ending knocks left the yard. On June 3, 1995, Martinez - then an outfielder with the White Sox - crushed a walk-off grand slam off Detroit's Joe Boever.