Dusty Baker keeps a pen and a piece of paper next to his bed. In the middle of the night, the new Washington Nationals manager will jot down all sorts of ideas, even what lineups to deploy.

“When do you get most of your thoughts?” Baker asked. “I either get it in the middle of the night or in the bathroom.”

Determining the order of the Nationals lineup this season will require much thought. Hoping to improve upon the efficiency of last year’s right-handed-heavy lineup, the Nationals added left-handed batters Daniel Murphy and Ben Revere, who were among the hardest players to strike out in 2015. So how does Baker best line up this new mix of power and contact hitters, of left- and right-handers?

“I got an idea why I do things,” Baker said last week. “I might not make sense to anybody else. It’s not pulling rabbits out of a hat. It’s after careful thought and background and numbers and all kind of stuff that goes into it: if a guy’s hot or cold, or if I’m trying to get guys pitches. You’d like to have one lineup and stick with it. I haven’t been on but a couple teams my whole career where we had that.”

[Ben Revere tweaked his swing this offseason, and it’s paying off]

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The Nationals’ 2016 lineup has the potential to return to score a lot of runs again, although the additions of Revere and Murphy might change how they do so. In 2015, the Nationals finished fifth in the National League with a .724 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) and third in runs scored, with 703.

Yet the offense sputtered at times and was second worst with 1,344 strikeouts. Revere and Murphy, who has improved as a hitter each year, struck out a combined 102 times. As strikeouts have increased across baseball, high-contact hitters such as Murphy and Revere can alter how the Nationals’ lineup performs.

“With the manager we have right now, it’s going to be unacceptable to strike out so much,” hitting coach Rick Schu said. “We can’t go out there — and with the arms we have these days it’s nasty — you’ve got to shorten up [your swing] and do the little things. Hopefully it transforms into more runs and winning championships. With the dynamics of the lineups — and guys are who they are — it’s nice to know that Revere and Murph are guys that put the balls in play.”

So how best to use those two alongside the returning players?

The Nationals acquired Revere to be a primary leadoff hitter and center fielder. But while Revere had a .342 on-base percentage last season, Baker has said he won’t play every day. Except for perhaps reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper, he may change the outfield based on matchups. Baker also wants to keep the outfielders fresh so that Jayson Werth, who will be 37 in May, will get days off, as will Revere and Harper. When Revere isn’t playing, according to Baker, Werth, Michael A. Taylor and Murphy are potential leadoff hitters.

Taylor might have the speed to be a leadoff hitter, but he struck out 158 times last season and has enough power to perhaps hit lower. Baker and Schu have worked on improving Taylor’s approach and contact, and he is 18 for 37 with four home runs and 13 RBI this spring, good enough to make a case for more playing time.

“He’s going to be a star,” Baker said of Taylor. “It’s just sometimes you’ve got to wait your turn and sometimes you’ve got to take your turn.”

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Beyond leadoff, few spots in the lineup are locked up. Catcher Wilson Ramos could possibly hit seventh, while Danny Espinosa, the projected starting shortstop, would hit eighth. One given: Harper will be the Nationals’ No. 3 hitter, as he was for most of last season.

“That’s where your best hitter has hit forever,” Baker said. “I know a lot of people — these new guys — want him to hit in the second spot, but he’s not going to have as many RBI opportunities and he still gets up in the first inning. You better have a hell of a lineup if you have Bryce Harper hitting second on your club.”

[Dusty Baker likes the additions of Ben Revere and Daniel Murphy]

During spring training, Baker has used Ryan Zimmerman and Werth behind Harper. Anthony Rendon — whom Baker considers one of the most irreplaceable players on the team because of his strong fielding and flexibility — has hit second and often lower, including sixth.

“He can move the ball,” Baker said. “A lot of it depends on Zim’s health. I don’t want to take Zim out late in the game or whatever and tear up the middle of my lineup, or have a pinch hitter always behind Harp. So a lot of it depends on Zim’s health and some of it depends on Werth, how productive he is swinging. It’s kinda like a body. One part affects the other.”

Baker has experimented with many lineup combinations this spring, in part because of the players in camp competing for jobs. He even tried three left-handers — Revere, Murphy and Harper — atop the order against Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander.

“Having the lineup we do, it’s so deep, you can [assemble] it any way you want and still be fairly deep,” Harper said. “Even if you put Rendon in front of me or J-Dub or Zim behind me, or whatever, it’s such a great lineup that you can do whatever you want. I trust Dusty with everything. It’s going to be a lot of fun this year.”

The lineup is better equipped to handle injuries this season than last, too, thanks to improved depth. How those players are used is up to Baker.

“I enjoy the luxury of combinations,” he said. “I don’t mind them batting in the lineup in different spots but I’d rather not have guys play defense at different positions all over the field other than your utility man.”