WASHINGTON -- The ESPY Awards aren’t for another couple weeks in L.A. As for the ESPI Awards, those were held on Thursday in D.C.

Washington Nationals shortstop Danny Espinosa -- known around the clubhouse simply as “Espi” -- was awarded two curtain calls from the home crowd, one after his third-inning grand slam and another following his three-run homer in the fourth inning.

The switch-hitting Espinosa became the first Nationals player ever to homer from both sides of the plate in a game, and just the second player in franchise history to do it, joining Geoff Blum (Expos, 2001), according to research by Elias Sports Bureau. He also became the first shortstop in the majors to collect seven RBIs in a game since Miami’s Adeiny Hechavarria did it on May 5, 2013.

The huge night punctuated what has been a huge month for Espinosa. A career .230 hitter, the 29-year-old vet hit .309 in June, with nine homers and 21 RBIs and a 1.122 OPS that ranked fifth in the National League. Espinosa’s explosion also served as further evidence as to why the Nationals are taking their time with top prospect Trea Turner.

Prior to the season, with longtime National Ian Desmond gone to free agency, the company line was that Espinosa would take over at shortstop. But many around Washington thought that was just lip service, and that it was only a matter of time before Turner, the speedy shortstop and former first-rounder who impressed after his late-season call-up last year, would take over. Even though Turner has continued to turn heads at Triple-A Syracuse this season, hitting .300 with a .373 on-base percentage and 22 steals in 24 tries, the Nats are in no hurry to promote him to the big club. At least not as a shortstop.

In fact, earlier this week, Turner made his first-ever start in center field. The following day, he started there again. In related news, Nationals center fielders (primarily Ben Revere and Michael Taylor) have posted a .594 OPS this season, worst in the majors. And their leadoff hitters (again, mostly Revere and Taylor) have an MLB-low .210 average.

"We feel that offensively he's major league-ready,” GM Mike Rizzo said of Turner on Monday, “and defensively he's come a long way as a shortstop. But Danny's playing extremely well at shortstop up here.”

Translation? If Washington is going to call up Turner at any point in the near future, it won’t be to patrol the middle infield. Not with Espinosa doing what he has been doing.

“The talent’s always been there,” said first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who contributed a homer and three RBIs to the cause. “Defensively, he’s been above average if not one of the best, whether he’s playing second or short. And offensively he’s obviously in a groove right now. He’s a good player.”

None of that prevented the doubters from doubting. Especially when Espinosa started slow out of the gate, hitting just a buck eighty-five in April.

“There were people calling for Danny's job earlier,” manager Dusty Baker said. “But it's a long season. Guys learn, guys get better with instruction. Sometimes they get it early, and sometimes they get it late.”

The key to Espinosa getting it this year was not tinkering too much when things weren’t working.

“In the past, I would make a ton of mechanical changes,” said Espinosa, a former third-round pick out of Long Beach State. “Last year and this year, I just tried to stay with my swing and stay with what I was doing as far as my work and my approach every day.”

In the meantime, the Nationals never lost faith.

"In Danny we trust,” said starter Gio Gonzalez, who worked six innings to pick up his first win in eight starts. “He's been the same Danny, a guy who wants to go out there and fight. He's coming with a vengeance now. He just looks like a stone-cold killer up there.”

Even if he sounds more like a warm and fuzzy teddy bear.

“It means a lot,” said the soft-spoken Espinosa, smiling, when asked about the multiple curtain calls he received. “As a player, you enjoy the fact that the fans are behind you and that they’re enjoying it."

Of course they were enjoying it. After all, it was the ESPI Awards.