The riddle goes like this: When are you a visitor in your own home? The answer is when you share a stadium with another team and are designated as the visiting team! On Tuesday, the Nationals were the home team playing against the Houston Astros in the inaugural opening game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and now that is reversed as the Astros are the home team and the Nationals are the visitors.
Today is the 6th game on the Grapefruit League schedule, and Nats fans are once again abuzz about Michael Taylor‘s spring training statistics as he is batting .556, and if he can keep that batting average through the 2017 regular season he will be the greatest player to ever play the game.
The Nationals have some other standouts like Bryce Harper who is batting .429, Andrew Stevenson is now batting .400 and added another RISP hit in Wednesday’s game. Brandon Snyder is batting .429 and continues to play different positions on the diamond which shows his versatility.
Prior to Wednesday game, Dusty Baker was asked what he thought of his bullpen and trying to find a closer from within his roster. Here is what Dusty had to say:
“I ain’t have no choice,” Dusty Baker said. “You know what I mean? Would I have liked to have gotten a Jansen or a Chapman or somebody like that, kept Melancon? That would’ve been our first choice. As a manager, you have to figure out what you’ve got and try to make it work.”
When will we see Blake Treinen, Shawn Kelley, and Sammy Solis in this competition with Koda Glover for the closer position. Of course there is also the newly acquired Joe Blanton who will fit into the back of the bullpen. Dusty Baker also said he doesn’t expect any new acquisitions for his bullpen which means Baker will have to find a closer from within his own roster.
On today’s game at 1:05pm, the Nationals will bat against a familiar face as Brad Peacock starts for the Astros. Peacock was part of the blockbuster trade prior to the 2012 season for Gio Gonzalez which also included Derek Norris being shipped to the Oakland A’s in that trade. The Nationals counter with right-handed 25-year-old pitcher Kyle McGowin who was added as a non-roster-invitee to big league camp. McGowin was acquired as part of the Danny Espinosa trade with the Angels along with Austin Adams.
This game will be televised on the Astros feed through ROOT SW and radio is on the MLB feed.
Today’s line-up is:
Here's how we're lining up vs the Astros:
Trea SS
Eaton CF
Murph 2B
Bryce RF
Rendon 3B
Werth DH
Soto 1B
Loby C
Clint LFMcGowin P pic.twitter.com/36F94laTnI
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 2, 2017
