Nats and Cardinals; Photo by John Caulfield
When Andrew Toles twisted his knee less than two weeks after Adam Eaton, he also needed ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery. Toles has been a full participant in Dodgers camp and has played in 3 more games this Spring than Bryce Harper. Toles has had less recovery time than Eaton and has been going full-speed in Dodgers camp since the beginning. Even Wilson Ramos who suffered his second ACL blow-out in the same knee made it back to game action quicker last year. Ramos was back playing minor-league rehab games just 8-months after his ACL surgery in September 2016 while playing for the Nationals and was back starting for Tampa less than 9 months later.
Eaton has already passed the 10 months mark and says he has been playing games (plural) on the Minor League side — away from prying eyes evidently because nobody has written about his game action. There is a point where being slow and cautious is a strategy but then you could also hurt production if you rush back too quickly. There was a time when Eaton was talking about returned for the post-season last year which would have been against most doctor’s orders — but the World Series ended over 4 months ago. Since Eaton says he has been taking his hacks on the Minor League side, when will we see him in real game action on the Grapefruit side?
Howie Kendrick returns to the line-up after taking two-days off. Kendrick is the odds-on favorite to be the Opening Day second baseman for the Nationals as Daniel Murphy works his way back from knee microfracture and debridement surgery. The Nationals are taking it also very slow with Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Taylor who are both recovering from tweaks. It has given extra opportunities to Victor Robles who has done his carpe diem.
Tanner Roark gets the start today for the Washington Nationals as he continues his pitching from the stretch and as he admitted he has worked on his mental side of the game and not over-thinking which he attributed to his issues last season.
“I was just in my head, just thinking too much,” Roark said about his 2017 struggles. “And when you think — you suck. You go out there, and you know what you need to do, and you focus on the things you need to do. Most of the time, it’s just the small little things that you need to do that will fix everything else, and you don’t need to change anything.”
This game is televised by MASN and also on Nats radio. Why do they have Nats radio coverage on the same days as it is televised? Explain the logic behind that? Also, the Cardinals are televising and on the radio.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Florida
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN and Cardinals FOX
Nats Radio: MLB app Nats 106.7 and Cardinals
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
- Trea Turner SS
- Howie Kendrick DH
- Bryce Harper RF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Miguel Montero C
- Victor Robles CF
- Jose Marmolejos 1B
- Ryan Raburn LF
- Matt Reynolds 2B
Tanner Roark RHP
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
