Cardinals in West Palm Beach, Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
If you follow your favorite Nationals players on social media, you know many of them spent their evenings glued to their televisions watching the NCAA tournament as Sean Doolittle made an alternate bracket with Buffalo going all the way ahead of his Alma Mater — University of Virginia. This morning, it is back to work as the Cardinals will travel south like birds often do. These red birds will be bringing some big crowds with them today to the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. The Cardinals send their 29-year-old journeyman right-hander Miles Mikolas to the mound as the Nats have south Florida’s own Gio Gonzalez.
This weekend the Nationals are supposed to be adding back Adam Eaton and Michael Taylor to the line-up. In the meantime, we get a chance to see more of the youngsters and top prospects.
Adam Eaton is ready! Photo by Jim Osborn for TalkNats
Eaton says the plan is for him to be in the lineup tomorrow. Says that was the plan all along. “It’s time to go, and we’re gonna go.”
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) March 16, 2018
While yesterday’s 12-to-3 loss was a disaster on so many levels, it also shined the light on a few players who have stepped up this pre-season. Notably, Trevor Gott and Sammy Solis have both pitched well and Gott has sported a 0.00 ERA this Spring. Matt Grace continues to be stretched out in the bullpen and pitched 2 innings yesterday as he looks to take the last spot in the bullpen as the long-man. The fight for spots in the bullpen is the most intriguing right now as it seems wide open for the front of the bullpen at the moment. The other spot up for grabs should be a bench spot as most expect Howie Kendrick to start in place of Daniel Murphy who is most likely headed to the DL to begin the season. With Kendrick elevated to starter, it would open up one more spot on the roster.
Also, if you didn’t notice, all of your Nats starters are batting .300 or better: Trea Turner (.310), Howie Kendrick (.350), Bryce Harper (.345), Anthony Rendon (.300), Matt Wieters (.358), and Matt Adams (.318). While it seems the offense is stagnant at times, it is good to know that the regulars and main bench players are hitting well.
Bryce Harper eyes Gio Gonzalez. Photo by Paul Kim.
You will also be happy to hear that this game is televised on MASN and available on the MLB app. Also, for those who listen or watch the games from their devices using the MLB App, they had a recent software update to fix the constant buffering on the system.
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
Nats Radio:
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
- Brian Goodwin CF
- Trea Turner SS
- Bryce Harper RF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Matt Adams 1B
- Howie Kendrick 2B
- Andrew Stevenson LF
- Pedro Severino C
- Gio Gonzalez LHP
Tomorrow’s lineup and depth chart is up with Adam Eaton!
