Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
Tonight is a great matchup of young top prospects to start this game. According to MLB.com, this will mark only the second since 2004 that apreseason Top-100 prospects will face each other when one of them is making their debut. Yes, Edward Cabrera is making his debut for the Miami Marlins, and the Nats will have Josiah Gray on the mound.
Gray has become must watch games to see his progress. His side sessions have become lessons in pitching as he gets pointers from pitching coach Jim Hickey who knows him from last year when Hickey served as a special assistant in the Dodgers player development department. Hickey has a long history in developing All-Star quality pitchers from his years with Tampa Bay as well as with the Chicago Cubs.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez will go with a familiar looking lineup and for the fourth straight game, Lane Thomas will be leading off and starting in centerfield. At this point you have to think the team wants an extended look at him. So far so good for Adams and he is putting up video game slash numbers in his seven games with the Nats: .526/.640//.737/ 1.377. In addition, Thomas has a +0.6 WAR in a Nats uniform.
Yesterday was a magical day for Nats top prospects. From Brady House‘s grand slam, Keibert Ruiz‘s two-homer game, Cole Henry threw three shutout innings, Donovan Casey hit two doubles, and Jordy Barley homered. Add to that what Thomas did, and it was a good day for the prospects. Follow that up with the early games in the FCL, and House homered again for two home runs in three pro games. Now we get the Nats third ranked prospect on the mound tonight in Miami, and soon we will see Cade Cavalli‘s Triple-A debut after he was promoted yesterday.
Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins
Stadium: Loan Depot Park, Miami, Florida
1st Pitch: 7:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, Bally Sports Florida, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Lane Thomas CF
2. Alcides Escobar SS
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Josh Bell 1B
5. Yadiel Hernandez LF
6. Carter Kieboom 3B
7. Luis García 2B
8. Riley Adams C
9. Josiah Gray RHP
