Photo of the front gates of Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter by Sol Tucker for TalkNats.com
It is Opening Day in Spring Training in the Grapefruit League for the Washington Nationals. We will also get our first game looks at MacKenzie Gore in a Nats uniform albeit the plan is to pitch him just one inning today. Also, we will get our first looks at life with mandatory pitch clocks, as well as new defensive shift rules.
We had been getting used to Opening Day against Houston in The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches where the Nats could be the home or road team as it would not matter because the Nats share the sprawling complex with the Houston Astros. But the schedulers threw a changeup. This is a Grapefruit League road game in Jupiter, Florida, at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. The 14-mile drive up I-95 works well for Nationals fans to make the short drive up the road to see the team in another venue, and today they get to watch Gore as the first fans to see him in-person.
If you have the MLB TV app or access to Cardinals baseball on TV, you’re in luck as they are broadcasting today. The Nats also added this as a radio game per the MLB app. Let’s see if that is accurate. Per the press release, the game will be on DC radio on 980 AM ‘The Team’.
Manager Dave Martinez will be monitoring all pitch counts today carefully, and starting players will have short stints today. At this early hour, no lineups have been posted. Hopefully the new players like Dominic Smith, Jeimer Candelario, and Corey Dickerson will be starting.
Spring Training for an established pitcher is about getting their work in while building up arm strength. While Gore is a relative newbie, this is his goal too, and maybe working on a particular pitch. The Cardinals will have the 41 1/2 year old Adam Wainwright as their starter in this one. He will not be pitching to Yadier Molina as he retired. This will be a much more youthful Cardinals team this year except for Wainwright.
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Stadium: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter Florida
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: Cardinals TV and via the MLB app
Radio: The Team 980 AM; Nationals feed via MLB app
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
Our first starting lineup of 2023 Spring Training.
#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/blHgndKy0Z— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 25, 2023
