Year 20 for Washington Nationals baseball. We have semi-real baseball today as it is Opening Day for these Nationals in their first Spring Training game today of the 2025 season. The team opens up their Grapefruit League schedule against the Houston Astros and that is the team the Nationals share the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches complex.
This will be a 1:05 pm start and the game will be available on TV via the Houston feed, and on Nats Radio via The Team 980 AM.
These early Spring Training games come with the strict pitch counts as starters build up their stamina to get to that 70-80 pitch count late in March. By plan, the first time through the starting rotation, most pitchers will throw no more than one inning. Jake Irvin is scheduled as the team’s starter/opener for this game. Manager Dave Martinez will publish his plan today for his pitchers, and expect the lineup card a few hours before first pitch.
How time flies. Martinez begins his eighth season as the field manager for these Washington Nationals. His coaching staff will look familiar because he announced in August that he was bringing them all back, and general manager Mike Rizzo backed him up on that decision. While the pitching greatly improved after former closer, Sean Doolittle, was added to the staff, the hitting showed a mixed bag of process and results under Darnell Coles. Many fans were shocked that Coles was retained.
Last year, it was the excitement of seeing the new players and the top prospects who are part of big league camp. First looks at Nathaniel Lowe and Paul DeJong as well as the “Hope Row” youngsters of Dylan Crews, James Wood, and Brady House. Also in camp are Yohandy Morales and Cayden Wallace. Will we see Jarlin Susana in a game this weekend?
The main competition in camp will be for the final spot in the starting rotation and some of the bullpen spots. Could a non-roster invitee (NRI) make the roster this year? Yes, for the bullpen. We don’t expect a Clint Robinson moment when he impressed so much that he got one of the starting spots in 2015 out of nowhere. Last year, Trey Lipscomb was one of the most impressive players in camp.
The underdog story is what makes this game so incredible. A Rule-5 player like Nasim Nunez last year and Evan Reifert this year is another to watch.
The 4-man bench makes everything tighter since the NL got the designated hitter spot. You carry a catcher, outfielder, a utility infielder like Amed Rosario, and one final spot that will have eight players in competition for if Riley Adams is a lock for the back-up catcher, and Alex Call for the fourth outfielder.
So yes, there is some added pressure and intrigue for games that really don’t matter to most except those who are competing for spots. Forget most of the stats because this is about getting reps in for most of these players in the 80 percent who know they have a job — it is the 20 percent that have to show big or go home.
The lineup today will be a few players that are expected to make the Opening Day lineup — but as always — don’t read too much into it as things can change. Expect the lineup ordering and even some of the positioning to change. For reference, here is the 40-man roster.
“We have to get ready for our season, Opening Day [on March 27]. I will play a lot of these kids.
— manager Dave Martinez said last year before Opening Day of Spring Training
.. All of those young kids are going to come in and play. [Projected starters] will get probably one or two at-bats, and then the young kids will play.”
“So the [top prospects] are going to get tons of playing time, especially early, but we got to get ready for Opening Day… so our [starters] are going to get the at-bats they need — and then we’ll go from there.”
“The [top prospects] are going to be here, and while they’re here, I want to see them play. I want to see what they can do, and we’ve been working with them just as much as we’ve been working with our guys, our veteran guys, but they’re part of the Nationals’ organization and we want to get them ready. I love the fact that they’re here, and getting a lot of work in. And it’s fun. It’s fun for all of us. They bring a lot of energy too.”
We will see if there is anything special for this Opening Day game. Last year, the naming right of the ballpark changed through a sponsorship for Travis Scott’s CACTI beverage company. Scott threw out the ceremonial first pitch last year.
Most of all, we are looking for positive mechanical changes and tweaks, and new adaptations in approach. Will we see Irvin’s new slider and changes in CJ Abrams defense? Details are important. Process is the focus, not results in small sample sizes.
One aspect of lineup construction was put to rest yesterday. Martinez wanted to make it clear that the whispers and blog debates on his lead-off batter was already decided, and Abrams will lead-off on Opening Day.
“CJ is going to lead-off. The 3-4-5 will be kind of different. The 2-spot might be a little different at times. But we do know CJ is going to lead-off for us, and we’ll go with that for now. CJ’s done well up there. I want him to lead off.”
— Martinez said yesterday
So there you have it, even though you might not agree with the decision by Martinez. That is baseball. There is no fan vote to determine Martinez’s batting order.
So yes, for some, this game will feel like Opening Day. There are 33-days until the Opening Day that counts in the standings.
