The Washington Nationals lost another game in the 9th inning, and that is only somewhat acceptable as these late Spring Training games are a battle of minor league players. Manager Dave Martinez welcomes James Wood into the lineup for the first time this year in the outfield.
In case you missed it, Wood was recovering from minor quadricep tendinitis. Also, Luis Garcia Jr. returns to the lineup after an illness.
This will be a 1:10 pm start and the game will be available on Nationals Radio and the MLB App as the Nationals travel to Jupiter, Florida to play the Marlins. This is a battle of Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Sandy Alcantara.
Some good news, Luis Garcia Jr. was scratched for flu-like symptoms not an injury before Saturday’s game. He is being held out of this game as well as James Wood will just be doing work on the backfields.
While Dylan Crews is not playing in today’s game, he showed up big with the glove during an inning that general manager Mike Rizzo was doing an on-air interview. Crews did the classic Superman dive into the gap to save a double or triple. While last year’s minor league Gold Glove winner can certainly play center field, the team has arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball with Jacob Young. When Young is in the lineup, that pushed Crews to right field where he looks to be a Gold Glove quality glove there.
Yesterday, Jake Irvin made his third start in Grapefruit League action which meant about 4-innings and 60 pitches. Irvin successfully got through 4.0 innings of scoreless baseball with just two hits, one walk, but only one strikeout. He threw 56 pitches on exactly 14 pitches and relied on his defense to get him 11-of-his-12 outs. Irvin’s new slider is the work-in-progress.
“Very efficient. He threw the ball really well. He really did. What can you say when he gives you four innings, 56 pitches and still had a lot in the tank? So it was a good outing for him.”
— Martinez said
Much of Spring Training is about getting the reps in for the veteran players while working on new pitches and mechanics for the pitchers, and batters are working on increasing contact and power. For the players who are trying to make the roster, they are the players who have to impress.
As we know, the key is also staying healthy. Players will be ramped up in their workload as Spring Training continues.
“I still want to emphasize throwing all my off-speed pitches for strikes. I think that that’s been a big emphasis of camp, and something I want to continue to work on. As for what we’ve done well, throwing off-speed pitches for strikes. It’s the emphasis of camp and something that I want to continue to do really well, but getting ahead of hitters, too. I want to continue to do that.”
— Jake Irvin said
“The [slider] is something that has been really good at times. But the consistency is the name of the game. So getting the consistent shape on it, but also just consistently being able to throw it for strikes, it’s been a good pitch so far. I’m really excited about where it’s headed, but definitely still working on the confidence with that.”
Here is the 40-man roster as well as a list of the NRI players you will be seeing. At some point, you might also see players from Minor League camp get some action.
There are 22-days until the Opening Day, and we get to see this lineup today:
