The Washington Nationals traveled to Jupiter to face the Marlins in the first game of a split-squad day/night road/home doubleheader and finished with a tie. Once again, Robert Hassell III and Nasim Nuñez impressed. Both with two hits in the game, and each played the full game. They both had to face Sandy Alcantara as a starter in this one and Hassell singled off of him and finished the day with a .400 batting average and a 1.047 OPS. Nuñez, not too far behind, has a .450 batting average with a 1.042 OPS.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara will be getting the start in tonight’s early evening second game. Tomorrow is the final off-day in Florida on the Grapefruit League schedule. We could see a lineup on Wednesday that looks like an Opening Day type of lineup. Then Thursday and Friday are long road trips to play the Tampa Bay Rays and the Atlanta Braves, and you can expect those to be a mixture of minor leaguers and some players with MLB experience.
This will be a 6:05 pm start and the game will be radio only from the the Nats on 106.7 FM and via the MLB App. The Marlins are set to pitch RHP Cal Quantrill in this one.
The Nationals are at 8-7-1 in Grapefruit League play. Manager Dave Martinez had to watch Evan Reifert throw three wild pitches to score three runners, and two errors from the sure-handed Paul DeJong for an unearned run. Keibert Ruiz jacked a 2-run homer and Stone Garrett followed that up with a grand slam. But the Nats gave up their huge lead in a game that featured a lot of minor leaguers and sloppy play.
Also, Martinez was asked about who would be his fifth starter which appears to be a competition of DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker and Ogasawara. None of the three have really stepped in front by a great start — and let’s face it, today’s start by Parker against a split-squad Marlins’ lineup wasn’t exactly a great test. Let’s look at ERA and WHIP for each: Herz 8.10/2.250, Parker 4.91/1.23, Ogasawara 7.71/2.357. You would have to say Parker has the edge just based on results.
“There’s a few good candidates out there, so it’s going to be a tough decision. Some of these guys are deserving of it because of what they did last year, but it’s a competition and we’ll see how it goes.”
— Martinez said of choosing his fifth starter for the MLB roster
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.
RHP Zach Brzykcy has been dealing with a quadricep tendon issue, and he wasn’t projected to make the Opening Day roster prior to the announcement of his injury. Again, health is a key. Players will be ramped up in their workload as Spring Training continues.
“[Orlando Ribalta] has got a little more positivity. A little more conviction throwing pitches. We’re not seeing the 91s and 92s we did last year. Everything has been 95-97, touches 98. The changeup is really, really, really good. He’s just got to stay right there, but I think it’s all how he presents himself now on the mound. I think he really has confidence — and knows he can do this.”
— Martinez said
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 17-days until the Opening Day, and we get to see this lineup today:
- CJ Abrams SS
- Dylan Crews RF
- James Wood LF
- Andres Chaparro DH
- Luis Garcia Jr. 2B
- Amed Rosario 3B
- Juan Yepez 1B
- Riley Adams C
- Jacob Young CF
