The Washington Nationals are the home team today at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches again their neighboring Houston Astros. We have no TV coverage on a day when 9-of-the-10 projected Opening Day starters are in the lineup and on the mound for the Nats. MacKenzie Gore is set-up perfectly on regular rest to make the Opening Day start on March 27 which will include a start on Monday then a lighter load with a start on Saturday March 22. Today’s lineup has all projected starters except Luis Garcia Jr. who is probably sitting it out against a lefty starter today (h/t Stever20).
Tomorrow 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. The team will stay overnight on the I-75 corridor between Tampa and Venice, Florida. Also on Friday, the Nationals top prospects will be playing in their first of two SPRING BREAKOUT games with the other game on Sunday.
Today’s game will be a 1:05 pm start time, and the game will be radio only from the Houston radio feed via the MLB App. The Astros will start LHP Brandon Walter.
The Nationals are at 8-8-1 in Grapefruit League play. Manager Dave Martinez has to get his team playing cleaner baseball after the Nats gave up 18 unearned runs from Friday to Monday.
Also, Martinez was asked about who would be his fifth starter which appears to be a competition of DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, and Shinnosuke Ogasawara. None of the three have really stepped in front by a great start. Let’s look at ERA and WHIP for each: Herz 8.10/2.250, Parker 4.91/1.227, Ogasawara 7.56/2.520. 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. As you also had been seeing, players from Minor League camp have been subbing in late to get some action.
There are 15-days until the Opening Day, and we get to see this lineup today:
- CJ Abrams SS
- Dylan Crews RF
- James Wood LF
- Nathaniel Lowe 1B
- Josh Bell DH
- Paul DeJong 3B
- Keibert Ruiz C
- Amed Rosario 2B
- Jacob Young CF
