The Washington Nationals are now in their final weekend of Grapefruit League play. There are only two days of games remaining in Florida for Spring Training including this afternoon’s game against the Mets in Port St. Lucie.
There is no way to sugarcoat things this week. The quality of play has been close to awful. Michael Soroka, who struggled through 43 pitches at the start of the 5th inning, which he didn’t finish, was charged with six earned runs against a Marlins team that looked like a lineup they concocted in Triple-A. Josh Bell is batting .140 with a .478 OPS. Amed Rosario is even lower with a .411 OPS. And Jose Tena is even lower at .317. What is going on here?
Today’s game will be a 1:10 pm EDT start time against the Mets. There is scheduled TV for this one on SNY and viable on the MLB app which is free today for anyone to watch. The Nationals are at 12-14-1 in Grapefruit League play, and last night fell 2-games under .500.
There were several cuts yesterday which essentially made Mitchell Parker the 5th starter in the rotation. Drew Millas was optioned to Triple-A making it a battle between Riley Adams and Andrew Knizner for the final catcher spot. It looks like Juan Yepez or Jose Tena will get the final bench spot because Nasim Nunez was optioned to Triple-A.
“I think [Soroka] feels like he can get a little more out of what he’s doing. But sometimes less is more. He’s very fluid in everything, and then you saw as things started unraveling, it was more [about keeping up the velo] instead of just letting it happen. At the end of the day, he was trying to overcompensate, overthrow more than anything.”
— Martinez said
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. We have our first Spring Training injury that will result in an IL move as Andres Chaparro injured his oblique and he will start the season on the IL. We learned today that Jorge Lopez, who hasn’t pitched since March 10, is dealing with a left hip issue. Martinez expects Lopez back shortly and to be ready by Opening Day.
Here is a look at the bullpen locks that we have:
1. Kyle Finnegan
2. Lucas Sims
3. Colin Poche
4. Jose A. Ferrer
5. Jorge López
With the news that Derek Law would begin the season on the 15-day IL, there are now three open spots for the bullpen. Also, the Nats made it official this morning and put Colin Poche on the MLB roster which filled the 40-man roster back to capacity. The remaining names for the final two bullpen spots are (A-Z): Brad Lord (NRI), Orlando Ribalta, Jackson Rutledge, and Eduardo Salazar. If Lord makes the team, he would need to be added to the 40-man roster and general manager Mike Rizzo would need to open up a spot.
“It was clicking really, really well for four innings, and then guys get on, and I want to kind of try to be the hero, and again just do too much. I just lose track of it for a second, then you fight back, and hits fall and things happen. You’ve got to get out of those innings and not let it snowball like that.”
— Soroka said
There are 5-days until the Opening Day, and here is your lineup:
