A busy day for the Washington Nationals that started with the new City Connect jersey unveiling back at Nationals Park with Ryan Zimmerman and Mayor Muriel Bowser will then turn to a split-squad doubleheader that features what should be the Opening Day lineup at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches against Houston at 12:05 pm ET followed by the travel game in Jupiter at 1:05 pm ET. Both games are radio only.
The team will fly back to Washington, D.C. in the early evening, and tomorrow is an exhibition game at Nationals Park against the Orioles at 1:05 pm ET.
The Nationals are at 12-14-2 in Grapefruit League play, and could finish at .500 with a win in both games today.
Starter MacKenzie Gore ate three earned runs that should have been zero. A flyball not caught in left field was ruled a double. That play and a miss at a hard ground ball at second base (ruled a single) just kept innings going and pushed Gore’s pitch count higher than the Nats’ wanted.
“Today, [James Wood] was playing a little shallow. Typically, he plays a little deeper, and I think he catches that ball. As soon as we get going, we’ll start putting him in the spots he needs to be in.”
— Martinez said
We still don’t know the final bullpen or the final bench. Two days ago, 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 on Friday.
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 rumors that Derek Law would begin the season on the 15-day IL, manager Dave Martinez was not ready to declare that as fact. If Law does go on the IL, there would be 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’s still early. We don’t have to make those kind of roster decisions yet on [Derek Law]. Him telling you [his status] that indicates that he doesn’t feel like he’s ready. We’ll go back tomorrow and the next day, talk to the medical staff and just see where he really is. He thinks he’s going to be fine. He just can’t bounce back right now.”
— Martinez said
There are 4-days until the Opening Day, and here is your lineup:
