by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
After the first game of the doubleheader, we got some injury news, both considered minor, that Robert Hassell III is dealing with a tight groin, and Victor Robles has a bruised hamstring. Both are considered day-to-day. In addition to that news, manager Dave Martinez spent most of his postgame meeting with the media to discuss the mistakes and mental errors of Luis Garcia, Jr. who accumulated two fielding errors and one baserunning mistake.
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Turn the page on Friday’s game and hope that Josiah Gray and Joey Gallo will bounceback from a game to forget about. Gray had been looking good, but Gallo was slowed by a quadriceps injury and is racking up the strikeouts at a pace that has reached the wrong side of 50 percent. His K rate is currently 53.33. His .071 batting average is the math from just one hit in 14 at-bats. The fans are concerned even though we keep the mantra that Spring Training stats generally mean nothing. Also, Robert Hassell III entered the game in the fifth inning and made a quick exit. What’s up with that? Someone at the game thinks he hurt his leg. Crickets, nobody else reported Hassell’s quick exit but us.
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The Washington Nationals are continuing to get promising signs from their players even though the small sample size results are not necessarily there. The team got a very good pitching performance from Jake Irvin over 4.0 efficient innings with good movement and induced swing/miss from batters. The team needed to start seeing progress from Irvin who struggled in his first two appearances. That gives the team six good starts in the past week from Irvin, tonight’s starter Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Patrick Corbin, Zach Davies, and Trevor Williams.
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That 17.18 ERA that right-handed starting pitcher, Jake Irvin, posted over two appearances in Spring Training will be a stat that Irvin won’t miss from his Baseball Reference page when they wipe the slate clean in three weeks. Irvin has to start pitching well to make sure he isn’t the odd man out in the starting rotation. He isn’t an established veteran with a lock on a roster spot.
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Get ready for four-days of top prospect baseball when all teams will showcase top prospect games with the inaugural SPRING BREAKOUT held from March 14-17 at Grapefruit and Cactus league stadiums starting a week from today and through that weekend. The Washington Nationals and New York Mets Spring Breakout game will be played on March 15 in a Friday afternoon showcase game at 3:10 PM EDT with a big league game following in a doubleheader.
The “Spring Breakout” game, which is a new concept this year, fields rosters of team’s future stars for a showcase in the middle of the Spring Training schedule. Teams are paired against nearby teams in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues, and the Nats prospects will travel to face the Mets at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.
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The tattoo on his forearm reads, “Always remember,” and for a while — and for a different reason some forgot. Baseball fans, and the media, are a fickled group that can forget about you if there is a new flavor of the day. James Wood is not a new flavor — he isn’t even an acquired taste. He is a top prospect in all of baseball at No. 14 overall, and Wood had one of the most exciting first weeks of Spring Training in Nats’ history. The lefty was making the national news, which obviously happens when you lead all of baseball in the first week of baseball with three homers.
With a tough lefty, Jesus Luzardo, starting today — Dylan Crews got a rare start amongst the veterans in the lineup. The LSU product was the second overall pick in the draft and ranked at the No. 7 overall prospect in baseball. He did not disappoint in the power and hustle department in today’s game. While Wood still leads the team in batting average, homers and OPS, Crews just inched a little closer with his homer and double today to surge back into the baseball vernacular of prospects of note, or in this case — just a reminder to remember him.
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Today starts the third time through the starting rotation for the Washington Nationals with Patrick Corbin on the mound. News broke this morning that the Nationals and free agent outfielder Eddie Rosario were in agreement on a minor league contract. That deal can pay the veteran a $2 million contract and up to $4 million after incentives, with a promotion to the Majors, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base.
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The Washington Nationals have the best outfield prospects in all of baseball with Dylan Crews and James Wood who Baseball Prospectus ranked at №5 and №7 respectively of baseball’s best prospects. Add in Robert Hassell III, Jacob Young, and a few others into an outfield mix for one of the deepest prospect groups we have seen.
Now the big debate is whether Wood should be a starting outfielder on Opening Day for manager Dave Martinez. General Manager Mike Rizzo has to play the long game and think about the future. For Martinez, it is about winning NOW.
A final and very big “thank you!” from DonH, Section 222, and me to everyone who donated to the 3rd annual RCR Points Drive. Along with members of two Facebook groups (Nationals RCR Codes and Diehard Nationals Fans), TalkNats readers and commenters contributed a total of a whopping 177,218 points. The points were exchanged for a mountain of Nats and baseball swag, which was then donated to the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy (YBA).
A significant number of you also contributed in other ways, including monetary donations and giving me thoughtful items earmarked for the Academy.
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Yesterday, Zach Davies was supposed to start against the Marlins, but the weather got in the way of that. Today was supposed to be Trevor Williams. 2024 Spring Training debut against the Cardinals. The Spring Training schedule and everything about it is unpredictable. Pitchers have to build up arm strength, and Williams was already given permission for a delayed arrival in camp due to the birth of his child.
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