Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
By the 11th game of Spring Training, you might not expect a significant debut. Well, this is Josiah Gray‘s first Spring Training start since 2024. It’s actually been over two years since Gray stepped onto a Grapefruit League mound for his first start in the 2024 season on his way to being the team’s Opening Day pitcher that season. Baseball threw Gray a curveball — and we will see how the rest of his career is defined as he makes his way back from TJ surgery during that 2024 season.
Also remember, players are working on some of the intricacies of their game — and yes, some just are not good enough yet for the MLB competition. The Nats have had 55 batters step into the box, and 26 of them have no hits. As the sample sizes get larger, and there is more data to analyze, we can all start to form better judgements.
Process means a lot in small sample size analysis. But we also need to know back-stories of what players are working on. Would you not play James Wood and Daylen Lile due to the fact that neither have hits going into this game? Of course not.
At this point, we only have 10 Spring Training games in the books, and no batter has more than 13 plate appearances on the Washington Nationals. And for that matter, no pitcher has more than 5.0 innings. First cuts happened today, and the starters should be getting more work soon.
Some of the players, like Cade Cavalli, are getting work on the minor league side of camp, and per a source he pitched the equivalentof 3.0 innings yesterday. And yes, getting work on the backfields is common. Starter Foster Griffin has done all of his work on the backfields and will make his first start on Wednesday against Venezuela in an exhibition game. Another note is that Luis Garcia Jr. will get work at first base this week.
We got word that the thumb soreness sustained by Dylan Crews wasn’t from getting jammed on a pitch, rather he was plunked on the hand during live BP. It’s getting dangerous out there. This is the second intra-squad injury we’ve heard about after Jacob Young was plunked two weeks ago by his own teammate (Bryce Montes de Oca) in one of those “live” BP sessions. His only Spring Training work was on Friday with two at-bats and of course his stellar defense robbing a home run on Jose Altuve to start that game. For now, both Crews and Young are listed as day-to-day.
With Young and Crews both out, that will give Joey Wiemer another start — and Wood and Lile will take the corner outfield spots in this game. Yesterday, Christian Franklin took Crews’ spot in the outfield.
Before the game and no surprise, the team made a few cuts from MLB camp to send players to minor league camp. Top prospects Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora both had offseason surgeries, and were two of the five cuts. The others were Andry Lara, Max Romero Jr., and Eddy Yean.
Washington Nationals vs. Houston Astros
Stadium: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Florida
1st Pitch: 1:05 PM EDT
TV: N/A (Check for Houston exclusive Pressbox video)
Radio: WJFK 1580 AM and the MLB app
