Photo by Jake Stephens/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals only wish that Spring Training W/L records counted at this point. The team is 6-3 with three ties so far through the first 12 games. Throw in the 5-1 win against Venezuela’s WBC team, and they are 7-3. Dream big because the Nats start to the regular season begins in Wrigley Field against the Cubs, then they face the Phillies, and the Dodgers for their first three series. Talk about a tough schedule to start 2026, and we still don’t know who will be he Nats’ Opening Day starting pitcher.
The photo above is from five days ago when Cade Cavalli pitched 3.0 innings on the backfields at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches against teammates. Cavalli is sporting a new handlebar “old school” moustache that he says his wife hates. For now it stays. Cavalli gets the start today. Without any extra rest days, Cavalli lines up perfectly for Opening Day. Just saying.
The Nats have had 56 batters step into the box, and 23 of them have no hits. And as mentioned, these stats won’t include the exhibition game against Venezuela. 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.
At this point, we only have 12 Spring Training games in the books and the one exhibition game, and no batter has more than 18 official plate appearances on the Washington Nationals. And for that matter, no pitcher has more than 5.0 innings in official games.
Houston Astros vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Florida
1st Pitch: 1:05 PM EDT
TV: N/A
Radio: MLB app
