Photo by Jake Stephens/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals had their first rain-out of Spring Training last night. Palm Beach County was in a rain deficit a week ago and has been catching up in the past four days.
Speaking of deficits, the team made some surprising cuts this morning with Robert Hassell III and Josiah Gray sent to Spring Training camp. Okay, we didn’t have Gray making the team, but Hassell as a lefty outfielder seemed like he had the inside track for the bench. Nope. The position roster comes down to one more cut in the outfield from the pool of Dylan Crews, Joey Wiemer and Christian Franklin. The bullpen has five more cuts to come. Of course, Paul Toboni could still look to the outside for acquisitions through a trade or a waiver pick-up — especially for players out of options.
Manager Blake Butera has to be thinking of Opening Day which is a week from today. Zack Littell will get his second start today as he ramps up for the regular season. Because of yesterday’s rain-out this will be Littell’s final game against another team before the season begins.
This stat has shocked people when we posted that the Nats have the best ERA in all of baseball during Spring Training at 2.97. But the same can’t be said for the Nats defense that has committed 10 errors in the last four games.
❝Defense is controllable, in my mind.❞
— Butera said
Yes, defense matters and it was almost perfect yesterday to preserve a 1-0 win in the smallest of margins.
At this point, we only have 23 Spring Training games in the books and the one exhibition game, and no batter has more than 37 official plate appearances on the Washington Nationals. And for that matter, no pitcher has more than 13⅓ innings in official games.
Also, 68 Nationals have had at least one plate appearance with another two entering games without plate appearances for a total of 69 position players. On top of that, 53 Nats’ pitchers have appeared in games.
The other roster battle is in the bullpen with 13 relievers remaining for just eight spots. Listed in alphabetical order, you have:
Clayton Beeter Andre Granillo Cole Henry Brad Lord Griff McGarry Cionel Pérez PJ Poulin Orlando Ribalta Jackson Rutledge Paxton Schultz Drew Smith Gus Varland Ken Waldichuk
Remember, after this game, the Nats have their annual Spring Breakout game featuring 27 of their top prospects. Basically the entire Top-15 prospects are there except Harry Ford and Luis Perales, and two pitchers not deemed healthy (Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora). First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 pm EDT.
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Stadium: Roger Dean Cheverolet Stadium, Jupiter, Florida
1st Pitch: 1:05 PM EDT
TV: N/A
Radio: Cardinals Radio and the MLB app
