Photo by Jake Stephens/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals found a way on Monday night to remain undefeated in Grapefruit League play so far this spring, but did so in a non-traditional way, the rare baseball tie. The Nationals tied the game at five apiece in the bottom half of the eighth inning, and as that score held through the ninth, both managers agreed to end the game in a tie rather than play extra innings. That tying hit was the biggest moment of the night for the Nats, as Matt Mervis, a December signing for Paul Toboni, drove in two runs with a ground-rule double, and earlier had a walk to add to his line on an impressive game for the local Potomac, MD product.
None of the five runs given up were earned due to a calamity of three costly errors that led to those runs all being unearned. In total, the Nats booted four balls, and had some other plays that were not made in this one. Good fielding plays were turned in by Trey Lipscomb and Joey Wiemer, but then Lipscomb was guilty of a throwing error later in the game.
The Good
The Nationals had some positive results from returning roster players again tonight. Starter Jake Irvin had to work through a bit of traffic on the basepaths, but ultimately persevered and gave the Nats two scoreless innings in his spring debut. More from the pitching side this evening, Brad Lord followed Irvin in tonight’s ballgame, and pitched the third and fourth innings to some mixed results. Lord did allow an unearned run in his two-inning stint due to his own error, but that was the extent of the damage as he looks to begin his sophomore big league season with a bang. The Nationals also got a scoreless inning tonight from roster hopeful Julian Fernandez as he seeks to make a strong case this spring for Butera and company to give him a spot in that Opening Day bullpen.
A name most of you don’t know, Davian Garcia, an A-ball pitcher last year after his 2024 draft year (6th round) turned in the best pitching performance going 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and just one hit.
On the offensive side, it was a little more of a dry day in terms of big league returners. Drew Millas was the main highlight for that group tonight, contributing an RBI double early on in this one to give his quest for the backup catcher spot a little bit of a boost. He’ll have plenty of competition for said spot this spring, with Harry Ford, Tres Barrera, and Riley Adams all vying for that number two spot behind Keibert Ruiz — if Ruiz is indeed still considered the teams primary catcher.
The New Guys
Sometimes Spring Training is a springboard for lesser known players to get some recognition and rise up on depth charts. Toboni has made sure to get a steady stream of lower level minor leaguers into games. T.J. White appeared in his second game already this spring and had an infield hit and just got under a ball in the 9th inning as he tried an ambush on the Phillies pitcher. These are the opportunities to show your coaches what you have.
As mentioned, the Nationals got a very encouraging outing tonight from a 2024 draft pick by the name of Davian Garcia. A right-hander who broke onto the scene last season with a 2.70 ERA in 70 innings at Single-A before getting the promotion to High-A Wilmington towards the end of the season. Garcia got his first opportunity to pitch in Spring Training, and shoved. Garcia tossed two scoreless innings, allowing just one base runner and striking out three guys along the way. Certainly, a guy who doesn’t come to mind when you think of some of the arms that the Nats have in the minors, who could be big pieces of the future, but Garcia is absolutely worth keeping an eye on in the years to come.
On the offensive side, Matt Mervis was the biggest name on the box score for the Nationals tonight, with that big, aforementioned double. Mervis was signed in December to a minor league deal, a guy who could be a potential solution to the first base problem that the Nats currently have. Mervis made his big league debut in 2023 with the Cubs, where he played two seasons before making it to Miami for the 2025 season. He hasn’t been able to put it all together in very limited playing time over his first three seasons, amassing just 236 at-bats, in which he’s batting just .165 with ten home runs. This promising start to the spring for him could be a sign of things to come, as the Nationals desperately need someone to step up and take the reins at the first base position.
The Next Step
The Nationals will be back in action Tuesday night in West Palm Beach again at 6:05 against the Cardinals once again. Cade Cavalli will make his spring debut in this one, and there will be a lot of eyes on him and what he’s able to do, as the Nats have yet to announce an Opening Day starter. Cavalli figures to be very much alive in that conversation to be the ace of this staff in 2026, a vision that we have held for him since he began in this system a few years ago. A strong spring could be the burst that gets him across the finish line towards becoming the ace we all want him to be!
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