Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington Nationals split their doubleheader yesterday to get to 4-4 on their Grapefruit League record. They have a game early this afternoon followed by another day-off tomorrow that manager Dave Martinez said that is a true day-off, and he is not planning on heading to the team’s complex at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

Yesterday’s games got in the work for both MacKenzie Gore and Michael Soroka — both throwing three innings of zeroes. Trevor Williams gets the start today, and we will see how far he pitches today as we are 3½ weeks to Opening Day.

The Washington Nationals were scheduled for a split-squad afternoon/evening doubleheader that started for the team in Jupiter, Florida against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Nats lost in the 9th inning by a final score of 3-2.

This evening game features several starters with MacKenzie Gore making his Spring Training debut. He had been pitching in unofficial outings to ramp up to at least two innings today. Michael Soroka had been doing the same, and he pitched the first game today and went three hitless innings and exited with a 2-0 lead thanks to a Josh Bell 2-run homer.

The Washington Nationals have a split-squad afternoon/evening doubleheader that starts for the team in Jupiter, Florida against the St. Louis Cardinals. This game features five free agent signings who are all expected to making the roster: Nathaniel Lowe, Michael Soroka, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario and Paul DeJong. And it is Soroka who makes his first start of Spring Training.

With the aforementioned starters are only two players from last year’s roster with Jacob Young and Trey Lipscomb. A top prospects gets a chance to start as the team is challenging Robert Hassell III to play well as a starter against a true MLB pitcher as the Cardinals go with Miles Mikolas.

It almost seems unfair for Shinnosuke Ogasawara‘s second game of Spring Training to face Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Mark Vientos. And yes, James Wood is back in the lineup after nursing the mild tendonitis in his quadricep. He will DH and leadoff in a lineup that looks like a mix of starters, bench players, and prospects. All eyes on Wood and the red-hot smoldering Robert Hassell III who has done this so far: Batting .571 (8-14), 3 doubles, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 1 SB, and a 1.571 OPS.

Coincidentally, Soto was traded for Wood and Hassell as part of that blockbuster trade that sent Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego for Wood, Hassell, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, and Jarlin Susana.

The Washington Nationals hosted the crew from MLB Network in camp yesterday. It was good to see so much positivity spread. It certainly gave the Nationals some good exposure on their busy offseason with Kyle Finnegan‘s signing becoming official as the 11th player added on an MLB deal that began in early December when Evan Reifert was taken in the Rule-5 draft.

Since Reifert was added, Rizzo signed 10 new players, nine via free agency, and one through a trade.  Nationals added Trevor Williams, Michael Soroka, Finnegan, Josh Bell, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Jorge Lopez, Lucas Sims, Amed Rosario, and Paul DeJong via free agency, and Nathaniel Lowe via trade. Of course, Williams and Finnegan are not new to the Nationals, and same with Bell, but they all signed back as free agents. With the new contracts, bonus incentives and Ogaswara’s posting fee, and Reifert’s Rule-5 acquisition fee, Rizzo has committed to over $51 million in new payroll expenses.

The Nationals have MLB Network in camp today. We know that they have interviews set up with Dylan Crews and James Wood — and neither are in the lineup today. Actually, Wood has been nursing mild quadricep tendonitis, and the team has not allowed him to play to this point. You know who is starting today? Robert Hassell III gets the start after being the star of the first three Spring Training games.

This will be a 1:05 pm start and the game will be available on the Astros radio feed via the MLB app. No TV for this one.