DENVER – Stone Garrett didn’t make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster, not so much because of his performance this spring but because Alex Call outplayed him to earn the fourth outfielder’s job.

Garrett didn’t get a chance to play his first several days after getting called up from Triple-A Rochester to start the week, not so much because of his chances of success, but because others were ahead of him on the depth chart.

Davey Martinez may have to rethink those plans after tonight’s game. How could the Nats manager sit Garrett after a 4-for-5, five-RBI explosion to lead his team to a too-close-for-comfort, 7-6 victory over the Rockies?

"I'm going to have to stay awake for a little while on this one," Martinez said with a laugh. "It's hard to sit the guy down, you know? We'll see. I'm going to look at everything again tonight."

In one of the unlikelier offensive performances in recent club history, Garrett seized his opportunity to start tonight, delivering a three-run homer, a pair of doubles and a single that gave him nine total bases. The 27-year-old slugger, cut loose by the Diamondbacks in November and quickly scooped up by the Nationals, was almost single-handedly responsible for his team’s offense en route to its second straight win at Coors Field.

DENVER – After watching his team break through for 10 runs and 19 hits during Friday night’s win, Davey Martinez joked he might have to rethink his plans for today’s lineup. He already had intended to go with a right-handed-heavy lineup against Rockies lefty Austin Gomber. Now he wondered if he should just stick with what worked.

The answer: He stayed with his original plan. Tonight’s lineup doesn’t bear much resemblance to last night’s batting order. Stone Garrett is the designated hitter and batting second. Michael Chavis gets the start at second base over Luis García, who tweaked his right hamstring running out a grounder. And Riley Adams makes only his second start of the young season behind the plate, giving Keibert Ruiz the night off.

We’ll see if this still produces the desired results against Gomber, who allowed three runs on four hits in six innings in his season debut at the Padres but gave up a massive .304/.328/.534 slash line to right-handed batters last year.

Trevor Williams, meanwhile, makes his second start for the Nationals, looking to bounce back from a loss to the Rays in his debut. The right-hander gave up two homers in five innings. Certainly, he’ll need to be careful to keep the ball in the yard here at Coors Field tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 61 degrees, wind 11 mph in from left field

The Nationals understand they’re not going to hit many home runs this season. That’s just not in the cards with this particular lineup, which features nobody who hit more than 17 homers last year.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t deliver the occasional extra-base hit, some doubles or even a triple. Or, you know, hit the ball in the air every once in a while.

Even that seemingly simple act proved difficult tonight during a 6-2 loss to the Rays. Tampa Bay rode six dominant innings from starter Drew Rasmussen and effective work from their bullpen to cruise to victory on a 70-degree Monday evening in the nation’s capital. The evening would’ve been perfectly pleasant if only the home club was able to give those who attended any valid reason to believe a rally was possible.

Instead, a paid crowd of 10,754 – officially the second-lowest in Nationals history, ahead of only the 9,261 who were announced as attending the first half of a makeup doubleheader against the Diamondbacks last April – was left to watch the lineup flail away at Tampa Bay’s admittedly excellent pitching staff to little avail.

Rasmussen, the Rays’ No. 4 starter despite an 11-7 record and 2.84 ERA last season, cruised through six scoreless innings on a scant 66 pitches. The right-hander allowed two singles, didn’t issue a walk and struck out seven, pulled by manager Kevin Cash only because the organization is being careful with all of its starters early in the season.

The Nationals opened the season in traditional fashion, with a three-game series against a division rival. Major League Baseball’s new schedule, though, has dramatically reduced the number of division games, so get ready to see a bunch of unfamiliar opponents now. Fourteen of the next 18 games, in fact, will be against American League teams, beginning tonight against the Rays.

Because of that, there’s not a lot of familiarity between hitters and pitchers. Only four members of the Nats roster have ever faced Drew Rasmussen (Jeimer Candelario, Michael Chavis, Lane Thomas, Ildemaro Vargas) and combined they’ve only totaled seven at-bats against the right-hander. Conversely, only three Tampa Bay batters have ever faced Trevor Williams (Yandy Diaz, Manuel Margot, Jose Siri) and they’ve combined for only seven at-bats as well.

Williams makes his Nationals debut. He’s technically the No. 4 starter, but he arguably could rank much higher within the rotation when it’s all said and done. The right-hander has a track record, he got a two-year deal over the winter and he takes a leadership role on the staff. Tonight he’ll get his first chance to show the Nats what they have in him.

The Nationals lineup has Luis García back in the leadoff spot. It has CJ Abrams back at shortstop after a day off. And it has Ildemaro Vargas in left field, not Alex Call despite Davey Martinez's claim Sunday that Call would make the bulk of the starts there with Corey Dickerson on the injured list.

TAMPA BAY RAYS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 68 degrees, wind 15 mph out to left field

The Nationals won 55 games last season, fewest in club history. They were outscored by an astounding 252 runs. They had the majors’ worst rotation, hit the fewest homers in the National League and gave up the most. They ranked at or near the bottom in most defensive metrics. They also traded a once-in-a-generation, 22-year-old star for prospects.

It was, by any measure, an awful season.

Which means there’s nowhere to go but up, right?

The 2023 Nationals have to be better. The pitching has to be better. The defense has to be better. The lineup has to be … uh, we’ll get back to that topic in a moment.

We don’t know how the next six months are going to play out. There are any number of unpredictable factors that could help or hurt the team’s fortunes. Here’s what we do know: The 2023 Nats are younger. They’re more athletic. They feature more potential pieces to the long-term puzzle than the previous team did.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams didn’t get the opportunity to face a lineup three times in one night very often last season. That was partly due to his role as the Mets’ swingman, in which he bounced between the rotation and bullpen based on need. But it was also a reflection of manager Buck Showalter’s reluctance to let him go too deep into a start and risk damage.

In only three of his nine starts did Williams face a hitter three times, for a grand total of nine plate appearances. (He did have success, allowing only two of them to reach base.)

So the opportunity tonight to face five Astros hitters three times, albeit in an exhibition game that ended in a 5-4 loss, was a big deal for the right-hander, who knows he’s going to be a full-time starter with the Nationals.

“I think no matter who it is, facing the same guy two or three times is going to be important once the season starts,” he said. “Today we went through a normal pregame routine with pitchers meetings and catchers meetings. It was good to get that under our belt.”

As it turned out, Williams had far more success the first two times he went through the Houston order than the third. He cruised through five innings, allowing one hit and one walk on 73 pitches. Then came in the sixth, in which he allowed a solo homer to Jeremy Pena, plus singles to Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu, all of them stepping to the plate for the third time.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We’ve got a “Nexus of the Universe” moment coming up tonight when the Nationals and Astros take the field at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. On the mound for Houston will be Luis Garcia. At the plate for the Nats will be Luis García. Prepare for your minds to be blown.

It is kind of interesting that García leading off. We’ll hear from Davey Martinez if that’s actually something he wants to get a look at, or if it’s just happening tonight for whatever reason. You’ll notice a flip-flop of yesterday’s 2-3 hitters, with Joey Meneses batting second and Dominic Smith batting third. And a flip-flop of yesterday’s 4-5 hitters, with Jeimer Candelario now batting cleanup and Corey Dickerson batting fifth.

On the mound is Trevor Williams for his second-to-last tune-up. Williams should be aiming for close to 100 pitches tonight, and he’ll still get a chance to pitch in Tuesday’s exhibition finale at Nationals Park against the Yankees, along with MacKenzie Gore.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (Astros broadcast)
Radio: MLB.com (Astros broadcast)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 12 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García
LF Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Corey Dickerson
RF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
C Riley Adams
CF Víctor Robles

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams, in the kindest way of putting this, got his work in today against the Marlins.

The Nationals right-hander reached the fifth inning and raised his pitch count to 92, tops of anyone on the staff so far this spring to put himself in excellent position for the start of the regular season in 12 days.

The results of those 92 pitches weren’t exactly anything to crow about. Williams was roughed up for seven runs on 10 hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings during a 7-0 loss to Miami. It wasn’t pretty.

But in the time-honored tradition of playing up positive performances in spring training while downplaying negative performances, Williams and manager Davey Martinez attempted to focus on the positive elements of today’s start as opposed to the more glaring problem areas.

“The positive today is that we were able to throw over 90 pitches, get that bulk and go out there for the fifth inning after having a couple long innings,” Williams said. “Being able to get that and get over 90 pitches was big for us today. Five days from today, we’re going to try to shoot for that 100-mark, 105-mark. And from there, we kind of cruise into the season.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Would you believe we’re down to the final nine days of the Grapefruit League season? Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Would you also believe the Nationals currently own a winning record this spring, entering today’s contest with the Marlins at 9-8 thanks to Friday’s eight-run rally in the ninth, keyed by Darren Baker’s grand slam, to topple the Astros?

They’ll look to keep it going this afternoon, facing a mighty stiff challenge in Marlins ace and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara. The dazzling Dominican right-hander would probably rather be starting another World Baseball Classic game than pitching at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, but that’s not in the cards anymore.

Among the regulars who will take their hacks against Alcantara this afternoon are Dominic Smith, Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson and Victor Robles. Among those who will not is CJ Abrams, sitting for the fourth straight day since experiencing back tightness. We’ll hopefully get an update on him shortly.

Trevor Williams is the man on the mound for the Nats today for his fourth start of the spring. The 30-year-old right-hander wasn’t scored upon in either of his first two outings, but he surrendered three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings his last time out. The best sign from Williams: He has yet to walk a batter in 7 2/3 total innings.

You can watch today’s game live on MASN, with Bob Carpenter and Kevin Frandsen reunited for the first time in 2023.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – At an earlier point in his career, Trevor Williams might have viewed the top of the third this afternoon at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in a much different light. The Astros had just scored three runs off him, one via homer but the rest via groundball singles in which Nationals infielders were unable to make the plays necessary to record three outs.

That left Williams with the kind of unsightly final line – three earned runs, seven hits in 4 2/3 innings – that would’ve bothered him in the past. At this stage of his career, with a two-year contract and a secured spot in the Nats’ Opening Day rotation, he understood the process of that inning (a bunch of ground balls) mattered more than the results.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “I executed the pitches I wanted to execute. … Results are results. Thankfully, I have a spot on the team, so I don’t have to necessarily read too much into results. It’s more making sure I’m ready to go once the season starts.”

Williams believes he took an important step toward that ultimate goal this afternoon when he became the first member of the Nationals rotation this spring to reach the fifth inning. He did so despite an elevated pitch count that stood at 60 after the third, retiring the last five Astros batters he faced on a mere 14 pitches.

It was a strong finish to what briefly looked like a rough outing, even if it wasn’t all Williams’ fault. He did serve up a leadoff homer to Houston minor leaguer Grae Kessinger to open the third, but then induced six consecutive ground balls, the first four of which did not result in any outs, the fifth of which resulted in only one out, the last of which finally resulted in an inning-ending double play.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s been a beautiful spring here from a weather standpoint, warm with abundant sunshine every day for the last month. That may finally change today, with a line of storms supposed to sweep through the state of Florida later this afternoon. We’ll see if it impacts the Nationals’ game against the Astros. Might be a good day to really take advantage of that pitch clock.

Trevor Williams gets the ball for his third start of the spring. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in three innings to date; he also has yet to issue a walk. We’ll see how he handles an Astros lineup that doesn’t exactly have the big names in there today.

Houston does have a big-name pitcher on the mound in Framber Valdez, so this will be a nice challenge for a Nats lineup that has an unfamiliar face in the No. 1 spot: Keibert Ruiz. Don’t worry, Davey Martinez isn’t suddenly thinking about making his $50 million catcher a leadoff man. It’s just a way to get him an extra at-bat without having to catch too many innings on a hot, muggy afternoon.

James Wood gets another chance to start a big league game, batting ninth and playing center field. Fellow prospect Elijah Green is slated to replace him later on.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Astros broadcast)
Weather: Chance of storms late, 87 degrees, wind 17 mph out to center field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If Davey Martinez and Jim Hickey had only one message for pitchers entering spring training, it was as simple a message as they get: Throw strikes.

The Nationals issued 558 walks last season, fifth-most in the majors. They simply can’t afford to keep issuing free passes at that rate.

Three games into Grapefruit League play this spring, the trend has been reversed in dramatic fashion. Yes, it’s only three games, two of them played today alone. But the Nats have walked a total of only five batters in 26 innings, and none of them came during this afternoon’s 3-2 victory over the Astros at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

“These guys are coming in with 9-, 10-, 13-pitch innings,” Martinez said. “We’re pounding the strike zone. That’s something we want to instill in their heads. We told our catchers we’ve got to get strikes. They’ve been good. They’re throwing the ball well.”

Nine different pitchers took the mound here today, and all nine retreated to the dugout having forced Houston’s hitters to earn their way on base. The trendsetter was Trevor Williams, who tossed a scoreless first, escaping a jam thanks to a 6-4-3 double play but allowing just two singles (one of them a little dribbler between the mound and third base).

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s day two of Grapefruit League play, and already the Nationals are pulling double duty. Yes, it’s the one and only split-squad day of the spring for the boys, with half the team staying here in West Palm Beach to face the Astros while the other half heads to Port St. Lucie to face Max Scherzer and the Mets.

Davey Martinez decided to keep most of his veterans here, but there are still a good number of big leaguers playing in the road game. And there are actually three members of the projected Opening Day rotation pitching today between the two sites.

Trevor Williams gets the start here against the Astros, scheduled for one inning. He’ll actually be followed by Cade Cavalli, who was on schedule to pitch either today or tomorrow. Since the team is off tomorrow, Cavalli gets to piggyback Williams today. (He’ll start his next turn through the rotation.) Josiah Gray, meanwhile, starts the road game against the Mets, also slated for one inning.

The lineups are pretty much split up, as well. Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson, Jeimer Candelario, Dominic Smith, Keibert Ruiz and Victor Robles are starting against the Astros. CJ Abrams, Luis García and Joey Meneses will bat 1-2-3 on the road for the second straight day. Also of note: 2021 first-round pick Brady House is on the travel roster for the game in Port St. Lucie and could come off the bench late in the game.

You can watch both games with an MLB.tv subscription, and you can listen to the home game online at nationals.com, with Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler behind the mic.

There’s still time for things to change – for the team to sign another player or two, for others to make the club off minor-league deals, for someone to get hurt – but with eight days to go until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, we have a pretty good idea what the Nationals’ payroll is going to look like this season.

What it’s going to look like: A lot less than we’ve been accustomed to seeing from this franchise over the last decade.

Monday’s announcement that Victor Robles had avoided arbitration and agreed to a $2.325 million salary was the final significant piece to the puzzle. At this point, everybody who figures to make the Nats’ Opening Day roster either has a set salary or will be making close to the league minimum of $720,000.

And when you add up the salaries of the projected 26-man roster, plus a couple guys who will probably begin the season on the injured list, you get a grand total of $99,291,667. That’s a dramatic drop-off in salary commitments in the span of only two years.

The 2021 Nationals boasted an Opening Day payroll of $183,122,247, which ranked sixth out of 30 Major League Baseball clubs, according to Cot’s Contracts. That marked the ninth consecutive season they ranked among the top 11 teams in the sport in Opening Day payroll, the highest number coming in 2019 when they ranked fourth with a payroll of $197,203,691.

On the heels of what he termed a “unique year” with the Mets, Trevor Williams knew different teams would look at him in different ways this winter.

Having had success as a swingman in New York, bouncing back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen for a club that made the postseason, the 30-year-old right-hander might appeal to other organizations who value that kind of versatility.

Williams, though, still believed he could be an effective full-time starter, returning to the role he held with the Pirates from 2017-20. And the opportunity to return to that role shaped his approach to free agency, which ultimately landed him in Washington.

“It was a decision for my career: Do I want to follow down that path? Do I want to be a swing guy for the rest of my career? Or do I want to prove again that I can be a serviceable starter?” he said Monday during an introductory Zoom conference with Nationals reporters. “And because I’ve shown both in the past, I preferred starting.”

It appears the Nationals will meet his preference. Williams, who agreed a two-year, $13 million deal Friday, said he was told he’ll be a member of the rotation in 2023.

The signing of Trevor Williams – which became official Saturday night – wasn’t anything that was going to send shock waves through Nationals Park or the baseball world. A two-year, $13 million deal for a 30-year-old right-hander with a career 4.27 ERA is hardly the kind of move that shapes a team’s fortunes to any great extent.

What the Williams signing did do, however, was punctuate a point the Nationals seem to be making this winter: If they can’t spend big on top-tier pitchers, they’re going to make sure they get guys who can comfortably bounce back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen.

That was Williams’ role in New York this season. When the Mets were dealing with rotation injuries from April through June, he was asked to start every five days. When that rotation finally was healthy from July through September, he shifted into a long relief role.

In that respect, Williams proved to be hugely valuable to a Mets roster that was loaded with star power but needed his versatility and effective performance to navigate through a long season that ended with a berth in the National League Wild Card Series.

Williams did whatever New York needed of him. He made nine starts. He made 21 relief appearances. He finished five games. He recorded one save. He completed at least two innings in 13 of his relief outings, completing at least four innings in four of those.

The Nationals have agreed to terms with right-hander Trevor Williams on a two-year deal, according to a source familiar with the terms, landing a veteran pitcher who could either fill a slot in their rotation or bullpen.

Williams' deal is for $13 million over the two years, according to The Athletic. He earned $3.9 million this season as a member of the Mets staff.

The 30-year-old posted a 3.21 ERA and 1.227 WHIP across 89 2/3 innings for the Mets, starting nine games with 21 more appearances out of the bullpen, most of them covering multiple innings.

Once New York’s star-studded rotation was healthy by midseason, Williams mostly pitched in long relief down the stretch. He closed out the season Oct. 5 with six innings of two-run ball against the Nationals, earning the win. The Mets left him off their roster for their National League Wild Card Series against the Padres because they didn’t need as many pitchers in a best-of-three series, but they likely would’ve added him back had they advanced to the best-of-five NL Division Series.

Williams would appear for now to be the leading candidate to open the season as the Nationals’ No. 5 starter behind MacKenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray and Patrick Corbin, though that’s hardly written in stone. They could continue to pursue other available free agents and have the versatile righty pitch in relief instead.