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The big news from this afternoon came from Jim Riggleman saying "it's a good bet" Craig Stammen will be in the team's rotation to start the year.
But lest we make too big a deal out of a strong hint the manager dropped this afternoon, here are a few other similar items. Call it equal time:
Riggleman said if the season started today, he'd use a defensive replacement for Adam Dunn at first base. Riggleman mentioned Mike Morse, Eric Bruntlett and even Adam Kennedy as players who could move to first base in the late innings of a game. The guess here is that right now, Morse would be the guy. Riggleman did say that Dunn has improved at first, and added, "where you'll see improvement is when he plays every day."
Cristian Guzman will play back-to-back games at shortstop on Friday and Saturday, the first time this spring he's played consecutive games in the field. The Nationals will get a chance to see how the shortstop's shoulder holds up over a two-game stretch, which could be important to their choice between Guzman and Ian Desmond at shortstop.
Justin Maxwell, who is hitting .093 this spring, is "not getting to the fastball" right now, Riggleman said. He's working with hitting coach Rick Eckstein to fix his timing and catch up to the pitch. Maxwell is competing with a number of other players for a roster spot and playing time in right field, but has struggled at the plate all spring. Riggleman said the Nationals still plan to play a combination of two or three players in right field, based on matchups.
