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VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals are well into live batting practice sessions at this point in camp, and today's workout actually brought a couple interesting matchups. The most notable of those was Drew Storen pitching to Jayson Werth - and brushing him back - after Werth hit a walk-off grand slam off Storen last September in Philadelphia. But there were some other good pairings, too. Here are a few thoughts on what actually turned out to be a fairly newsy workout:
* Chien-Ming Wang's velocity continued to look better, though Ian Desmond smoked a fastball off the left field fence when he faced the right-hander. Wang could end up pitching in games this spring, and the Nationals would certainly like to see him do that before the start of the season. His control wasn't great, but his arm strength seems to be progressing in the right direction.
* Jason Marquis struggled to find the strike zone in his live BP session, but he did throw a good fastball in on Ryan Zimmerman's hands that broke his bat.
* Ross Detwiler's velocity appears to be up a tick or two this spring as he works with cleaner mechanics. I'll be very interested to see how he looks in a game. This is a big year for him, and he could help himself with a strong spring.
* Lastly, Cole Kimball brought his high 90s heat in a round of BP for Bryce Harper. The matchup between the two players - neither of which knows a gear below full speed - had the potential for some fireworks. And it delivered - Harper smoked a pitch deep to right in his last swing against Kimball. It was hard to track the line drive; observers were split on whether it left the park or hit the fence, but it was an extra-base hit at the very least. Harper had another well-hit ball against Kimball, showing he won't have a problem catching up to big league heat.
Enjoy the rest of your afternoon; I'm going to grab a late lunch with my wonderful wife, Marissa, who's in town for a few days. Talk to you later!
