PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The Nationals make their first “long” trip of the spring up to Port St. Lucie this afternoon. The hour-long drive feels especially long when they have yet to travel more than the 15 minutes it takes to get to Jupiter.

Any Nats fans that follow the team from West Palm Beach will be rewarded by seeing James Wood’s 2025 Grapefruit League debut. The young outfielder has been held out of game action so far with right quad tendinitis, but is now ready to at least get some live at-bats as the designated hitter. Wood was originally lined up to DH in last night’s home game against the Braves, but manager Davey Martinez wanted him to stick to his early morning routine and prepare for an afternoon game. Plus, waiting one extra day couldn’t hurt.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara makes his second start of the spring since signing a two-year, $3.5 million deal with the Nats, the first free agent the team has signed directly from Asia. The 27-year-old left-hander pitched a scoreless inning on eight pitches with a double in his debut on Sunday, but he did surrender a lot of loud contact to a Mets team he’ll face today.

And look who’s in the star-studded Mets lineup Ogasawara will be facing: None other than old friend Juan Soto. This will be the first time the Nats will see Soto in Mets blue and orange since he signed his historic 15-year, $765 million contract in December.

Mitchell Parker is scheduled to follow Ogasawara as part of his “start” day as well.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Josh Bell didn’t need an introductory course to navigate the Nationals’ facilities at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. He knows how to get to the clubhouse, the training room and the cafeteria. He’s been here before.

In fact, this is the third name the complex has had while he’s been a member of the Nationals. It was FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and then simply The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in 2021 and 2022, respectively. It has a new sponsorship this third time around.

After coming to the Nats on Christmas Eve trade in 2020, Bell called West Palm Beach home for the next two springs. But then he was included in the Juan Soto blockbuster trade with the Padres halfway through the 2022 season and spent parts of the next 2 ½ seasons in San Diego, Cleveland, Miami and Arizona.

That winding road eventually led him back here to West Palm after signing a one-year, $6 million contract to return to the Nats in the offseason. And here he is back in the spring clubhouse he once shared with a veteran team that is now filled with a lot of new, young faces, including some for whom he was traded just 2 ½ years ago.

“It's cool. It's definitely different this go around,” Bell said in front of his new locker in the clubhouse just a few doors down from his old one. “New faces, some guys I've played against in the past, and even the guys that were here when I got traded, they were competitors for the last couple of years. So it's good getting back into the mix and it feels like a fresh start, even though it's the same clubhouse.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Travis Sykora was supposed to be in major league spring training with the Nationals. His dominant first full professional season at Single-A Fredericksburg certainly earned him his first invitation to big league camp. Not necessarily to compete for an Opening Day roster spot, but just to get some work in with major league catchers and coaches.

But unexpected offseason hip surgery will delay the start to his 2025 season, meaning he’s merely a bystander to start spring training instead of an intriguing participant.

General manager Mike Rizzo revealed the news of the 2023 third-round pick’s surgery during his camp-opening meeting with the media, adding that the right-hander is expected to be ready to start minor league games in May. Sykora clarified what went into the decision to have the surgery on Wednesday while making his own media rounds.

“It's just been probably a couple years of just not being able to use my hip the right way,” Sykora said. “I didn't really know it was an injury, but I just kind of had to compensate around it. So my velocity was down a little bit because I wasn't utilizing my body the way it should. So this offseason, I thought I'd get it looked at, and then we figured out what it really was.”

Wait, his velocity was down a little bit? How is that possible?

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The first few weeks of spring training are like the first few weeks of school. Coaches and players are excited to reunite with longtime teammates and meet some new ones. The early assignments aren’t too hard, but everyone knows bigger tests are coming soon.

There’s excitement and nervousness in the air.

For the Nationals’ starting rotation, there’s a good mix of familiar and fresh faces. And while there’s a lot of excitement surrounding this young, impressive group, there are sure to be some nerves during camp as well while they compete in what might be the biggest position group battle of the spring.

MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin have solidified their positions at the top of the rotation. The 26-year-old left-hander with electric stuff may be the Nats’ Opening Day starter. The 28-year-old right-hander, who started the Grapefruit League opener on Saturday when Gore’s spring debut was pushed back to later this week so he could go multiple innings, is already lined up as the No. 2 starter.

Michael Soroka is the Nats’ highest-paid pitcher this year after signing a one-year, $9 million contract this winter, likely locking him into a spot in the rotation. And Trevor Williams was brought back on a two-year, $14 million deal to start games.

During the early parts of this offseason, the Nationals were in search of starting pitchers. It didn’t need to be filled right then and there, but the front office brass left December’s Winter Meetings in Dallas without any additions to the major league roster except for Rule 5 Draft pick Evan Reifert.

Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams became free agents at the end of last season. Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz, while impressive in their respective rookie seasons, weren’t sure things to stay in the big league rotation in 2025.

Josiah Gray is expected to miss most of this year while recovering from his Tommy John surgery and internal brace procedure. Cade Cavalli still needs to prove he can pitch every five days in the majors while working his way back from his own Tommy John surgery.

MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin were the only sure things in the Nats rotation heading into the new season.

But then a week after returning home from Dallas, the Nats signed right-hander Michael Soroka to a modest one-year, $9 million contract. On New Year’s Eve, they brought back Williams on a new two-year, $14 million deal. And in January, they signed left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara to a two-year, $3.5 million contract, the first ever given by the club to a player directly from Asia.

When the Nationals decided to non-tender All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey on Nov. 22, they were letting go the only two relief pitchers on their roster who had real major league experience in high-leverage end-of-game situations.

After a spectacular start to the season with a 1.98 ERA and 23 saves on July 4, Finnegan struggled after his first All-Star selection. Over his final 28 appearances, he pitched to a 5.93 ERA with only 15 saves in 17 chances. Although he finished third in the major leagues with 38 saves, his overall 3.68 ERA was the third-highest among relievers with 26 or more saves.

Nonetheless, the Nats’ decision to part ways with Finnegan, who at 33 was projected to make $8.6 million in his last year of arbitration eligibility by MLB Trade Rumors, was unexpected.

The choice to non-tender Rainey, however, was less surprising. The 32-year-old right-hander was still trying to rediscover his form after August 2022 Tommy John surgery. Although he pitched to a 2.14 ERA and 1.000 WHIP over the season’s final two months, his overall numbers of 4.76 and 1.490 weren’t encouraging enough for the Nats to hold onto the last remaining player from their 2019 championship roster for one more year.

So the Nats entered the thick of the Hot Stove Season in need of a closer. And here we are two days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach where the question still stands: Who’s the closer?

The Nationals have filled almost every need on their roster this offseason. “Almost” being the key word.

Nathaniel Lowe was acquired to play first base.

Josh Bell was brought back to be the designated hitter and first base backup.

Amed Rosario was signed to add depth as a utility player.

Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams and Shinnosuke Ogasawara were brought in to fill out the rotation.

We’ve finally hit the final stretch of the offseason! Nationals pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach on Wednesday, kicking off the 2025 season.

So we’re going to use the remaining days leading up to spring training to preview the top storylines that will play out during camp. And to keep with this team’s overall youth theme, we’ll start with a look at the young players still to come.

At this time last year, all the attention was on the arrivals of James Wood and Dylan Crews, and whether or not they could make the Opening Day roster. They didn’t, but they both found themselves as everyday big leaguers by the end of the regular season.

Who are this year’s top prospects to watch in spring training?

Robert Hassell III and Trey Lipscomb will be back as members of the 40-man roster, with the Nationals also inviting Brady House, Yohandy Morales, Cayden Wallace, Daylen Lile, Andrew Pinckney and Caleb Lomavita to big league camp.

The days leading up to and through pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach next week are likely to include more additions to the Nationals roster via minor league signings with big league camp invites.

That trend started this morning when the Nats announced they have agreed to terms with left-handed reliever Colin Poche on a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

Poche, 31, has spent his entire four-year major league career in Tampa Bay, going 22-12 with a 3.63 ERA, 1.099 WHIP, 12 saves, 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.95 strikeouts per walk in 225 relief appearances. After making his debut in 2019, he missed all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and the 2021 campaign while recovering from his second Tommy John surgery (his first coming after his sophomore season at the University of Arkansas in 2014).

The Rays non-tendered the southpaw in November after he had a 3.86 ERA and 1.152 WHIP in 37 ⅓ innings over 43 appearances in 2024.

Part of his struggles last season came from his inability to get out left-handed hitters. Lefties hit .260 with an .811 OPS off Poche while he held righties to a .193 average and .592 OPS. That was a stark contrast from his career splits, in which he’s held lefties to a .197 average and .679 OPS while righties have hit .202 with a .630 OPS off him.

It’s finally February, and you know what that means: Baseball is on the horizon.

Nationals pitchers and catchers report to the team’s facility in West Palm Beach in a mere 10 days, officially kicking off the 2025 campaign.

“But Bobby, the Nats still have holes on their roster. They’re not ready!”

Yes, looking at the roster as currently constructed, general manager Mike Rizzo would probably want to enter the season with a few more pieces. But fear not: Opening Day is still about two months away, and the roster on the first day of camp is never the same roster that is introduced on the first day of the season.

The Nats have the next week plus a couple of days before pitchers and catchers hold their first workouts on the back fields at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. The first full squad workout is almost a week after that.

For 26 years, it was a place Washington, D.C., professional sports teams had only visited once. From Super Bowl XXVI in January 1992 until the Stanley Cup Finals in June 2018, the 1997-98 Capitals were the only Washington team among the four major North American sports to reach its league semifinals.

Unfortunately, the Capitals’ run that season ended with a four-game sweep at the hands of the Red Wings in the finals. And to add salt to the wound, that was the last time local fans would cheer on a deep postseason run for the next 20 years.

But over the last seven years, D.C. sports fans have enjoyed six separate runs to not only league semifinals, but league finals and four championships. And they’re in the midst of an impressive seventh now.

The Capitals started this trend in 2018, when – after years of playoff disappointment – they finally got past the second round (and the rival Penguins) to make the Eastern Conference Finals. They upset the top-ranked Lightning in seven games to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals and then beat the favored Golden Knights in five games to win the franchise’s first championship.

A year later, the Caps’ BFFs, the Nationals, made their improbable run to a championship. After the now infamous 19-31 start, the Nats fought back to make the postseason as a Wild Card. With unforgettable moments and incredible comebacks, the Nats finished their fight to win the World Series while knocking off the top-seeded Dodgers, the favored Cardinals and the heavily favored Astros along the way.

We’re less than a month away from the start of spring training and there are still plenty of questions swirling around the baseball offseason.

As it pertains to the Nationals, we know you still have a lot of questions before the team reports to West Palm Beach next month. Mark Zuckerman’s weekly Q&A sessions with readers have been filled with your inquiries on the club’s roster, farm system and projections for the 2025 season.

But this morning, I had the thought to turn the tables on you, the readers.

Here are some Nats-related questions for you to ponder and answer in the comments section below:

Which offseason addition (so far) will have the biggest impact this season?

It’s rare for a player to be traded away and then return to that same team later in his career. It's even rarer still for that to happen and the player becomes teammates with the players he was once traded to acquire.

That will be the case when Josh Bell reports to West Palm Beach for the second time in his career next month. He’ll be back in the clubhouse where he last reported ahead of the 2022 season, only this time he’ll be joined by young players to whom he’s forever linked but have never before been his teammates.

Halfway through that 2022 season, Bell was included in the biggest trade deadline deal in major league history. Joining superstar Juan Soto, the veteran first baseman was sent to the Padres for a historic returning package of prospects: CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana.

Three of those prospects – Abrams, Gore and Wood – will be key figures for the Nationals this season. As will Bell, who signed a one-year, $6 million deal last week to return to Washington 2 ½ years after his departure.

“It's exciting. It's definitely a lot of people that can be household names here very soon,” Bell said of the young talent on the Nats roster during his re-introductory meeting with the media over Zoom. “Just looking from afar, I've heard great things about James Wood. Obviously, I've seen CJ play. Dylan Crews, you name it. You have superstar talent. Guys that have gotten a taste of the big leagues, had some success and coming back for more time. This is when they can continue to take that step forward and make themselves elite in this game. So I'm excited to hopefully help guide and also learn from them. Also benefit from having speed in front of me. So I'm definitely excited. I know that both parties will benefit, myself and them.”

The Nationals made the sixth addition to their major league roster in the last month Saturday afternoon. The team announced signing reliever Jorge López to a one-year deal, adding the former All-Star closer to the back end of the bullpen.

López, who turns 32 in February, will earn $3 million plus incentives this year, a source confirmed. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman was first with terms of the deal.

Over a nine-year career that includes stops with the Brewers, Royals, Orioles (twice), Twins, Marlins, Mets and Cubs, the right-hander has a 5.25 ERA, 1.462 WHIP, 31 saves and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 282 appearances (58 starts). However, since moving to a full-time reliever with the Orioles in 2022, López has a 3.74 ERA, 30 saves, 21 holds and 171 strikeouts in 183 innings.

Last year, López went 2–3 with a 2.89 ERA, 50 strikeouts and four saves in 52 appearances between the Mets and Cubs. He caused some controversy in New York when he was ejected in the eighth inning of a May 29 game against the Dodgers and threw his glove into the stands while walking off the field. After the game, he was quoted as seemingly calling the Mets “the worst team” in the majors.

Though he tried to clarify that he was calling himself “the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball,” the Mets designated López for assignment the next day and released him on June 5.

The Nationals’ offseason got a little warmer on Sunday night when they agreed to bring back Josh Bell on a one-year, $6 million deal, a source confirmed.

The deal, which is pending a physical, was first reported by The New York Post’s Jon Heyman.

Bell, 32, spent 1 ½ seasons with Washington after coming over in a trade with the Pirates on Christmas Eve 2020 that saw minor leaguers Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean go to Pittsburgh.

In his first season with the Nats, the switch-hitting Bell slashed .261/.347/.476 with an .823 OPS, 24 doubles, 27 home runs and 88 RBIs in 144 games.

Bell then slashed .301/.384/.493 with an .877 OPS, 24 doubles, 14 RBIs and 47 RBIs in 103 games in 2022 before being included in a blockbuster trade with the Padres. The Nats had already agreed upon a historic package of prospects (MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood and Robert Hassell III) for Juan Soto. But general manager Mike Rizzo reportedly also wanted right-handed flamethrower Jarlin Susana.

We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2024. We continue the series today by looking at the moves the Nats did and did not make at the trade deadline …

For much of a decade, the Nationals used the trade deadline to add to their major league roster in order to compete for a World Series championship. Of course, they reached that goal in 2019. But at the cost of their farm system.

In the years since, general manager Mike Rizzo has used the deadline to rebuild the farm system by trading major league talent for minor league prospects.

It started with Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and a host of others in 2021. Juan Soto and Josh Bell netted a historic return in 2022. And then Jeimer Candelario was used to acquire two more young players, one of whom played a big role in the starting rotation this year, in 2023.

But what about 2024?

We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2024. We continue the series today with the emergence of the young starters in the rotation …

Under Mike Rizzo, the Nationals have always built their roster around starting pitching.

“You can never have enough starting pitching,” the long-time general manager routinely says when discussing his roster.

Just look at the additions he’s made over the years: Drafting Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 overall pick in 2009, trading for Gio González, and signing Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, Patrick Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez.

But since starting this rebuild in 2021 by trading Scherzer, the Nats have turned their focus into acquiring and developing young starting pitchers to build a new dominant rotation.

We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2024. We begin the series today looking back at the departures of the final pieces from the 2019 World Series championship team …

The revolving door had been turning since that glorious night in Houston on Oct. 30, 2019. The roster that helped the Nationals clinch their first World Series championship in franchise history would never be assembled again. But that didn’t mean pieces couldn’t linger.

Players – both of the utmost importance and those who were along for the ride – stayed around in the years since. That was until this year when, finally, the last pieces of that championship squad departed D.C.

The first to leave in 2024 was the World Series MVP, Stephen Strasburg. After a convoluted and confusing path to get there, the 36-year-old officially retired on April 6, months after plans were already in place to announce the end of his career due to complications from thoracic outlet syndrome.

The hold-up? The money still owed Strasburg, who only pitched 31 ⅓ innings in three years after the World Series, from the seven-year, $245 million extension he signed in December 2019. He was still owed $100 million over the next three years.

Merry Christmas to all! To those who celebrate, I hope you’re enjoying the holiday with friends and family. And to those who don’t, I wish you a day filled with peace and love.

One of my favorite holiday songs, “The Christmas Waltz” originally by Frank Sinatra, has a line that says, “It's that time of year when the world falls in love.” And that could not be more true this year for me.

My wife and I welcomed our first child into the world last week. An early Christmas present and the best we’ve ever received.

Robert Callum Blanco was born a healthy baby boy in D.C. Callum and mom are doing great. He’s an absolute bundle of joy with five tools: snuggly, squishy, smiley, squeaky and simply lovable. And his mother is a superhero by my standards.

Usually the one asking in interviews, I’ve fielded a lot of questions about what fatherhood is like for me. The best answer I’ve come up with in these early days is understanding.

PROSPECT REVIEW: CAYDEN WALLACE

Age on opening day 2025: 22

How acquired: Traded with Competitive Balance A pick (Caleb Lomavita) from Royals for Hunter Harvey in July 2024; originally drafted in second round by Royals in 2022 from Arkansas

Ranking: No. 11 per MLB Pipeline, No. 10 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline