WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s officially the home stretch of spring training.

The Nationals have three more days here in Florida, with an exhibition tonight against the Marlins, Saturday against the Mets and then split-squad games Sunday against the Astros and Cardinals. Then they fly north for Monday’s exhibition finale against the Orioles. And then it’s time for the real thing.

Over the course of the last 5 1/2 weeks, the Nats have taken care of plenty of business. But for the most part, any roster decisions they made were no-brainers. They haven’t really had to make a hard decision yet.

That changes this weekend, when Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez have to settle on a 26-man Opening Day roster. They can’t put off these decisions any longer. It’s time to make the final calls on several position battles.

Here’s where those battles stand …

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If this was one final opportunity for Shinnosuke Ogasawara to make his case for a spot in the Nationals’ rotation, he was going to have to do something eye-opening tonight against a tough Mets lineup.

Instead, the Japanese left-hander provided more of the same. And in the process probably sealed his fate.

Unable to put hitters away, Ogasawara racked up a gargantuan pitch count and didn’t even make it through the fourth inning in what wound up a 10-3 loss to New York.

The Nationals wanted to get Ogasawara up to at least 90 pitches, but the hope was he would reach the sixth inning in the process. Instead, he was already at 80 after only three laborious frames. He came back to face five more batters in the fourth and then departed with a hefty 98 pitches through in 3 2/3 innings, having surrendered eight runs on eight hits and three walks.

“He’s always been a strike-thrower,” manager Davey Martinez said. “For me, that’s a (sign) that he’s still trying to search for things. He’s got to pound the zone. The times he did get ahead, he was good. And I know he can throw strikes, because he’s done it.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It was one simulated inning against a couple of teammates on a back field with a few interested onlookers. Nothing to get too excited about.

For Cade Cavalli, though, this was a significant step toward the ultimate goal of regularly pitching for the Nationals this season.

Cavalli, still trying to make it all the way back from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery, faced live hitters this afternoon for the first time this spring. With José Tena and Juan Yepez taking turns in the batter’s box, Cavalli threw all of his pitches from the mound, impressing those hitters who had to dig in against him.

“Nasty,” said Yepez when asked how Cavalli looked. He was especially complimentary of the right-hander’s curveball, which induced a few swings and misses during the brief session.

Cavalli, by all accounts, is healthy at this point. His frustrating 2025 season included three minor league rehab starts, several simulated games and multiple shutdowns for various reasons. He ended the year feeling good but had run out of time to pitch in a game.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We’ve got quite a matchup tonight at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, not just for fans in Washington and New York, but also in Japan. The stars aligned perfectly to give us a head-to-head pitching showdown between Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Kodai Senga.

These two guys are in very different situations. Senga has already established himself for the Mets but is now trying to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2024 season. Ogasawara is still trying to earn himself a spot in the Nationals’ Opening Day rotation. He faces an uphill climb, given his struggles this spring and Mitchell Parker’s superior performance.

But the lefty gets one more shot tonight to make his case, and he’ll have to do it against a pretty fearsome lineup. Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso are batting 1-2-3 for New York. One way or another, we’re going to find out what Ogasawara is made of tonight. (In an extra twist, the Nats are calling up Elian Soto, Juan’s little brother, from minor league camp for this game. He’s not guaranteed to play, but the mere fact the 19-year-old will be in his No. 22 uniform against his brother is pretty cool.)

The Nationals lineup has almost every regular playing tonight. Only Nathaniel Lowe is sitting, which opens up first base for Josh Bell and the DH slot for James Wood. That allows Alex Call to get a start in left field.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: None
Weather: Clear, 83 degrees, wind 16 mph out to right field

JUPITER, Fla. – It was never really a question whether Robert Hassell III and Brady House would make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster. That wasn’t going to happen, not without some combination of exceptional performance on their part and calamity to a big league regular to open up a spot in the lineup.

The real question all along was: How close are Hassell and House to being big league ready, and how soon could we see the Nats promote one or both to make his major league debut?

Team officials weren’t about to give a definitive answer to that question Wednesday after both prospects were sent to the minors. But read between the lines and you do get the sense both are in the team’s plans … sometime in 2025.

“Every year that I’ve seen them, they continue to grow on me. They continue to get better,” manager Davey Martinez said. “With that being said, they need to go down there and get off to a good start. It’s all about consistency with those guys. They’re young, and they’re still learning. … Those two guys will definitely be a part of our future, and they’re not that far away.”

Hassell looked more big league ready this spring than House, which is less a criticism of House and more a compliment of Hassell. The 23-year-old outfielder really did everything anyone could have asked of him over the last month. He batted .370 (17-for-46). He had six extra-base hits. He showed off legitimate opposite-field power. He made several exceptional plays in the outfield.

JUPITER, Fla. – The results on the scoreboard – six runs, 10 hits, two homers – did not look good. Neither did the radar gun, which showed Jake Irvin averaging just 91.4 mph on his fastball, down 2.5 mph from his 2024 average velocity.

This is spring training, though, so you always have to be careful reading too much into the numbers. No, Irvin did not have a good day this afternoon during the Cardinals’ 7-1 thumping of the Nationals. But the right-hander insists he felt fine physically, and there’s no way the team would’ve let him throw 91 pitches over 5 2/3 innings if anyone was seriously worried something was wrong with him.

“No, we would’ve definitely taken him out,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But he said he felt great. He said nothing to worry about. He’s tinkering. One, he’s throwing the slider, he’s throwing the cutter, so his fastball was just a little off.”

Irvin had enjoyed an excellent spring to date. He didn’t surrender a run in any of his first three Grapefruit League starts, and his defense betrayed him in his most recent outing, leading to six runs in 3 1/3 innings but only one of those earned.

So, the 28-year-old has earned some benefit of the doubt. But everything about today’s start, both the results and the way he looked, was hard to ignore.

JUPITER, Fla. – Robert Hassell III and Brady House turned heads with their performances this spring. Not enough to earn either young prospect a spot on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster.

The Nats optioned Hassell to Triple-A Rochester today and reassigned House to minor league camp today, telling the outfielder and third baseman they want to see them continue their spring training production into the regular season before calling either up for his major league debut.

The club also optioned infielder Trey Lipscomb to Triple-A and reassigned reliever Clay Helvey and outfielders Stone Garrett and Andrew Pinckney to minor league camp, bringing the total number of healthy players left in major league camp to 35.

Hassell didn’t come to camp with a realistic chance at making the roster, given his past injury issues and the organization’s longstanding philosophy of putting top prospects in the majors only if they’re going to get regular playing time. But he made about as compelling a case as he could, batting .378 (17-for-45) with five doubles, a homer, five RBIs and several highlight-reel plays in the outfield.

With James Wood, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews expected to play close to every day to begin the season, there shouldn’t be many opportunities for the Nationals’ fourth outfielder to start. Alex Call, who also has put together an impressive spring, is set to hold that job for now, providing a right-handed bat off the bench, a fast pinch-runner and solid defense at any of the three outfield positions.

JUPITER, Fla. – The finish line keeps inching closer. The Nationals have only five more games to play down here in Florida, then one final exhibition Monday in D.C. Which means we’re starting to see the regulars play more regularly, not to mention play more innings per game.

Most of the starters are in today’s lineup against the Cardinals, with only CJ Abrams, Luis García Jr. and Keibert Ruiz getting the day off. That will give Dylan Crews a chance to lead off. Davey Martinez is also trying out Josh Bell in the No. 3 spot in front of Nathaniel Lowe. That’s an arrangement he said we could see sometimes this season against lefties, which explains why we’re seeing it today against St. Louis veteran Steven Matz.

Jake Irvin gets the ball for his fifth start of the spring, and as was the case last year the right-hander has been outstanding down here. Irvin sports a 0.84 ERA and 1.125 WHIP over 10 2/3 innings, though strangely he has walked six while striking out only five. Look for him to try to reach the sixth inning today, provided he can keep his pitch count below triple digits.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: MLB.com (Cardinals’ feed)
Weather: Clear, 73 degrees, wind 14 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
3B Paul DeJong
2B José Tena
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez
C Andrew Knizner

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals signed Amed Rosario this winter to be their utility infielder. The veteran figures to get starts at second base if Davey Martinez wants to give Luis Garcia Jr. the day off, third base if Martinez wants to give Paul DeJong the day off and perhaps even shortstop if Martinez wants to give CJ Abrams the day off.

Martinez also likes that Rosario can play the outfield, something he did 26 times last season for the Rays and Reds. Which is why he had him starting in left field Tuesday night for the Nats’ exhibition game against the Astros.

“Some of these guys, I want to see them play multiple positions, in case in-game something does happen, we know he can do it,” Martinez said. “I don’t want to spring it on him. When we signed him, we talked to him about playing multiple positions. This is just part of getting him out there in spring before we leave, and getting him accustomed to playing some left field.”

With James Wood, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews unlikely to get many days off, and with Alex Call already more than capable of filling in for any of them, there probably won’t be much need for Rosario to appear in the outfield this season.

But the Nationals always want to make sure they’re covered just in case. And they wouldn’t want to throw Rosario to the wolves with no practice, so they figured it was worth it to give him at least one start in left this spring.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams walked off the mound at the end of the fifth inning and stopped to chat with pitching coach Jim Hickey at the dugout steps. He had thrown 87 pitches, completed five solid frames and easily could’ve called it a night.

Indeed, this is usually the point when Williams’ nights did end last season, even when he pitched exceptionally well.

But during that conversation, Williams and Hickey agreed the right-hander could re-take the mound for the bottom of the sixth, just to face one more batter. Which Williams did, adding four more pitches to his total before finally departing for good.

“Felt great,” he said after the Nats’ 4-3 exhibition win over the Astros. “We wanted to get six ups and get as close to 90-95 pitches as we could. And we checked those boxes.”

Williams topped the 90-pitch mark only three times in his 13 regular season starts in 2024, and he reached the sixth inning only five times all year. Not because of ineffectiveness, but because of concern his effectiveness would wane if he went any deeper.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals won’t be carrying a Rule 5 draftee on their roster this season.

The club returned Evan Reifert to the Rays earlier today, conceding the struggling reliever wasn’t going to be able to not only crack the Opening Day roster but remain there the entire year. He now heads back to Tampa Bay, which left him unprotected over the winter but now gets him back as a minor leaguer.

The Nats hoped Reifert’s swing-and-miss stuff – he struck out 14.9 batters per nine innings in four seasons in the Rays system – would translate to the big league level and make him a worthy choice for the Opening Day bullpen. But the right-hander struggled mightily with command from the start of spring training, walking 12 batters in only 6 1/3 innings, and never found it.

“His stuff is really good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He just wasn’t able to find the zone consistently. We were hoping other things might have happened. Tampa took him back.”

The Nationals initially paid $100,000 to selected Reifert away from the Rays in December’s Rule 5 Draft. They’ll now get $50,000 back after letting him go. Had Tampa Bay turned him down, the 28 other clubs would have had a chance to claim him off waivers but inherit his Rule 5 status and thus keep him on their major league roster the entire season.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Spring training is usually held in the mornings and afternoons, but the Nationals are about to experience a bunch of baseball under the lights during this final week of camp. Three of their next four games are night games, beginning this evening against the Astros at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

The lineup includes several regulars, but it also includes several projected members of the Opening Day bench, who need to get used to their upcoming roles as well. Some of those roles are varied, and that’s true for Amed Rosario, who primarily will be the backup infielder this season but also has the ability to play the outfield. With that in mind, the veteran is starting in left field tonight.

Trevor Williams, meanwhile, gets the start for the Nats. The veteran right-hander is assured a spot in the Opening Day rotation, and tonight he’ll get a good test against a Houston lineup that features Jose Altuve (starting in left field himself) in the leadoff position.

You can watch this one live on MASN, so be sure to tune in at 6 p.m.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 980 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 73 degrees, wind 14 mph in from left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Brad Lord sits in the Nationals’ spring training clubhouse where you’d expect a non-roster invitee in his first big league camp to sit. That area of the room always includes the first group of players sent down to minor league camp, the guys who may have a future in the organization but not yet.

And sure enough, all the guys around him when camp opened are long gone, having relocated to the minor league clubhouse at the other end of the building. Leaving only Lord among a sea of empty lockers, the rest of the pitchers well to his right, the remaining catchers well to his left in their own designated corner.

“It still feels like pretty surreal, I guess,” the 25-year-old right-hander said. “It was like an honor getting invited to big league camp, and I’ve really enjoyed my time. It’s been a lot of fun.”

It’s not over yet. With five days to go before the team heads north, Lord is still here. And increasingly it looks like he’s got a real shot at making the Opening Day roster, not as a starter but as a reliever.

“His stuff plays,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m not saying he’s not going to revert back to a starter, but he’s done really well in spring training doing what he’s done. We’ll see. We’ve still got a little less than a week down here.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – There was no surprise meeting in the manager’s office, no secretly taped video spread via the team’s social media account. When Davey Martinez decided MacKenzie Gore would start Opening Day, the Nationals manager simply approached the left-hander in the clubhouse and gave him the news.

“By the way, you’re pitching Opening Day,” Martinez told him. “Good luck.”

“OK, thank you,” Gore replied.

“Alright, buddy. Let’s go. We follow your lead.”

The decision, which was officially announced today, wasn’t a huge surprise. Gore was the Nationals’ best pitcher last season, going 10-12 with a 3.90 ERA and 181 strikeouts (numbers that hadn’t previously been reached by one of the club’s starters since 2019). He was acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. The idea all along was that he would ascend to the ace role for this franchise.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals further trimmed their spring training roster with four cuts before today’s game, but they’re holding off on their toughest decisions for now.

Today’s moves – second baseman Darren Baker was optioned to Triple-A Rochester, with outfielder Daylen Lile, first baseman Yohandy Morales and infielder Cayden Wallace reassigned to minor league camp – weren’t unexpected. Baker is the only one of the group with any major league experience, and none was a serious threat to make the Opening Day roster.

The Nationals still have 41 healthy players in big league camp, so there are 15 more cuts that must take place in the next 10 days. The toughest calls that are likely to go down to the wire:

* Riley Adams, Drew Millas or non-roster invite Andrew Knizner for the backup catcher’s job.

* José Tena, Juan Yepez, Nasim Nuñez, Trey Lipscomb, Robert Hassell III, Andrew Pinckney or Brady House for the final spot on the bench, with the first three the true candidates at this point and the others needing more seasoning in the minors.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We are 10 days away from Opening Day. And we perhaps are looking at the Nationals’ Opening Day lineup today.

Maybe the order will be a little different, with Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell maybe switching places, but these are almost certainly the nine guys who will take the field March 27 against the Phillies. It’s not a perfect lineup, by any stretch. But on paper it sure looks a lot more fearsome and a lot deeper than it typically did last season, right?

We also know that the guy on the mound this afternoon will be the guy on the mound for Game 1. Davey Martinez officially named MacKenzie Gore his Opening Day starter this morning. It’s not a huge surprise, but it is a significant development for the young lefty, who is now being tasked with leading the staff (ideally for years to come).

In a twist of fate, the Nationals today will be facing a former member of their staff: Erick Fedde. The now-veteran right-hander has been on quite a journey the last few years, from D.C. to South Korea to the South Side of Chicago and now to St. Louis. He’s one of the Cardinals’ most trusted starters at this point, quite the development in his career timeline.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: Nationals.com, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees, wind 17 mph left field to right field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Alex Clemmey is only 19. He has one year of professional experience. He has yet to reach high Single-A. He’s spent his first spring training in the Nationals organization pitching on the back fields in front of a smattering of onlookers.

So while the environment inside CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches Sunday evening was hardly the equivalent of a major league ballpark – or even a Triple-A park on fireworks night, for that matter – the Spring Breakout game still did represent a big step up for the young left-hander.

How did Clemmey handle his starting assignment for the Nats’ team of top prospects against their counterparts from the Mets?

“Just stayed as calm and poised as possible, go out there compete and have fun,” he said. “That’s what I did.”

He did it quite well. Over the course of three sharp innings during an eventual 5-1 loss, Clemmey struck out six batters with an impressive 1-2 punch: a 97-mph fastball and a high-80s slider that accounted for three of the strikeouts.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The frustration was palpable in Michael Soroka’s body language and in his words. This may have been one spring training start from a veteran with a guaranteed spot in the Nationals’ Opening Day rotation, but it wasn’t at all what Soroka had in mind when he took the mound this afternoon.

“I just couldn’t make an adjustment,” the right-hander said after four laborious innings during an 11-5 loss to the Rays. “I didn’t make it early enough. I didn’t find it until it was too late. That’s unacceptable.”

Soroka’s nightmare afternoon started from the get-go. He walked the first three batters he faced, the last of them on four pitches to warrant a mound visit from pitching coach Jim Hickey.

He managed to right his ship enough to get out of the inning with two runs across, but the struggles continued throughout his outing. He finished with six walks surrendered, a far cry from the one free pass he issued in his previous two Grapefruit League starts combined.

The problem: Mechanics. Soroka knew he was off, but he simply couldn’t figure out how to get his body and arm back on track as the start progressed. That, more than anything, is what bothered him.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – There’s another game to play this afternoon. After the Nationals' and Rays’ big leaguers met in an official Grapefruit League contest, the Nats' and Mets’ top prospects now meet in this year’s Spring Breakout game. (OK, the Nationals already played a breakout game Friday against the Astros, but I was with the major league club in North Port that day, so it doesn’t count.)

Because a lot of Nats top prospects are already in big league camp, the breakout roster features some younger kids and some lesser-known names. But there’s still plenty to be interested in. Seaver King, the 2024 first-round pick, is leading off and playing shortstop. Elijah Green, the 2022 first-round pick, is batting third and starting in center field. Caleb Lomavita, the 2024 sandwich pick acquired in the Hunter Harvey trade, is batting fifth and catching.

On the mound, it’s Alex Clemmey, the promising young lefty acquired last summer from the Guardians in the Lane Thomas trade. Clemmey is only 19, and he has yet to pitch above low Single-A Fredericksburg, but he’s got a live arm and has impressed club officials since joining the organization.

You can watch today’s breakout game on MASN, so be sure to check it out and get perhaps your first look at the Nationals of the future.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS PROSPECTS vs. NEW YORK METS PROSPECTS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 5:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.yv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Slight chance of storms, 83 degrees, wind 19 mph out to left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Shinnosuke Ogasawara will get one last shot to face major league hitters in a spring training before the Nationals make a final decision on the identity of their No. 5 starter to begin the season.

Ogasawara, who has struggled to date in his first camp since signing with the Nats from Japan, was moved to a back field to start a minor league game Saturday while Mitchell Parker took the mound inside CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches to face the Mets.

Parker proceeded to put together his second straight solid outing, allowing one run over five innings despite four walks on 76 pitches. Ogasawara, meanwhile, threw 53 pitches over five innings in the minor league game, with club officials noting progress from the left-hander compared to his four Grapefruit League starts.

With only one week left before the team heads north, there’s only one start day left for both Parker and Ogasawara in Florida. Though Parker seems to have taken the lead in the competition, the Nationals will give Thursday’s start against the Mets to Ogasawara and have Parker face minor leaguers this time.

“Shinno threw over there, got some good work in, so we wanted to see him pitch in a big league game,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And Parker pitched really well. He’s going to go down there, and we’re going to try to stretch him into about 85 pitches. But we can control his workload.”