KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Hello everybody, and a pleasant good morning to you from central Florida. Glad to be back down here - after a short break - for the duration of the spring. Thanks to Pete Kerzel for holding down the fort in my absence.
When last we spoke, the Nationals were only 2 1/2 weeks into camp, having played only four Grapefruit League games. Since then, they have begun to trim their roster, stretch out their starting pitchers and worked everyone into the lineup (including guys like...
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Nationals 8, Tigers 4
Recap: Stephen Strasburg struck out five over two innings in his first spring training start, but did give up a two-run homer to Bryan Holaday. Reliever A.J. Cole also was victimized by a blast from Holaday, who is making a bid for early Grapefruit League MVP honors (he's hitting .750 with three homers and eight RBIs so far). Ben Revere hit a two-run homer to right field for the Nationals, showing that he can occasionally flash some pop to go...
VIERA, Fla. - Major League Baseball Players Association chief Tony Clark said it was "disheartening" to watch Ian Desmond's unemployment saga play out this winter and into the start of spring training and suggested the sport's qualifying offer system that contributed to it would be a point of emphasis during his coming bargaining negotiations with the league.
In town this morning for the union's annual spring meeting with Nationals players, Clark spoke glowingly about Desmond and was...
VIERA, Fla. - The sight of Jordan Zimmermann taking the mound at Space Coast Stadium isn't particularly jarring. The sight of Jordan Zimmermann taking the mound at Space Coast Stadium wearing an old English D on his cap, however, is going to be quite jarring.
In a surprising twist of fate, Zimmermann will be making his Tigers debut this afternoon against the organization he departed after nine seasons (the last six in the major leagues). Former Nationals teammates say they'll be happy to see...
VIERA, Fla. - Last week's Saturday Q&A was such a hit, it seems like this might just have to turn into a recurring thing around here. Not sure I can promise this will happen every single Saturday all season long, but let's definitely go for Round 2 this morning.
It's been quite an interesting spring so far here in Viera. Dusty Baker is making his imprint on the Nationals. Several young players are making early statements about their value to the franchise, not only in the long-term but...
JUPITER, Fla. - Lucas Giolito had plenty of time to think about this, his first appearance against a major league club in a spring training game. Way more time than usual.
A starter throughout his amateur and now brief professional career, the 21-year-old found himself sitting nervously in the right field bullpen at Roger Dean Stadium this afternoon for 4 1/2 long innings before it was his turn to take the mound. Such is life for a young prospect in his first big league camp, with veterans Gio...
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Marlins 5, Nationals 4
Recap: Gio Gonzalez was effective in his spring debut, tossing two scoreless innings while allowing two singles. Bronson Arroyo, on the other hand, looked quite rusty in his first game appearance since June 2014, after which he needed Tommy John surgery. The 39-year-old right-hander gave up two runs on four hits and two walks during his two innings of relief, with a fastball that registered in the low-to-mid 80s. Contrast that with Lucas...
JUPITER, Fla. - Some pregame notes to whet your appetite before the Nationals and Marlins get going here at Roger Dean Stadium ...
* Trea Turner is in the lineup today, starting at second base. We've already seen him at shortstop early this spring. I asked Dusty Baker if he wants to see him play both positions.
"I talked to him about it. I talked to other people about it. I just want to see him play," Baker said. "The fact he can play short and second, which a lot of people can't,...
JUPITER, Fla. - Early spring training games typically are more about pitching than hitting, and that may apply even more this afternoon than usual when the Nationals face the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. They'll be sending three prominent starting pitchers to the mound in this game, each of them for two innings: Gio Gonzalez, Bronson Arroyo and Lucas Giolito.
Gonzalez has nothing really to prove this spring; he simply needs to get himself prepared for the regular season. But this is a very...
VIERA, Fla. - Daniel Murphy knew he'd be the center of attention today in the Nationals' spring home opener. Not because this was his first game appearance with his new team, but because it just happened to come against his old team.
Murphy seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the attention he received, especially from the more than dozen Mets reporters who crowded around him outside the Nats clubhouse after he departed the game. Ultimately, Murphy felt most at ease on the field, especially...
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Nationals 9, Mets 4
Recap: The first of at least 25 head-to-head meetings in 2016 (six in spring training, 19 in the regular season) between these National League East rivals didn't have near the importance that future showdowns likely will, but the Nationals happily put together a quality performance all around to thump the defending division champs. Their new-look lineup burst out of the gates for four runs in the bottom of the first against right-hander Rafael...
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals are expanding the netting behind the plate at their ballpark this season in response to Major League Baseball's recent push for better fan safety.
The netting at Nationals Park, which previously sat between the two dugouts, now will extend to the far end of each dugout.
"In December, Major League Baseball released new guidelines regarding field netting," said Jennifer Giglio, Nationals vice president of communications. "An internal review of those guidelines led...
VIERA, Fla. - Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos left camp this morning and returned to Washington, D.C., for LASIK eye surgery in an attempt to improve his vision.
Ramos didn't suffer from any injury or ailment, manager Dusty Baker said. The problem simply was discovered during the annual eye exam all players are given as part of their spring training physical.
"They just discovered it," Baker said. "That's the reason why they didn't do it earlier, when you do the exams and all that stuff....
VIERA, Fla. - There will be far more at stake when the Nationals and Mets for the first time in the regular season in May (and each time through September, perhaps beyond), but any time these two rivals get together on the diamond, it's worth a little extra attention. After the way things played out last year, this has become by far the best current rivalry in the National League East.
After a 6-2 victory over the Rays in Port Charlotte yesterday, the Nationals get to host New York in their...
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Dusty Baker is undefeated as Nationals manager.
OK, so it was only the Grapefruit League opener. And it came in a game played almost exclusively by reserves and prospects. And it won't show up anywhere on Baker's career managerial record.
But the Nats put together a solid all-around effort in defeating the Rays 6-2 at Charlotte Sports Park, rewarding their new skipper in his return to the dugout after a two-year hiatus. So, Dusty, was it just like riding a bike?
"Aw, I...
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Nationals 6, Rays 2
Recap: The Nationals didn't bring any regular starting position players on the 3 1/2-hour bus ride to Port Charlotte, but they still acquitted themselves well in their Grapefruit League opener, thanks to solid pitching and one big blast. Tanner Roark was sharp during a scoreless two-inning start, striking out the final three batters he faced. Joe Ross labored some out of the bullpen, but the two runs he allowed in two innings were unearned. The...
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Dusty Baker hadn't given very much thought to the subject because he's been too busy getting to know a 62-man spring training roster and everything else involved in managing a new ballclub, including a 3 1/2-hour bus ride from Viera that departed at 7 a.m.
But when Baker did arrive at Charlotte Sports Park, stepped onto the field and into the visitors dugout, his return to baseball after a two-year absence moved a step closer to reality. There was a game to manage...
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla - After five long months, the Nationals today will take the field and play another team in an actual (exhibition) baseball game. No, it's not opening day, but it is the Grapefruit League opener, and that counts for something, right?
Game 1 of 31 total exhibitions to be played over the next month in Florida and Washington takes place clear on the other side of the state from the Nationals' home base. This is their first-ever trip to Rays camp, and all it takes for them to...
VIERA, Fla - This was something of a historic day here: the final workout for the Nationals at the practice fields down the street from Space Coast Stadium. From here on out, all workouts will take place inside the ballpark, prior to Grapefruit League games. And, of course, next spring the Nats will be opening their new shared complex with the Astros in West Palm Beach. (At least, that's what everyone hopes and assumes will happen.)
For all the flaws this complex and this location have...
VIERA, Fla - There comes a point every spring where the monotony of workouts really sets in, when pitchers' fielding practice and defensive fundamentals and pick-off drills just don't cut it anymore.
That point came today, the final day of workouts before Grapefruit League play commences.
Recognizing this, Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux figured out a way to get his players the work they needed while at the same time breaking up the monotony with a fun contest: Wiffle ball.
Yes, Wiffle...