Luis García Jr. was the Nationals’ surprise No. 3 hitter on Opening Day. Perhaps more surprising is the fact he’s not even in the lineup for Game No. 2.

With left-hander Jesús Luzardo on the mound for the Phillies, García is on the bench this afternoon, with Amed Rosario instead starting at second base and batting fifth.

“It’s early,” manager Davey Martinez explained. “I want to try to get everybody in there, try to get some at-bats to some of these guys. And the reason why we signed Rosario is because he hits lefties really well. So we’ll give him some at-bats today.

García often sat last season against lefties, though he started to get more opportunities later during his breakthrough season. Even so, the 24-year-old was far more effective against right-handers (.796 OPS) than lefties (.641).

Rosario, on the other hand, owns a career .798 OPS vs. left-handers, not to mention a .298 batting average. The Nationals signed the 29-year-old utilityman to a major league deal over the winter, envisioning him as a part-time second baseman who can also play third base, shortstop and the outfield if needed.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals have a long day ahead, with a split-squad, day-night, two-city doubleheader coming up against the Marlins. Before we get to that, though, a look back at some other noteworthy events from Sunday’s 7-6 loss to the Mets in Port St. Lucie …

* Luis Garcia Jr. had his best offensive day of the spring, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. In the process, he raised his Grapefruit League batting average to .400, his OPS to 1.167.

Garcia did this despite striking out in his first at-bat, whiffing at a changeup from Clay Holmes. (To be fair, Holmes was doing that to everyone, totaling eight strikeouts in only 3 2/3 innings.)

Garcia wound up being the only National to record a hit off Holmes, coming back in the top of the fourth to blast a double to the gap in right-center, a 106-mph laser off a first-pitch sweeper from the New York right-hander.

Two innings later, Garcia turned on an inside cutter from reliever Grant Hartwig and ripped a sharp single through the right side of the infield, the ball leaving his bat at 104.8 mph. And one inning after that, he recorded the Nats’ first RBI of the afternoon with another sharp single to right, this one a 102.7 mph shot off a slider from left-hander Genesis Cabrera.

JUPITER, Fla. – Today’s Grapefruit League matchup between the Nationals and Marlins started off slow. In fact, it started late before it started off slow.

After a 23-minute rain delay, the first three innings seemed to drag along with nothing really of note happening. James Wood was playing left field for the first time since dealing with right quad tendinitis, but he only had one ball hit toward him.

A slow-paced, actionless game is not uncommon during spring training.

Then the action picked up real fast and all of a sudden the game – which resulted in an 8-7 Nationals victory – was quite interesting. The batters started taking advantage of the 20-plus mph wind gusts out to left-center field, as opposed to the incoming winds yesterday in West Palm Beach.

Through the first three innings, the only things of note were Andrew Pinckney’s strong throw from right field for an out at home, and Wood and Robert Hassell III winning two Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) challenges against former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara.

JUPITER, Fla. – The time has come for James Wood to finally return to the outfield after dealing with right quad tendinitis over the first few weeks of Nationals spring training.

Wood will play four or five innings in left field while batting second behind leadoff man CJ Abrams in this afternoon’s game against the Marlins in Jupiter. The big outfielder has appeared in two games as the designated hitter, going 2-for-6 with one run, one walk and one strikeout, and faces a tough challenge today in Miami starter Sandy Alcantara.

“He's gonna probably play about four or five innings out there,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “We'll see how it goes, but he played well yesterday. He looked good. He says he's ready to go, so we'll get him out there and get him some regular reps out in the field.”

Wood took part in the Nationals’ fly ball drills yesterday and then played a couple of innings in the outfield during a simulated intrasquad game on the back fields at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. The 22-year-old reported that he was fine afterwards and told his manager he’s ready to return to the field in an actual Grapefruit League game.

“I think everything went well yesterday and he felt good,” Martinez said. “He's been itching to get back out there. So we'll get him going.

JUPITER, Fla. – This afternoon the Nationals will make their first of back-to-back trips to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium over the next two days. They’ll play the Marlins in their first 15-minute trip up the road from their home in West Palm Beach.

We’ve landed on another multiple-starter day as Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Mitchell Parker are both scheduled to pitch against the Fish. The plan is for each left-hander to get up to 40 pitches and about three innings.

Ogasawara had a tough time during his last outing against the Mets’ A lineup. He completed 1 ⅔ innings with four hits, four runs (two earned), one walk and two strikeouts on 32 pitches, 24 strikes. He also served up a two-run home run to Juan Soto. But he should have a better time against this Marlins squad that is projected to finish last in the National League East.

Parker was charged with five hits, a double, two runs and two strikeouts in 2 ⅓ innings on 42 pitches, 31 strikes, against the Mets on Friday. He did, however, strike out Soto on a high fastball.

The lineup – which includes regulars James Wood, making his first appearance in the outfield, and Luis García Jr. – will have a tough challenge to start this one. Former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara makes his third start of the spring. The right-hander has yet to give up a run or walk over three innings, recording four strikeouts and allowing only three hits. Alcantara missed all of last season while recovering from October 2023 Tommy John surgery.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals were back to work on the back fields at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches after Monday’s true off-day. No one reported to the complex yesterday. Everyone returned today.

That included Luis García Jr., who was a late scratch from Saturday’s nightcap of a split-squad doubleheader with an illness that included a throat issue and fever. The second baseman said he was feeling better in the clubhouse this morning. Manager Davey Martinez said García will be back to baseball activity today.

That activity will take place on the back fields while the Nats host a split-squad Cardinals team inside the stadium for today’s Grapefruit League action (which will also be live on MASN at 1 p.m.). The Nats will play a simulated intrasquad game on the back fields for those who aren’t playing against the Cards.

“He's going to do all baseball activity,” the skipper said of García during his pregame media session. “He's going to go back there and play in that game. And then if he feels good, he'll be back in there tomorrow.”

James Wood will also play on the back fields, which is a significant development because he will be playing a few “innings” in the outfield for the first time since reporting to camp with right quad tendinitis. The big outfielder has appeared in two games as the designated hitter, going 2-for-6 with one run, one walk and one strikeout.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After some initial confusion this morning, James Wood will return to the Nationals lineup as the designated hitter for this afternoon’s spring training game against the Astros.

Manager Davey Martinez said after Wood’s spring debut Friday that the towering outfielder would DH again today. But when the Nats lineup was initially submitted, it did not include Wood and instead had Josh Bell batting fourth as the designated hitter.

A brief moment of panic and concern was quickly quashed by Martinez in his pregame media session. The error was caused by the skipper’s habit of filling out lineups days in advance and not knowing Wood’s availability while doing so earlier this week.

There were no setbacks or anything of the sort. All is well.

“He's feeling good,” Martinez said of Wood, who has been dealing with right quad tendinitis. “Depending on how long the game goes, we'll hope to get him three at-bats again. Then we'll see how he's doing.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If yesterday’s split-squad doubleheader wasn’t enough, we’re right back for more baseball this afternoon!

Trevor Williams gets the ball for his second start of spring this afternoon against the Astros. The veteran right-hander was the first Nationals starter to go multiple innings in his first outing, tossing 23 pitches, 16 strikes, Tuesday against the Marlins.

Williams had a quick first inning with only seven pitches against the Fish, but he ran into some trouble in the second, serving up a two-run home run. He wasn’t as concerned with that longball as he was proud of his ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes. But he is only two years removed from leading the National League in home runs allowed, so keeping the ball in the yard would be welcomed today, especially against a Houston lineup filled with regulars.

James Wood (right quad tendinitis) is not in the lineup as the designated hitter as manager Davey Martinez said he would. Wood had the day off yesterday following his spring debut on Friday, in which he went 1-for-2 with a walk in three plate appearances against the Mets. And the Nats will again be without Luis García Jr., who is not in the lineup after being scratched from last night’s game with an illness. (Although, he probably wasn’t scheduled to play today anyway).

The Nats bats will have their work cut out for them against Astros starter Ronel Blanco (no relation to yours truly). But the Nats, too, have a number of other regulars playing this afternoon, hopefully making for an entertaining spring training game.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – MacKenzie Gore entered spring training as the presumed Opening Day starter for the Nationals. Patrick Corbin is no longer here and Josiah Gray is going to miss at least the first half of the season due to injury.

So the 26-year-old left-hander with electric, albeit inconsistent stuff is a likely choice to take the ball for the regular season opener against the Phillies.

First, he had to make the first of his handful of Grapefruit League starts Saturday in a 7-0 win over the Marlins at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Gore was originally scheduled to start last weekend’s spring opener, but his debut was pushed back so he could build up and go multiple innings against an actual opponent.

“Yeah, it was good,” Gore said after his outing. “It was good to finally get back out here. So yeah, I felt good.”

Gore completed three shutout innings with two hits, one walk, four strikeouts and one wild pitch. The free pass came against the Marlins’ first batter of the game, Xavier Edwards, and Gore issued first-pitch balls to three other batters over the course of the night as well. But once the southpaw settled in, he looked like his usual self getting some ugly swings against some nasty pitches.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As he frequently heaped praise upon the majority of the players on his roster last spring, Davey Martinez also found himself regularly criticizing one guy in particular. Luis García Jr. seemed to be on the hot seat throughout camp, hearing it from his manager whenever he misplayed a ball at second base or was thrown out on the bases.

To be clear, García did commit more of those kinds of infractions than most. But Martinez’s response wasn’t an attempt to boost the young player’s spirits, but rather to put added pressure on him with not-so-veiled suggestions his job was in jeopardy.

“That can’t happen,” Martinez said at one point in March 2024 after a series of mistakes by García. “We talked about that with him. We’ve got to be beyond that now with him. I mean, like I said, he’s not a rookie. He’s been in this league now for a while. Those things cannot happen.”

Looking back on it all now, one year later, both manager and player can smile and acknowledge how much has changed. García took the criticism to heart and put together the breakthrough season the Nationals long believed he had in him. And Martinez can take some solace in knowing his tough-love approach seems to have worked as he hoped it would.

“I just really felt that it was the right moment,” the manager said this week. “I had him now for over four years. He was very young, so we tried to groom him to be the everyday second baseman. And last year, I knew the talent was there. I always told him: ‘You can hit. You just give away too many at-bats. You can play second base. You’re just not ready to play it every pitch.’ We talked a lot with him about being fundamentally ready, to be engaged every single pitch. …

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two days into full-squad workouts, more than a few observers have noticed a crispness to the Nationals’ infield defense that wasn’t always there last year.

With middle infielders CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. returning, now joined on the corners by Nathaniel Lowe and Paul DeJong, the unit as a whole looks sharper than it did last season.

“We’ve got to catch the baseball. We talk about it all the time,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We were really good in the beginning, and toward the second half we were not good at all. We’ve got to be consistent, and I think with the guys we brought in … they’re going to help our young guys.”

Lowe takes over at first base, already the proud owner of a Gold Glove Award from 2023 when he was with the Rangers. DeJong, just signed this week, doesn’t look inexperienced at third base, even though he only moved there from shortstop in the middle of the 2024 season.

Abrams is still working on his fielding mechanics and can look a bit stiff at times, but the organization believes the All-Star shortstop is primed to make significant strides after his second half struggles last season.

There are 57 players set to report to Nationals spring training in the next week-plus, 28 of them position players, 29 of them pitchers. That number is a little smaller than in some previous years, but it probably underscores the likelihood of several more free agent signings during these final days of the offseason, or even during the first few weeks of camp.

For now, though, this is your team. Only 26 of them will head north at the end of March and make the Opening Day roster. Obviously, some of them are in far better position to make the club than others, but everyone will get a chance to play in front of the big league coaching staff and front office in West Palm Beach, Fla., and make a case for himself.

You know most of these guys, but you probably don’t know all of them. So with that in mind, let’s run through the entire camp roster, with some quick thoughts on each entering the spring. We’ll do position players today, then pitchers tomorrow …

CJ ABRAMS, SS
The 2024 All-Star may have biggest spotlight on him of anyone in camp after his surprise, disciplinary demotion in late September. First, he needs to satisfactorily address the situation for the first time, then he needs to prove he can play at an All-Star level the entire season.

RILEY ADAMS, C
The Nationals tendered him a guaranteed contract for $850,000 after a rough 2024 season, but he still needs to earn the No. 2 catching job over Drew Millas and Andrew Knizner. He’s out of options, so the team would have to DFA him and eat his salary if he doesn’t make the roster.

It’s arbitration deadline day across Major League Baseball, the day when hundreds of players either agree with their clubs on 2025 salaries or file for arbitration.

The decisions made today don’t change the contractual status of any player. All are already under club control and don’t have the ability to leave. Teams can’t decide now to release them, having already announced plans to tender them contracts in November. The only thing determined today (or later, if cases go to arbitration) is the players’ salary figures for the upcoming season.

And yet, the way this day proceeds often tells us a lot about the relationship between players and teams, and whether the two sides value each other in a comparable way or not.

Who’s impacted by this deadline? It’s anyone with at least three years but fewer than six years of big league service time, plus the top 22 percent of players with at least two years of service time (the so-called “Super-2” players).

The Nationals entered the offseason with nine arbitration-eligible players: Kyle Finnegan, Luis Garcia Jr., Josiah Gray, Derek Law, MacKenzie Gore, Riley Adams, Ildemaro Vargas, Tanner Rainey and Mason Thompson. Finnegan and Rainey, however, were non-tendered, and Vargas was cut loose as well, bringing the number down to six.

The notion of scribbling out potential lineups for the 2025 Nationals has seemed pointless most of the offseason, because there were too many vacancies still to fill, vacancies in prime spots in the batting order.

It may still be too early to attempt this exercise, because more moves are possible between now and the first day of spring training, especially as it pertains to third base. But the recent additions of Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell did fill the two most significant holes in the lineup, so it’s not impossible to start thinking about Davey Martinez’s plan for his regular one through nine.

There’s no perfect order to arrange the current group, whether due to a lack of track record for some, a lack of recent power for others and an excess of left-handed hitters who are going to have to be stacked together by default. But here’s one possible look Martinez could consider for Opening Day against the Phillies …

1. SS CJ Abrams (L)
2. RF Dylan Crews (R)
3. LF James Wood (L)
4. 1B Nathaniel Lowe (L)
5. DH Josh Bell (S)
6. 2B Luis Garcia Jr. (L)
7. C Keibert Ruiz (S)
8. 3B Jose Tena (L)
9. CF Jacob Young (R)

The biggest question Martinez faces is at the top of his lineup. The Abrams-Crews-Wood trio is likely to occupy the top three slots, but the order isn’t necessarily a sure thing.

We spend most of our time around here asking what the Nationals are going to do about their most glaring roster needs. Are they going to sign a big-name slugger to play first base? Are they going to spend money on a proven starting pitcher? Are they going to bolster a now-depleted bullpen with experienced late-inning arms?

So far, we don’t have the answers to any of those questions. The Nats have not yet acquired a major league player this offseason, aside from reliever Evan Reifert in last week’s Rule 5 Draft. Their most glaring holes remain holes to this point.

Let’s start this week off, though, looking at the roster in an entirely different way. We know what the Nationals need. Which means we also should know what they already have. It’s worth remembering where around the field they already appear to be set, because it’s actually a majority of the positions on the team.

The Nats have a middle infield, no questions there. CJ Abrams, despite his end-of-season demotion, is the everyday shortstop, coming off an All-Star year that showcased his elite combination of skills. Yes, he needs to prove he can put those skills together on a more consistent basis over a six-month season. But the team remains fully committed to him, of that there appears to be no doubt.

They’re also fully committed to Luis Garcia Jr., who after a spring full of tough love finally blossomed into the second baseman they always believed him to be. Garcia was the most pleasant development of the 2024 season, and the expectation will be for more of the same, if not even more improvement from him in 2025.

OK, maybe this hasn’t been as great a year as many probably hoped it would be. There’s still plenty to be thankful for today, though, right?

Of course there is. Even as it pertains to baseball, which may not be back to the level we’d all prefer but undoubtedly is trending in the right direction at last, with the ultimate payoff perhaps not as far off as you’d think.

So before you put the turkey in the oven and sit down to watch what on paper looks like three pretty blah football games, let’s run through everything the Nationals are thankful for on this day …

KEIBERT RUIZ
The opportunity to bounce back from a poor season that in some circumstances could have cost him his job, but won’t here because of the contract extension he signed in 2023.

LUIS GARCIA JR.
Just enough of a display of faith from his manager and general manager to get one last shot to realize his potential this year, which he most definitely did.

As the dust settled from Friday night’s decision by the Nationals not to tender contracts to Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey, a few follow-up thoughts came to mind.

One, they barely have any veterans on the roster anymore, with 24-year-old Luis Garcia Jr. (who debuted in August 2020) suddenly the most tenured player on the team.

Two, they have several holes to fill in their bullpen now, most importantly identifying a new closer.

Three, they’ve trimmed their financial commitments for 2025 and beyond down to an absolute minimum at this point.

Not that Finnegan had some kind of exorbitant contract, but the salary he would’ve commanded through the arbitration process this winter (likely between $8 million and $9 million) would’ve made him the highest paid player on the current roster.

The Nationals made a flurry of transactions to clear up space on their 40-man roster this evening, parting ways with a couple of well-known veterans in the process.

Joey Meneses and Ildemaro Vargas both cleared outright waivers and chose to become free agents rather than remain in the organization. The same was true of Triple-A right-hander Michael Rucker, who declared for free agency after clearing waivers. Pitcher Thaddeus Ward, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers by the Orioles and has thus seen his time with the Nats come to an end.

Those moves, along with the activation of four players off the 60-day injured list (Joan Adon, Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson) wrapped up an eventful first official day of the offseason, leaving the Nationals with 36 players on their 40-man roster as they prepare for what could be a far more active winter than they’ve experienced since embarking on their franchise rebuild in 2021.

The decision to part ways with Meneses and Vargas, while somewhat surprising in the latter’s case, underscores the organization’s desire to move on from veterans who helped the team get through these recent lean years and perhaps signals an intention to more aggressively attempt to field a winner in 2025.

Meneses, 32, became one of the unexpected cult heroes of the rebuild when the career minor leaguer was called up from Triple-A on the same day superstar Juan Soto was traded to the Padres. He proceeded to homer in his major league debut and finished with 13 home runs and a .930 OPS in 56 games to close out the 2022 season. He remained a productive hitter in 2023, though experienced a drop in power and finished those same 13 homers and a .722 OPS despite playing in three times as many games.

PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCÍA JR.

Age on Opening Day 2025: 24

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

MLB service time: 3 years, 142 days

2024 salary: $1.95 million

The 2024 Nationals wound up being a team of contradictions. They unquestionably showed real signs of progress from a year ago, especially in the pitching department. And yet when you look at the final standings, you’ll find a 71-91 record that looks identical to their 71-91 mark from 2023.

They wound up in this familiar situation after taking a 6-3 loss to the Phillies this afternoon in their season finale. Having already won the previous two days against the division champs, the Nats dug themselves into an early hole created by Jake Irvin and couldn’t quite claw all the way back, despite one last-ditch attempt in the bottom of the ninth.

"We made it interesting," manager Davey Martinez sighed. "Testament to the guys. They fought hard all year long. I'm proud of them. Obviously, nobody wants to go home this time of year. You want to keep playing. But the effort was definitely there this year."

There wasn’t as much intensity on display today as there was Friday and Saturday at Nationals Park, where the young home team seemed extra motivated to beat the Phillies and deny them a shot at home-field advantage throughout the postseason. With nothing at stake anymore, this was a more low-key affair, with the Phillies sitting Bryce Harper and pulling Trea Turner early, though the Nats decided to battle one last time.

Loading the bases with no outs in the ninth, they had three shots to win the game with one swing. But Luis García Jr. struck out, James Wood struck out looking and Juan Yepez drove a ball to the wall in left that left everybody holding their breath until Kody Clemens made a leaping catch to end the game.