JUPITER, Fla. - Well, it's been quite a morning already in Nationals camp. The day began with a surprise twist to the club's morning "Circle of Trust" meeting: Coaches Bob Henley and Tim Bogar rode in on camels, yelling out "Hump Day!" and eventually making all the players walk through the tunnel they created to symbolize how the Nationals are trying to get over the proverbial hump this season. This was all concocted by manager Davey Martinez, and I'll have plenty more on all this a...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - With Ryan Zimmerman being held back until the calendar at least reads March, Matt Adams was in position to get a bunch of playing time at first base early this spring. The offseason addition, though, was scratched from yesterday's lineup and is expected to miss a couple more days with a blister that developed on his right foot.
Adams reported the issue yesterday morning and showed the blister to manager Davey Martinez. He was immediately scratched from the lineup and...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The good news: Gio Gonzalez looked a lot like his 2017 version in his first inning of 2018. The bad news: That meant the Nationals left-hander was pitching out of the stretch with runners on base, forced to battle his way out of a jam.
At this point, the Nats know that's simply what they're going to get from Gonzalez, who managed to walk the tightrope all last season and emerge unscathed the vast majority of the time.
"He knows for him it's (important) to avoid that...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Gio Gonzalez pitched out of a jam. Sean Doolittle threw a ton of fastballs during a scoreless inning of relief. Brandon Kintzler struck out two of the four batters he faced.
Change the setting from a lazy February afternoon in Florida to a warm July evening in Washington, and the early innings of today's exhibition game would've looked very much like a typical regular season affair for the Nationals. (Well, except for the Kintzler strikeouts.)
Making his first start of...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Adam Eaton participated fully in pregame workouts with the rest of the Nationals this morning. He did defensive drills in left field. He took batting practice, then live BP off a pitcher. He did everything his teammates did.
So how come he hasn't played in a game yet, nor is apparently on the verge of playing in a game the next few days?
"If I get into a game today, is that going to help us get to opening day? Probably not," Eaton said. "We're going to take it and...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - We haven't seen a lot of the Nationals' regulars during the first four games of the Grapefruit League season, but now we're about to start getting more of them.
Five regulars plus Howie Kendrick (who might as well be a regular) are in the lineup today against the Marlins. That includes Trea Turner (leading off), Matt Wieters (batting second!), Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Michael A. Taylor. And all five of those guys are scheduled to play again tomorrow when the...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Davey Martinez wants his guys to be aggressive on the bases, especially in spring training when the stakes aren't high. But the Nationals have already run themselves into eight outs on the bases in their first four Grapefruit League games.
Isn't that at least some cause for concern?
"That's OK. That's OK," Martinez insisted yesterday following a 2-1 loss to the Braves in Lake Buena Vista. "I'd rather them be aggressive that way and not take any chances. We talked...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The pitching line - one run, four hits, one walk, one strikeout in two innings - made this, in Erick Fedde's own words, a "pretty mediocre outing."
The more important numbers from Fedde's spring training debut, though, might have been 93 to 96. That's what the radar gun at ESPN Wide World of Sports consistently flashed on the Nationals right-hander's fastballs, a significant increase in velocity from the last time we saw him pitch in a game late last...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Victor Robles has played in all four games of the spring so far for the Nationals, and he's done something that made you pause and watch in all four games, further emphasizing his potential star power for this franchise.
Starting in center field and batting second today against the Braves, Robles has been up to his old tricks. He singled in the top of the first, then doubled in the top of the third before getting a bit aggressive on the bases and running into an...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - As they start to line up the members of their rotation for the regular season, the Nationals are left to juggle a few assignments during this early portion of the exhibition slate.
Thus, Tanner Roark (who made his spring debut Saturday against the Marlins in Jupiter) will be back on the mound Wednesday against the Marlins in Jupiter, despite pitching on only three days' rest.
The Nationals mapped it out like this, and Roark (who threw 33 pitches over two innings on...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - And a very pleasant good morning to you from the (self-proclaimed) happiest place on earth. The Nationals used to make a bunch of trips to Disney to play the Braves. Now that they've relocated to West Palm Beach, they're only making the 2 1/2-hour drive up here twice this spring (today and Thursday).
And given how long that trip is, they didn't bring very many players of consequence today. The lineup features Wilmer Difo, Victor Robles and Pedro Severino. The...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - For nearly two weeks, we've heard Nationals catcher Matt Wieters talk about how much better he feels than he did last season. We've heard Davey Martinez talk about how good Wieters looks. And we've heard Kevin Long rave about the changes Wieters has made to his swing.
Which is all nice, except that it was all idle chatter until Wieters actually stepped to the plate in a game and did something to confirm all those positive assessments.
Which is exactly what he did...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Given how much he has been throwing already this spring - including the 60-pitch bullpen session on the first day of camp - a nice, simple, 23-pitch outing today against the Braves must've felt like a breeze to Max Scherzer.
Right?
"No," the Nationals ace said with a laugh. "It's amazing, once you put a real game out there and you put somebody with a different uniform (in the box), everything gets turned up a little bit. So, yeah, I'll be sore tomorrow even though...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Max Scherzer was sharp in his spring debut (except for one pitch). Matt Wieters showed off his new hitting stroke (and his faster wheels). And Shawn Kelley had to be absolutely thrilled with his first appearance since a disastrous 2017.
The Nationals' home opener at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is off to an eventful start, headlined by Scherzer's first outing of 2018.
Scherzer retired six of seven batters faced over two innings, striking out three and throwing...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Given his association with analytics, it's easy to assume Davey Martinez isn't a big proponent of the stolen base. The Cubs stole only 62 bases last season, fourth-fewest in the National League.
Then again, the Cubs didn't have Trea Turner. Which changes the whole ballgame.
Over his last 162 big league games, Turner has swiped 76 bases. Martinez isn't about to tell one of the fastest players in the sport to ease off the gas pedal. Even if he doesn't regularly hit...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The sun is shining, Max Scherzer is on the mound for the Nationals, most of the regulars are in the lineup, and MASN's Bob Carpenter, F.P. Santangelo and Dan Kolko are in the house. What more could you ask for?
Well, there's one more thing you thought you were getting today but actually aren't. Ryan Zimmerman was initially listed as the leadoff hitter for today's game against the Braves, but when the lineup was posted this morning in the clubhouse he wasn't in there...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It was among the most heavily debated subjects of the 2017 season in Washington: Where should Anthony Rendon bat in the Nationals lineup? And it drew a rise out of everyone who had an opinion, from those who agreed with Dusty Baker's tendency to bat Rendon sixth to those who insisted the multi-talented third baseman should bat second.
So you won't be surprised to learn that when asked Saturday to share his thoughts on Rendon's place in his lineup, new manager Davey...
JUPITER, Fla. - In his quest to correct what ailed him in 2017 and recapture the form that made him one of baseball's most effective starters prior to that, Tanner Roark has a simple plan: Simplify.
Simplify his mechanics. Simplify his timing. Simplify his windup. And simplify his thought process when he's on the mound.
"I was just in my head, just thinking too much," Roark said in explaining his struggles last season. "And when you think, you suck."
While a line like that might be worthy...
JUPITER, Fla. - In his spring debut for 2018, Tanner Roark flashed some of what made him one of the majors' most effective starters in 2014 and 2016 but left him a frustrated pitcher in 2017: Well-located two-seam fastballs.
Roark used that bread-and-butter pitch this afternoon to strike out the side in the bottom of the second against the Marlins, capping an efficient performance in his first outing of the spring.
Roark needed an inning to get his feet wet, allowing a single to J.T. Realmuto...
JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals had plenty of reasons to want to relocate their spring training headquarters from remote Viera to the more centrally located West Palm Beach, but here's another one: the chance to take batting practice at home before a road game in Jupiter.
That's what the Nats did today, keeping everyone back at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches for a full morning workout and BP session before the travel squad and coaching staff boarded buses at 11:45 a.m. and make the quick...