WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals get to play their next two games on their home field, starting with this afternoon’s matchup with the Cardinals.

Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli are both expected to make their second spring appearances today at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Gray will start the game and Cavalli will follow out of the bullpen, with both expected to go about two innings and throw around 35-40 pitches.

The Nationals lineup includes a lot of regulars, with CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson, Joey Meneses, Dominic Smith, Jeimer Candelario, Keibert Ruiz and Victor Robles starting today. Jake Alu is the only starter who is battling for a spot this spring.

The game can be heard on 106.7 The Fan back in the D.C. area.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Weather: Partly cloudy, 89 degrees, wind 11 mph out to right-center field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Corey Dickerson
DH Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
DH Jeimer Candelario
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Jake Alu
CF Victor Robles

RHP Josiah Gray

CARDINALS
3B Brendon Donovan
LF Jordan Walker
2B Nolan Gorman
C Wilson Contreras
1B Juan Yepez
DH Paul DeJong
RF Moisés Gómez
SS Juniel Querecuto
CF Mike Antico

LHP Connor Thomas

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Not much has been thought of Jake Alu from an outsider’s point of view throughout his baseball career.

He was not a top prospect coming out of Boston College. He was not a top prospect on the Nationals farm after they selected him in the 24th round of the 2019 draft. And people outside of the organization didn’t take much notice of his steady climb through four levels of the system over the last three minor league seasons.

And quite frankly, that’s just the way he likes it.

“I definitely see myself as a little underdog,” Alu said. “But honestly, I just go out there and I've never stepped on a field and felt, 'Wow, I can't compete here at all.' I've always been there trying to prove myself. When I play with better people, it makes me play better.”

Whether or not you’ve noticed him, the 25-year-old has earned his spot in his first major league spring training.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – A lot was made this week of Max Scherzer’s use of the pitch clock when he started against a Nationals split squad on Sunday here at Clover Park.

While manipulating the pitch clock by coming set early and then either throwing very quickly or holding onto the ball until the very last second, Scherzer struck out five Nationals and only gave up three hits and one run in two innings.

Today, however, the Nats were ready for it. And along with help from some poor Mets defense, the guys in red were able to tag the former Nationals ace back en route to an 11-6 win in front of 5,441 fans in Port St. Lucie.

“We had a plan,” manager Davey Martinez said of facing Scherzer the second time this week. “We talked to the players. We taught them how to kind of work the clock. He can't quick-pitch you. If he does and you're not engaged, it should be called a balk, like you saw what happened. But you gotta understand what the clock is for. … I think they learned today how much time they really have.”

Scherzer had perfect first and second innings on just 21 pitches. It seemed like he was about to repeat his Sunday result with fewer strikeouts.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – It’s not always a newsy day at spring training. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Sometimes it leaves a lot to be desired.

Today was one of those days when the Nationals got in some early work and prepared for their game 45 minutes up the road in Port St. Lucie against the Mets. Starting pitcher Trevor Williams, facing his former team for the first time, is scheduled to go two innings and 35-40 pitches. Regulars in the starting lineup (facing Max Scherzer to start) include CJ Abrams, Luis García, Joey Meneses, Jeimer Candelario and Victor Robles. Victor Arano, Kyle Finnegan, Carl Edwards Jr., Joan Adon and Jake Irvin made the trip to come out of the bullpen.

Here are some quick notes from manager Davey Martinez when he met with the media this morning:

* There is still no news on Derek Hill’s hamstring. He was scheduled to have an MRI yesterday, but it didn’t happen until last night, so the team is waiting to hear back from a doctor this afternoon. Hill suffered a hamstring injury on Wednesday against the Yankees in Tampa by racing down the first base line while trying to beat out a chopper to third.

“We're waiting for a doctor to read the MRI on Derek Hill,” Martinez said. “We'll know something this afternoon. He had an MRI last night, it was the only time to get him in. He seems to be doing OK. He was riding a bike today. So hopefully, we get a read on this thing. We'll definitely know more, but hopefully it's not that big of a deal. I'd like to get him back as soon as possible. I want to see him play.”

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – After Wednesday's eight-hour round trip to Tampa, the 45-minute ride up to Port St. Lucie today doesn’t seem all too bad for the Nationals. They were able to arrive at their home complex at a normal time, receive treatment and maybe get in some early work before boarding the bus to go play the Mets.

Trevor Williams, making his second start of the spring, gets his first crack at his former team this afternoon after appearing in 40 games in parts of the last two seasons with the Mets. Signed to a two-year, $13 million contract this offseason, the 30-year-old right-hander tossed a scoreless first inning in his Nationals debut Sunday against the Astros.

The Nationals lineup, which includes regulars CJ Abrams, Luis García, Joey Meneses, Jeimer Candelario and Victor Robles, will get another opportunity to face old friend Max Scherzer, who struck out five over two innings on Sunday.

Scheduled to follow Williams out of the bullpen are Victor Arano, Kyle Finnegan, Carl Edwards Jr., Joan Adon and Jake Irvin.

Update: The game will be nationally broadcast on MLB Network, and not blacked out back in the D.C. area. If you happen to be in New York, the Mets feed will also be on SNY. The Nats radio broadcast can also be heard on Nationals.com.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It was 516 days since Carter Kieboom last took the field in a major league game before making his Grapefruit League debut Thursday against the Marlins.

That’s 17 long months of waiting through a lockout, gearing up for a shortened spring training, being shut down for the year without appearing in game due to Tommy John surgery and rehabbing for this upcoming season. All of it building up to yesterday’s anticipated return to action.

“Honestly, just happy to be out there again. It's been a long time,” Kieboom said, exhibiting a sense of relief after appearing as the designated hitter in yesterday’s 5-5 tie. “Ultimately, I just wanted to see, today my goal was to see as many pitches as I could. Just get comfortable in there. My first at-bat, I saw a couple of really good pitches to hit, the first two, I thought. But it's just most important for me to see the pitches … the last couple of years, it's been difficult to stick with my approach. And then I had about nine months to 10 months to prepare about sticking with an approach. And that's all today was about, just going up there with a plan and then sticking with it all game long, regardless of your results.”

For how long he had to wait, the results were a bit anticlimactic. In his first plate appearance since Oct. 3, 2021, he was hit in the foot by the fourth pitch he saw. He made it count, however, by coming around to score on Jeimer Candelario’s two-run double.

In his second time at the plate, Kieboom struck out looking at an inside fastball to end a five-pitch at-bat. But he redeemed himself the next time up by drawing a full-count walk and stealing second base. And then, finally, in his fourth appearance, he struck out with a check swing on the fifth pitch with two outs and two runners in scoring position.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Every time MacKenzie Gore steps on the mound in a Nationals uniform – whether during spring training or the regular season, home or away – he’s going to draw a lot of attention.

Comes with the territory of being included in one of the biggest trades in major league history.

After throwing 18 pitches (13 strikes) in one inning during his debut on Saturday, the 24-year-old left-hander was scheduled to go two frames and 35-40 pitches in this afternoon’s game against the Marlins, which resulted in a 5-5 tie in front of 1,819 fans at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in a seemingly long 2 hours and 42 minutes.

Although not as sharp as he was his first time out, Gore was able to hit his target for the day by throwing 34 pitches, 23 strikes, in two innings.

“It wasn't quite as good as I thought we've been through camp so far,” Gore said. “But we got in two innings and there were some good things. But I didn't think it was quite as good as we had been up to this point.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On March 18, 2022, the day of the Nationals’ first game of a shortened spring training due to the lockout, Carter Kieboom felt something wrong in his throwing arm during pregame warmups. He was scratched from the starting lineup, had an MRI the following day and was placed on the 60-day injured list two days later with a right forearm flexor mass/ulnar collateral ligament strain. About two months later, he underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his fourth big league season before it even started.

Today, about a year later, Kieboom is back in the Nationals lineup for the first time this spring, batting ninth as the designated hitter in a game against the Marlins at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

Although his return to game action is a significant step in his recovery, the Nationals are still taking a slow and cautious approach with the third baseman.

“We just want to give him some at-bats,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Like I said, we're going to kind of ease into this thing with him, so he gets to DH and get him some at-bats and get him going.”

Kieboom has been fine swinging the bat in camp. It’s throwing that still remains a work in progress. But any sort of game action, even just hitting as the DH, will be helpful.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After making the 3 1/2-hour trek to Tampa yesterday for what resulted in a 4-2 walk-off loss to the Yankees, the Nationals return to Florida’s Atlantic side for the first of their next five games taking place in the greater West Palm Beach area.

Those in attendance today at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches will get their first look at MacKenzie Gore in a Nats home uniform after he made his debut on Saturday against the Cardinals in Jupiter. The young southpaw allowed just one hit with one strikeout and threw 18 pitches (13 strikes) to four batters in a scoreless inning that afternoon. Today, he’ll go a little deeper into the game, pitching multiple innings for the first time.

They’ll also get the first look at Carter Kieboom in live game action in about a year since needing Tommy John surgery. He’s batting ninth as the designated hitter.

The Nationals have a handful of regulars in today’s lineup, including Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson, Jeimer Candelario, Dominic Smith, Keibert Ruiz and Victor Robles. The relievers expected to follow Gore out of the bullpen include Paolo Espino, Thaddeus Ward, Mason Thompson and Hunter Harvey.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Marlins broadcast)
Weather: Sunny, 84 degrees, wind 12 mph out to left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – With more than nine years of major league service time, Corey Dickerson is by far one of the most experienced players at Nationals spring training, behind only Stephen Strasburg (who remains in D.C. after a setback in his recovery from thoracic outlet surgery over the offseason) and Patrick Corbin.

He is used to the grind of a six-week camp and 162-game season. He is even used to Grapefruit League play, having spent the last three spring trainings 15 minutes up the road with the Marlins and Cardinals in Jupiter and the previous four springs on the Gulf Coast side of the state with the Rays and Pirates.

All of that experience has allowed Dickerson to be one of the few players taking a veteran approach to his first spring training in West Palm Beach after signing a one-year, $2.25 million deal with the Nationals in January.

“It's just a normal spring for me, it feels like,” Dickerson said of his adjustment to his new team so far in camp. “Played with a few guys, know a few guys, but it's been really easy adjusting and just going about my business. Putting in the work every day and guys have been great.

“Just work. Make sure I get quality work in every single day. Kinda be locked into details, really hone in on the fundamentals, try to get fundamentally sound before the season. I think if I do that all the big things take care of themselves.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Finnegan has come a long way in three seasons with the Nationals since signing a major league contract as a minor league free agent in December 2019.

The 31-year-old went from unknown rookie who flashed impressive stuff in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season to trusted reliever who fizzled out late in 2021 to de facto closer in his first complete major league season in 2022.

Now entering his fourth season with the club, the right-hander isn’t too concerned about his role in the Nationals bullpen. He just knows he’ll make most of his appearances in the later innings.

“Back end of the bullpen, which you know is up for hot hand-type situations,” Finnegan said of his role this season. “I was told I'll get some chances back there, but we also have so many good guys that we can play matchups a little bit and bring guys in in different situations. So I think kind of building off last year, we've got a lot of guys that are feeling confident and having success. Having too many guys is always a good thing.”

Too many guys is a good thing, especially when the inevitable injury bug hits that part of the roster, as was the case last year when Sean Doolittle and Tanner Rainey went down in the first couple of months with season-ending injuries.

While all the excitement surrounding the start of a new season is down in West Palm Beach, hearts remain heavy in D.C. for the late Ted Lerner, the Nationals’ founding principal owner who passed away at the age of 97 on Monday.

The stories of how Lerner’s life was entrenched in Washington baseball have been told numerous times over the past few days. How he was born on the same day the Senators lost Game 7 of the 1925 World Series, and how he grew up to become an usher at old Griffith Stadium. How he purchased the Nationals in 2006, one year after the franchise moved to D.C. from Montreal. And how he built the team into a perennial contender that claimed four National League East division titles before winning the NL Wild Card Game, the NL pennant on his 94th birthday and the World Series two weeks later in 2019.

The team, general manager Mike Rizzo and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred have all released statements filled with condolences and kind words about the late Nats owner.

“Mr. Lerner was an irreplaceable presence whose passing leaves a profound void in the Washington Nationals family,” Rizzo said in his statement. “He was truly one of a kind.

“Those of us who had the privilege of working for Mr. Lerner observed a brilliant business mind and a uniquely thoughtful form of analysis. His confident, systematic approach to challenges provided me a life-long lesson in persistence and perseverance. His influence on me was immeasurable and I will always be grateful for the opportunities he afforded the entire Nationals organization.

With the official start of spring training yesterday, as Nationals pitchers and catchers reported to West Palm Beach and had their first workout on the back fields of The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, come the traditional pleasantries of a new season.

How was your offseason? What are you working on this spring? What are your goals for the season?

Aside from announcing the news of Stephen Strasburg’s setback, manager Davey Martinez answered most of these questions with an enthusiastic energy yesterday during his first meeting with the media members who are in Florida, while others, myself included, tuned in over Zoom.

“It was really good,” Martinez said after Day 1 of camp. “For me, honestly, it feels like Day 25 because a lot of guys have been here early. Very enthusiastic. Their work ethic has been really, really good for a few weeks, even though today was Day 1. Seeing everybody together, getting everybody in The Circle of Trust, talking to them guys, a lot of energy today, which was awesome. It was a lot of fun. Getting to meet the new guys and talk to them face-to-face was pretty awesome as well.”

Martinez was also very clear about his theme for this spring and the upcoming season: opportunity.

Pitchers and catchers don’t have to officially report to the Nationals’ facility in West Palm Beach until Tuesday. But it’s not uncommon to see guys start arriving a week or so early.

Josiah Gray is among those already down there getting ready for the start of camp. He joined “The Hot Stove Show” last week over Zoom from his back patio under cover from the sun after getting Florida license plates for his car.

Even professional athletes can’t avoid the pain of a trip to the DMV. A necessary evil to save the hassle for future spring trainings.

This will be Gray’s second spring training in West Palm Beach after coming over to the Nats in the blockbuster trade with the Dodgers in July 2021. And this time he’ll be looking to become one of the top pitchers in the starting rotation.

While a lot of focus will be on the Nats’ top prospects entering the second full season of this rebuild, attention will still be paid to the young players at the major league level to see how their development progresses, Gray included.

When Sean Doolittle was traded to the Nationals on July 16, 2017, it was for sure a major change in his career. He was going from the last-place Athletics to the first-place Nats.

What he probably didn’t know at the time was that it was a major life change for him and his soon-to-be wife, Eireann Dolan.

Doolittle brought a lot of value to the Nationals in that trade with the Athletics in that he was under team control for three more seasons after the 2017 campaign ended. After recording a 2.40 ERA and 21 saves to help the Nats win the National League East in 2017, he pitched to a 3.20 ERA and 1.047 WHIP while striking out 132 and walking just 25 with 54 saves over the next three seasons.

Of course, he helped the Nationals win the 2019 World Series, and he was given the Good Guy Award as voted on by members of the local media in each of his first three full seasons with the club.

This offseason, he added some new hardware to his mantle. Doolittle and Dolan were both included in a group of 11 locals who were named Washingtonians of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine in December. It’s an annual honor the publication awards to people “who make our region an even better place.”

While numerous outlets are releasing their latest top prospects rankings leading up to the start of spring training, it’s easy to keep track of how the Nationals farm system is improving on paper. But a lot of work needs to continue throughout this rebuild behind the scenes. Improvements under the surface that won’t show up in any prospect rankings.

The Nationals announced on Wednesday their minor league player development staff for the 2023 season. The roster includes some familiar faces, new names and new positions. Overseeing all of it are president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo, entering this 15th season as the head man, and director of player development De Jon Watson, entering his second season in this position after spending five seasons as a special assistant to the GM.

The familiar names include Matt LeCroy (Triple-A Rochester), Mario Lisson (High-A Wilmington) and Jake Lowery (Single-A Fredericksburg) returning to manage their respective affiliates. Field coordinator Bob Henley, pitching coordinator Sam Narron and catching coordinator Randy Knorr continue their long careers with the organization. And fan favorite Gerardo Parra enters his first full season as special assistant to Rizzo after being named to the position last year.

A lot of new names are taking over the staff at Double-A Harrisburg, headlined by manager Delino DeShields replacing Tripp Keister, who was fired this offseason after 11 years with the organization. A first-round pick by the Expos in the 1987 draft, DeShields joins the Nats after spending the last 14 seasons in various roles in the Reds organization. Joel Hanrahan also joins Harrisburg as the pitching coach after flipping spots with Justin Lord, who now holds the same position at Fredericksburg.

Among the new roles added to the player development department this year are an assistant director of player development technology and strategy (Patrick Coghlan), a player development analyst (Allen Ho), a senior biomechanist (Bill Johnson), a biomechanist (Brittany Mills) and a performance analyst at each minor league affiliate. The performance analysts will help use data from the Hawk-Eye machines tracking players at Nationals Park, all of the organization's minor league stadiums and their facility in West Palm Beach.

The writing has been on the wall all offseason. Baseball has changed over recent years, and the Nationals have committed to adapting to it.

Versatility is the name of the game.

Gone are the days managers would trot out the same eight defenders in their same designated positions along with a starting pitcher expected to go seven or eight innings every day over the course of a 162-game season.

Now it’s all about getting more bang for your buck. Can a player fill multiple roles? Can he play all over the infield, or both the infield and the outfield? Can a fringe starting pitcher also be a swing man out of the bullpen?

Find a way to keep your best players fresh and on the field as much as possible based on what the matchups dictate.

Joey Meneses took the Nationals and the major leagues by storm over the season’s final two months last year. The 30-year-old rookie had spent 10 years in the minors, Mexican and Japanese professional leagues before having his contract selected by the Nationals and making his major league debut on Aug. 2 against the Mets.

Not many people knew who Meneses was when he was introduced as the starting first baseman batting sixth that night at Nationals Park. Most fans were still lamenting over the trade that sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres earlier that day.

But Meneses made sure Nats fans knew who he was by the end of the game, hitting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 5-1 win over the first-place Mets. With that longball, he became the first Mexican-born player and the fifth-oldest player in major league history to homer in his major league debut.

And he never looked back.

From that point on, Meneses was second in the National League with 72 hits, a .324 average and a .930 OPS. He was tied for fourth in the league with 13 home runs and tied for fifth with 27 extra-base hits.

With the international signing period opening on Sunday, the Nationals agreed to terms with 14 amateur free agents.

A lot was made of the inclusion of Elian Soto, the younger brother of former Nationals superstar outfielder Juan Soto who flipped his intention to sign with the Mets a year ago just months before his older brother was traded to the Padres.

But the younger Soto, who also hits from the left side and was interestingly labeled as an outfielder in the Nats’ official release after also playing third base last year, is just one player. And quite frankly, he is not as highly regarded as his brother and fellow signees of this class.

So let’s take a look at three other players the Nationals signed over the weekend who are highly thought of in this last group of international signings.

Manuel Cabrera is a 16-year-old shortstop out of the Dominican Republic who reportedly signed for $500,000 and is MLB Pipeline’s No. 39 ranked prospect in this class. Scouting reports say he has the defensive abilities, including a strong arm, to play any position in the infield and has the bat speed and strength from the right side of the plate to have an upside to hit at the top of the lineup. He’s also been praised for his baseball IQ.

The international signing period officially opened this morning, an avenue the Nationals have been traditionally successful in using to acquire young talent.

To open the 2023 signing period, the Nationals announced they have agreed to terms with 14 international free agents: right-handers Jose Feliz, Leuris Portorreal and Enyerber Riveo; left-hander Juan Reyes; catcher Agustin Marcano; infielders Manuel Cabrera, Eikel Joaquin and Edwin Solano; and outfielders Andy Acevedo, Carlos Batista, Hector Liriano, Juan Obispo, Elian Soto and Carlos Tavares.

Elian Soto is Juan Soto’s younger brother who made headlines this time last year when he reportedly flipped his intention to sign with the Mets to the Nats. That became official today as he reportedly agreed to a deal worth a $225,000 signing bonus and an additional $200,000 for a scholarship grant. Last summer’s trade with the Padres seemingly did not have an impact on the younger Soto’s feelings toward signing with the Nationals organization.

Like his brother, Elian demonstrates power from the left side of the plate while playing third base and the outfield. Also like Juan, Elian is represented by super agent Scott Boras, who just negotiated a $23 million salary for the 24-year-old superstar this season with the Padres through the arbitration process.

But unlike his brother, Elian is not considered a top prospect in this class.