VIERA, Fla. - Today's workout was briefly interrupted by a heavy rainstorm that lasted about 15 minutes or so, but the Nationals still were able to take part in their first live batting practice sessions of spring, with a couple taking place before the rain came and the rest after the showers had passed through.
Doug Fister and Gio Gonzalez were the first to throw today on Fields 2 and 3. Luis Ayala, Xavier Cedeno and a host of others went after the rain came down, including a trio of young,...
VIERA, Fla. - Full-squad workouts will get slightly more interesting starting today, as live batting practice sessions will start this morning out on the back fields by the Nationals' minor league complex.
For those who are unaware, live batting practice is when an actual pitcher is throwing to actual hitters, although there is an L-screen in front of the pitcher and the hitters often spend the first couple live BP sessions just looking at the pitches go by them.
Hitters call that tracking...
VIERA, Fla. - We can talk all we'd like about where Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman are going to hit in the batting order this season.
And believe me, there will be plenty of blog posts about those very topics over the next handful of weeks.
But the guy who will set the tone for the Nationals lineup this season is Denard Span, who will be back in the leadoff spot in his second season in D.C.
Span had a shaky 2013 campaign that featured a rough first half of the season and a...
VIERA, Fla. - Manager Matt Williams made the drive to Kissimmee a bit ago for a meeting with Major League Baseball officials regarding the new replay rules that will be instituted this season.
MLB asked Williams to drive in so that the new rules could be explained in detail, giving the teams complete knowledge of what will be allowed and when.
I'll be interested to hear tomorrow what exactly Williams learned at the meeting and how the Nationals plan to try and use these new rules to their...
VIERA, Fla. - Tyler Moore came up through the minors as a first baseman. Prior to the 2012 season, Moore had appeared in 414 games as a professional. He had played first base in all 414.
The last two seasons, in an effort to add depth and find a way to get Moore's bat in the lineup, the Nationals have asked Moore to learn the corner outfield spots. As a big leaguer, he's played 76 games in the outfield and just 28 (including only 18 starts) at first base.
This spring, however, the Nats have...
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals got lucky today, and Matt Williams knows it.
The rain just started coming down pretty hard here, only a couple of hours after the Nats finished their workout on the back fields by the minor league complex. It was sunny and breezy during the workout, and now it's pouring.
In the second day of full-squad workouts, Danny Espinosa was right back at shortstop, backing up Ian Desmond in the first drills run this morning. This marks the second day in a row Espinosa began...
VIERA, Fla. - It's been three years since Manny Delcarmen last appeared in the big leagues.
This was a guy who posted a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings for the Red Sox in 2007 and worked the eighth inning of a World Series game. This was a guy who appeared in 73 games for Boston in 2008, serving as a key set-up man as the Red Sox again made a postseason push.
Now Delcarmen is in camp with the Nationals on a minor league deal, hoping to perform well enough to get himself on a big league roster yet...
VIERA, Fla. - A lot of the talk early on this spring has been about how Matt Williams is detail-oriented and intense, and is running his first camp as Nationals manager at a quick pace and with a high level of focus on the fundamentals.
His players, almost universally, seem to like that, and appreciate how Williams has handled things so far and the way he's attacking these early workouts.
A few of those players, however, wanted to make it clear that just because they like Williams' spring...
VIERA, Fla. - After sitting out the first two bullpen sessions that he was scheduled to throw because of a side injury, Ross Ohlendorf took to the mound today and got in his first mound work of spring training.
While all the other pitchers in camp had thrown at least one bullpen session this spring coming into today, Ohlendorf had been held out because of what he says was discomfort in his side. The discomfort subsided to the point that he was able to get in some mound work today, although his...
VIERA, Fla. - Jayson Werth reported to camp on Tuesday. He took his physical yesterday. But today, reporters finally crossed paths with Werth for the first time since he arrived in Florida for the start of camp.
Werth took part in today's first full-squad workout, getting in some defensive work and taking some batting practice on the back fields. He then chatted with reporters for nearly 20 minutes, covering a host of topics.
On whether not having the "World Series or Bust" expectations...
VIERA, Fla. - Anytime a new manager or coach takes the reins of a team, the early stages of his tenure will be carefully analyzed to see how he handles his players and runs the ship.
We've discussed how Matt Williams' first week running the Nationals has been very detail-oriented and planned out. There's a structure in place for how Williams wants things to go, and on the first day of full-squad workouts, his players got a good feel for the pace and focus with which drills will be run this...
VIERA, Fla. - When position players got into the first drill of the first full-squad workout of Nationals camp, Danny Espinosa didn't receive the first reps at second base.
He didn't actually line up at second base at all.
Instead, Espinosa was set up as the second shortstop to get infield work, backing up Ian Desmond in this morning's early drills. Anthony Rendon was the top second baseman in the drills - which included bunt plays and standard infield work - with Jeff Kobernus working...
VIERA, Fla. - Now that the gang's all here, it's time to see everyone take the field together as a group for the first time.
All of the Nationals' position players have reported to camp and there were no issues with any of the physicals, according to manager Matt Williams. That means the Nats can have everyone take part in today's first full-squad workout of spring.
Position players will work on bunt plays and various "fundamentals," and then will work on individual defensive drills...
VIERA, Fla. - It will likely take new Nationals manager Matt Williams a good while before he settles on a set lineup that he'd like to use during the regular season.
First, Williams needs to see all his hitters take some cuts, both in the cage and in games, with his own eyes. Then, he needs to get a sense of where they feel most comfortable hitting in the lineup. Then, he needs to figure out what makes the most sense in terms of batting orders and how he can maximize the talent that he has...
VIERA, Fla. - It was a pretty quiet day at Nationals camp today, with position players taking their physicals and working out with team trainers, and all pitchers getting the day off from bullpen sessions.
How quiet a day was it? Well, the most exciting thing to happen out on the back fields during today's workout was when Mark Lerner's two schnauzers tried to attack Livan Hernandez, who apparently didn't come with the right approach when he tried to pet them.
Onlookers got a good kick out...
VIERA, Fla. - Given how well-known he is across the baseball landscape and the level of talent he possesses, it's easy to forget that Bryce Harper is still just 21 and has played in just 371 games as a professional.
Harper's skill set is vast, but he has some things he needs to improve upon, some ways that he can bolster his game. And he has an idea of a couple key areas that he'd like to focus on this spring.
"Baserunning, that's huge for me this year," Harper said. "I'm going to...
VIERA, Fla. - Just before the end of the first period of today's U.S.-Czech Republic Olympic hockey game, which a number of Nationals players were intently watching on the lone TV in the clubhouse, Bryce Harper got up from his spot near the TV and headed to his locker to chat with a few reporters.
Most of us had seen Harper at NatsFest a little under a month ago, when he declared that he wasn't sure whether he'd be 100 percent healthy when spring training began due to lingering effects from...
VIERA, Fla. - There was a new addition to the Nationals clubhouse this morning - a picture of pitching coach Steve McCatty was hanging up next to Gio Gonzalez's locker.
In the photo, which looks like it was taken in sneak-attack fashion, McCatty is sitting at his locker in the coaches' dressing room with a surprised/confused look on his face and a bag of ice taped to his knee.
"He's a pretty fantastic man, isn't he?" Gonzalez said, smiling, as he looked up at the picture with reporters...
VIERA, Fla. - I've now been in Florida for a week, and already I'm at the point where I'm falling asleep at 9:45 p.m.
That might be the norm for some people, but I'm typically a guy who can't shut it down for the night until at least 1 a.m., if not later. Every year, without fail, this is an assignment that turns me into a grandpa when it comes to my bedtime.
Ryan Zimmerman will be an interesting guy to watch this spring on a couple of different levels. First, there's the wholestory...
VIERA, Fla. - Tanner Roark has been quietly going about his business so far this spring, but very little about pitching coach Steve McCatty is quiet.
So when Roark was wrapping up his bullpen session this morning, McCatty turned to minor league pitching coordinator Spin Williams and took a playful shot at Roark, well within earshot of the right-hander.
As most of you surely know, Roark's name is pronounced "Ro-ark," but when he first came up to the big leagues last season, many people...