Depleted Nats now face physical, psychological challenges

Depleted Nats now face physical, psychological challenges
The Nationals have for the last 72 hours been in what Mike Rizzo referred to as "crisis management mode." Every moment the longtime general manager has been awake since learning one of his players tested positive for COVID-19 has been spent trying to coordinate contact tracing, trying to figure out who's healthy and who isn't healthy and trying to figure out which 26 players ultimately are going to take the field on opening day (whenever that is). "That's often the way that this job is,"...
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Full series postponed, nine players now in quarantine (updated)

Full series postponed, nine players now in quarantine (updated)
The Nationals' entire weekend series against the Mets was postponed today by Major League Baseball, with four players having officially tested positive for COVID-19 and six others (five players, one staff member) in mandatory quarantine after being designated close contacts. The postponement of all three scheduled games at Nationals Park wasn't a terribly surprising announcement, given the news of the last 24 hours, but it's nonetheless another disappointing development for both clubs, which...
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An attempt to answer some questions about the Nats' situation

An attempt to answer some questions about the Nats' situation
These are, unfortunately, uncertain times for the Nationals. They were all set to open the 2021 season Thursday night against the Mets, then learned the game had been postponed when one (eventually three, possibly four) players tested positive for COVID-19. Now, with Major League Baseball declaring the game would not be made up today, the Nats face another day stuck at home in isolation, awaiting results of another round of tests that should help determine whether they can actually play as...
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With at least three positive tests, Nats' opening series in flux

With at least three positive tests, Nats' opening series in flux
Two more Nationals players, and potentially a third, have now tested positive for COVID-19, all of them close contacts to the original player who learned Wednesday he had tested positive, leaving the team's season-opening series against the Mets in flux. General manager Mike Rizzo delivered that new batch of unpleasant news early this evening after the results of the tests the entire team took Wednesday morning came back. The Nationals now have reason to believe four of their players in total...
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Season opener postponed, won't be made up Friday

Season opener postponed, won't be made up Friday
The Nationals' 2021 season won't begin tonight, and at this point, it's too soon to know for certain when it will be commence after Major League Baseball postponed the scheduled opener against the Mets due to ongoing contact tracing within the Nationals organization following Wednesday's discovery that a player tested positive for COVID-19. No makeup date has been determined, but the league said in a statement that the game will not be played Friday "out of an abundance of caution." The...
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2021 Nats media season predictions

2021 Nats media season predictions
The day has come at last. The 2021 baseball season begins today. All 30 clubs are scheduled to play, including the Nationals in tonight's nationally televised opener against the Mets. Fans will be in attendance everywhere, 5,000 of them here. Alas, five members of the Nats' expected opening night roster will not be there after one tested positive for COVID-19 and four others were deemed close contacts to him. It turns today into more of a bittersweet event than a full-on celebration of...
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At least five players will miss opener after one tests positive

At least five players will miss opener after one tests positive
The Nationals will be without at least five players and one staff member for Thursday night's season opener after learning early this morning one of the players tested positive for COVID-19, general manager Mike Rizzo announced today. After making it through six full weeks of spring training with zero positive tests in the organization, the Nationals had every reason to be confident as they headed north to begin the season. But in the round of testing that took place Monday morning before...
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Nationals out to prove 2020 was an aberration

Nationals out to prove 2020 was an aberration
The Nationals went 93-69 in 2019 and won the World Series, then returned in 2020 to go 24-36 and finish tied for last place in the National League East. There are two lines of thought when trying to analyze what happened last season. Either this was the start of an inevitable downward trend for an organization that spent so long climbing the mountain to finally reach the ultimate peak, or it was a complete and utter aberration because of the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic-shortened...
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What we made too big a deal about and what we glossed over

What we made too big a deal about and what we glossed over
The Nationals woke up this morning in Washington. Spring training is officially over, and the final countdown to opening night is on. This was a spring unlike any previous one, with protocols, reduced fan capacities and reduced travel across Florida. But it still was, first and foremost, about baseball. The Nats avoided any real COVID-19 issues and were able to keep their focus on the field, which is exactly how every team should want it to be. To that end, we spent a lot of time talking about...
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Strasburg, relievers finish strong as spring season ends

Strasburg, relievers finish strong as spring season ends
The final day of spring training is about a starter building up his pitch count, a few relievers getting some last-minute work in and everybody else just avoiding injury. The Nationals, it would appear, survived today's Grapefruit League finale, a 2-2 tie with the Astros at their shared complex in West Palm Beach, Fla. Next up: a charter flight to Washington, a day off so everyone can get settled in, a workout and simulated game at Nationals Park on Wednesday evening, and then it's go...
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Soto, Castro playing in simulated games before opener

Soto, Castro playing in simulated games before opener
Though the Nationals don't doubt Juan Soto and Starlin Castro will be ready to play in Thursday night's season opener in Washington, both players will have to do so without having appeared in the final three games of the exhibition season in Florida. Neither Soto nor Castro is in the lineup for today's Grapefruit League finale against the Astros, but each took five at-bats during a simulated game outside The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches this morning and experienced no issues with the minor...
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Lineups: Nats vs. Astros in West Palm Beach on MASN

Lineups: Nats vs. Astros in West Palm Beach on MASN
And so we have arrived at the final day of spring training. Six weeks just flew by, right? The Nationals have one last exhibition to play today against the Astros, one final battle for Palm Beach, if you will. At this stage of the process, it's a whole lot of regulars playing, and both teams have prominent starters on the mound: Stephen Strasburg and Jake Odorizzi. Strasburg has looked perfectly fine all spring, showing no ill effects of his carpal tunnel syndrome nor the ruptured calf tendon...
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As spring training wraps up, Nats itching to head north

As spring training wraps up, Nats itching to head north
Ballplayers have long since learned how to compartmentalize spring training, how to focus on what needs to be accomplished on an individual day and not start thinking too far ahead. It's a six-week camp, remember. The last thing you want to catch yourself doing on Feb. 21 is counting down how many days are left. There comes a point late in every spring, though, when it becomes perfectly acceptable to acknowledge the finish line. Once it's truly within reach, everyone knows it and everyone's...
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Lester, Corbin both pitch as Nats try to figure out order

Lester, Corbin both pitch as Nats try to figure out order
A manager has two goals on March 28: Get everybody who still needs work enough work before camp ends, and make sure everybody's healthy when the charter plane takes off in 24 hours. Davey Martinez took solace in both regards following the Nationals' 11-3 win over the Cardinals today in the penultimate game of the Grapefruit League season. His heart did skip a beat momentarily when Josh Harrison (just named the opening night second baseman) was struck by a pitch in the left hand, though...
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Nats plan to open with Castro at third, Harrison at second (updated)

Nats plan to open with Castro at third, Harrison at second (updated)
The Nationals intend to open the season with Starlin Castro as their everyday third baseman and Josh Harrison as their primary second baseman, manager Davey Martinez revealed today while discussing the horde of moves announced by the club Saturday that all but set the opening night roster. In deciding to option both Carter Kieboom and Luis García to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg, the Nats are left with nothing but veteran infielders on their projected 26-man roster. That...
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Lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in West Palm Beach on MASN

Lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in West Palm Beach on MASN
We've reached the final stretch at last. Two more days, two more exhibition games before the Nationals break camp and head north for good. And after Saturday's events, there suddenly isn't much left for them to decide before opening day. The swath of transactions they made during the off-day essentially set the 26-man roster. Unless they acquire another infielder or reliever before Thursday, the opening night lineup is almost certainly going include both Starlin Castro and Josh Harrison, the...
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Hudson seeks spring intensity, Harrison makes case to play more

Hudson seeks spring intensity, Harrison makes case to play more
Daniel Hudson was prepared to enter from the Nationals bullpen during the bottom of the third Friday night in Port St. Lucie, Fla., should teammate Javy Guerra not be able to complete the inning before reaching his pitch limit. When Guerra did retire the side, Hudson had a little time to rest before warming up again to pitch the bottom of the fourth. It may not sound like a big deal, but for a reliever who needs to be prepared to deal with such a scenario during the season, this was an...
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Harris didn't have blood clot, Soto and Castro optimistic (updated)

Harris didn't have blood clot, Soto and Castro optimistic (updated)
Despite an initial diagnosis of a blood clot in Will Harris' pitching arm, the Nationals learned tonight a procedure performed on the veteran reliever today found no such evidence, and now they're suddenly hoping to have him back pitching for the team soon. "Tonight, not only did we win, but we got some really, really good news," manager Davey Martinez said during his Zoom session with reporters following a 7-3 exhibition victory over the Mets. "We're excited about that." Only seven...
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Lineups: Nats vs. Mets in Port St. Lucie

Lineups: Nats vs. Mets in Port St. Lucie
The bad news: Neither Juan Soto nor Starlin Castro is in the Nationals lineup for tonight's game against the Mets. The good news: Both players appear to be fine, and their statuses for opening night (also against the Mets) do not appear to be in danger. Soto was upbeat today talking to reporters after departing Thursday night's game when his right calf cramped during his one and only at-bat. He wanted to play tonight, but manager Davey Martinez wants him to sit out "just to make sure he's...
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Whether opening or closing, Avilán wants chance to help Nats

Whether opening or closing, Avilán wants chance to help Nats
Luis Avilán has made 454 big league appearances since 2012, plus another 48 in the minors. All have come in relief. He hasn't started a game since he was a 22-year-old Braves prospect at Double-A, nearly a decade ago. So when the veteran left-hander took the mound for the bottom of the first Thursday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., he immediately realized something looked different. "It was just a little weird, just for the fact that, just the first inning, the...
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