LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The only thing drearier than the forecast was the prospect of the five-hour round trip from West Palm Beach for an exhibition game that might not even be played if the rain didn't let up.
"Yeah, everybody was worrying about that," AnÃbal Sánchez said. "Especially hearing the team was driving many hours to be here. It's really uncomfortable for both sides."
It may have been uncomfortable, but the Nationals and Braves did manage to play a nine-inning game this...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - As the clock ticks down on spring training, Howie Kendrick and Tony Sipp are running out of time to make it onto the opening day roster. But they're not entirely out of time yet, and there remains optimism at least one of the two veterans will be ready for next Thursday's season opener against the Mets.
Kendrick appears to face a tougher challenge, still needing to get at-bats and game action after two weeks of rehab from a strained left hamstring. The 35-year-old...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Hello from Walt Disney World. This is the last time the Nationals are ever scheduled to come here, with the Braves relocating to North Port (on the Gulf Coast) next spring, and they may not even get a chance to make that five-hour round trip worth it because it's been raining all day. No word yet on the status of the game, so everyone's preparing as though they'll play, but it's certainly a question mark.
The matchup, if it happens, is AnÃbal Sánchez against...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - There weren't a whole lot of positives to come out of the Nationals' 7-1 exhibition loss to the Marlins yesterday, but if you squinted hard enough you might have come away finding a few developments worth smiling about.
For example: Ryan Zimmerman's baserunning. This isn't typically something that gets noticed, good or bad, but something noteworthy did happen during the bottom of the second inning.
First up, Zimmerman beat out a grounder to third for an infield...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals made another round of cuts following today's split-squad games, trimming their camp roster by six.
Optioned to Triple-A Fresno were right-handers Austin Voth, Jimmy Cordero, Kyle McGowin and Tanner Rainey. Re-assigned to minor league camp were right-hander J.J. Hoover and outfielder Hunter Jones.
The moves bring more clarity to the few remaining competitions for spots on the opening roster (in the bullpen and on the bench) as the Nationals enter the final...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Patrick Corbin has allowed 12 runs so far in 18 innings this spring, but more notable is the fact seven of those runs have been scored in the first inning of his starts.
It's not uncommon for pitchers, especially the elite ones, to have more trouble in the first inning than any other frame. But this isn't common territory for Corbin, who last season with Arizona posted a sparkling 0.82 ERA in the first inning.
So the left-hander isn't about to raise any red flags or...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Only three days after his manager said he expected him to miss "a significant amount of time," Michael A. Taylor was back playing catch and taking light swings this morning at the Nationals' spring training complex, suggesting his sprained left knee and hip aren't as seriously hurt as initially feared.
Mirroring the light workout he revealed he went through Sunday, Taylor stood on the synthetic "agility" field just outside the Nationals clubhouse this morning and...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Split-squad games are a rite of spring training, but the Nationals haven't had one yet this year. That changes today, when half the team hosts the Marlins in West Palm Beach and the other half travels to Port St. Lucie to face the Mets (weather permitting). Fortunately we've got tag team coverage right now: I'll be writing about the home game, Byron Kerr will be writing about the road game.
It's Patrick Corbin facing the Marlins in his second-to-last tune-up before...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals and Mets faced each other today in West Palm Beach, and they'll face each other again Sunday in Port St. Lucie. More importantly, they'll face each other six times in the season's first two weeks, dates that are rapidly approaching.
It's not uncommon in that scenario for starting pitchers to elect not to take the mound for these final spring tuneups against the same lineup they'll be going up against for real in a matter of days. And indeed the Mets'...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Davey Martinez hasn't decided yet who his starting catcher will be on opening day. The manager has said all spring he intends to get both Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki regular playing time and have them split the job, and the opening day assignment is no different.
Both catchers have worked with Max Scherzer over the last month. And both will catch the three-time Cy Young Award winner as the season plays out. It's just a question of who's behind the plate for the first...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals managed to avoid the rain yesterday and play their full exhibition game against the Cardinals. They'll try to do the same today against the Mets, with the forecast again iffy.
Stephen Strasburg makes his fourth start of the spring. He's been very good to date: two runs allowed in 10 2/3 innings, with 13 strikeouts. He'll face a Mets lineup that includes Robinson Canó and Michael Conforto.
Most of the Nationals' regulars, who started each of the last...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Alex Anthopoulos first fell in love with AnÃbal Sánchez in December 2012, when the then-Blue Jays general manager flew to Miami to court the then-free agent pitcher. Over the course of two days, Anthopoulos met Sánchez and his wife, dined at Joe's Stone Crab and became convinced this was a pitcher he needed on his roster.
"I was just really impressed with the person and the human being," Anthopoulos said earlier this spring. "He was our No. 1 target in that...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's easy to take Sean Doolittle for granted, because he's been so automatic for the Nationals when healthy the last 1 1/2 seasons. Maybe Doolittle even takes himself for granted sometimes, especially during a spring in which he had retired 12 of the 13 batters he had faced before taking the mound in the ninth inning this afternoon.
The left-hander won't do that anymore, not after a disastrous appearance that saw him allow five runs and turn a 5-3 lead into an 8-5...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's a gray morning here in South Florida, and there appears to be rain in the forecast this afternoon. No idea yet if it will impact today's Nationals exhibition game against the Cardinals, but it is something to keep an eye on.
Max Scherzer would certainly like to make his start as scheduled, his penultimate start of the spring before he takes the mound for opening day. Scherzer has had a few ragged starts this month and comes in having allowed nine runs and 14 hits...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - During these dog days of spring training, when the bus rides feel longer than usual and opening day is still just too far away to get excited about, some extra motivation is sometimes needed.
So Davey Martinez made a promise to the young players who made the long trip to Fort Myers on Thursday: score 10 or more runs, and everybody would get to eat Popeyes on the ride home. They proceeded to defeat the Twins 10-4, so the bus smelled like chicken and biscuits for the next 2...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - This morning's MRI of Michael A. Taylor's left leg revealed both a sprained knee and hip, and the Nationals outfielder is going to miss a "significant" amount of time while recovering, according to manager Davey Martinez.
"It stinks," Martinez said following the Nats' 11-3 exhibition victory over the Mets. "It's a little bit more than we were hoping for. But he's going to rehab, and as soon as we get him back, we get him back."
Taylor injured himself making a...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Tony Sipp arrived at Nationals camp Thursday and immediately threw his first bullpen session with the club that signed him to a $1 million contract the previous day. He hasn't faced any live hitters yet, obviously hasn't appeared in any spring training games and certainly hasn't appeared in back-to-back games, all hurdles he'll need to cross before joining the Nats' active roster.
So the pertinent question this morning when Sipp met with reporters in West Palm Beach...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Michael A. Taylor is getting an MRI on both his left knee and left hip today, leaving the Nationals to potentially cope with a thin outfield following Thursday's injury on a diving catch in Fort Myers.
Taylor hurt himself diving to snag a Byron Buxton drive to right-center during the Nationals' 10-4 exhibition victory over the Twins, revealing today the turf was "a little soft and my knee stuck in the ground."
Taylor was still limping in the clubhouse this morning as...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - It was pouring in West Palm Beach this morning, but the forecast is dry only 51 miles north at Mets camp, where the Nationals face their division rivals this afternoon.
It's mostly regulars in the Nats lineup, but there's one interesting twist: Matt Adams in starting in left field for the first time this spring. Davey Martinez just revealed Michael A. Taylor is heading out to get an MRI on both his left knee and hip following yesterday's painful diving catch in Fort...
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Nationals don't make many long spring training road trips anymore, not since relocating headquarters from remote Viera to more accessible West Palm Beach. So the few 2 1/2-hour bus rides they still have on the schedule each spring tend to elicit more substantial groans from everyone involved.
Not everyone, though, was upset to ride the bus all the way across the state to Fort Myers for Thursday's game with the Twins. Erick Fedde viewed it as a golden opportunity.
"I...