Breaking down the final roster decisions entering the final weekend

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s officially the home stretch of spring training.

The Nationals have three more days here in Florida, with an exhibition tonight against the Marlins, Saturday against the Mets and then split-squad games Sunday against the Astros and Cardinals. Then they fly north for Monday’s exhibition finale against the Orioles. And then it’s time for the real thing.

Over the course of the last 5 1/2 weeks, the Nats have taken care of plenty of business. But for the most part, any roster decisions they made were no-brainers. They haven’t really had to make a hard decision yet.

That changes this weekend, when Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez have to settle on a 26-man Opening Day roster. They can’t put off these decisions any longer. It’s time to make the final calls on several position battles.

Here’s where those battles stand …

NO. 5 STARTER
The three-way race really turned into a one-man show over the course of the spring. DJ Herz has dealt with diminished velocity and poor command. Shinnosuke Ogasawara hasn’t looked ready to face major league hitters. Mitchell Parker, meanwhile, hasn’t looked dominant. But the left-hander has looked good enough.

Both Ogasawara and Parker pitched Thursday, with Ogasawara really laboring in 3 2/3 innings against the Mets and Parker completing six innings in a minor league game on a back field. Herz also pitched on a back field earlier in the week. There are no more game opportunities for any of them. It’s decision time.

What’s the most likely scenario now? Parker is named the No. 5 starter (though he could actually start the season’s third game against the Phillies for matchup purposes). Ogasawara and Herz are optioned to Triple-A Rochester, hoping to see some positive results in April and be ready for the call if and when the Nationals need rotation help.

NO. 2 CATCHER
Three players have competed to be Keibert Ruiz’s backup. And truth be told, none has distinguished himself throughout the spring.

Riley Adams hit a couple of early homers, but overall is just 4-for-19. Drew Millas has struggled mightily at the plate (1-for-18) and surprisingly has made a number of mistakes behind the plate as well. Andrew Knizner is known for his defense but has shown very little with his bat (3-for-23).

So, how’s this one going to shake out? The simplest resolution would be to keep Adams (who is out of options) as the No. 2 catcher, send Millas (who does have options) to Triple-A and hope no other teams are willing to give Knizner a big league job so he can also report to Rochester and share catching duties there with Millas.

26TH MAN
The final spot on the bench might be the trickiest decision of them all. There appeared to be four candidates for that job: Jose Tena, Juan Yepez, Andres Chaparro, Nasim Nunez. But then Chaparro (who was batting .387 this spring) strained an oblique muscle and will have to open the season on the injured list.

So that leaves three players with very different skill sets. Tena is a potentially solid, left-handed hitter who plays all three infield positions but most importantly would share time at third base with Paul DeJong. But he’s batting just .162 with a .441 OPS this spring and still isn’t 100 percent comfortable at the hot corner. Yepez has the most big league experience, can play first base, third base or left field and is a solid right-handed bat off the bench. But how much would Martinez really need him to pinch-hit? And then there’s Nunez, last year’s Rule 5 Draft pick who has made tremendous strides, is batting .419 this spring and playing brilliant defense.

Based strictly on performance, Nunez should be a shoo-in. But the idea all along was to give him a chance to play every day at Triple-A after losing a year of development sitting on the Nats bench. Does that take precedence over another season on the bench, where he’d have value as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement but probably wouldn’t play that much again?

SEVENTH AND EIGHTH RELIEVERS
It’s probably safe to say the top six spots are locked up: Kyle Finnegan, Jose A. Ferrer, Jorge Lopez, Derek Law, Lucas Sims and Colin Poche. That leaves two more bullpen spots and four remaining candidates.

Eduardo Salazar and Orlando Ribalta have both pitched well this spring and have some experience pitching in relief for the Nationals late last season. It would be simple to give the jobs to those two. The downside: Neither is a true long man, with Ribalta able to pitch two innings at a time but not more than that.

Which means the Nats could decide it’s worth keeping one of two starter prospects as a reliever instead. Jackson Rutledge has officially made the transition to the bullpen, even if he goes to Triple-A. Brad Lord, though, is still viewed by the organization as a starter in the long run. But at this moment, club officials are very intrigued by the possibility of putting him in the major league bullpen, where his stuff plays up and he’d be capable of throwing multiple innings if needed.

Do the Nationals go the simple route and just put Salazar and Ribalta on the team? Or do they go unconventional and give Lord one of those spots, bumping one of the other two to Rochester despite strong performances this spring?