PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Jose A. Ferrer is going to open the season on the injured list with an upper back strain, removing one of the left-handers competing for a spot in the Nationals bullpen with two weeks to go in spring training.

Ferrer has a strain of the teres major, a muscle that connects the upper back to the shoulder, and will be shut down three weeks before he’s re-evaluated, according to manager Davey Martinez.

The 24-year-old made only three Grapefruit League appearances this spring, two of them during the first week of games, then one more March 8, when he tossed two scoreless innings but apparently was already dealing with some discomfort. The club had him undergo an MRI this week, which revealed the strain.

Ferrer was competing with Robert Garcia, Richard Bleier and Joe La Sorsa for one or two spots in the Opening Day bullpen the Nationals would like to give to a left-hander. Bleier, in camp as a non-roster invitee, has made a team-high eight appearances, striking out seven without issuing any walks. La Sorsa, who was dropped from the 40-man roster over the winter, has allowed only one run in 6 2/3 innings and has converted each of four save opportunities. Garcia, who has received the most praise from Martinez this spring, has a 3.86 ERA across seven innings.

Ferrer actually has pitched better than any of them, with only two batters reaching base in four innings of work. But his inexperience – and the fact that he still has minor league options – probably put him in a disadvantageous position entering camp.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Hello from Mets camp, where tonight the Nationals and Mets meet in Grapefruit League play. But first, we’ve got a special treat: The “Spring Breakout” game featuring top prospects from both clubs.

Now, to be fair, we’ve already seen the majority of these guys in big league camp this spring. But it’ll still be fun to see them all together at the same time, facing fellow top prospects from a division rival.

The lineup includes Dylan Crews, James Wood, Brady House and Trey Lipscomb. But it also includes Yoyo Morales, Andrew Pinckney and T.J. White, who will get a more prominent look today than they’ve received to date.

It’s only a seven-inning game, and there are a bunch of pitchers who need to appear. So Jackson Rutledge, even though he’s starting, is only going one inning, maybe two tops. We’ll see a lot of other intriguing young arms throughout the afternoon.

SPRING BREAKOUT: WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Clover Park, Port St. Lucie
Gametime: 3:10 p.m.
TV: MLB.tv (Mets feed)
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 11 mph out to left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The notion that the Nationals signed Joey Gallo to be their primary left fielder, taking advantage not only of his power potential but also his Gold Glove arm? That doesn’t appear to be part of the plan anymore.

The combination of Gallo’s sore quad this spring and the recent signings of Eddie Rosario and Jesse Winker have convinced manager Davey Martinez to use Gallo primarily at first base for now.

“I think right now the idea is to keep Gallo at first base, and DH him at times, too,” Martinez said. “Especially now that he had this little tweak of his quad. We’ll try to keep him out of the outfield for now. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future, but I want him to be healthy before we even put him in the outfield.”

Gallo played his eighth game of the spring Thursday night, his fifth at first base. He served as designated hitter the other three times. He opened camp splitting workout time between the outfielders and infielders, but in recent weeks has worked exclusively at first base, this after missing several days with the quad injury.

Signed in January for $5 million to bring some much-needed power to a Nationals lineup that ranked last in the National League in homers last season, Gallo also was touted for his defensive ability in the outfield. He won the Gold Glove Award in both 2020 and 2021 and has spoken many times about the pride he takes in being a good defensive player.

BRADENTON, Fla. – The much-anticipated and aggressively hyped rematch between Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday and Pirates ace-to-be Paul Skenes lasted six pitches tonight. Holiday struck out with the count full and Skenes didn’t return for the second inning.

He’ll never be accused of wearing out his welcome. Just the batters who have to face him. And maybe a few catcher’s mitts.

Skenes’ fastball in the Orioles' 3-1 loss was clocked at 100.6, 101.7 and 101.1 mph during the at-bat. He began the game by striking out Enrique Bradfield Jr. on three pitches – at 100.6, 101.1 and 101.7 mph.

Last year’s first-overall draft pick out of LSU put his stamp on the inaugural “Spring Breakout,” retiring the side in order by breaking Connor Norby’s bat – it sure sounded like it, anyway - with a 96.6 mph sinker that produced a ground ball to third baseman Jack Brannigan.

Statcast identified the pitch that fanned Holliday as a 91.6 mph four-seam fastball. That’s wrong. Skenes hasn’t thrown a four-seamer in the low-90s since he was in preschool.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Zach Davies hasn’t been in this position in a while, pitching in spring training not to get ready for his team but to make his team.

Such is life on a minor league contract, and such is the dilemma facing Davies this month as he tries to convince the Nationals to include him on their Opening Day roster.

“In years past, having a secured job, the things that run through your mind are you’re still probably trying to work on something,” the 31-year-old right-hander said. “There’s times within a game that’s your focus. And then there’s a couple innings in there where you’re going to try to go after guys and be game-like. For me, I feel like you have to mix all that into every at-bat at this point. Just because I’m not on the roster and I’m still trying to make the team. Try and be competitive every time I’m out there.”

Davies said all this minutes after he departed tonight’s game at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, having just allowed two runs over five innings during the Nats’ 5-3 exhibition victory over the Astros. It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece – Houston collected seven hits and a walk, and Davies needed 89 pitches to complete his five frames – but it was hard to argue with the final results.

And results are what matter most to Davies right now.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – One of the four left-handers competing for spots in the Nationals’ Opening Day bullpen is dealing with a physical setback that could hurt his chances.

Jose A. Ferrer hasn’t pitched in six days due to an issue with his lat muscle, manager Davey Martinez revealed today. It’s unclear when he’ll be ready to return to the mound.

“He’s got a little bit of a lat thing going on,” Martinez said. “I’ll know more about what’s going on with him in the next day or two.”

Ferrer has made only three game appearances this spring, two of them coming during the first week of Grapefruit League play on Feb. 26 and Feb. 29. He then sat eight days before his next appearance March 8, when he tossed two scoreless innings but apparently was already dealing with some discomfort. He hasn’t pitched since.

“It’s been bothering him,” Martinez said. “We’ll see.”

BRADENTON, Fla. – The third inning today began to bring out the better spring side of Grayson Rodriguez.

Rodriguez retired the Pirates in order, getting the first two outs on four pitches. Jack Suwinski battled through 11 before flying out. Thirteen of those 15 pitches were strikes.

Making his fourth exhibition start, Rodriguez ventured into the fifth inning in his longest outing. He was removed after a one-out double by Alika Williams.

The Orioles stretched Rodriguez to 76 pitches (51 strikes), 14 more than his previous start against the Tigers. He was charged with two runs and four hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.

Before today, Rodriguez had totaled 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs and 10 hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We’ve got another night game here, and the Nationals will field a lineup worthy of playing under the lights. It’s all regulars for Davey Martinez (if you count Jesse Winker as a regular), with some interesting nuggets in there.

Keibert Ruiz is catching back-to-back days for the first time this spring, having already been behind the plate Wednesday against the Marlins. And Eddie Rosario, who made his debut in left field Wednesday, is starting in center field tonight. The 32-year-old has played only 58 of his 1,030 career major league games in center, and most of those came in 2016-17 with the Twins, but Martinez has suggested he could be an option there for the Nats, which would be an interesting way to get everyone in the lineup (at the expense of Victor Robles).

Zach Davies is tonight’s starting pitcher, and you would think the veteran right-hander needs to start showing something if he wants to force his way into the Opening Day rotation. Davies tossed two scoreless innings (albeit with two walks and a hit batter) in his debut, but then gave up three runs in 3 1/3 innings his last time out. We’ll see how he handles the Astros’ lineup.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 11 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
DH Joey Meneses
1B Joey Gallo
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Eddie Rosario
3B Nick Senzel
2B Luis García Jr.

BRADENTON, Fla. – The Orioles announced their lineup for tonight’s “Spring Breakout” game against the Pirates in Bradenton, the second half of a unique doubleheader.

The top two spots are occupied by the last two first-round draft picks – center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. and shortstop Jackson Holliday.

Samuel Basallo, who collected his first hit yesterday with a ninth inning single, is batting fifth as the designated hitter. He probably won’t be cleared to catch until late April due to a stress fracture in his right elbow.

Silas Ardoin is catching left-hander Cade Povich.

The first seven spots in the order are occupied by Top 30 prospects. Povich also counts at No. 10 per MLB Pipeline.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Cedric Mullins is in the lineup today for the first time since March 4, when he exited in the first inning with right hamstring discomfort.

Mullins is leading off. Gunnar Henderson is starting at shortstop and batting third.

Jorge Mateo is the second baseman. Kyle Stowers is in right field.

Tyler Nevin gets the start at first base.

Grayson Rodriguez is making his fourth start after allowing three runs and 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings. He’s walked five batters and struck out five.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Spring training stats must be taken with more than a grain of salt. Perhaps a full bucket of salt.

Now, having said that, has anyone out there noticed how well the Nationals have pitched this spring?

Wednesday’s 2-1 exhibition victory over the Marlins was merely the latest example. That came on the heels of a 4-1 victory over the Mets. Combine the pitching totals from those two games and the Nats have surrendered a grand total of two runs on six hits, walking only three while striking out 14.

And this has been going on for 2 1/2 weeks now. Eighteen games into their Grapefruit League schedule, the Nationals rank second in the majors in ERA (3.51), WHIP (1.164) and opponents’ batting average (.224), third in walks per nine innings (3.0), fourth in home runs surrendered per nine innings (0.68) and fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.1).

There’s a lot to like about the way the entire staff has pitched to date, especially a number of guys who are competing for spots on the Opening Day roster.

JUPITER, Fla. – After getting roughed up by the Astros to the tune of seven runs in 1 2/3 innings two weeks ago, Jake Irvin was approached by Nationals manager Davey Martinez, who asked what happened. Irvin informed his manager he was “working on stuff,” the insinuation there that he wasn’t approaching hitters the way he normally would in a regular season game.

The message Martinez shot back at the 27-year-old: Don’t do that.

“Work on the stuff you need to work on, but do it in the bullpen,” Martinez said. “When you’re in the game, you’re here to compete. I need you to forget about everything and start getting some outs. And he took it to heart.”

That’s putting it mildly. In two starts since that regrettable March 1 outing, Irvin has flipped the switch and pitched like these games were taking place in mid-September, not mid-March.

With five scoreless innings today on a scant 52 pitches, Irvin led the Nationals to a 2-1 exhibition win over the Marlins. Combined with his previous appearance against the Mets, the right-hander has now tossed nine scoreless innings, allowing three hits and zero walks while striking out 10 since getting that all-important message from his manager.

The Washington Nationals are thrilled to announce Costa Media as the official Spanish-language radio broadcast partner of the team for the 2024 season. For every game this season, fans can tune in to DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM for live Spanish-language broadcasts, with in-game play-by-play analysis, 15-minute pre- and postgame shows, in-depth organizational reporting, and player interviews.

Programming will begin with the ON DECK: Nationals Futures Game on March 26, with regular-season coverage starting on Opening Day, March 28 vs. the Cincinnati Reds. The radio broadcasts will also be available to MLB.TV subscribers with no blackout restrictions.

“My team and I are very excited about this partnership with the Nationals,” said Jose Villafane, Managing Partner of Costa Media. “Baseball is a favorite sport among Latinos, and we feel honored and privileged to bring this live play-by-play programming in the native Spanish language to our loyal and passionate Hispanic audience in the DMV.”

The Nationals Spanish-language radio broadcast team will be made up of Luciano Rodríguez on the play-by-play and Gustavo Salazar providing color commentary. Rodriguez and Salazar join the Nationals broadcasting team that includes Bob Carpenter, Kevin Frandsen and Dan Kolko on MASN and Dave Jageler and Charlie Slowes on 106.7 The Fan FM.

“When we go out on the field every game, the guys know we’re there to represent DC – and it’s always our goal to make all of DC proud, including our strong Hispanic community,” said manager Dave Martinez.  “I’m excited that we’ll now be able to reach even more fans with this partnership. We have a lot of guys on our roster who take pride in their Hispanic heritage, and I know they’re excited too.” 

JUPITER, Fla. – Robert Hassell III is likely to open the season on the injured list after an MRI revealed a strain of his groin, but it doesn’t appear the Nationals outfield prospect will miss significant time.

Hassell injured himself March 8, able to play only one inning in the field, pulled before he could take an at-bat. He has been sidelined since, getting the MRI on Tuesday.

Manager Davey Martinez didn’t want to suggest a timetable for Hassell to return but acknowledged the 22-year-old will need to miss “a little time.”

“But he feels good,” Martinez added. “He’s going to just do some strengthening stuff, and hopefully we get him ready as soon as possible.”

The strain does not appear to be serious, because Hassell hasn’t been shut down altogether. He played catch Tuesday in West Palm Beach and was scheduled to hit off a tee today.

Fubo to Stream Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals Ahead of 2024 Major League Baseball Season

NEW YORK – MARCH 12, 2024 – FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a/ Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO), and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) announced today a carriage agreement that will expand streaming coverage of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals to the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform.

Ahead of Major League Baseball Opening Day (March 28, 2024), MASN will be available to Fubo subscribers across a seven-state region, from Harrisburg, Pa., to Charlotte, N.C. Fubo will stream MASN’s coverage of every available game of both the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, pre- and postgame shows, and NCAA Division I men's and women's sports, totaling more than 500 live events annually.

The addition of MASN further solidifies Fubo’s position as the home for local sports. Fubo’s leading sports offering includes more than 55,000 live sporting events annually, with many streaming in 4K, and over 35 regional sports networks in its base package at the lowest cost compared to other streaming options. Fubo is also the streaming leader in Major League Baseball coverage carrying MLB.TV, MLB Network, MLB Strike Zone, regional sports networks (RSNs), local broadcast networks and national sports networks ESPN and FS1. In addition to its leading sports coverage, Fubo also streams popular live entertainment and news programming and features more than 40,000 TV shows and movies on-demand each month.

“Fubo is proud to be the home for local sports and the addition of MASN will bring Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals fans even more access to their favorite teams for the 2024 MLB season,” said Todd Mathers, senior vice president, content strategy and acquisition, Fubo. “We look forward to expanding baseball coverage across the mid-Atlantic region with Fubo’s leading MLB offering.”

JUPITER, Fla. – The Nationals have a quick turnaround from Tuesday night’s game against the Mets to this afternoon’s game against the Marlins. That might explain why there are so many kids in Davey Martinez’s lineup. (Most veterans aren’t going to be asked to play spring training day games after night games.)

The good news is that we get to see James Wood, Dylan Crews and Trey Lipscomb all in the same lineup. Lipscomb, who started at second base Tuesday night, moves to third base today. Crews, it should be noted, is mired in a bit of a funk at the plate. He’s 0 for his last 8 with one walk and six strikeouts. Wood, meanwhile, is 2 for his last 13 after beginning the spring 9-for-19.

Jake Irvin gets the start for the Nats, hoping to build off a strong outing his last time on the mound. The right-hander shut out the Mets over four innings last week, striking out five without walking anybody. He’s probably assured of a spot in the Opening Day rotation, but another start like that would probably seal the deal.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:10 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: 980 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
LF Jacob Young
RF James Wood
DH Jesse Winker
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
SS Ildemaro Vargas
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Dylan Crews
1B Juan Yepez

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Mike Rizzo spent the first half of his professional life roaming every corner of the United States and beyond in search of young baseball talent. He’s spent the second half of that professional life staying in one place, making Washington his home during his 18 years working for the Nationals, the last 15 as general manager.

Along the way, as he realized how much D.C. had become home to him and his family, Rizzo decided he wanted to give something back to the city he now lovingly calls home.

“I’m so humbled and grateful every day,” he said. “I was an area scout and grinded it out for a long time to appreciate where I’m at right now. I’ve been blessed in my career and in my life – I’ve made enough money where I can help out the less fortunate – and I married a woman who wanted to do the same thing. We kind of teamed this thing up to leave a mark. I think the city deserves for me to give something back to them, since they’ve given so much to me.”

Thus was The Rizzo Family Foundation – aka “Riz Kids” – born. A new nonprofit organization created by Mike and Jodi Rizzo, it intends to champion educational equity and invest in D.C. children and their families through community grants, college scholarships and opportunities to experience special baseball events.

The idea came to the Rizzos sometime in 2020, after Mike’s sister Kim died of ALS. The birth of the couple’s son, Sonny, last year helped further push them to create the foundation, which officially launched this week.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – An admitted perfectionist, MacKenzie Gore is the kind of guy who tends to get caught up with the things he didn’t do well on a particular night and forget about the things he did do well.

So it was appropriate to wonder tonight if the Nationals left-hander might be hung up on the ragged top of the fourth he experienced against the Mets instead of focusing on the top of the first, second, third, fifth and sixth innings, all of which went splendidly for him.

The good news: Gore was in a much better mood than you might have surmised based on his history.

“It was good,” he said. “Look, the stuff, we’re going in the right direction.”

Gore was quite good tonight, tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball and setting the tone on a night the Nats pitching staff combined to two-hit the Mets in a 4-1 exhibition victory. He retired the first nine batters he faced on a scant 32 pitches. He became not only the first member of the staff to complete five innings this spring but re-took the mound for the top of the sixth because his pitch count was so low.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – With less than two weeks remaining in spring training, the two members of the Nationals’ projected lineup most in danger of losing their jobs got a muted vote of confidence from general manager Mike Rizzo, who nonetheless made it clear he needs to see more improvement from Luis García Jr. and Victor Robles.

García and Robles came to camp with an edict from club officials to show long-sought improvement, told they would be pushed by others in search of their starting jobs over the course of the spring. Each has enjoyed some success at the plate – García is 8-for-29 with two doubles and a homer, Robles is 6-for-18 with a homer and three walks – but each has come under some criticism following fundamental mistakes.

Asked about both García, 23, and Robles, 26, this afternoon, Rizzo expressed disappointment in those mistakes while also acknowledging their relative inexperience.

“I think they’re playing hard, they’re playing well,” Rizzo said. “We have to eliminate the mental lapses and the mental mistakes. But when you think about it, they’re both still young men chronologically. Although they seem like they’ve been here forever, they’re still young people. Luis is still 23 years old. If they didn’t have ability, obviously you wouldn’t be putting up with the mental mistakes that they make. But they have a lot of ability. They’ve shown it in the past at this level. We just have to get them over that, because that’s not helping the team.”

García in particular came under fire last week after committing errors on back-to-back plays, then getting picked off first base the following day.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – In his first at-bat as a member of the Nationals, Eddie Rosario didn’t drive the ball out of the park. He didn’t rip a line drive to center for a base hit. He hit a little dribbler toward short, one that left his bat at a not-so-scalding 49.9 mph. And then busted down the line.

By the time Cardinals shortstop Brandon Crawford charged in to field the ball and throw to first, Rosario had already crossed the bag, throwing his arms out in a “safe” motion as he looked to first base umpire Jen Pawol, who made the same (in her case, official) call.

The expected batting average on such a grounder? A measly .110. Rosario, suffice it to say, beat the odds with his hustle.

“That’s what I know about him,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s going to play the game the right way, play the game hard. It was good to see him come out in the first game and do what he did.”

That was the only time Rosario reached base in his Nats debut Monday afternoon. He finished 1-for-3 with the infield single, a popout to second and a well-struck fly out to left. It was a fairly nondescript performance, but not shabby given the fact the 32-year-old just signed a minor league contract five days prior.