Nationals manager Davey Martinez has plenty on his plate during the typical day at spring training.
He has to check on each of his players and see how they're doing, a daily interaction the skipper prides himself upon. He makes sure to gauge the recoveries of any injured Nats. He needs to converse with his coaches to make sure everything is running smoothly in camp and with general manager Mike Rizzo to talk about potential roster moves and upcoming camp cuts.
And then there's the weather.
When fans in D.C. are shivering in gusty winds that drive 40-degree temperatures lower - all while keeping an eye on a warm-up that should see the readings hit the 60s (or higher) next week - Martinez is focused on the here and now. Today that means a weather forecast that threatens completion of a scheduled 1:05 p.m against the Marlins in Jupiter, Fla.
Hourly forecasts have rain starting by mid-afternoon, with a steadily increasing percentage of precipitation. And Martinez isn't worried about not getting yard work or play dates in. He's got much weightier concerns as spring training approaches the halfway point.
"Hopefully, we can get through it," he said this morning during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "If not, what happens is it ruins the schedule for the next three or four days. These guys that pitch today get bumped, so it bumps everybody. Hopefully we get the game (in). Rainouts in spring training are not good."
New pitching coach Jim Hickey is the on-site meteorologist, probably because he's the one who will have to rework the pitching assignments should weather negatively impact today's game. But at least the predicted showers won't impact starting pitcher Patrick Corbin's work today, assuming everything starts as scheduled.
Martinez noted that rain isn't scheduled to start before 2:30 p.m., which should give the left-hander time to finish his first Grapefruit League start.
The rest of the pitchers making the trip to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium might not be as fortunate. Right-handers Will Harris and Daniel Hudson are scheduled to make their first spring appearances today. Others available behind Corbin include righties Ryne Harper, Kyle McGowin, Javy Guerra and Gabe Klobosits, and left-handers T.J. McFarland and Ben Braymer.
* Martinez reported that lefty Jon Lester, who underwent surgery in New York on Friday to remove his thyroid gland, could return to the Nationals as soon as Monday.
"He's going to visit the doctor again today, but he's doing well. ... If everything goes well today, we'll have him back probably Monday," the manager said.
Left-hander Tim Cate has been shut down after experiencing arm soreness. Martinez said Cate, who went 11-9 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.142 WHIP between low Single-A Hagerstown and high Single-A Potomac in 2019, is immersed in a strengthening progression to help overcome the issue.
"He's one of those guys where he's very young and we're going to take care of him and make sure he's right before he gets back on the mound," Martinez said.
Martinez had no update on right-hander Rogelio Armenteros, who is shut down with a sore throwing arm.
Outfielder Gerardo Parra, whose ability to compete for a backup role has been compromised by his recovery from offseason knee surgery, has progressed to running the bases, an important step toward appearing in spring games.
"He's doing good. He's going to start playing hopefully the middle of next week," Martinez . But he's been progressing, doing a lot of running. Started running the bases the other day. So we'll get him out there. He's been taking a lot of at-bats during the live BPs. Once we get him where we feel comfortable he can just run around the bases, he'll start playing."
* Luis GarcÃa gets the start at shortstop today, giving Trea Turner a day off and reacquainting the 20-year-old with the position he played most in the minor leagues from 2017-2020 before mostly filling in for an injured Starlin Castro at second base last year in his major league debut.
"He was a guy that we transitioned to second base (last year) and we just want to get him back over there," Martinez said. "He's a guy that we look for, if something happens to Trea, he could possibly play over there in a small stint. Just go out there and just be athletic and relax. I mean, he's done it before, so just want to get him back over there and get him comfortable with that position."
* The radar gun at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is day-to-day after being shut down Friday night during Max Scherzer's much-anticipated Grapefruit League debut.
The contraption was registering mostly in the 80s for Scherzer, who it said topped out with a fastball at 92 mph - a debatable decrease in velocity for a guy whose first spring start was delayed by a sprained left ankle.
Well, you can't always trust what you see on the radar gun readings, Martinez said. And there's no cause for concern about decreased velo readings.
"The gun was quite off yesterday, so we had them shut it off," Martinez said. "There was something wrong with it. Max was definitely throwing harder than 86, 87 (mph). Couple of balls, we had him at 93, 94."
So it really is spring training for everyone - and everything.