VIERA, Fla. - Now that the gang's all here, it's time to see everyone take the field together as a group for the first time.
All of the Nationals' position players have reported to camp and there were no issues with any of the physicals, according to manager Matt Williams. That means the Nats can have everyone take part in today's first full-squad workout of spring.
Position players will work on bunt plays and various "fundamentals," and then will work on individual defensive drills specific to their position. Pitchers and catchers will participate in bullpen sessions and cycle through various stations of their own.
One new station that I see on the schedule today for the pitchers: bunt play signs. Again, they cover it all down here in spring.
Here are the hitting groups today, for those who are interested in this type of thing:
Field 1
Group 1: Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche, Jayson Werth
Group 2: Ian Desmond, Anthony Rendon, Tyler Moore
Field 2
Group 1: Denard Span, Nate McLouth, Bryce Harper
Group 2: Scott Hairston, Danny Espinosa, Jeff Kobernus
Field 3
Group 1: Mike Fontenot, Zach Walters, Will Rhymes
Group 2: Jamey Carroll, Matt Skole, Brock Peterson
Field 4
Group 1: Steven Souza, Michael Taylor, Eury Perez
Group 2: Brian Goodwin, Josh Johnson
The clubhouse closed at about 8:30 this morning, a half-hour earlier than normal, for Williams to lead a team meeting. A full complement of team staffers was present, and Williams will presumably introduce everyone, allowing the new guys on the roster to match names with faces.
A projection screen was being assembled at the far end of the Nationals clubhouse again this morning. The last time that happened, Williams put up a picture of Gio Gonzalez striking a model-like pose, drawing laughter from all the Nats pitchers and catchers.
Will that be happening again?
"It better not," Gonzalez said.
ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" crew is at Nats camp today, and Karl Ravech and Tim Kurkjian just delivered was I'm guessing was a quick "SportsCenter" hit from the concourse just to the left of the press box. Those two will be here throughout the day and will probably have some coverage for you, if you're interested in supplementing the truly fantastic stuff you get here on MASNsports.com with some national TV stories.
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