Hudson seeks spring intensity, Harrison makes case to play more

Daniel Hudson was prepared to enter from the Nationals bullpen during the bottom of the third Friday night in Port St. Lucie, Fla., should teammate Javy Guerra not be able to complete the inning before reaching his pitch limit. When Guerra did retire the side, Hudson had a little time to rest before warming up again to pitch the bottom of the fourth.

It may not sound like a big deal, but for a reliever who needs to be prepared to deal with such a scenario during the season, this was an important test run.

"Warming up, then sitting down, warming up, sitting down ... as much as that can take a toll on you physically, those kind of help you get locked in and get you more in a rhythm," Hudson said during a Zoom session with reporters during the Nationals' 7-3 win over the Mets. "It's kind of a fine line you have to work during the spring of not overdoing it, but still getting those type of reps in."

Spring training isn't like the regular season for anybody, but it's especially true for relievers. In the spring, they know in advance which days they're going to pitch. They often enter in the early innings so they can face fellow major leaguers. They face little to no pressure in an exhibition game.

That's what makes it so difficult to evaluate relievers in March. It's why Hudson, who entered Friday's game sporting a gaudy 13.50 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in five Grapefruit League appearances, never really put much stock in his performance. How could he given the lack of stakes?

"I think you just put it in the back of your mind that it's still spring training (and) they don't really count," he said. "But you're still trying to get in your reps at the same time. You put as much intensity in as you can and try to pump yourself up. There's just some guys that can do it easily, and then some guys it takes a little bit of momentum and a little bit of rhythm to get into. And I think I fall somewhere in the middle."

The good news: Hudson, who was pitching on back-to-back days for the first time this year, cruised through a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth on six pitches, striking out the Mets' Dominic Smith on three straight fastballs.

"Huddy looked real good, and he was very pleased by his outing today," manager Davey Martinez said.

* While plenty of space in recent days has been devoted to the possibility of Starlin Castro opening the season as the Nationals' third baseman and Luis García taking over at second base, Josh Harrison has just continued to hit the ball with authority and state his own case for a starting job somewhere.

Harrison was supposed to be a utility man for the club, capable of playing second base, third base, both corner outfield positions and even first base or center field in a pinch. But his .419/.471/.677 offensive slash line in 14 spring games serves as a reminder he deserves some consideration for a more regular assignment come next week.

His manager agrees.

"When we got Josh last year, I knew of him for many, many years," Martinez said. "I knew what he could do. He's an All-Star, and he was hurt (in 2019 with the Tigers) and I knew that. ... He's a good player, and you can see that now (that) he's fully healthy, he can do a lot of different things. But I definitely could see him playing more than once or twice, three times a week. I love having him on this team. Like I said, he can do so many different things."

Harrison has played 443 big league games at second base, 276 at third base, 68 in right field, 51 in left field and 37 at shortstop. He pitched once for the Pirates and even played an inning at first base for the Nationals late last season.

"He's pretty good at all of them," Martinez said. "I stuck him in center field, just to see what that look like, and he ran down some balls. He understands the game. He works hard on every position. All spring long, he took balls everywhere. He even made a comment where he said: 'Remember, I can still play some first base,' so I started laughing. I said: 'I think we're covered there, but that's good to know.' "