Ready or not, exhibition season is over for Nationals

Are the Nationals ready for what awaits them Thursday night, when the atmosphere inside Nationals Park will be no different than it was for tonight's exhibition finale - a rain-shortened, 6-4 victory over the Orioles - but the stakes will be ramped up by a factor of 10?

It's impossible to know at this point, but here's what we do know after three exhibition games played in empty ballparks:

* Many pitchers' velocity is down, some to concerning levels.

* Some hitters are locked in despite the lack of prep time, others are still finding the timing they lost way back in March when the sport shut down.

* It doesn't matter who's ready or not, because nobody has a choice. The 2020 season begins Thursday night (weather permitting), and whatever takes place on the field counts for real.

"I think what's going to separate some teams is who can balance that and go out there and be able to still go out, execute their pitches, do things that they would do on any normal game," left-hander Patrick Corbin said. "I guess we'll see very soon what teams are able to handle that, and what aren't. I think for the three weeks that we did have here, we did everything possible to get into shape and be prepared as best we could with this huge layoff."

Corbin took center stage tonight in his one and only exhibition start. And the ensuing results over five innings were simultaneously concerning and encouraging.

Not that it's fair to jump to any conclusions under these unusual circumstances, but two batters into the game it was impossible not to at least raise an eyebrow watching Corbin. He opened the game allowing a single to Austin Hays via an 87 mph fastball, then moments later gave up a rocket RBI double to Hanser Alberto on another fastball that only reached 89 mph.

Corbin did eventually top out at 91 mph, but his average velocity tonight remained under 90 mph, several ticks below his norm last year. That was better than Sean Doolittle, who topped out at 89 mph during his one inning of relief, which included back-to-back doubles and a run-scoring liner to right.

"I think for most guys, it will come back," Corbin said. "It's tough when you're not facing live hitters, you're not on a mound for such a long period of time and you try to go out there and ramp things up. ... I think just the more reps that we get, guys will feel comfortable. The more batters you face, and obviously once games start to count, I think that will help out too a lot."

Regular velocity or not, Corbin was effective tonight for two good reasons: He threw strikes and his slider was on point. After that initial burst of offense from the Orioles, the left-hander retired 14 of the final 17 batters he faced. He struck out three, all via the slider. And he threw 48 of his 65 pitches for strikes, encouraging numbers for a guy who at times runs out of pitches by the time he reaches the sixth inning.

"I thought Corbin threw the ball really well, mixing up his pitches," manager Davey Martinez said. "The two-seamer was really good. He'll be fine once we get him stretched out more."

Corbin will have to hope this suffices as a final tune-up before his season debut, expected to come in Sunday's series finale against the Yankees. And the Nationals will have to hope their lineup is ready for the Yankees after only three exhibition games that featured mixed results.

Tonight's game saw a more diverse range of hits from various parts of the batting order. Howie Kendrick, who homered Monday at Camden Yards, looks more than ready despite his late arrival to camp, having doubled to right-center for one RBI and adding another via a run-scoring groundout.

Juan Soto, also a latecomer to camp, shows no signs of rust. He drove in a run with a ground ball on the 11th pitch of an impressive at-bat, then doubled down the right field line his next time up.

Eric Thames and Trea Turner also doubled, the latter to drive in a late run. And Starlin Castro notched his first RBIs as a National (including spring training) with a two-run single in the sixth that followed a line drive smoked to left in his prior at-bat.

"Eric's been hitting the ball since he's been here really hard, even in our intrasquad games," Martinez said. "Howie, to me, he's just a professional hitter. He has a plan every time he goes up there. He's very short. Uses the whole field. Having him here, having him hitting behind Juan is a blessing, it really is. Those two guys in the middle of our lineup is going to help us out a lot."