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.
RHP Zach Davies
ASTROS
2B Jose Altuve
DH Yordan Alvarez
3B Alex Bregman
RF Kyle Tucker
LF Chas McCormick
1B Jon Singleton
SS Jeremy Peña
C Victor Caratini
CF Jake Meyers
RHP Luis Contreras