WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Early March in spring training brings the anticipation of the first roster cuts. Usually, it’s a group of minor leaguers who have been in major league camp but are running out of opportunities to play as the everyday big leaguers need more reps to get ready for the season.

Technically, it is a demotion. But none of the young players should hold their heads down as they move from the Nationals clubhouse to the minor league side down the hall at the CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches complex.

The Nats made their first cuts of the spring yesterday, reassigning right-handers Daison Acosta, Marquis Grissom Jr., Jack Sinclair, Tyler Stuart and Jarlin Susana, and catchers Caleb Lomavita and Max Romero to minor league camp.

“We had some young guys that threw the ball really, really well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So now that we're trying to get our starters stretched out and see some of these other guys go multiple innings, it's time for them to get ready for their season as well. But I saw a lot of really good things. As I said earlier, for me, this is the first camp where I really feel like we have some depth. Our young guys are doing well and they're coming. So it was a lot of fun to watch these guys pitch early.”

Demoting Susana, who is the Nats’ No. 3 ranked prospect and the No. 78 ranked prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings, wasn’t unexpected. But it is unfortunate that we’ll see less of the 6-foot-6, 235-pound flamethrower, who draws attention every time he steps on a mound. He could still be called up from minor league camp for games, plus one of the two Spring Breakout games next week.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals were back to work on the back fields at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches after Monday’s true off-day. No one reported to the complex yesterday. Everyone returned today.

That included Luis García Jr., who was a late scratch from Saturday’s nightcap of a split-squad doubleheader with an illness that included a throat issue and fever. The second baseman said he was feeling better in the clubhouse this morning. Manager Davey Martinez said García will be back to baseball activity today.

That activity will take place on the back fields while the Nats host a split-squad Cardinals team inside the stadium for today’s Grapefruit League action (which will also be live on MASN at 1 p.m.). The Nats will play a simulated intrasquad game on the back fields for those who aren’t playing against the Cards.

“He's going to do all baseball activity,” the skipper said of García during his pregame media session. “He's going to go back there and play in that game. And then if he feels good, he'll be back in there tomorrow.”

James Wood will also play on the back fields, which is a significant development because he will be playing a few “innings” in the outfield for the first time since reporting to camp with right quad tendinitis. The big outfielder has appeared in two games as the designated hitter, going 2-for-6 with one run, one walk and one strikeout.

JUPITER, Fla. – Michael Soroka hadn’t jogged out of his own dugout to start a game since May 12 with the White Sox. Over his last 16 appearances in 2024, he had to jog in from the bullpen as a reliever.

On that day, he gave up five runs (four earned) in 5 ⅓ innings to start what would be a 7-0 loss to the Guardians, inflating his season ERA to 6.39. From that point on, he posted a 2.75 ERA over 36 innings as a multi-inning reliever for Chicago.

But when he signed his one-year, $9 million contract with the Nationals over the offseason, he was promised a chance to return to the rotation as the highest-paid pitcher on the team. Today’s start in a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Cardinals was his first step back toward being a full-time starter.

Soroka completed three scoreless innings with one walk and three strikeouts on 39 pitches, 27 strikes. A perfect outing to match the goals laid out for him for his first Grapefruit League appearance of the spring.

“I felt pretty good,” the 27-year-old right-hander said. “I felt a little amped up early. I was kind of throwing through a couple things and just couldn't quite find that tensionless delivery that I kind of found earlier. Then kind of clicked it all into place at the back end of the first inning and let it ride. So I felt pretty good about the adjustments I made. That's just kind of everything I guess you could ask for in your first time out there.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Robert Hassell III has been here before. One year ago, in his spring training debut, the Nationals prospect went 2-for-3 with a triple. Three days later, he homered. By the end of March, he sported a .357 batting average and 1.198 OPS.

So there was a comfort level for Hassell when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a tie game this afternoon. Sure, he was annoyed at striking out in his first at-bat back in the fifth and lining out his next time up in the eighth. Here, though, was another opportunity to make a statement.

And that’s just what Hassell did, driving a two-out, two-strike pitch from Astros reliever Joey Mancini off the left field wall for a three-run double, the decisive blow in the Nats’ 6-3 victory to open the Grapefruit League season.

“I think I’m more prepared, for sure,” he said when asked to compare this spring to the previous one. “I think last year, they were coming right at me, the pitchers were. It wasn’t too fast for me, but just like today, I was getting down in counts a little bit. But I’m definitely more comfortable just from being here, for sure.”

A year ago, Hassell wasn’t able to parlay a strong spring into a strong regular season. Hampered yet again by a persistent hand injury, he was limited to 85 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He batted just .241, slugged just .328, totaled just 16 extra-base hits in 362 plate appearances.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two days into full-squad workouts, more than a few observers have noticed a crispness to the Nationals’ infield defense that wasn’t always there last year.

With middle infielders CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. returning, now joined on the corners by Nathaniel Lowe and Paul DeJong, the unit as a whole looks sharper than it did last season.

“We’ve got to catch the baseball. We talk about it all the time,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We were really good in the beginning, and toward the second half we were not good at all. We’ve got to be consistent, and I think with the guys we brought in … they’re going to help our young guys.”

Lowe takes over at first base, already the proud owner of a Gold Glove Award from 2023 when he was with the Rangers. DeJong, just signed this week, doesn’t look inexperienced at third base, even though he only moved there from shortstop in the middle of the 2024 season.

Abrams is still working on his fielding mechanics and can look a bit stiff at times, but the organization believes the All-Star shortstop is primed to make significant strides after his second half struggles last season.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Position players don’t officially report to Nationals camp until Monday, with the first official full-squad workout Tuesday, but so many of them were already on hand early that the team decided to get started now with a time-honored, spring training workout: live batting practice.

Nine pitchers took turns facing groups of three live hitters on three different practice fields during this morning’s session. The largest crowd (including managing principal owner Mark Lerner) watched from behind the plate on Field 3 as MacKenzie Gore, Jose A. Ferrer and Jarlin Susana pitched to Stone Garrett, Alex Call and José Tena.

Gore had success against Garrett (one of his closest friends on the team), but it was Call who connected for a home run to left-center field off the left-hander and potential Opening Day starter.

Susana, the flamethrowing 20-year-old in major league camp for the first time, also had plenty of onlookers watching intently as he faced that same group of hitters, plus Keibert Ruiz. Drew Millas had the task of catching Susana’s 100-plus mph fastball, and the young backstop was eagerly awaiting that opportunity as everyone warmed up prior to the drill.

Field 6 saw Trevor Williams, Tyler Stuart and Clay Helvey take the mound against another group of hitters. Field 4 was manager Davey Martinez’s venue of choice, in part for the pitchers who worked there (Eduardo Salazar, Evan Reifert, Joan Adon) but maybe even more for the hitters who faced them (James Wood, Dylan Crews, CJ Abrams).

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The first official workout of the spring saw 10 members of the Nationals pitching staff take the mound for their first bullpen sessions in front of the full coaching staff and assembled media and fans.

There were familiar faces (MacKenzie Gore, Trevor Williams, Jose A. Ferrer, Eduardo Salazar). There were semi-forgotten faces (Cade Cavalli, Joan Adon). And there were several new faces (Jarlin Susana, Evan Reifert, Tyler Stuart, Clay Helvey) were drew plenty of attention from observers getting their first look at that group.

Was there a common theme among all the throwers?

“What I liked today was that everyone looked like they were under control, throwing strikes,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Today, my message was very simple. Stay engaged. Keep where your feet are. And focus on throwing strikes. We’ve been very effective when we get ahead, and we’re going to continue to preach that.”

Perhaps the best sign of the progress the Nationals believe they’ve made in that regard: The famed “I don’t care how hard you throw ball four” signs that caused a minor stir last spring are nowhere to be found this time around.

When the Nationals decided to non-tender All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey on Nov. 22, they were letting go the only two relief pitchers on their roster who had real major league experience in high-leverage end-of-game situations.

After a spectacular start to the season with a 1.98 ERA and 23 saves on July 4, Finnegan struggled after his first All-Star selection. Over his final 28 appearances, he pitched to a 5.93 ERA with only 15 saves in 17 chances. Although he finished third in the major leagues with 38 saves, his overall 3.68 ERA was the third-highest among relievers with 26 or more saves.

Nonetheless, the Nats’ decision to part ways with Finnegan, who at 33 was projected to make $8.6 million in his last year of arbitration eligibility by MLB Trade Rumors, was unexpected.

The choice to non-tender Rainey, however, was less surprising. The 32-year-old right-hander was still trying to rediscover his form after August 2022 Tommy John surgery. Although he pitched to a 2.14 ERA and 1.000 WHIP over the season’s final two months, his overall numbers of 4.76 and 1.490 weren’t encouraging enough for the Nats to hold onto the last remaining player from their 2019 championship roster for one more year.

So the Nats entered the thick of the Hot Stove Season in need of a closer. And here we are two days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach where the question still stands: Who’s the closer?

The names aren’t quite as notable as a year ago, when several of the top prospects in baseball made their spring training debuts for the Nationals, but this year’s crop of non-roster invitees does include some intriguing young players who figure to be part of the organization’s future (some sooner than others).

The Nats announced 17 players not currently on the 40-man roster who will participate in major league camp beginning next month, headlined by third baseman Brady House, catcher Caleb Lomavita and pitcher Jarlin Susana.

This will be House’s second spring with the big leaguers, but the 21-year-old’s first real opportunity to show the organization he’s close to big-league-ready. The Nationals’ 2021 first round pick got a token look last spring before heading to Double-A Harrisburg. He finished the season at Triple-A Rochester, batting .241 with 19 homers and 66 RBIs in 129 combined games between the two affiliates.

Team officials haven’t definitively said if House has a chance to make the Opening Day roster, but they also haven’t acquired any starting third base candidates this winter. For now, the alternatives to House are Jose Tena, Trey Lipscomb and veteran utilityman Amed Rosario.

House won’t be the only third base prospect in camp. He’ll be joined in West Palm Beach, Fla., by 2023 second round pick Yohandy Morales (who also plays first base) and Cayden Wallace (who was acquired from the Royals last summer for reliever Hunter Harvey) and could be close to big-league ready himself.

Scan the Nationals’ current roster, and it’s easy to lump young, core players into one of three categories: Those who were acquired via the draft, those who were acquired via trade and those who were acquired via international signing.

That final group, the international free agents, is by far the smallest group, which underscores just how difficult it is to discover and sign good players from other countries at age 16 and then develop them into big leaguers. But it is a vital part of roster building, and the Nats know they need to improve in that area just as they’ve been trying to improve in the drafting and developing of young American players.

The two notable homegrown Latin American players currently on the major league roster are Luis García Jr. and Jose A. Ferrer. García, still only 24, was signed out of the Dominican Republic for $1.3 million way back in 2016, making him the longest tenured player in the entire organization. Ferrer, also 24, was signed one year later in 2017 for a mere $100,000.

Also on the 40-man roster is Andry Lara, the Venezuelan right-hander signed in 2019 for $1.25 million who finally enjoyed his breakthrough season and earned a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg.

But that’s it on the 40-man roster. Other recent Latin American signees like Armando Cruz (21), Jeremy De La Rosa (23), Cristhian Vaquero (20) and Victor Hurtado (17) are still either in the lower levels of the minors or haven’t performed well enough yet to climb the organizational ladder.

The Nationals, of course, have some of the top position player prospects in baseball. But there are some arms that are impressing on the mound as well.

One of the best stories on the Nats farm this season is Brad Lord, a 2022 18th-round pick out of the University of South Florida.

After posting a 4.04 ERA and 1.328 WHIP in 27 games (17 starts) between Single-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington last year, the right-hander has been one of the best starters in all of Minor League Baseball this season.

Lord earned his first promotion to Double-A Harrisburg after one scoreless start with Wilmington. In 12 starts with the Senators, he is 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA, 1.052 WHIP, 9.6 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate and 3.40 strikeout-to-walk rate.

Last week, he produced his second-career double-digit strikeout performance with seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball and 10 strikeouts for his seventh win of the season.

It was a fun day on South Capitol Street, as the Nationals played the first-ever “On Deck: Nationals Futures Game” for their final exhibition outing before starting the regular season Thursday in Cincinnati.

The Nationals’ major leaguers were set to play a team full of the organization’s top prospects, many of whom spent the majority of spring training in big league camp. There were smiles all around this morning as the youngsters prepped for the game in the visiting clubhouse at Nationals Park, while the major league team got settled into the home locker room with bags packed for tomorrow’s early morning flight to Cincy.

But once the game started, the niceties between organizational teammates disappeared for the next 2 hours and 35 minutes as the major league team flexed its muscles while dominating the Futures Team 13-1 in front of an announced paid crowd of 10,294 at Nats Park.

“It was good,” said major league manager Davey Martinez. “We had some good at-bats. I thought we played really well. The key was to get some at-bats, see some pitches. We had a day off yesterday, but I saw some really good things. And the young kids, they stood up there and they weren't afraid. The guys that we had, they swung the bats well. Our kids got up there and they got their swings. So it was a good day.”

MacKenzie Gore set the tone early in his final tune-up before taking the ball Monday for the Nats’ home opener against the Pirates. Facing top prospects Robert Hassell III, Dylan Crews, James Wood and Trey Lipscomb, the left-hander recorded three strikeouts in the first frame while only surrendering an opposite-field double to Wood.

The Nationals took one step closer to the start of spring training yesterday by announcing the first round of non-roster invitations to major league camp.

The first batch of invites includes top prospects Dylan Crews (No. 1 in Nats system per Baseball America), James Wood (No. 2), Brady House (No. 3), Robert Hassell III (No. 7), Trey Lipscomb (No. 16) and Darren Baker (No. 28), all of whom will be attending their first big league spring training.

Other non-roster players invited yesterday include outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, first baseman Lewin Diaz, left-hander Joe La Sorsa, catcher Brady Lindsly and first baseman/outfielder Juan Yepez.

Two weeks from today, Nationals pitchers and catchers will hold their first workout to start the 2024 campaign at the team’s facility in West Palm Beach. Six days later the first full-squad workout will take place.

As general manager Mike Rizzo looks to fill out the roster before the team convenes in a few weeks, which top prospects just missed out on a major league camp invite?

Last month, the Nationals promoted longtime front office staffer Eddie Longosz to vice president and assistant general manager of player development and administration after spending the last 13 years in the club’s scouting department, most recently as the director of scouting operations for the last eight.

Before the promotion, Longosz, a D.C. native, assisted general manager Mike Rizzo on all aspects of the organization's amateur, professional and international scouting operations.

That means he is now in charge of developing the players in the Nats’ farm system that he helped scout and draft.

The upper echelon of the farm system is now loaded, especially with position players, thanks to high draft picks, numerous trades and impressive international signings over the last three years, all with Longosz’s input.

At the top of the board is top prospect Dylan Crews, this year’s No. 2 overall draft pick, reigning national champion from LSU and Golden Spikes Award winner. The other recent first-round picks include third baseman and No. 3 prospect Brady House (No. 11 overall pick in 2021) and outfielder and No. 5 prospect Elijah Green (No. 5 overall pick in 2022).

PROSPECT REVIEW: JARLIN SUSANA

Age on opening day 2024: 20

How acquired: Traded with MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood, Robert Hassell III and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in August 2022; originally signed as international free agent by Padres from Dominican Republic, January 2022

Ranking: No. 12 per MLB Pipeline, No. 10 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

As the major league regular season enters its last week, the lower level of the minor leagues have already wrapped up their 2022 campaigns.

In the Nationals system, only Triple-A Rochester is still playing games with their season finale coming tomorrow afternoon. Double-A Harrisburg, High-A Wilmington, Single-A Fredericksburg and the Rookie-level Florida Complex League are done playing games and now see some of their top players come together for the instructional league camp at the Nationals’ facility in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Robert Hassell III, Elijah Green, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Jackson Rutledge are among some of the top prospects taking part in instructs. A lot of the future faces of this franchise are all together for their first camp since many of them came to the franchise via this summer’s draft and trade deadline moves.

Just an hour away in West Palm, the group of players made a trip down to visit the Nationals over the weekend in Miami. General manager Mike Rizzo, director of player development De Jon Watson and manager Davey Martinez were among some of the heads in the organization to address the young players.

“Yeah, I spoke to them all and I talked to them for a little while,” Martinez said. “It was good to actually get in front of them and see some of those guys. Some of the guys I've seen before but congratulate them for being there. I mean, when you get to instructional league, it's kind of like the guys are handpicked to be there and get some more instruction. And I told them to keep working hard and kind of be the cream of the crop, really. And keep working. I mean, the door's wide open right now for you guys and we're looking at players and keep pushing. Be the best and keep putting up the numbers and have fun.”

After the Nationals lost their seventh of their last eight games yesterday, it would seem now is a good time to look at some recent prospect rankings.

We’ll be doing this a lot over the coming months and even seasons, so be sure to stay tuned.

The Nationals revamped their farm system and entered a full rebuild after trading their best players at back-to-back trade deadlines and signed 19 of their 20 picks in last month’s MLB Draft.

And national publications are taking notice of the new prospects in the Nats’ minor league system.

Baseball America released their updated prospect rankings earlier this week, the top 30 for each major league club and the top 100 overall.

Try not to get too excited, but it's hard not to take notice of some impressive debuts for a couple of the newest Nationals prospects.

Elijah Green homered in his professional debut and Jarlin Susana struck out four in his Nats farm debut at the Rookie-level Florida Complex League this afternoon.

Green, the No. 5 overall pick in last month’s MLB Draft, sent the second pitch of his second at-bat over the left-field wall of one of the back fields at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The right-handed hitter with a 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame at the age of 18 was scouted as a five-tool player with tremendous upside heading into the draft. On the 20-80 grading scale, he already is rated with 60 power and 70 speed.

Green played center field and hit third for the FCL Nationals. He struck out looking on three pitches in his first at-bat (at least according to the MiLB.com box score) and finished 1-for-4 with the home run and three strikeouts in his first professional game.

PHILADELPHIA – It’s a demanding job being a major league manager. All the pressure in the world lies on your shoulders. You don’t get enough credit when you win and you get all of the blame when you lose.

For eight to nine months of the year, Davey Martinez has to worry about the 26 players he has on the Nationals’ active roster. He often even has to worry about the guys that make up the 40-man roster and some of the players in the upper levels of the minor league system.

Needless to say, this is a busy time of year for Martinez. He has his plate totally full.

But even he can’t help himself in checking out the new young prospects the Nationals received in the Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade with the Padres on Tuesday. Three of the five prospects – outfielder James Wood at low Single-A Fredericksburg, outfielder Robert Hassell III at high Single-A Wilmington and shortstop C.J. Abrams at Triple-A Rochester – made their organizational debuts over the last couple of days. And Martinez was impressed with what he saw.

“Yeah, as I said before, I got 26 guys here that I worry about,” Martinez said before Saturday’s game against the Phillies. “But it's good to see that these young guys are doing well. We got some guys, I check up on all our guys. We got some guys down there that are having really good years, and that's really, really good to see.”