WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If yesterday’s split-squad doubleheader wasn’t enough, we’re right back for more baseball this afternoon!

Trevor Williams gets the ball for his second start of spring this afternoon against the Astros. The veteran right-hander was the first Nationals starter to go multiple innings in his first outing, tossing 23 pitches, 16 strikes, Tuesday against the Marlins.

Williams had a quick first inning with only seven pitches against the Fish, but he ran into some trouble in the second, serving up a two-run home run. He wasn’t as concerned with that longball as he was proud of his ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes. But he is only two years removed from leading the National League in home runs allowed, so keeping the ball in the yard would be welcomed today, especially against a Houston lineup filled with regulars.

James Wood (right quad tendinitis) is not in the lineup as the designated hitter as manager Davey Martinez said he would. Wood had the day off yesterday following his spring debut on Friday, in which he went 1-for-2 with a walk in three plate appearances against the Mets. And the Nats will again be without Luis García Jr., who is not in the lineup after being scratched from last night’s game with an illness. (Although, he probably wasn’t scheduled to play today anyway).

The Nats bats will have their work cut out for them against Astros starter Ronel Blanco (no relation to yours truly). But the Nats, too, have a number of other regulars playing this afternoon, hopefully making for an entertaining spring training game.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After starting Grapefruit League play 3-0, the Nationals have now dropped four straight games. Not that spring training records mean anything, but you would like to get back in the win column sooner rather than later.

Tonight’s game against the Marlins provides a perfect opportunity to do that.

The Nationals dominated the Marlins last year, winning 11 of their 13 matchups. And they’ve already beat up on the Fish this spring with a 14-7 win in Jupiter on Tuesday.

MacKenzie Gore also dominated the Marlins last year, going 2-0 with 24 strikeouts to four walks and only allowing two earned runs over 19 innings (0.95 ERA). There are a lot of new and relatively unknown names in Miami’s lineup tonight, so this should be the perfect opponent for the young lefty to start his spring action on a positive note.

Gore was originally slated to start the Nats’ Grapefruit League opener a week ago against the Astros. But after he talked with manager Davey Martinez, the Nats decided to bump him back because the southpaw wanted to be able to go multiple innings in his first actual spring start. So look for Gore to go at least two frames tonight, perhaps three (as Michael Soroka did this afternoon) if his domination of the Marlins continues in quick fashion.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Dylan Beavers gets the start in left field this afternoon, as the Orioles host the Pirates again. Beavers hit the go-ahead two-run homer yesterday against the Twins and is 3-for-6.

Cedric Mullins is leading off. Ramón Laureano is in right field.

Adley Rutschman is behind the plate. Ramón Urías remains the third baseman. Nick Gordon plays second base after Jackson Holliday homered yesterday in Fort Myers.

Cade Povich makes his second start. He tossed two scoreless and hitless innings in his spring debut against the Phillies in Clearwater.

Gunnar Henderson (right side) and Jordan Westburg (lower back) remain out of the lineup. Tyler O'Neill also isn't in it after homering Thursday.

JUPITER, Fla. – It’s not really spring training until you play a split-squad doubleheader. Unfortunately for the Nationals staff (and your trusty beat reporter), today features a split split-squad doubleheader with an afternoon game against the Cardinals in Jupiter followed by a night game against the Marlins in West Palm Beach.

This is March.

After some initial confusion, it will be Michael Soroka making his Nats debut today against the Cards. The 27-year-old right-hander figures to have his position in the Opening Day rotation secured after he signed a one-year, $9 million contract in the offseason, making him the Nats’ highest-paid pitcher.

Soroka is hoping to recapture the form that made him the 2019 National League Rookie of the Year runner-up. He went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 1.111 WHIP in 29 starts with the Braves that season, but injuries have derailed his once-promising career ever since.

He did, however, post a 2.75 ERA in 16 relief appearances with the White Sox last year, so he’ll look to build off that as he works back into a full-time starter’s role.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Zach Eflin makes his exhibition debut this afternoon, with the Orioles traveling to Fort Myers to play the Twins.

Gary Sánchez is behind the plate for Eflin.

Coby Mayo gets the start at first base.

Jackson Holliday is leading off and playing second base. Colton Cowser is in center field, Heston Kjerstad in left and Dylan Carlson in right.

Liván Soto, who’s 3-for-6 with two doubles, is the shortstop.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The Nationals make their first “long” trip of the spring up to Port St. Lucie this afternoon. The hour-long drive feels especially long when they have yet to travel more than the 15 minutes it takes to get to Jupiter.

Any Nats fans that follow the team from West Palm Beach will be rewarded by seeing James Wood’s 2025 Grapefruit League debut. The young outfielder has been held out of game action so far with right quad tendinitis, but is now ready to at least get some live at-bats as the designated hitter. Wood was originally lined up to DH in last night’s home game against the Braves, but manager Davey Martinez wanted him to stick to his early morning routine and prepare for an afternoon game. Plus, waiting one extra day couldn’t hurt.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara makes his second start of the spring since signing a two-year, $3.5 million deal with the Nats, the first free agent the team has signed directly from Asia. The 27-year-old left-hander pitched a scoreless inning on eight pitches with a double in his debut on Sunday, but he did surrender a lot of loud contact to a Mets team he’ll face today.

And look who’s in the star-studded Mets lineup Ogasawara will be facing: None other than old friend Juan Soto. This will be the first time the Nats will see Soto in Mets blue and orange since he signed his historic 15-year, $765 million contract in December.

Mitchell Parker is scheduled to follow Ogasawara as part of his “start” day as well.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals play their first night game of the spring, with the Braves making a rare visit from all the way across the state. Atlanta isn’t sending a whole lot of big names, aside from Marcell Ozuna, but they do have Bryce Elder on the mound, which should make for a nice challenge for the Nats lineup.

Davey Martinez does have plenty of regulars in his batting order, pretty much everyone but James Wood (who is set to DH on Friday in his delayed spring debut) and Keibert Ruiz (who caught Wednesday). So we’ll get multiple at-bats tonight from CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews, Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell and Luis García Jr.

Jake Irvin, meanwhile, becomes the first member of the rotation to make his second start of the spring. The right-hander should be good to go two innings in this one as he continues the slow build-up to regular-season form.

Tonight’s game is available live on MLB Network, if you’re interested in watching.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EST
TV: MLB Network (Braves’ feed)
Radio: MLB.com (Braves’ feed)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

BRADENTON, Fla. – Gary Sánchez is behind the plate this afternoon to catch Tomoyuki Sugano’s first Grapefruit League start versus the Pirates at LECOM Park.

Jackson Holliday is leading off and playing second base. Coby Mayo is the designated hitter and Heston Kjerstad is in left field.

Kjerstad is in the lineup for the third time in four exhibition games.

Dylan Carlson is the center fielder today, Emmanuel Rivera is at third base and Liván Soto is the shortstop.

For the Orioles

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The undefeated Nationals have looked good so far in the early stages of the exhibition season, especially a lineup that has scored 31 runs in three games. That group has done well in the first inning, scoring five runs against the Mets and three runs against the Marlins.

The challenge is quite a bit tougher this afternoon when the Nats face Astros ace Framber Valdez. The veteran left-hander will be on the mound for his first outing of the spring, facing a lineup featuring a few regulars.

Those regulars include CJ Abrams, Luis García Jr., Keibert Ruiz and Nathaniel Lowe at the top of the order. The bottom of the order includes a familiar name in an unfamiliar position: Juan Yepez in left field. Given the offseason additions of Lowe and Josh Bell, Yepez’s only real shot of making the team is to prove he can adequately play something other than first base. So he’ll get a shot this afternoon in the outfield. He’s also been taking some reps at third base during workouts.

DJ Herz makes his spring debut on the mound. The young lefty seemingly is competing with fellow young lefties Mitchell Parker and Shinnosuke Ogasawara for the No. 5 starter’s job, but it’s still too early in camp to see exactly how that will all play out. For now, the Nationals just want Herz to throw strikes and pitch with some consistency as he tries to prove he’s the right man for the job.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Astros’ feed)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 10 mph in from center field

JUPITER, Fla. – After a much needed day off – given how much it rained here Monday, they wouldn’t have been able to play a game anyway – the Nationals are back in action this afternoon with their first true road game of the spring. It’s only a 15-minute drive to Roger Dean Stadium to face the Marlins, but this is the first time they’ve played this spring somewhere other than West Palm Beach.

A few regulars made the trip, headlined by Dylan Crews (who has started all three games so far), Paul DeJong, Jacob Young and Josh Bell (who makes his first appearance at first base after DHing Sunday). We’ll also see José Tena not at third base but at second base, perhaps further evidence that the plan is to have him play multiple infield positions this season.

Trevor Williams gets the start, hoping to set the tone with a solid first outing. The veteran right-hander was a completely different pitcher last year, successful thanks to an ability to keep everything down in the zone and the addition of a sweeper to his arsenal. The Nats gave him a two-year, $14 million deal to come back. Now it’s up to him to live up to that contract.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Marlins’ feed)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 72 degrees, wind 15 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
2B José Tena
3B Paul DeJong
1B Josh Bell
LF Alex Call
DH Stone Garrett
SS Amed Rosario
CF Jacob Young
C Andrew Knizner

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Samuel Basallo is behind the plate for this afternoon’s game against the Phillies in Clearwater, the first road trip for the Orioles.

Colton Cowser is in left field after sitting out yesterday’s exhibition opener in Sarasota. Heston Kjerstad also makes his first appearance, starting in right field.

Coby Mayo is the designated hitter. Terrin Vavra is leading off.

For the Orioles

Terrin Vavra 2B
Colton Cowser LF
Emmanuel Rivera 1B
Heston Kjerstad RF
Coby Mayo DH
Samuel Basallo C
Nick Gordon CF
Vimael Machín 3B
Livan Soto SS

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – One of the most intriguing stories of the spring is the quest to find out if Shinnosuke Ogasawara is good enough to be successful against major league hitters. The Nationals have scouted the Japanese left-hander plenty, and they’ve seen him throw plenty during the first week-plus of spring training. But now they’re finally going to start to find out how he fares against a real opponent.

There’s only so much they can learn from the one inning Ogasawara is scheduled to pitch this afternoon against a split-squad Mets lineup. But it’s still going to be more tangible evidence than anything else they’ve gotten to date.

The Nats pulled off a 6-3 win over the Astros in Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener, despite a number of regulars sitting out. Those guys will be in the lineup today, so get ready to see CJ Abrams, Luis García Jr. and Nathaniel Lowe, in particular against Mets reliever Ty Adcock, who gets the start.

And, yes, you can indeed see this game in its entirety on MASN, the network’s 2025 spring debut telecast. Tune in at 1 p.m. for all the action live from West Palm Beach.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS (ss)
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 980 AM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 74 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

SARASOTA, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson is batting leadoff this afternoon and Jackson Holliday is the second baseman for today’s exhibition opener against the Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium.

Left fielder Dylan Carlson is the only player in the lineup who isn’t projected to make the Opening Day roster, though he’s competing for a job.

Cedric Mullins is batting second. Jordan Westburg is playing third base and batting third. Ryan O’Hearn is the cleanup hitter and designated hitter.

Ramón Laureano is in right field.

Gary Sánchez is catching Albert Súarez.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Who’s ready for some baseball? I can assure everyone here is, having made it through 10 days of pitchers and catchers and eventually full-squad workouts. Those days get tedious toward the end, and everyone is itching to get the Grapefruit League started this afternoon.

The Nationals are on the road for their opener, but that doesn’t mean they have to pack their bags and board a bus to go anywhere. Because they’re facing their co-residents of CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, all they have to do is make sure they’re wearing gray pants and prepare to bat in the top of the first. It’s not a bad situation at all.

Jake Irvin gets the ball for the opener, and the right-hander is thinking big things for his 2025 season. Irvin knows consistency is the name of the game, and while there’s only so much he can during his one scheduled inning this afternoon, he can get things off on a right foot with a quick, easy frame against Houston.

The Astros have split-squad games today, so half of the team is headed up to Port St. Lucie to face the Mets while the other half stays here for this game. Their starter this afternoon is Ryan Gusto, a 25-year-old right-hander who had a 3.70 ERA and 141 strikeouts last season at Triple-A Sugar Land.

Facing Gusto is a Nats lineup featuring some, but not all, of the regulars. With CJ Abrams sitting until Sunday, it'll be Dylan Crews in the leadoff spot and Amed Rosario at shortstop. We'll also see Keibert Ruiz behind the plate and Josh Bell serving as designated hitter.

The Orioles will play a game, a spring training game, for the first time on February 22^nd at home versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. How their lineup will look that day is not important. Can’t read anything into a spring training lineup, especially not the first one of spring.

But how might that lineup look on Opening Day, March 27^th at 3:07 p.m. at Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rather than wait for that big day, we could make a guess today. Doesn’t cost anything and no matter what we project, no one will get hurt. Unless it’s a player’s feelings that we leave out. But that’s rather unlikely too, so let’s proceed.

First the Blue Jays project to have five righties in their rotation possibly starting with Kevin Gausman or Jose Berrios. So we know it’s likely going to be a right-hander versus the Orioles that day and we’ll go with that.

Everyone’s lineup might be different for different reasons. Here is mine as of Jan. 13.

We have reached the finish line. It’s Game 162, and while this one doesn’t officially matter for either team, there are still some personal achievements on the line. And for the Nationals, a chance to close out the year with a surprising sweep of the playoff-bound Phillies and to top last year’s win total with No. 72.

It’ll be Jake Irvin on the mound one last time. And as was the case Saturday with MacKenzie Gore, he’ll be looking for win No. 11, a number no Nats starter has reached since 2019. Unlike Gore, Irvin can’t get his ERA down below the 4.00 mark – unless he can go 10 2/3 scoreless innings – but he can finish on a high note. And if he can complete 6 2/3 innings, he’ll reach the 190 mark for the season, no small accomplishment.

At the plate, James Wood needs another homer to reach 10 in his rookie season. Dylan Crews needs a good day to get his batting average over .200. Oh, and in the bullpen, Derek Law needs to record one more out to get to 90 innings for the season.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 3:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 74 degrees, wind 7 mph in from center field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García Jr.
LF James Wood
DH Juan Yepez
3B José Tena
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

Who were those guys in Nationals uniforms Friday night, and why haven’t we seen more of them during this final month of the season? It’s too late for them to rewrite the past, but maybe that 9-1 thumping of the Phillies bodes well for the rest of the weekend.

Then again, for the Nats to keep the good times rolling, they’re going to have to do it against Zack Wheeler, the perennial Cy Young candidate who enters his final tune-up before the postseason with a 16-7 record and 2.56 ERA, with two of those wins coming against Washington. This is remarkably Wheeler’s 35th career start vs. the Nationals, and though his overall numbers (14-15, 4.50 ERA) aren’t great, he’s been much better since leaving the Mets and joining the Phillies in 2020.

MacKenzie Gore makes his final start of an up-and-down season, hoping to finish strong. The lefty enters with 10 wins and a 4.04 ERA. In order to end up with an ERA in the 3.00s, he either needs to give up one run in at least 4 2/3 innings or two runs in at least 6 1/3 innings. That will be a challenge against this lineup, but we’ll see if he can pull it off.  

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García Jr.
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
DH Juan Yepez
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

MINNEAPOLIS – Here we go again.

An Orioles win tonight clinches the home Wild Card, or they’d need the Tigers to lose to the White Sox.

Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter with Ryan Mountcastle at first base. Jordan Westburg gets another start at second base, and he’s batting second.

Cade Povich is making his first career appearance against the team that drafted him in 2021. He’s posted a 3.27 ERA and 0.955 WHIP this month in four starts totaling 22 innings, and he’s struck out 30 batters. Opponents are batting .175/.241/.363.

Twenty-six of Anthony Santander’s 77 hits on the road this season are home runs (33.8 percent), the highest percentage by an Oriole with a minimum 75 hits since Brady Anderson’s 35.2 in 1996 per STATS.

It has not been an encouraging finish to what had been looking like an encouraging season for the Nationals. They’ve lost nine of their last 10 and now would need to sweep the Phillies this weekend just to get to 72 wins and surpass last year’s total. The odds of that happening? Probably not great, especially with Philadelphia still trying to catch the Dodgers for home field advantage in the National League playoffs. Los Angeles leads by one game entering tonight, but the Phillies hold the tiebreaker.

Patrick Corbin made his final start for the Nats on Thursday, and tonight Trevor Williams is making what may or may not be his final start. The right-hander’s contract expires, but given how well he pitched (when healthy) there’s a case to be made for bringing him back on a modest deal, either as No. 5 starter or a long reliever. First things first, he needs to do to the Phillies what he’s done to so many other lineups this year and keep them in the ballpark and off the scoreboard.

The Nationals are really struggling to score runs right now, and the challenge tonight doesn’t get any easier against Ranger Suárez. The lefty owns a 3.15 ERA and 1.157 WHIP this season. He faced the Nats only once this year, way back on April 6, and allowed two runs over six innings to earn the win.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 74 degrees, wind 14 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Stone Garrett
2B Luis García Jr.
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

Well, today is seemingly the day. Almost seven years after signing a six-year, $140 million deal as a free agent, Patrick Corbin will make what is likely to be his last start with the Nationals this afternoon against the Royals.

Corbin’s impressive debut season and postseason heroics in 2019 have been well documented. So too have been his struggles in the years since being credited as the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. But through all of that, the veteran left-hander has always been praised for being able to take the ball every five days.

He’ll likely do so for the last time in a Nationals uniform with a 6-13 record, 5.58 ERA and 1.506 WHIP over his first 31 starts this season. If Corbin can turn in one final quality start, he would end his Nats career on a high note with a possible nice ovation from the fans in attendance.

On the other side of the mound, Michael Wacha will make his 29th start for the Royals with a 13-8 record, 3.28 ERA and 1.194 WHIP. If the veteran right-hander can keep this struggling Nats offense in check, the Royals will take one step closer to their first postseason berth since winning the World Series in 2015.

But the Nationals need a win. A week and a half ago, they were only four victories away from surpassing last year’s 71-win total. Now they need to win three of their last four games to achieve that.