The primary focus during spring training, as it usually is, will be on the big names in Nationals camp. How do James Wood and Dylan Crews look as they prepare for the second go-around in the big leagues? How do newcomers Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell, Michael Soroka and Shinnosuke Ogasawara fit in and (ideally) make the team better? How will CJ Abrams address last September’s disciplinary demotion and how he intends to move forward?

But spring training is about everyone in camp, not just the big names. And sometimes, a lesser-known name makes himself known over the course of six weeks in West Palm Beach. There’s always someone who wasn’t expected to make the Opening Day roster stepping up to force the front office’s hand. And even if he doesn’t make the team right away, often an impressive spring lays the groundwork for a promotion sometime during the season.

So, while we wait to see if (hopefully when) the Nats make any more moves before camp opens next week, let’s take a look at some lesser-known names who could become more well-known this spring …

ANDREW KNIZNER
The catching position has loomed all winter as one of the more intriguing ones on the roster. Can Keibert Ruiz get himself back on track after a miserable 2024? And which of the two holdover backup candidates (Riley Adams, Drew Millas) will make the team? Then the Nationals quietly signed Knizner to a minor league deal, with an invitation to big league camp. The Glen Allen, Va., native has big league experience, 290 games with the Cardinals and Rangers. His numbers weren’t great, but he backed up the likes of Yadier Molina and Willson Contreras, so he has learned from some of the best. It would take some tough maneuvering by the Nats to put Knizner on the roster over both Adams and Millas. But they didn’t sign the 30-year-old for nothing. They must want to at least get a look at him, while simultaneously putting some pressure on Ruiz, Adams and Millas to show real improvement.

TYLER STUART
Acquired last summer from the Mets in the Jesse Winker trade, Stuart is an intriguing pitching prospect. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound right-hander is a physical presence on the mound. And he’s delivered good numbers in three minor league seasons (3.31 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings). He struggled in four late-season starts at Triple-A Rochester, so he probably needs more time to develop. But Stuart is already 25 and could warrant a look in the major league rotation if he gets off to a good start in April. His situation is not all that unlike the ones DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker found themselves in last year, and Jake Irvin the year before that. That definitely makes him someone to watch.

The Nationals have been fortunate when it comes to pitching injuries the last two seasons. No, they haven’t escaped them altogether. But they’ve managed to suffer fewer significant losses than any other team.

It’s true: Over the last two years, the Nats have used only 10 starting pitchers, fewest in the majors. The Blue Jays are next on the list with 12, followed by the Mariners with 14. Everyone else has used at least 15 starters, with the league median number a whopping 22.

Again, the Nationals have dealt with a few significant injuries. Cade Cavalli was ticketed for the Opening Day 2023 rotation but tore his elbow ligament in spring training and has yet to return. Josiah Gray started Opening Day 2024 but was sidelined after only two outings and ultimately needed Tommy John surgery himself. And Trevor Williams, after an outstanding April and May, wound up missing 3 1/2 months with a flexor strain in his right arm.

But the Nats managed to fill those gaps with productive, in-house alternatives. In 2023, it was Jake Irvin stepping up to make his major league debut in early May and then sticking in the rotation all the way through September. In 2024, it was Mitchell Parker and then DJ Herz emerging from Triple-A to replace Gray and Williams, Parker making 29 starts while Herz took the mound 19 times.

It was an impressive example of organizational depth, the kind of pitching depth this organization hadn’t really possessed in a while. And as the countdown to spring training commences, there’s reason to believe the Nationals are well-positioned again with starting pitchers who could step forward if the need arises.

Everybody in the majors plays roughly the same schedule by season’s end: 81 home games, 81 road games, 52 division games, 64 more intraleague games, 46 interleague games. But the path to get to those eventual totals differs from team to team.

And in the Nationals’ case, there’s been a distinct difference to the 2024 schedule to date: Way more road games than most others.

Wednesday’s series finale in Arizona was the Nats’ 109th game of the season but their 59th road game. No other National League team has played so many games on the road, and only the Yankees (60) have played more in the American League.

The Nationals have been on three separate three-city road trips (San Francisco-Oakland-Los Angeles in April, Boston-Chicago-Philadelphia in May, Colorado-San Diego-Tampa Bay in June). They’ve yet to be rewarded with a homestand of more than two series.

It’s made for an at-times grueling schedule, including the 17-days-in-a-row stretch they had to endure prior to the All-Star break. The good news: It’s finally about to get better.