Nats set for Grapefruit League opener against Mets

By Josh Land

Nationals

March 04, 2015, 10:09pm

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VIERA, Fla. - We've known now for two days that Max Scherzer will take the mound later this evening when the Nationals open the exhibition season against the Mets. Former American League Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon will pitch for New York.

Here's the Nationals' expected lineup against Colon:

CF Denard Span
3B Anthony Rendon
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
C Wilson Ramos
SS Ian Desmond
2B Yunel Escobar
LF Tyler Moore
DH Kevin Frandsen
RHP Max Scherzer

Certainly, a big storyline is how Yunel Escobar will handle the transition from shortstop to second base.

"It's going to be a challenge because that right side of our infield, both of them are new. So Zim has some experience, but not a lot," manager Matt Williams said. "Yunel has some experience, but not a lot. And we have to make sure that we get them playing, first and foremost for themselves, but also for each other because there's a lot of communication that goes on over there.

"What we need to do is make sure we get them together as much as possible and I've got to be mindful of not running guys into the ground either. There's time for early work, there's time for extra work, and when he gets into games, simply play and let his natural ability and athleticism take over. But it's an adjustment and we're just going to have to go through it.