Rendon recovering from "really, really bad" chest cold (with Nats, Mets lineups)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Anthony Rendon remains out of the Nationals lineup today with what manager Matt Williams called a "really, really bad" chest cold. Rendon last played Thursday against the Tigers, but has been battling the chest cold of late, and has been held out of action. Rendon's been taking antibiotics and has improved recently, Williams said, and the second baseman felt well enough this morning to work out back at the Nationals' facility in Viera. "He's getting better," Williams said. "We'll monitor him every day. But today is better. Doctors said he was crackling in there, which is a concern. He'll be good. It's just going to take some time." Williams said that Rendon is not in danger of missing opening day at this point, and the Nats hope that he'll be able to shake this cold soon and be able to get back on the field before the end of spring training. Williams also said that right-hander Doug Fister wasn't feeling anything other than normal post-start soreness this morning, and is on track to make his next start, Thursday against the Mets here in Port St. Lucie. Fister, who went 20 days without appearing in a big league spring game prior to yesterday's 3 2/3 innings against the Marlins because of right elbow inflammation, is scheduled to throw somewhere around 60-65 pitches in his next start. If he comes out of it well, the Nats will decide the next course of action, which likely would be a minor league start. That would leave Fister on track to make his regular season debut on April 6, the first time that the Nats need a fifth starter. Williams isn't looking that far down the road yet, however, as the Nats want to make sure Fister comes through each step of his building-up process without suffering any setbacks. Here are today's lineups from Tradition Field: For the Nats 2B Jamey Carroll LF Bryce Harper RF Jayson Werth 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche SS Ian Desmond C Jose Lobaton CF Nate McLouth RHP Tanner Roark For the Mets SS Ruben Tejada 2B Daniel Murphy 3B David Wright RF Curtis Granderson CF Chris Young 1B Lucas Duda LF Andrew Brown C Anthony Recker RHP Jenrry Mejia