Sans windup, Strasburg cruises in spring debut (Nats split a pair)

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP

Score: Nationals (ss) 8, Marlins 5

Recap: Jhonathan Solano's two-run single capped a four-run seventh inning as the Nationals rallied past the Marlins. ... Right-hander A.J. Cole started and was battered for six hits and four runs (three earned) in three innings, with his ERA zooming to 13.50.

Need to know: Wilmer Difo, a career infielder, made his first appearance in the outfield when he subbed for center fielder Adam Eaton. The Nationals are hoping to increase Difo's value by adding to his versatility. ... Shortstop Emmanuel Burriss was scratched from the starting lineup with right shoulder soreness and replaced by Osvaldo Abreu. ... Several ex-Nationals now with the Marlins - first baseman Tyler Moore, center fielder Matt den Dekker and farmhand outfielder Destin Hood - played against their former team.

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NATIONALS QUICK WRAP

Score: Cardinals 2, Nationals (ss) 1 (10 innings)

Recap: Stephen Strasburg's spring debut went smoothly, with the right-hander tossing two scoreless innings and striking out three while pitching entirely from the stretch in West Palm Beach. In his first appearance against another team since injuring his elbow in September, Strasburg threw mostly fastballs and needed only 23 pitches to record six outs. Ryan Zimmerman also made his spring debut, going 0-for-2 with a scalded line drive right at left fielder Randal Grichuk and later a strikeout. Trea Turner went 2-for-3 and drove in the Nationals' first run, off reliever Trevor Rosenthal in the fifth. ... Derek Eitel took the loss, surrendering an RBI single to Alberto Rosario in the 10th.

Need to know: Vance Worley, trying to make the club as a long reliever and emergency starter, has been battered around a bit in his first two appearances. In five total innings, the right-hander has allowed two runs in five hits, with a walk and two hit batters. ... Pedro Severino made his first game appearance this spring, catching five innings and going 1-for-2 with a single. Severino had been dealing with minor shoulder soreness.

On deck: Saturday, vs. Cardinals in Jupiter, 1:05 p.m.
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The results from Stephen Strasburg's spring debut today were outstanding, but the process from which the right-hander achieved those results were perhaps even more intriguing.

Pitching exclusively from the stretch, even when no runners were on base, Strasburg tossed two scoreless innings and struck out three Cardinals in his first appearance against an opposing club since suffering an elbow injury in September.

Strasburg threw 16 of his 23 pitches for strikes, most of them fastballs, and looked perfectly smooth and comfortable throughout his short outing.

The radar gun on The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches scoreboard was not operating, so velocity measurements weren't available. But Strasburg threw nothing but fastballs during a 10-pitch, nine-strike first inning that included strikeouts of both Tommy Pham and Randal Grichuk.

He mixed in a few off-speed pitches during the second inning but remained nearly as effective. He struck out Matt Adams on a 3-2 fastball, then after surrendering a single to Jhonny Peralta, induced a 1-6-3 double play from José Martinez to end the frame and his afternoon.

This was Strasburg's first Grapefruit League appearance of 2017, coming eight days after he pitched one inning of an intrasquad game. As was the case that afternoon on one of the back fields outside the stadium, he threw entirely from the stretch.

Whether Strasburg intends to continue pitching without ever going to the windup as he has throughout his career - and as virtually every starting pitcher in baseball does - remains to be seen, though there has been a more vocal movement around the sport in recent years to stick to the stretch because it simplifies movements.

Strasburg talked over the winter and earlier this spring about making some adjustments after his once-dominant 2016 season was cut short by a partially torn pronator tendon in his elbow. Mostly, the right-hander discussed a plan to reduce the usage of his slider (which he said caused some of his elbow discomfort) and alter his between-starts routine in an attempt to stay healthier through the entire year.

Vance Worley replaced Strasburg on the mound in the top of the third and surrendered the day's first run via a single, hit batter and two groundouts. Worley wound up pitching three innings, allowing the one run on two hits, a walk and two hit batters.

The Nationals tied the game in the bottom of the fifth against Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal on a single by Michael A. Taylor, a walk by Brian Goodwin and an RBI hit by Trea Turner.

Ryan Zimmerman made his spring debut and went 0-for-2, ripping a line drive to left but right at Grichuk in the bottom of the second and then striking out in the fourth.