The right test for Espinosa begins today (with lineups)

By Josh Land

Nationals

March 07, 2015, 4:34am

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VIERA, Fla. - Danny Espinosa makes his first start of the exhibition today against the Cardinals at Space Coast Stadium. Today's game will be televised on MASN HD beginning at 1 p.m.

He's been a focus of the early part of spring training as he continues to work on hitting exclusively from the right side of the plate. Espinosa has been a switch-hitter since his youth and has very little experience facing right-handed pitching from the right side of the plate.

Espinosa has been spending additional time taking batting practice from the right side after team workouts. Nationals manager Matt Williams even has Espinosa standing in on live battng practice sessions while other infielders are working on ground balls.

Update: Because the Cardinals are starting left-hander Jaime Garcia, Espinosa won't be facing a righty - at least in his first trip to the plate. Look for him to stay in the game long enough for a right-on-right situation once Garcia is done for the day.

For the Cardinals:
2B Kolten Wong
CF Peter Bourjos
DH Matt Adams
RF Randall Grichuk
3B Scott Moore
1B Xavier Scruggs
C Tony Cruz
LF Rafael Ortega
SS Pete Kozma
LHP Jaime Garcia

Today's Nationals lineup:

3B Anthony Rendon
SS Danny Espinosa
RF Bryce Harper
1B Ryan Zimmerman
C Wilson Ramos
DH Dan Uggla
2B Emmanuel Burris
CF Tony Gwynn Jr.
LF Jeff Kobernus
RHP Stephen Strasburg