The spring plan for Kendrick and Zimmerman

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals most definitely did not report for spring training last year with a fully healthy roster. Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy were still rehabbing from major knee surgeries. Joe Ross had only recently resumed throwing after Tommy John surgery. Koda Glover had to be shut down with shoulder soreness.

The team that reports to camp this spring appears to be in much better physical shape. All 15 pitchers slated to throw in this morning's position groups did so without incident. All 14 pitchers scheduled to throw Friday are expected to do so with no limitations.

Trevor Rosenthal, nearly 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery, said he feels stronger than ever and has to remind himself to take it easy and not try to hit 100 mph on the radar gun just yet. Stephen Strasburg, whose velocity was down at the end of last season following a nagging shoulder issue, insists he's all good to go. Same for Sean Doolittle, who missed two months with a foot injury last summer.

The lone player on the current 58-man roster Davey Martinez has any health question about is Howie Kendrick, and even in that case the manager has heard very encouraging news.

"The only guy I had a little concern with was Howie, but I spoke to him and he said he's rip-ready to go," Martinez said.

Kendrick, who ruptured his right Achilles tendon last May, appeared to be a major question mark during the offseason. When he appeared at Winterfest in early December, he expressed hope he'd be ready to go for the start of spring training, but admitted he still had several hurdles to overcome. It appears he has overcome them.

"He's been running sprints for about a month now, so he jokingly said: 'Don't hold me back,' " Martinez said. "I said: 'Well, you're kind of up there in age, so I don't know if I'm holding you back, but I will take care of you.' "

Kendrick, 35, surely will be restricted in some capacity to begin spring training, but there does seem to be legitimate optimism about his recovery.

Ryan Zimmerman wasn't officially injured last spring - at least not publicly so - but the veteran first baseman raised plenty of eyebrows when he played in only one Grapefruit League game, choosing instead to take almost all of his at-bats in the more controlled environment of minor league camp.

It does not appear that will happen again this spring. Martinez said he has spoken with Zimmerman and expressed the importance of spending more time in big league games, especially in the field.

"I talked to him, and I said we need him to be on the field and play," the manager said. "He's not going to play every day in spring training, but the biggest thing for me is to get him out there on the field and get him playing defense.

"He hit a lot last year. I think he had over 70 at-bats in spring training. In that respect, he felt really good. But I said I really thought you need to be on the field. You need to move around. You need to play defense. So we're going to try to build a plan when we build him up. He might not play that much early, but he's definitely going to be out on the field and play. It all depends on his health, and right now he feels pretty good. He's coming to spring training ready to go."

One other note from Martinez's opening session with reporters: After being informed Mets manager Mickey Callaway already named Jacob deGrom as his opening day starter, Martinez was asked if he can name his pitcher for the March 28 showdown at Nationals Park.

Though he never mentioned Max Scherzer by name, he didn't need to.

"Right now, the way it looks, of course we've got our guy," Martinez said. "We've got our guy. If I said anything different, he might be waiting for me outside the door right there."