Williams on Zimmermann, Roark and the upcoming pitching situation (plus video)

The Nationals were hoping to get their first regular season look at Jordan Zimmermann this afternoon, but will have to wait after the right-hander fell ill last night. Tanner Roark, originally scheduled to pitch Friday, will start the series finale against the Mets. Before Thursday's game at Citi Field, manager Matt Williams said that Zimmermann is running a fever and spent all night sick to his stomach. Zimmermann is being treated with fluids and will head back to Washington ahead of the rest of the team before being re-evaluated Friday. "That's all we know right now, so we'll just have to kind of play it day by day," Williams said. "... Jordan yesterday was feeling fine. I talked to him in the outfield yesterday during batting practice. He was fine, didn't give us any indication that he was feeling terrible. It's fortunate in that regard that we didn't have to have Tanner pitch in the exhibition game (Saturday), because now he's fully ready for today and this is normal rest. We were going to give him an extra day anyway, but it works out fine for us." If Zimmermann is feeling better tomorrow, he could pitch the Nats' home opener against the Braves. If not, the team will likely go with a bullpen game perhaps led by left-hander Ross Detwiler. "If (Zimmermann's) not ready to go tomorrow, then that's going to have to be our option because Taylor (Jordan), he wouldn't be full rest tomorrow. So we'll see how it goes," Williams said. "We'll get him some good fluids today and get him back home and get him rested up. But he's feeling bad." Jordan is slated to pitch Sunday against Atlanta and Williams indicated it'll stay that way since the right-hander will be on normal rest. He pitched a simulated game on April 1 to put him on schedule. So Roark will make his season debut a day early after putting together a solid spring where he pitched to a 3.29 ERA over 13 2/3 innings, spanning four appearances. "His command was really good. All pitches within the strike zone. He does everything right out there," Williams said. "He throws strikes and goes after guys and works ahead. All of that's really good. He doesn't blow up the radar gun, but he doesn't have to. He changes speeds and he throws strikes. He's good. Good pitcher." Since Zimmermann didn't get sick until last night, Williams acknowledged that Roark isn't being put in the most ideal spot, given that Roark wasn't informed he'd be making the start until this morning. "It's never comfortable for anybody, because they hadn't planned on it. All of a sudden, they wake up in the morning, and there's a phone call, 'Hey, you're starting today instead of tomorrow,' " Williams said. "Our guys are ready to go. They're ready to play at any given time. Tanner is no exception. He's ready to go out there." Williams also addressed the decision to give Danny Espinosa his first start of the season today at second base today despite Anthony Rendon's hot start. Rendon is 4-for-10 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs through two games. Williams is aware he has to balance the two in some way. "That's the biggest challenge. They both played really well in spring training, and they both earned the right to play," Williams said. "We want to try to make sure that we get both of them opportunities. Anthony's played really well. Danny's played really well. He had a great at-bat the other day. We want to make sure that our bench guys have adequate at-bats as well during the course of the season, so they're fresh and their timing is good. That's all it is. We feel very confident in Danny and his ability. That's why he's starting today." Here's the video of Williams' pregame: