Williams dealing with his own final four

The countdown has been going on for several weeks, but we now sit on the doorstep of opening day. Nationals manager Matt Williams has one last bit of business to take care of before his ballclub takes the field against the Mets on Monday. Williams is currently staring at 27 healthy players (14 position players, 13 pitchers). That number needs to be paired down to 25 by Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m..

Williams indicated on Friday that he wanted to get one last look at those competing for the final roster spots in today's exhibition game against the Yankees at Nationals Park.

"We've got a couple question marks still," said Williams. "We've got questions in the left side of our bullpen. We've got lefty off the bench. Those things are still out there."

The final four players on the bubble causing Williams' intriguing dilemmas appear to be left-handed pitchers Xavier Cedeno and Rich Hill and first basemen/outfielders Mike Carp and Clint Robinson, both left-handed hitters.

Cedeno, 28, has been back and forth from Triple-A Syracuse and D.C. a number of times during his two years with the club since being claimed off waivers in 2013. In 20 appearances with the Nats, Cedeno has a 2.77 ERA. This spring, he has allowed five runs on seven hits with four walks and nine strikeouts in 10 innings, and also given up two homers. Cedeno is out of options, meaning he must first pass through waivers if the Nats try to send him back to the minors.

Hill was considered a long shot to find a spot in the bullpen after signing a minor league contract with an invite to spring training late last month. Hill now finds himself in the thick of a competition for a role as a situational left-hander.

He appeared in 14 games with the Yankees last year, posting a 1.69 ERA.

During Grapefruit League play this spring, Hill pitched 7 1/3 innings, surrendering two runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts.

The 35-year-old spent the early part of his career as a starter with the Cubs and Orioles before transitioning to the bullpen. Hill has a 24-22 career record with a 4.72 ERA.

"Just a veteran," said Williams. "He's been there. He's got big league experience."

Meanwhile, Carp's edge may be his history in the majors, as well. Several times throughout the spring, Williams referenced Carp's 2013 season, when the veteran hit .296 with nine home runs, 43 RBIs and an .885 OPS while helping the Boston Red Sox to World Series championship, primarily in a bench role.

The 28-year-old has a career .254 batting average, 27 homers and 123 RBIs in 887 at-bats across six seasons with three clubs.

"He got a chance to play at first and play in left, so he can do both of those," said Williams. "That's a plus for him. But it's a steady left-handed bat regardless of whether it's a start or a pinch-hit. He's been around long enough where he understands that and he puts together a pretty good at-bat regardless."

However, Carp's production fell off dramatically last season when he only managed to hit .175 with no homers and a .519 OPS over 149 plate appearances with the Red Sox and Rangers. His struggles at the plate seemed to spill over into this spring, where he's been just 8-for-39 (.205) with 10 strikeouts. His only extra-base hit of the exhibition season came on a three-run homer yesterday.

On the other side, Robinson has been among the Nats' leaders with 29 total bases this spring, including two home runs, a triple and five doubles. He's hitting .327 (16-for-49) with eight RBIs.

The knock on Robinson is experience, both as a big leaguer and as an outfielder. The 6-foot-5, 225-lb. Robinson is a first baseman by nature. He's spent most of this spring learning to play the outfield, where he had only seen action around a dozen times in the minors and college. He's handled himself well out there, but may still be considered a liability defensively.

Despite being 30, Robinson has only been to the plate 13 times in the majors in stints with the Royals and Dodgers. But he's a career .302 hitter in eight seasons in the minors, including last year, when he batted .312 with 18 homers and 80 RBIs 119 games for the Dodgers' Triple-A Albuquerque affiliate.

Each of these players will get one last chance to make their cases today against the Yankees. Just as you'll be settling down to watch the actual Final Four, Williams will announce the decisions on his.

My last two in are Hill and Robinson; my final two out are Cedeno and Carp. We'll see.