Game Thread: Marlins vs. Nats in West Palm Beach
Brad Lord gets the start this afternoon against Miami. Dylan Crews has been scratched with a sore left thumb.
Updated at 12:21 p.m.
The calendar has flipped from February to March, which means Opening Day is coming later this month. Which means it’s getting closer to the time when the Nationals have to start making some real evaluations and make some real decisions about their Opening Day roster.
We haven’t talked a lot about the competition for rotation spots, but there is a competition. If everyone’s healthy, there are as many as nine potential starters competing for five spots: Cade Cavalli, Foster Griffin, Miles Mikolas, Jake Irvin, Josiah Gray, Brad Lord, Mitchell Parker, Andrew Alvarez, Jake Eder. Now, some of those candidates are in a much more secure position than others, but all are being given an opportunity to make a case here during the early portion of the spring.
Lord is starting today’s game against the Marlins, his first start of the spring after pitching in relief of Irvin last week. It remains to be seen if the Nats are going to utilize the right-hander as a starter or reliever, having seen him have success in both roles last season. For now, he’s being stretched out to start, recognizing it’s easier to transition to the bullpen than the other way around.
One of the other key camp competitions – the catching position – will have to hit the pause button for at least a week because Harry Ford is on his way to Arizona to begin training with the Great Britain squad in advance of the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Both Ford and Keibert Ruiz have seen considerable playing time so far this spring. Drew Millas gets the chance to start today’s game, working as Lord’s batterymate.
There’s no TV coverage of this afternoon’s contest, but Charlie and Dave are back in West Palm Beach and will have the radio call of the game on 106.7 The Fan.
MIAMI MARLINS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 12 mph in from center
MARLINS
2B Xavier Edwards
3B Connor Norby
1B Griffin Conine
RF Christopher Morel
LF Heriberto Hernández
DH Graham Pauley
SS Maximo Acosta
C Brian Navarreto
CF Daniel Johnson
RHP Chris Paddack
NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
2B Luis García Jr.
RF Dylan Crews Christian Franklin
CF Robert Hassell III
3B José Tena
C Drew Millas
LF Joey Wiemer
DH Abimelec Ortiz
1B Warming Bernabel
RHP Brad Lord
UPDATE: Dylan Crews has been scratched with left thumb soreness, according to the team. Christian Franklin will start in his place, batting third and playing right field.
UPDATE: Dylan Crews has been scratched with left thumb soreness, according to the team. Christian Franklin is now starting in right field, batting third.
Nasim Nuñez opens up so many interesting avenues for conversation. If he’s found his bat, he ideally should be getting starting reps in SS or 2B and offer the team a huge plus in defense they’ve been missing, which means Luis should get moved to 1B—which means is there really a 1B spring battle happening?
A 1B platoon makes sense with players like Chaparro and Ortiz, but if it’s Garcia, would it not be beneficial to keep him in against lefties and hope he adapts? Surely Chaparro becomes a bench bat then and Ortiz waits in the wings in AAA.
Too small a sample size to make assumptions yet, but even a near average offensive production from Nasim would be electric with what he provides on the base paths, defense, and from what it seemed based on last year, the clubhouse—he seems a real spark plug.