Game Thread: Nats vs. Mets in Port St. Lucie
Jacob Young is back in the lineup, Dylan Crews is back in left field and I'm back on-site covering the rest of camp
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Hello, there! Yes, you read that dateline correctly. I’m back in Florida for the final week of camp … barely. Today has been a bit of a travel disaster, with one canceled flight, one delayed flight, a very slow luggage carousel, a very slow rental car check-out process and then rain and traffic on I-95 from West Palm Beach to Port St. Lucie. But I made it in time for tonight’s game against the Mets, and there are some things to discuss.
Most notably: Jacob Young is finally back in the lineup for the first time in more than two weeks. His wrist is feeling good, and he’s ready to start playing in games. Will he have enough time to be ready for Opening Day? I’ll have more on that later tonight, with thoughts from both Young and manager Blake Butera.
Also notable: Dylan Crews is in left field for the second straight day. I’ll have more on that, as well, later this evening, but it definitely looks like another example of Butera looking to mix and match guys at multiple positions.
From a pitching standpoint, today was Cade Cavalli’s day to take the mound. But the Opening Day starter is not here tonight. Instead of facing a Mets lineup that is likely to face him several times during the season, Cavalli stayed back in West Palm Beach and started a minor-league game. He threw 55 pitches over four innings before rain disrupted that game, so he went into the cage and threw another 15 pitches. That doesn’t change his schedule at all, and he’s still slated for one more tune-up before the big one March 26 at Wrigley Field.
Rather than use another starter tonight, the Nationals will use a bunch of relievers. With so many guys who still need to make their cases this week, Butera and Co. are going to be doing a lot of evaluating. Left-hander Zach Penrod is first up tonight. Among the others scheduled to pitch are Clayton Beeter, Julian Fernandez, Ken Waldichuk, Jackson Rutledge and Orlando Ribalta.
I’ll try to share some thoughts and firsthand observations in the comments section as we move along tonight. If you’re an MLB.TV subscriber, you can watch the Mets’ broadcast. If not, you can listen to Charlie and Dave on 980 AM. ...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Clover Park, Port St. Lucie
Gametime: 6:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.TV (Mets feed)
Radio: 980 AM
Weather: Chance of rain, 87 degrees, wind 15 mph out to center
NATIONALS
DH James Wood
CF Jacob Young
LF Dylan Crews
1B Andrés Chaparro
RF Daylen Lile
SS CJ Abrams
2B Luis García Jr.
3B José Tena
C Riley Adams
LHP Zach Penrod
METS
RF Carson Benge
1B Mark Vientos
C Francisco Alvarez
DH Jared Young
SS Ronny Mauricio
2B Christian Arroyo
LF Jose Rojas
3B Vidal Brujan
CF Cristian Pache
LHP David Peterson
It's been a pretty good night for Abrams. He led off the sixth with a triple into the right-field corner, and you could see as he rounded first he was already thinking three bases. He then scored on a wild pitch to give the Nats a 5-4 lead.
Also encouraging: Cionel Perez, who retired the side with a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth.
Some good signs of life from the Nats lineup in the top of the first. James Wood ripped a 107.9 mph single to center. Jacob Young worked a seven-pitch walk. Andres Chaparro also walked. And Daylen Lile drove in a pair with a double down the first-base line.
Less encouraging signs: Dylan Crews, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. each hit weak groundballs to prevent that rally from being much bigger.