Game Thread: Nats vs. Yankees in Tampa
CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews are in the lineup, and Andrew Alvarez is on the mound as the Nationals open a rare overnight spring training road trip
The Nationals rarely venture far beyond their corner of Florida, playing the vast majority of their Grapefruit League games against the four other clubs who train within 45 minutes of West Palm Beach (Astros, Cardinals, Marlins, Mets). But they do always play a couple of games on the other side of the state. And this year, those games are being played back-to-back in Tampa and Clearwater. Tomorrow afternoon, they’ll face the Phillies. First up, they face the Yankees this evening at Steinbrenner Field.
Pretty much all healthy position players made the trip, so Blake Butera’s lineup includes several regulars. (Those who aren’t playing tonight are scheduled to play tomorrow.) CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews and Keibert Ruiz are among those going up against left-hander Ryan Weathers tonight.
Andrew Alvarez will have the daunting assignment of pitching to the Bronx Bombers, who aren’t exactly fielding their “A” lineup. In fact, two of the top four hitters tonight are 2025 Nationals: Amed Rosario and Paul DeJong. Alvarez enjoyed a suprisingly strong September following his promotion from Triple-A Rochester and looked quite poised facing major-league opponents for the first time. Let’s see if he can continue that tonight.
Unfortunately, I’m not there in Tampa for this game. I flew back to D.C. this morning and will be filing stories from home for the next couple weeks. I’ll head back down to West Palm Beach in mid-March for the final week of camp, at which point the Nats should be making their most-significant roster decisions in advance of Opening Day.
I will, however, be watching tonight’s game on Nationals.TV, though be warned it’s actually a simulcast of the Yankees’ YES broadcast. Will try to share some observations from my couch in the comments section below ...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK YANKEES
Where: Steinbrenner Field, Tampa
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals.TV (Yankees feed)
Radio: None
Weather: Clear, 62 degrees, wind 6 mph out to center
NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
CF Dylan Crews
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Joey Wiemer
2B José Tena
3B Trey Lipscomb
1B Abimelec Ortiz
LF Christian Franklin
DH Tres Barrera
LHP Andrew Alvarez
YANKEES
DH Amed Rosario
LF Jasson Domínguez
1B Ben Rice
SS Paul DeJong
C J.C. Escarra
RF Max Schuemann
3B George Lombard Jr.
2B Jonathan Ornelas
CF Kenedy Corona
LHP Ryan Weathers
Defense -- specifically pitchers' defense -- has been UGLY. Not only tonight, but throughout this first week of games. It's not like they haven't been working on it. But clearly there's a difference between the back fields in West Palm Beach at 10 a.m. and the actual stadium in real game situations. Will be very curious to see how Blake Butera and his staff try to remedy this.
Chiming in from my couch to mention Nationals pitchers have now been charged with errors in three consecutive games. Andrew Alvarez is the latest to join the club. Keibert Ruiz also threw a ball away during an ugly bottom of the second in Tampa. And I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention ex-Nat Amed Rosario blasted Alvarez's first pitch of the game for a homer. The spring undefeated streak is at risk if they don't clean some things up in a hurry.