Game Thread: Phillies vs. Nats in West Palm Beach

Jake Irvin makes his spring debut tonight, plus injury updates on Jacob Young and Luis García Jr.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – So it’s obviously nowhere near as cold here as it is back north. And there’s nothing even remotely resembling snow on the ground. So I say this with great hesitation, but … it’s cold here! The high temperature barely cracked 60, and there’s been a strong wind blowing from the northwest. It’s supposed to drop into the low 40s tonight.

OK, nobody wants to hear any weather complaints from spring training, so we’ll move on to tonight’s game, the first of three consective night games for the Nationals. And this one comes against a division rival that rarely makes the long trip from the other side of the state to play here.

Not that the Phillies forced their star-studded “A” team to ride the bus for 3 1/2 hours from Clearwater to West Palm Beach. Don’t expect to see Bryce Harper, Trea Turner or Kyle Schwarber tonight. Which is just fine with Jake Irvin, because he probably doesn’t want to face a lineup now he’s going to face several times during the season and give anything away.

Irvin makes his spring debut with a specific goal in mind: Be more aggressive in attacking hitters, worrying less about going deep in games like he thinks he did last year. He’s only slated for two innings tonight, so that approach doesn’t really come into play. But it’ll still be interesting to see how he looks to set a positive tone after a hugely disappointing 2025.

Blake Butera’s lineup has a little twist at the top: Dylan Crews will lead off, with CJ Abrams batting second. As the rookie manager hinted the other day, he intends to try out several different batting orders this spring in an attempt to find one that works best.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 58 degrees, wind 12 mph left to right

PHILLIES
CF Justin Crawford
RF Adolis García
3B Edmundo Sosa
LF Otto Kemp
C Garrett Stubbs
DH Rafael Marchán
1B Liover Peguero
2B Christian Cairo
SS Bryan Rincon

RHP Alan Rangel

NATIONALS
CF Dylan Crews
SS CJ Abrams
C Drew Millas
RF Joey Wiemer
3B José Tena
1B Abilmelec Ortiz
2B Orelvis Martinez
DH Yohandy Morales
LF Christian Franklin

RHP Jake Irvin

PREGAME NOTES

YOUNG, GARCIA MAY NOT PLAY UNTIL FRIDAY
Though both Jacob Young and Luis García Jr. are feeling better after dealing with minor injuries suffered last week, both may not see official game action until Friday, a byproduct of the Nationals’ upcoming schedule.

The team is making its one and only cross-state trip to face the Yankees (Wednesday night) and Phillies (Thursday afternoon) in the Tampa Bay area. Even though both Young and García are likely to be game-ready by then, manager Blake Butera doesn’t want to subject them to the long bus trip just to play one game and sit out the other.

So, it looks like the Nats’ starting center fielder and second baseman won’t actually take the field against an opponent until Friday, when they host the Astros here in West Palm Beach.

“The medical group thinks they’ll probably be ready around the Wednesday-Thursday range,” Butera said. “And I told them: If they’re ready Thursday, what’s the harm in waiting a couple days? It’s early in the spring. We’re just erring on the safer side.”

The good news: Young (who was hit on the wrist by a pitch last week) is fully participating in drills and says he’s barely feeling the injury anymore. And García (who has a tight hamstring) has been doing everything for several days now and has been cleared to run bases.

“I think Luis wanted to play today, but we’re just going to be super cautious,” Butera said. “He’s still getting his live at-bats. He’s running the bases. He’s just not playing in games yet.”

“CHAOS” DRILL
The Nationals worked on situational awareness this afternoon with a drill that combined both defense and baserunning, one Butera predicted would be “pretty chaotic.”

It was. With bench coach Michael Johns calling out various game situations – “First and second, one out,” “Bases loaded, nobody out, tie game, ninth inning” – the ball would be put into play, and it would be up to the defense and the runners on base to properly execute.

“I love it,” Butera said. “I love in spring training making the situations so hard, and seeing what these guys do in weird spots.”

During the course of today’s 20-minute drill, several outfielders made diving attempts at sinking liners, while several baserunners slid hard to try to avoid a tag. Coaches kept score, and ultimately the defense scored more points than the baserunners did.

“A lot of games are won or lost in those chaotic moments: seventh, eighth, ninth innings,” Butera said. “The crowd’s into the game. Your big reliever’s in the game. You’re pinch-hitting or pinch-running. You have guys coming off the bench that haven’t been playing the first two hours of the game. Can they just jump right into the action and be ready to go and execute? Those are the things we learn through a lot of this stuff.”

ROAD TRIP PLANS
The Nationals are playing back-to-back games in Tampa and Clearwater this week, and nearly the entire roster will be making the trip. Veterans often are exempt from long bus rides and stay back at home to work out on their own. But there aren’t many veterans on this team to begin with. And in this instance, Butera didn’t want anyone missing two consecutive game days.

“We’re trying to get most of our guys built up, and part of that progression is not sitting two games in a row,” he said. “The majority of our players, we just want to keep this progression going. I just don’t want to take two days off in a row.”