District Daily: 2/27
By Pablo Roa
Feb 19, 2014; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; Players equipment bags on the field as players prepare for spring training action at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
After over five months of painfully cold temperatures, ice, snow and worst of all, no baseball, the misery will finally end (for the most part). While I can’t promise that the weather will get any better, I can promise you this: In just over 24 hours, the Nationals will be playing a baseball game against another team for the first time in 152 days.
The Nationals will start their Grape Fruit League schedule tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida. While it’s certainly not opening day, it’s still a baseball game, something we haven’t seen in a very long time. Be sure to check back here at District on Deck for a recap of tomorrow’s game, and for full coverage of the Nationals’ spring training.
Tomorrow’s game will air (delayed) on MLB Network, and will also be broadcast on WJFK 1580 AM. Until then, checkout some articles from our fellow Washington Nationals writers:
Nats not rushing Stephen Strasburg
VIERA, Fla. — Stephen Strasburg says he’s “ready to rock.” Even so, the Washington Nationals aren’t rushing his spring debut.
Strasburg isn’t scheduled to pitch in the Nationals’ first two exhibition games. The team hasn’t announced when Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez or Doug Fister will make their first appearances this spring.
“It’s just kind of the way it stacks up,” Nationals manager Matt Williams said Wednesday. “There’s no meaning behind it one way or the other. It’s how he feels and how we stack that rotation.”
“I’ve talked with (pitching coach Steve McCatty) a lot about it and it’s just kind of the way it falls,” he said.
Williams added things will likely change following the team’s off-day on March 18. That’s when the Nationals could start setting up their rotation for the regular season. Read full article here.
Denard Span is in a comfort zone in his second year with the Washington Nationals
(James Wagner, Washington Post)
VIERA, Fla. — Off to one side of the batting cage set up on Field 2 at the minor league complex near Space Coast Stadium, Denard Span sat on a bucket of baseballs and chatted with Bryce Harper. Span soon jumped into the cage and, with Manager Matt Williams throwing batting practice, sprayed a handful of balls around the field. Hitting coach Rick Schu clapped his hands in delight. After that initial round of swings, Span sauntered over to the golf cart and had a chat with General Manager Mike Rizzo and principal owner Mark Lerner.
On an overcast Wednesday afternoon, Span was at ease and at home. Read full article here.
Nationals agree to contract terms with 17 players
(Mark Zuckerman, Comcast Sportsnet)
VIERA, Fla. — The Nationals agreed to contract terms with all 17 of their pre-arbitration players on Wednesday, finalizing the entire roster’s 2014 salaries with little disagreement.
Those players, who all have fewer than three years of big-league service time and thus aren’t yet eligible for arbitration, have no official say in their salary figures at this point. But in announcing they “agreed to terms” with all 17, as opposed to “renewing a contract,” the Nationals were able to successfully negotiate with their players rather than impose a particular salary number on any. Read full article here.
Notes:
- In case you missed it, Erik Metzroth gave his take on who should be on the Nationals’ Opening Day bench. Checkout his article here.
- District on Deck is always looking for talented writers to help us achieve our goal of providing some of the best Washington Nationals coverage on the web. Interested in joining the District on Deck team? Contact us on twitter @DistrictonDeck, or contact me directly @PabloRoaMLB.