March 22, 2013; Viera, FL, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth (28) signs autographs before the spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at Space Coast Stadium. Detroit defeated Washington 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

In 2012, news surfaced that the team was in negotiations to move to Fort Myers. The team has been trying to move from Viera since at least 2010, and with good reason. They are not within 50 miles of any other team, making travel difficult and inconvenient. The team’s ideal scenario would be to be closer to their competition, which would likely mean being on the west coast of Florida as opposed to the east coast where they currently are. The team also hopes to build its own stadium, as opposed to taking over an old one like City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, which the Red Sox recently vacated.

Stephen Strasburg took a Prince Fielder liner off the left wrist in the fourth inning of what eventually became a 4-3 win for the American League champion Tigers at Space Coast Stadium. After a thorough check by Nationals manager Davey Johnson and the training staff, Strasburg continued to pitch and showed no visible ill effects. He did, however, fall to 0-3 on the spring after surrendering three runs in his six innings of work.

Stpehen Strasburg shook off a liner to the hand, but couldn’t pitch the Nats past the Tigers in Friday’s exhibition. (Image: Brad Barr, US Presswire)

It was the second straight day that a Washington lineup that closely resembled the projected Opening Day starters was completely shut down by an opposing starter. On Thursday, it was Atlanta’s Tim Hudson doing the honors, throwing six shutout innings against the Nationals in the Braves’ 4-3 win. Friday was Drew Smyly‘s turn, as the Tigers hurler allowed just one run on four hits over five innings, striking out five.

Detroit got on the board first in the second inning, as Matt Tuiasosopo took Strasburg deep to right field for a home run. After that, both starters settled in, throwing zeroes until the fifth, after Strasburg’s scare on Fielder’s bat.

“The hand is fine. It just kind of numbed up a little bit out there. It’s a little tender, but nothing crazy,” Strasburg said to Bill Ladson of MLB.com. “You have the adrenaline pumping. I thought I could have caught it. It took a while to sink in when it hit me. Then it got numb. I shook it out. It was just tender after that.”

Fielder and Victor Martinez had RBI singles in the fifth inning for the Tigers before Ian Desmond answered in the bottom half of the frame, powering his second spring homer to bring Washington to within 3-1.

After Strasburg finished his six innings, Johnson summoned Henry Rodriguez, but if the reliever was hoping to justify the apparent decision to keep him on the roster with the Nationals, he didn’t do himself many favors. Rodriguez went to 3-0 counts on each of the first three batters he faced, surrendering a double and a pair of walks. Only a great catch by Roger Bernadina, recently returned from the World Baseball Classic, kept the inning from being a complete train wreck.

Washington got back to within 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh on sacrifice flies by Kurt Suzuki and Steve Lombardozzi, but couldn’t push across a tying run.

The Nats will square off against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie on Saturday afternoon, with Gio Gonzalez returning to the Washington rotation.

March 18, 2013; Viera, FL, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche (25) hits a home run against the Detroit Tigers during the spring training game at Space Coast Stadium. Detroit beat Washington 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

There are so many unknowns in Spring Training that it is hard to take anything from it. So when you see Rafael Soriano getting singled to death and giving up several runs against the Detroit Tigers yesterday, you wonder. Was he working on things? Has he lost something? So far this Spring he has a 11.57 ERA and a .409 OBA. Using Baseball Reference’s OppQual which takes into consideration the average batter he is facing, Soriano is facing somewhere in between an average of AAA and Major League competition as of before his appearance in yesterday’s game. So the fact he’s getting hit isn’t as concerning as if he was facing guys who weren’t even close to the majors.

On a positive note, Jordan Zimmermann had his sinker working and pitched outstanding. He pitched six innings allowing only one hit to lead off the game. After that, he retired 18 straight batters and got 14 ground ball outs. With a Tigers lineup including Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, that’s mighty impressive.

Continuing with the positive, Wilson Ramos went 3/3 and raised his average this Spring to .444. If Ramos is healthy and continues to make strides as he did last year before the injury, he will not only be the starter over Kurt Suzuki but he will provide the Nationals with something they didn’t really have last year – offense from the catching position.

Adam LaRoche, who has only been hitting .143 this Spring provided the only scoring for Washington with a solo homerun off of Max Scherzer. Drew Storen worked around a hit and a walk by striking out the side in his inning of work.