Key takeaways from the Nationals' spring training opener

The Washington Nationals are officially back in action. The club completed their first game of the 2025 spring training season on Saturday, and there were some key things to notice and pick up on as the club begins it's preparation for the regular season.

In this article I am going to hit on a couple of key takeaways that I had from watching the 1st game, and try to figure out what players made an early impact. Of course, I am not going to break down every little thing that happened in just the opening game of spring training, but these were just the things that stood out the most to me.

As a reminder, early spring training games do not matter, especially whether or not the team wins or loses. Do not overreact to anything you see this early on.

Young guys making an early impact

The highlight of the game was a 3-run double by Nationals prospect Robert Hassell III in the top of the 9th inning, but he was not the only one who made a nice impact on today's game. What should not be forgotten before Hassell's big hit was the fact that Brady House, who walked only 7 times in 236 plate appearances after being promoted to AAA Rochester last season, extended the inning after a solid at-bat, working a walk to bring Hassell to the plate.

One of the biggest things House has had to work on was his plate discipline, and if he is able to show off an approach similar to this throughout the spring, he could make for a difficult decision at the hot corner to begin the season. Also of note is that House did not strike out once in either of his 3 plate appearances as well.

Yohandy Morales, whom the Astros broadcast has renamed "Johandy Morales," provided an RBI single for the Nationals to put them up 3-1 earlier in the game. He finished 1/3 with a pair of strikeouts, and is a guy we should see get some sold

Outfield trio making things happen

The Nationals chose to go with a starting outfield alignment of Alex Call, Jacob Young, and Dylan Crews from right to left, and all 3 of them made things happen in the first game of the spring exhibition circuit.

Alex Call, who hit 6th to start today's game, recorded 2 walks and a stolen base as well, showing a continuation of the solid plate approach we saw from him in his limited time with the big league club before getting hurt last season.

Jacob Young, who started in his natural center field, finished 1/2 with a single, stolen base, and a run, but made things happen while running the bases. In the 3rd inning, Young led off with a single, then was too quick for a double play to be turned at second after a groundout from Trey Lipscomb. He then stole 3rd base and scored on a bloop single from Dylan Crews to give the Nationals their first lead of the game.

Ferrer stands out, Susana shaky

Maybe the biggest takeaway from today's game from me personally was how good Jose A. Ferrer looked in his first appearance of the spring. He pitched the 2nd inning, coming on for Jake Irvin, and had undoubtedly the most impressive outing of any Nationals pitcher in today's game. He struck out 2 of 3 batters he faced, including a pair of big leaguers in Victor Caratini and Jake Meyers. He looked cool, calm, and collected, and hopefully this will be able to translate as he is expected to be in the mix to be the Nationals closer for the 2025 season.

On the flip side, it was very much an up-and-down outing for one of the most intriguing prospects in all of baseball, Jarlin Susana. He had some issues consistently finding the strike zone, and probably threw a bit more than coaches would have wanted him to for his first outing. He fired 20 of his 34 pitches for strikes, and according to Mark Zuckerman, his fastball averaged 101 MPH, but reached as high as 103 MPH. Overall, he came out of the inning unscathed, but did surrender a pair of walks while striking out a pair of Astros hitters as well.

What was your biggest takeaway from the Nationals' spring training opener? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.

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