Who gets the final bullpen spot?

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Fernando Abad is surprisingly in the mix for the final bullpen spot.

It was perhaps the only spot on the Nationals' 25-man roster that was undecided when camp opened three weeks ago, but even then the options were pretty clear: The final man in the Opening Day bullpen would be Henry Rodriguez if healthy; if not, it would be either lefty Bill Bray or right-hander Christian Garcia.

Nearly halfway through spring training, that spot remains very much up for grabs, except now there's no telling who will emerge from the pack after a combination of injuries and demotions has thrown a wrench into the Nationals' plans.

Yesterday's first round of cuts eliminated three left-handers from big-league camp: Bray, veteran Will Ohman and spring training invitee Brandon Mann. Which, on the surface, would seem to further emphasize the likelihood of the Nationals' opening the season without a traditional, lefty specialist in their bullpen.

Just one problem: The right-handers contending for that spot haven't seen any game action yet due to injuries.

How important is a lefty reliever?

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Bill Bray is competing for a spot in the Nationals' bullpen.

VIERA, Fla. -- When Davey Johnson looked to his bullpen last season and wanted to summon a left-hander, he had no shortage of options. Sean Burnett was one of the best setup men in baseball. Mike Gonzalez was a seasoned veteran capable of retiring some of the game's toughest left-handed sluggers. And Tom Gorzelanny was versatile enough to pitch four innings or face one batter in a big spot.

All three of those southpaws, of course, are now wearing different uniforms, leaving the Nationals without one slam-dunk lefty for their 2013 relief corps.

As far as team officials are concerned, this is nothing to worry about.

"We're going to go with the best guys," general manager Mike Rizzo said. "The amount of left-handed relievers has never been a priority to me. Mostly because we've got right-handers that can get