Nats vs. Cardinals - 3/2/2013

USA Today Sports Images

Chase here setting up the game thread for today as Mark is off for the weekend. The Nationals are set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals today for the first time since the National League Division Series last fall. We'll see a familiar pitching matchup as Gio Gonzalez squares off with Adam Wainwright, they were the opposing pitchers in both Game 1 and Game 5 of the playoff series.

Pete Kozma has the day off, but Daniel Descalso will be out there. A few other familiar names from that series will be playing today as well. If you remember, these very Cardinals threw some salt on the wound after the series by saying Gio looked rattled in the moment in Game 5. Maybe Gio takes a little more energy into this outing than the other starts he will make this spring.

The Nats lineup features a bunch of their younger players including Steve Lombardozzi, Danny Espinosa, and Anthony Rendon. Maybe today will decide the future of the Nationals' second base position. Okay, maybe not.

Anyways, enjoy the game...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: St. Louis' KMOX radio via MLB Gameday Audio
Weather: Cloudy, 64 degrees, Wind 11 mph

NATIONALS
DH Danny Espinosa
2B Steve Lombardozzi
SS Ian Desmond
LF Tyler Moore

April a month of milestones for Nats?

Photo by the Associated Press

With one of the youngest teams in the majors, the Nationals don’t have any players chasing legendary milestones like 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, or any records for the Hall of Fame. Most of the team’s best players are young and just beginning their careers, maybe some day they will near those marks.

Entering the 2013 season, however, there are a few notable numbers within reach of players on the Nationals. The month of April alone could feature an interesting list of milestones by Washington players.

Here are some numbers Nats players will likely reach in the month of April:

* Ryan Zimmerman plays his 1000th game – Zimmerman is ten games away from the mark after eight major league seasons, two shortened by injury.

* Adam LaRoche hits homer No. 200 – LaRoche is three away from 200 and, if he carries over last season, should have a good start towards 300 after 2013.

* Jayson Werth hits homer No. 150, RBI No. 500 – Werth is five away from each mark and shouldn’t take long to hit them. Five homers in April would be a great month, but it’s doable.

* Zimmerman hits 600 RBI, 600 runs, 400 walks – Zimm will likely also reach 600 RBI (593 currently) and 400 walks (395 currently) before the month is over. He could get to 600 runs (580 currently) as well.

Nats vs. Braves - 3/1/13

USA Today Sports Images

The Nats are back at Disney's Wide World of Sports tonight.

Spring training often is a time for experimentation, so we shouldn't be too surprised to see a couple of wrinkles to Davey Johnson's lineup for tonight's exhibition game against the Braves.

First up is Danny Espinosa, who not only will lead off but will start at shortstop. The rationale: Davey looks at Espinosa as his primary fallback option at shortstop if anything were to happen to Ian Desmond (as we saw last summer when Desmond went on the DL with an oblique strain). Espinosa certainly has the arm to play shortstop, but he needs the occasional reps there to stay sharp, so he'll get a chance tonight with Desmond not making the trip to Disney.

You'll also notice Bryce Harper in center field for the first time this spring. Harper obviously is ticketed for left field this season, but you have to think Davey would slide him back over there if Denard Span needed to miss any time. Again, might as well get Harper some reps in center this spring when it doesn't count.

Jordan Zimmermann will get his reps, too, though in his familiar place on the mound. The right-hander is coming off a solid, three-inning spring debut against the Marlins. He'll look to ramp himself up to 60 pitches and perhaps four innings tonight against another NL East rival.

Enjoy the game and the conversation as always...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Disney's Wide World of Sports, Lake Buena Vista
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: Braves radio via MLB Gameday Audio
Weather: Cloudy, 58 degrees, Wind 11 mph out to LF

NATIONALS
SS Danny Espinosa
2B Steve Lombardozzi
CF Bryce Harper
DH Tyler Moore

VIDEO: Werth on the Nats' next step

Jayson Werth readily admits his decision to sign with the Nationals two years ago was criticized around baseball. Now that the Nationals own an NL East title with visions of bigger things this season, how does the $126 million right fielder feel about that decision? And how did he cope with the abrupt end to the Nats' 2012 season? He answers all that in my video interview that aired last night on Comcast SportsNet.

Strasburg still has room to grow

Associated Press

Stephen Strasburg struck out six batters in three innings last night.

He's done so much in so little time with the Nationals that it's easy to forget just how young and inexperienced Stephen Strasburg still remains.

He won't turn 25 until July. He's made only 45 big-league starts spanning 251 1/3 innings. And, as the right-hander is quick to point out, he still hasn't pitched a full season as a professional.

Which is all the more reason to marvel at what Strasburg has accomplished already in his career while also recognizing there's still plenty more room for growth.

At this stage, Strasburg has mostly gotten by on pure stuff. Few young pitchers ever have possessed the devastating repertoire at his disposal while also exhibiting pinpoint command of all three