Nats vs. Marlins -- 3/21/10

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Justin Maxwell strikes out in the fourth, leaving him 4-for-35 this spring.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Hello from Roger Dean Stadium, joint spring home of the Marlins and Cardinals. The Marlins are our hosts today, with the Nationals making the trek down I-95 for part two of a home-and-home exhibition series. (Florida won yesterday's ballgame in Viera, 5-3.)

Good pitching matchup today, with John Lannan and Josh Johnson facing each other in a rematch of last year's Opening Day in Miami. Lannan has kind of been under the radar all spring for the Nats, in part because of all the Stephen Strasburg hype, in part because one of his starts was rained out and another one was in a road split-squad game. But now it's time for Lannan to start getting serious. Including today, he's got three more starts down here before facing Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Co. on April 5.

Be sure to check back for updates throughout the afternoon, and check the homepage for any non-game news...

NATIONALS AT MARLINS
Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, Fla.
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV/Radio: No TV/Marlins radio (via XM and MLB Gameday Audio)
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 78 degrees, Wind 20 mph RF to LF

STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS
RF Willie Harris
2B Adam Kennedy
SS Ian Desmond
1B Chris Duncan

Concern about Guzman?

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

The state of Cristian Guzman's right shoulder remains a question.

VIERA, Fla. -- For all the attention Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen and plenty of other pitchers have received this spring, perhaps the guy we should have been watching more closely since day one was a guy we all assumed was a lock to be in the Opening Day lineup: Cristian Guzman.

Turns out it may not be as simple as that.

There is some serious concern in Nationals camp right now about the veteran shortstop and the state of his surgically repaired right shoulder. At first, we figured it was no big deal because it was early in camp and he was taking things slow. Then we figured we couldn't get too worked up because he missed several days while his wife gave birth back in Washington.

Now, though, we're 16 days shy of the season opener and there's still reason to believe Guzman's shoulder isn't 100 percent.

How do we know this? If you happened to be at Space Coast Stadium in the top of the second today and saw Guzman's incredibly weak throw on Donnie Murphy's bouncer to the hole, you understand what this is all about.

For a couple of weeks now, manager Jim Riggleman has said he wanted to see how Guzman would react to a ball hit to his right, to see if he could cut loose and really fire a ball across the diamond with no troubles. Well, the opportunity arose at last today, and Guzman

Nats vs. Marlins -- 3/20/10

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Garrett Mock allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.

VIERA, Fla. -- Obviously, the big news of the day (the demotion of Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen to Class AA Harrisburg) has already happened. But there's still a game to be played, and there are compelling storylines to it as always.

Garrett Mock makes his fourth start of the spring, hoping to further solidify his standing within the rotation. As we've been saying for a while now, Mock is currently lined up to start the season's fourth game, and club officials continue to speak highly of him. It would be nice, though, to see a complete performance from the right-hander today in his first five-inning start of the month.

Meanwhile, we'll get another look at Cristian Guzman at shortstop and a look at Mike Morse in right field this afternoon. Both players are worth watching closely. Well, at least for those of us sportswriters who actually understand how to cover sports.

An explanation for that last line: The Washington Times, a newspaper that less than three months ago decided to eliminate its entire sports department (including yours truly), sent a "sports" reporter to Viera to "cover" last night's game. This reporter watched four innings of the game from the press box. He never appeared in the clubhouse or on the field. As best as I can tell, he never spoke to anyone in uniform (or to any other reporters, for that matter). Yet he wrote a full account of the game, with a Viera dateline and with quotes from Strasburg obviously lifted from other reporters' articles. Nice to see

Strasburg, Storen sent to Harrisburg

VIERA, Fla. -- Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen have both been sent to minor-league camp and each will open the season at Class AA Harrisburg.

The fellow first-round picks were informed this morning. Strasburg, who is already on the 40-man roster and has a major-league contract, was optioned to Harrisburg. Storen, who was a non-roster invitee to spring training, was re-assigned to minor-league camp.

UPDATE AT 10:26 A.M. -- Also sent down this morning: Matt Chico (optioned to Class AAA Syracuse), Jamie Burke and Doug Slaten (both re-assigned to minor-league camp).

UPDATE AT 10:43 A.M. -- Strasburg on the decision: "It's all good. I'm going to go down to Harrisburg and learn what I need to learn and hopefully get called up soon."

UPDATE AT 10:48 A.M. -- Strasburg, on the factors involved in this decision: "I wasn't really shocked. I was trying to just go up here and do my thing and not really worry about what happens. Because it's a business now. It's completely out of my control. There's no point worrying about it. I was focusing on baseball. I'm still going to focus on baseball. They have a plan for me. It doesn't matter what I think or how I feel. They're going to stick to their plan, and I'm going to do what they tell me to do."

UPDATE AT 10:51 A.M. -- Storen, asked if there's any disappointment in getting sent down: "Yeah, that was my goal, to make the team out of camp. But in the bigger picture, I understand. I want to make a career in the big leagues. And going and developing and becoming polished in the minor leagues to get my shot in the big

See you in June, Stephen

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Stephen Straburg impressed in three starts, but he probably won't make a fourth.

VIERA, Fla. -- If this was the end of Stephen Strasburg's spring training cameo ... well, bravo, kid. Job well done.

Sure, you could look at the two solo homers he served up in the top of the first inning against the Cardinals -- a blast to left-center by Tyler Greene on the game's first pitch and an opposite-field poke by Allen Craig two batters later -- and be worried that the guy's fastball can travel a long way when struck by a big-league hitter. But those were two minor blemishes in an otherwise impressive performance.

Strasburg faced 14 batters after giving up those two homers. He retired 11 of them and would have retired 12 had Ian Desmond not booted a first-inning grounder. He struck out seven of 11 Cardinals batters at one point. And while his pitch count of 73 was high for only four innings, it wasn't because he couldn't find the strike zone. On the contrary, he threw 53 of those pitches for strikes. St. Louis' batters just fouled a bunch of them off, especially Jason LaRue, who fouled seven straight in the fourth before finally striking out on a 92 mph sinker.

By the end of his four innings, Strasburg had put together his best overall outing of the spring, even though he was scored upon for the first time. Eight strikeouts. No walks. Some perfectly executed offspeed pitches, both slider/curves and change-ups.

Perhaps because he had the chance to go through a lineup twice for the first time, or perhaps because he was working with Ivan Rodriguez for the first time, Strasburg showed off his entire arsenal and established the many different ways he can retire an opposing