The Washington Nationals pounded out 14 hits, including two home runs by Michael Morse, en route to a 9-3 win over the New York Mets in both team's Grapefruit League opener.

Bryce Harper, the Nats No. 1 overall pick in last summer's amateur draft, went 0-for-2, striking out twice, in his first action against big league players.

Morse, battling with several players for playing time in a now-crowded Nationals' outfield, went 3-for-5 with the two homers and four RBIs.  He also made a nice play on a sizzling grounder at third base late in the game as he tries to show off his flexibility defensively.

Ian Desmond, Roger Bernadina and Wilson Ramos all had two hits apiece for the Washington attack.

Chad Gaudin was the starting pitcher, and went three innings in his Nats debut.  He gave up two earned runs on five hits, striking out four.  Craig Stammen went two innings in relief and "earned" the win.  He allowed one earned run on three hits and a walk, striking out two.

Rule 5 selection Brian Broderick, Doug Slaten, Todd Coffey and Adam Carr all pitched scoreless innings of relief.

Nyjer Morgan and Jesus Flores both went hitless in three at bats.

The most anticipated appearance of the day was for 18-year old Harper.  He entered as a pinch-runner for designated hitter Matt Stairs in the fifth inning.  Stairs made his Major League debut 140 days before Harper was born.

Harper struck out on three pitches by Taylor Tankersley -- fouling the first pitch off and swinging at a pair of breaking balls -- and went down swinging on an 86 MPH fastball from Ryota Igarashi with the count 1-2.

Overall, it was a good start to the spring schedule.  It took until the twelfth game of the spring last year for the Nats to record a win, and several Nats competing for jobs had good days. Most of all though, it's just good to be reading box scores again.

The game will be rebroadcast at 9:30 pm on MLB Network tonight.

This morning, the Washington Nationals official P.R. Twitter account published a photo of the Nats six first round draft picks they've selected since coming to D.C. (minus, of course, the unsigned Aaron Crow).

Take a look (courtesy Nats P.R.):



From left: Chris Marrero, Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, Drew Storen, Stephen Strasburg, Ross Detwiler.

I think it's pretty interesting just by their body language they reveal a lot about their personality. (Warning: amateur psychologist at work).

Let's start with Chris Marerro.  The least accomplished of the group is at the far left, almost leaning away and back from the rest as if to say "I don't really belong in this picture."

Ryan Zimmerman, the Face of the Franchise, is next.  Has a very relaxed posture, as he's clearly comfortable with where he is.  But his shoulders are slumped a bit, so maybe he's signalling he doesn't want to carry any burden.

Third from left is Bryce Harper.  Wide stance, shoulders broad, maybe puffing out his chest a little.  Just from this photo you can feel his confidence.

To Harper's right is Drew Storen.  His left foot is in front of his right, cocking his right hip, as if he's posing for a fashion shoot.  We know Drew is something of a clothes-horse, and his pose suggests he's in control of his situation.

Next one is in Stephen Strasburg, and he's what drew me to this assignment.  Take another look at him in this photo; it's fascinating.  First, you see the red socks, the only one of the crew to go with the leggings.  Shows he's a traditionalist.  From there though, it's all negative.  Knees bent, shoulders sagging, head down. 

He looks like he'd rather be anywhere than where he is.  He's the only one of the group not arching his back.  Just a complete display of bad vibes.

On the right right is Ross Detwiler.  He towers over everyone, even Strasburg.  His high waist and long legs make him look more like a basketball player than a pitcher.  It's easy to see from this photo why the Nationals invested in him in the first place, and why he'll continue to get chances to prove himself.

Of course, all this is just in fun.  But it's amazing what can be gleaned from just a simple amateur photo taken of athletes that aren't aware their photo is being taken at that very moment.

***Obviously, they are lined up to get a posed picture taken.  But this cellphone picture was taken from behind and before they were having the porfessional photo taken.  Sorry for any confusion.

Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman addressed his team today before the squad's first full-team workouts.  From accounts, it was the typical meet and greet, "let's go out there and have a good year" pep talk, with some introductions and logistics thrown in.

But the skipper had some words to his team about raising and exceeding expectations as well.

From MASN.com's Ben Goessling this morning: 

"A lot of people in the room got a chance to say a few words," Riggleman said. "My message to the ballclub was basically, 'It's a tremendous amount of talent in the room here. And with that talent, expectations get raised and so forth. So let's meet and exceed those expectations and play baseball.' We've got a lot of good baseball players, we've got a lot of good athletes in the room. It's a great group that Mike (Rizzo) and the Lerner family has put together. The job we have to do now is make this group a team. I feel real good about this large group becoming a good team."

Asked what he was most excited about, Riggleman said, "I think, just in general, the athleticism. I think it's a good base of talent there that is athletic and can run the bases, create a little pressure on the defense now and then. That talent and athleticism should show up defensively and cover some more ground in some areas, give our pitchers a better chance. That athleticism, where it translates to offensively, we'll have to wait and see. But I feel like there's a good possibility we're going to be a better offensive club as well."

Not to put too fine a point to this, but the ideas of "raising expectations" and "exceeding expectations" are fairly separate concepts, and already Riggleman is employing an "us against them" strategy with his players -- and the media.

By emphasising that he wants to "exceed expectations", he's acknowledging the idea that most "experts" see the Nats as a flawed team with meager aspirations of competing.  I suppose it's only natural that he'd use this as a motivating tool with his players -- it's the most common rallying cry in sports today: "Nobody respects us."

Well, as my retired Marine Corps drill sergeant father told me all the time growing up, respect is earned, not given.  If these Nats want to be respected, want to raise expectations and be looked at as contenders, they'll have to earn it on the field, not just talk about it in a spring training introduction.

WANG NOT THROWING HARD

By all accounts of this morning's first official workouts, Chien-Ming Wang still isn't close to throwing full out from a mound.

From Zuckerman: 

Now, I'm by no means a pitching expert, and my eye for these things isn't anywhere in the same area code as Steve McCatty and the rest of the coaching staff. But Wang sure wasn't throwing the ball with much oomph. He's got a very slow, deliberate motion, so that can make things look a little deceptive. But the ball wasn't coming out of his hand with nearly as much velocity as the other guys pitching alongside him.

And Goessling: 

Most of the other pitchers looked fine, but Wang's arm strength just isn't there yet. He's going to start on the DL, and it could be a couple months before he's ready to pitch in the majors.

And Kilgore: 

Several pitchers threw bullpen sessions, including Chien-Ming Wang, and the low level of intensity of his session shows why he believes he'll probably have to start 2011 in the minors, building up innings.

Anyone surprised by this development?  I was very surprised Mike Rizzo brought Wang back after Wang's failure to pitch competitively last season.  It's almost like he's doing him a favor.  Wang himself said the other day that he wouldn't be ready before May.  Didn't we hear that last season as well?

I frankly don't expect to ever see Wang pitch at Nats Park.

STRASBURG PLAYS CATCH

Stephen Strasburg, recovering from the world's most famous Tommy John surgery, threw lightly from about 45 feet with trainer Lee Kuntz.  It's the first baby step in a process that will last all season and perhaps into the off-season and next year.  But the Nats have to be extremely cautious with their franchise arm.

FLORES BACK BEHIND THE DISH

Jesus Flores participated fully in the bullpen sessions, taking pitches and throwing back tot he pitchers without any difficulty.  If you remember back to this time last season, he had to endure the indignity of handing the ball to a trainer to send back to the pitcher he was catching.  Flores returning to Major League duty will be one of the more interesting stories to watch this spring.

MORE POSITION PLAYERS REPORTING

Michael Morse and Rick Ankiel arrived at the clubhouse in Viera today.  It's encouraging that many of the position players are in camp, taking BP and shaking the rust loose before the official reporting date.  But the Nats really aren't speical in that regard, it's happening all over baseball and it happens every season.  Most of these guys are as anxious to get started as the fans are.

What will be really interesting is when Bryce Harper hits the big league clubhouse, expected in the next day or so.  Will he be another media distraction?  How will he fit into the clubhouse?  Is Ladson's rental car safely parked far enough away to escape BP homers from crashing into the windshield?

 
Oh, and the phemon is now on twitter (@BHarp34).  Of course he is.

You won't find one here.

Not that I'm not psyched for the start of baseball season.  I'm just as excited as everyone else that pitchers and catchers reported today, signalling the start of spring training.  It means we're only a month and a half away from games that count!

But tales of "emerald fields" and "azure skies" are a little overboard.  No other sport romanticizes the start of training camp like baseball writers do.  I think they do it on purpose to make their readers jealous that they are sitting in the sunshine while fans are still freezing their fannies off.

I get that for many, the day that pitchers and catchers report is the first glimpse of spring after a long, cold winter.  And that the start of a new baseball season brings renewed hope that the local big league team can break out of its doldrums and finally start to look like a competitive club.

But in reality, it's just a bunch of ballplayers taking batting practice and trying to shake the rust out of their joints.

I know, I'm a curmudgeon.

RIGGS SPEAKS:  Manager Jim Riggleman told the beat reporters today that as things stand now,  Livan Hernandez would be the opening day starter "unless something unforeseen happens", and Nyjer Morgan and Ian Desmond would hit 1-2.  He also said Jordan Zimmermann would be on an innings count, but did not know what that ceiling would be, in his first full season after Tommy John surgery.

UNIFORM CHANGES:  Drew Storen will wear his sixth uniform number since making his Major League debut.  He'll wear No. 22 after losing No. 25 to Adam LaRoche.  Storen told reporters he hopes to have some way to make it up to fans that bought a No. 25 Storen jersey over the off-season. 

Collin Balester scrapped No. 99 and will wear No. 23.  Michael Morse will wear No. 38, as Jayson Werth's contract stipulates he gets No. 28, and Chris Marrero will wear No. 14.

(C.Nichols/Nats News Network)



News reports filtered out yesterday about Washington Nationals wunderkind Stephen Strasburg tossing a baseball for the first time since that fateful day last August in Philadelphia, when the hopes and dreams of everyone in NatsTown were crushed by the shredding of ligaments in the man-child's right elbow.

It's extremely good news to hear Strasburg's recovery is going as planned.  But let's not make too big a deal over this, okay?



The reality of the situation is that it takes 12-18 months to recover from Tommy John surgery.  We were witness to that very scenario last season, when Jordan Zimmermann made his triumphant return to the bigs 12 months and two weeks after his very own TJ surgery -- to mixed results.

Zimmermann had several encouraging starts, and a few where he, well, struggled.  It's common for the velocity and strength to come back first, and we saw that with Zimmermann.  But it's the command and control that TJ survivors find taking longer to come back, to get the feel of pitching again. 

Both Zimmermann and Strasburg throw hard enough and can be dominant (high K/9 rates), but in both cases, it's their impeccable control and command that separate them from the rest of the pack.

You might be wondering what the difference between control and command are.  As explained by Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster, control is just that: throwing strikes -- the ability to keep runners off the bases via walks -- and command is the ability to be successful at both not walking batters and striking them out.

Dominance.  Control.  Command.  The three elements of elite pitching.

Pre-injury, both Zimmermann and Strasburg showed they had these elements.  Strasburg's excellence was easy to see at the Major League level; Zimmermann's was still a bit of projection.  But based on his minor league performance, we didn't have to look too hard -- Zimmermann dominated each level of the minors as he took each age-appropriate step towards the bigs.

This spring, we'll see if Zimmermann can regain the touch he had pre-surgery.  It's not a "written in stone" conclusion.  Most hopeful early expectations from some other Nats-centric sites have Zimmermann settling in as the de facto ace of the staff this season until the anointed one will reclaim his spot in September, and the duo will lead this team to the promised land starting in 2012.

It's good to have hope, but let's temper the optimism with the reality that both of these arms are coming back from major surgery, and look at this realistically.  It might take Zimmermann all season to get the touch back that had led him to be so successful thus far in his short professional career.  It might not return to pre-surgery levels at all.



(C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

Does that mean he can't be a functioning member of the rotation?  No.  We can hope for the best. But there's a real reason that all of the independent, stat-based pre-season projections have Zimmermann for less than what fans would call a "normal" season.  There's a good chance he'll miss time with various soreness as his rebuilt elbow learns how to function again under the stress of pitching.

And the same thing is going to happen with Strasburg.  If -- and it's a big if -- he's able to follow the same impressive rehab schedule that Zimmermann did, the best-case scenario is that we see him in September for a few meaningless starts outside of a pennant chase.  Those starts will mean more to him and his competitive nature than it will for the ballclub. 

It won't really be Stephen Strasburg pitching, even if he is hitting the mid-90s on the radar gun.

For that, he'll need all of next winter to have a normal off-season: strength, conditioning, etc.  Not rehabbing from an injury.

Then, in 2012, he'll go through the process that Zimmermann will go through this year.  Learning to to pitch again, and battling his own body getting used to the violent torture of throwing a baseball every five days.

I don't write these words to depress anyone, just a few days before pitchers and catchers report.  Like I said, we can hope for the best.  But history tells us that it takes 12-18 months to recover from Tommy John surgery.

Nats fans are hungry for a competitive ballclub.  They got a taste of it last season every time Strasburg took to the mound.  But then the injury.  It was like smelling a steak cooking and then watching the cook throw it in the trash.

But let's allow these two precious arms to fully recover from the trauma of surgery before placing unrealistic expectations on them.

We'll have another installment of "Nats Weekly" on PrimeSportsNetwork.com today at 5:15 pm.

Host Greg Depalma and I will talk about the Nats off-season moves and upcoming spring training.

If you want to join us live with a question or comment, the number is 877-244-0585.

Pitchers and catchers report in just a couple days!

The Washington Nationals just sent out a press release announcing they have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher J.D. Martin, catcher Carlos Maldonado and first baseman Kevin Barker on minor-league contracts with invitations to Spring Training.

Additionally, the Nationals extended Spring Training invitations to right-handed pitcher Josh Wilkie, left-handed pitcher Matt Chico and catchers Derek Norris and Jhonatan Solano.

(C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

Martin went 1-5 and posted a 4.13 ERA in nine starts for the Nationals last season and is 6-9 with a 4.32 ERA in 24 career starts during two seasons (2009-10) with Washington. The 28-year-old went 2-2 with a 3.51 ERA in seven starts with Syracuse in 2010.

Maldonado, 32, hit .233/.293/.314 in 63 games with Syracuse in 2010 and Barker, 35, went .291/.416/.510 playing for Veracruz, an independent affiliation in the Triple-A Mexican League.  Both have had cups of coffee thoughout their extensive minor league career, and were signed primarily to fill out the roster in Syracuse this summer.

The "news" out of all of this is the invitation to Norris to spring training.  The soon to be 22-year old doesn't have enough service time to have to be protected on the Nats 40-man roster yet, and he's steadily working his way up through the minor leagues. 

We shouldn't read too much into this though.  Since the Nats only have three catchers on the 40-man (Ivan Rodriguez, Jesus Flores and Wilson Ramos), they needed a few more catchers in camp to handle all the pitchers.

Norris hit .235/.419/.419 in 399 plate appearances last season for Single-A Potomac.  He hit 12 home runs and drove in 49, while throwing out 51 percent (29-of-57) of runners attempting to steal against him.  He possesses a .414 OBP in 327 career minor league games.

Fan-favorite Josh Wilkie went undrafted out of George Washington Univeristy and has toiled in the Nats system for the last five seasons, reaching Syracuse last year, where he went 4-4 with eight saves and a 2.45 ERA and 1.134 WHIP (8.0 K/9, 2.8 BB/9) in 53 games.

Lefty Matt Chico made one spot start for the Nats last year, giving up two earned runs in five innings, and went 6-7 with a 3.73 ERA in Syracuse.  The 27-year old led the Nats in innings pitched in 2007 as a rookie before surgery robbed him of a year of service.

Adrian Nieto, a minor league catcher in the Washington Nationals organization, was suspended today after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs, according to multiple sources citing a Major League Baseball release.

According to MASN.com's Ben Goessling: 

The release said Nieto tested positive for Oxandrolone, a drug primarily used to stimulate weight gain, and metabolite, which is a performance-enhancing substance. His suspension will start at the beginning of the 2011 season.

Nieto, 21, hit .195/.291/.253 last season for Single-A Hagerstown of the South Atlantic League.  The Cuban native was a fifth round pick in the 2008 Amateur Draft.

This marks the third year in a row the Nats farm system has lost a prospect due to a positive PED test.  In 2009, infielder Stephen King tested positive for Ritalinic Acid, and last season infielder Seth Bynum tested positive for amphetamines.  Both players received the automatic 50-game suspension.

(ed., 5:46 pm) Nats Prospects reminds me that this the fourth consecutive year the Nats have lost a minor leaguer to a PED suspension.  In fact, the Nats have had several minor league players suspended under their more rigorous testing program.  For a complete list of all players suspended for PEDs, click this link.

Nationals Minor League Suspension for PEDs

2011:  Adrian Nieto (Oxandrolone and Metabolite).
2010:  J.R. Higley (Methylphenidate and Ritalininc Acid), Steven Souza (Methylphenidate and Ritalininc Acid), Juan Diaz (nandrolone), Jorge Hernandez (Boldenone), Pedro Lopez (Formestane).
2009:  Edgardo Baez (amphetamines), Ofilio Castro (amphetamines), Stephen Englund (amphetamines), Stephen King (Ritalinic Acid).
2008:  Weesley Hernandez (Boldenone).
2006:  Greg Thissen (Drug of Abuse)
2005:  Ramon Castro (PEDs-105 games), Josh Labandeira (PEDs)

The Washington Nationals traded OF Justin Maxwell, who was designated for assignment late last week, to the New York Yankees in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Adam Olbrychowski, according to multiple sources.

Olbrychowski, a 24-year old converted starter, has three total appearances in Double-A over the last two seasons, facing a grand total of 23 batters. In four minor league seasons, Olbrychowski is 16-17, 4.17, 1.490, with two saves in 100 appearances and 35 starts. He has pitched primarily out of the bullpen the last two seasons.

The righty has put up decent strikeout numbers everywhere he's pitched in the Yankees system, collecting 7.2 Ks per nine in his career thus far, but has also been plagued by walks, giving up 4.5 per nine.

There must be something Mike Rizzo sees in Olbrychowski, but I'm having a tough time identifying it.  This is a 24-year old failed starter that has been doing mop-up duty in Single-A the last two years.

I suppose it's better to get something for Maxwell instead of just losing him to waivers, but it sure doesn't look like there was much return at all for a player that at the very least could be a competent bench player and defensive replacement in the Major Leagues.