As noted in the comments, the conventional wisdom is that the last IF bench spot was a battle between Lombardozzi and Blanco, and the latter did himself no favors by committing more errors (3) than hits (2). Blanco does have an opt-out in his contract, but there is speculation that both the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies may have interest in trading for his services, even with the retention bonus that’s due tomorrow.
Obviously, injuries are also playing a huge part in these developments. It should be noted that while Lombardozzi may make the Opening Day roster, when the likes of Michael Morse and Adam LaRoche are fully healthy, it’s certainly possible to see him optioned back to Syracuse to get regular playing time. Doubtful, perhaps, but possible.
As the headline suggests, Atahulapa Severino has been optioned for the third straight spring, a setback for him personally, but not an unexpected move. The 27-year-old Dominican has spent that past two seasons at Syracuse, posting a 7-5 record with two saves and a 1.500 WHIP over 99⅓ IP.
UPDATE: Following this afternoon’s split-squad game, the Nationals announced that Jason Michaels had been released while Ryan Perry was optioned to AAA Syracuse. Multiple online sources are reporting that former Pirates prospect Zach Duke had been signed to a minor-league deal following his release from Houston earlier this week. Yesterday, the Nationals announced the signing of journeyman AAA starter Kevin Pucetas.
The takeaway? Most likely it means that one or more of the offseason FA starters signed (e.g. Atkins, Ballard, Barthmaier, Bibens-Dirkx) has suffered an injury or has been released.