Nats Tie Again, 1-1; Third Set of Cuts
For the second straight game, the Nats neither won nor lost as they tied the Astros, 1-1.
Joe Ross got the start and gave up Houston’s run on two-out solo shot in thr top of the 1st. He let up five hits total, walked two, and struck out three over four innings.
Just three watchlist players saw game action:
- Matt Skole walked three times and scored the lone Washington run as Anthony Rendon’s sub at 3B
- Trea Turner went 0-for-2 with a strikeout after replacing Brendan Ryan at SS
- Nick Lee worked around a walk and his own error while pitching another scoreless inning
Following the game, the Nats announced another round of cuts, which will likely put an end to our spring training coverage very soon:
- LHP Sammy Solis and OF Brian Goodwin were optioned to AAA
- LHP Nick Lee, C Spencer Kieboom, and IF Christopher Bostick were optioned to AA
- IF Matt Skole and OF Logan Schafer were reassigned to minor-league camp
The Nats travel to Kissimmee this afternoon to visit the Astros with Gio Gonzalez expected to start. The game will broadcast on MLB Network.
For anyone following the spring Boxscores more closely than me – every year, one or two of the properly “low” prospects (ie someone who’s been at Hagerstown or SS-A) gets an at bat in a spring game, just as a little thank-you and pick-me-up. Has that happened at all yet?
Stevenson and Mejia each got an AB. Robles was around the big-league camp and took BP a few times with the big boys, but I don’t think he actually got in a game. Also, Mapes got a third of an inning.
Every spring, there are a few players about whom you wonder whether this is the last we’ll see of them. This year it would seem to be Skole, Goodwin, and maybe Martinson, guys who were among the Nats higher-level prospects three years ago. Oh, they’ll go to Syracuse and keep chasing the dream, but this may be the last significant look they get in a Nats big league camp. If so, good luck to all of them.
As they say, make them tear the uniform of you.
Was listening to the Nats game over the weekend and in the game were Adrian Sanchez & Randolph Oduber, two guys that are a surprise to still be with the organization.
I think I read that Clint Robinson had been labelled as the back up 1B at the ML club level. Well, there might be another ion-house candidate in the minors trying to lever his way into the decision….
http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/knuckleball-news/photo-nationals-top-pitching-prospect-lucas-giolito-cracks-windshield-with-home-run/
Ha! He’s certainly big enough to be a power hitter!
I still maintain that one of the best power-hitting prospects in the organization is Andrew Lee, who slugged .590 last year for Tennessee as their 1B/closer. He had actually caught my pre-draft attention as a hitter, not a pitcher.