Fort Myers, FL - The Washington Nationals lost to the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on a cloudy Saturday afternoon in Fort Myers, FL. The Nationals Spring Training record now sits at 4-4.

RHP Joisah Gray got the start for the Nationals and was impressive in his second start of Spring Training. Gray only allowed one run on an RBI double and walked a pair however, he did strike out five across three innings of work. So far in Spring Training, Gray has pitched a total of five innings, given up only four hits and one run, and walked only two.

The good news, however, is that he has struck out a total of ten batters and has a Spring Training ERA of 1.80.

A scary moment happened in the top of the seventh when Nationals prospect Daylen Lile went over the short wall trying to rob a homerun and landed what looked like head-first in the Red Sox bullpen. Players within the Red Sox bullpen immediately motioned for trainers.

According to media reports, Davey Martinez said Daylen Lile went to a local hospital for a CAT scan of his lower back after the fall and the 21-year-old outfielder did have movement of his arms and legs, which is a good sign. [We will update you on the latest information as it becomes available.]

“When we left him, he was moving his feet, his legs,” Martinez said after the game to reporters about the injury. “Hopefully everything comes back negative. We’re going to pray for him, and hopefully everything’s good.”

“You see somebody go over the wall like that, you can’t see him get up, and then everybody in the bullpen starts calling for you, you’re thinking: ‘Oh, no,’” Martinez said. “You just hope that he didn’t hit his head, his neck. All these things are going through your mind when you’re running out there.”

Lile was poised to have a big year with the Nationals after missing 2022 after recovering from Tommy John surgery and bounced back strong in 2023 at Fredericksburg and Wilmington.

James Wood continued his impressive Spring Training this afternoon, by getting walked twice as he was today’s DH for the Nationals. The first walk seemed to be an intentional walk as the young prospect had already made a name for himself during Spring Training. The one thing that has stood out to many is the plate display that he is displaying and his not chasing pitches out of the strike zone.

Talk Nats pointed out that so far during Spring Training, Wood has a BB/K ratio of 2:1, which is impressive, to say the least.

The Nationals will continue their spring training tomorrow when they face the Marlins at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. The first pitch will be at 1:05 p.m. with RHP Zach Davies projected to get the start for the Nationals. Nationals fans will be able to watch the game on MASN.


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