The Morning Briefing: Strasburg Exists with a Minor Calf Strain; Not Concerned

Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball headlines, news and the latest news coming out of Washington Nationals Spring Training for Monday, March 15, 2021

by Richard Wachtel

Updated March 15, 2021

Happy Monday Morning, Washington Nationals Fans!

Today's Game Time Forecast via Weather.com: Sunny to partly cloudy. High 82F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.

Games this Week:

3/15/21: @ St. Louis Cardinals 1:05 pm EST
3/16/21: v. Marlins 6:05 pm EST
3/18/21: @Mets 1:10 pm EST
3/19/21: @Astros 6:05 pm EST
3/20/21: v. Miami Marlins 6:05 pm EST
3/21/21: v. Mets 1:05 pm EST

Make sure to follow The Nats Report on Twitter for updates on the latest Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball during the day!

Countdown Clock:

Opening Day: 17 Days

Today's Morning Briefing was written by Richard and edited by Jonthan.

Today's Top Story: Stephen Strasburg Exists Spring Training Game with a Left Calf Strain

Yesterday against the Houston Astros, Stephen Strasburg exited the game with a left calf strain. Before exiting the game, he tossed 45 pitches (25 strikes, 20 balls. After leaving the game, Strasburg met with the media to discuss the early exit. Strasburg said: "It's not something that's going to require any sort of long-term recovery. It's definitely good news. So day-to-day."

We will be all over the story as it develops! However, from the initial reports from West Palm Beach and readouts from the team doctors, it looks like "nothing major..."

In other Spring Training News.... According to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post, left-hand pitcher and new Washington National Jon Lester threw two live BP innings at "75-80%" yesterday morning. According to Dougherty: "Dave Martinez says he felt good afterward. Lester mentioned appearing in a game soon but the Nationals are going to evaluate how he feels tomorrow morning, etc."

According to manager Dave Martinez, it looks like reliever and fan-favorite Aaron Barrett underwent minor surgery on his right knee a couple of days ago and is returning to Spring Training. Martinez said that Barrett felt something back in February, and the surgery was to "get it cleaned up."

Over the weekend, the Washington Nationals made their first round of cuts in Spring Training. If you take a look at the list of cuts, there weren't any real surprises, and the majority of those cuts were the younger guys or prospects.

On Saturday against the New York Mets, Joe Ross made another impressive start during Spring Training. Ross pitched four innings and threw 38 of his 59 pitches for strikes while only surrendering one hit. Ross retired 10 batters during his outing and surrendered two unearned runs on a pair of errors in the first inning. Dougherty reports [Tweet Link] that "His sinker was 93-94 (stadium gun) and slider struck out Francisco Lindor twice."

Victor Robles continues to impress at the Top of the Order

Spring Training results sometimes aren't an indicator of things to come; however, if Robles continues to impress the plate, the Nationals might have found a solution to the top of the order. On Saturday, Robles was behind in the count 0-2, and instead of striking out, Robles was able to take a breaking ball and got a single out of it.

In the coming week, we will share our projected Opening Day Lineup, and it looks like Robles might be leading off.

Robles is making a case for himself to lead off for the Washington Nationals on Opening Day.

Welcome to the Nats Report: Brandon

Over the weekend, we welcomed a brand new contributor to the Nats Report: Brandon. Here is a little bit about him:

"My name is Brandon, I live in Lexington, Kentucky. I attended the University of Kentucky and graduated in 2016 (Go Cats). I became a Nationals fan at the start of the 2019, not a great time I know. My fiancé and her family are from Northern Virginia and are huge Nats fans so I decided to hop on since I didn’t cheer for any MLB team (being from Kentucky). As we know, that season was magical and I’ve been hooked ever since."

Check out his two articles that have been already posted, one is on Carter Kieboom and the other looks at Nats prospect Louis Garcia.

Do you eat, breathe Washington Nationals baseball, or want to help the Nats Report? We are looking for additional contributors and editors. If you are interested, please reply to this email to let us know!

As we quickly approach Opening Day, we want to make sure that as many Washington Nationals fans subscribe to our Morning Briefing and we need your help! All you need to do is tell five other Washington Nationals fans and tell them they should subscribe to the Morning Briefing! Simple, easy, and your support will be helpful!

Perspective: Nationals Fans Deserve to be in the Ballpark for Opening Day or Right after

Almost a year removed from the COVID-19 outbreak, Nationals fans deserve to make their own decision on if they want to see a Nats Game or not.

However, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently commented that D.C. is looking to lift some virus-related restrictions on businesses, possibly including attendance at professional sports games as soon as Mid-March, according to Washington Post Julie Zauzmer. At this point, the Mayor needs to start letting fans decide if they want to return to watch the Nationals play at Nats Park.

Podcast Alert: In the Clubhouse with the Nats Report

Recently, I sat down with our pal Chris Russell from Team 980 here in Washington D.C. During the conversation, we talked all about the recent Spring Training games, lineup ideas and so much more. As always, it is worth taking the time to listen.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-clubhouse-nats-report-first-weeks-impressions-spring/id1536750004?i=1000511961162
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ceM1MZhkmONVgRNsbcVuG Megaphone: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/AMPM5157305677.mp3?updated=1615140842
Sticher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-nats-report/episode/in-the-clubhouse-with-the-nats-report-first-weeks-impressions-of-spring-training-with-chris-russell-82193919

We are working on getting some great guests on the podcast, so make sure that you subscribe to the podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts.