Happy Friday Morning, Washington Nationals Fans. We made it through another week, and we are one week closer to Opening Day!!

Today's Game-Time forecast in West Palm Beach via the National Weather Service: A 10 percent chance of showers before 7 am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 83. West wind around nine mph.

Upcoming Games:

  • 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: 13 Days

Richard wrote today's Morning Briefing, and Jonathan Edited it.

Correction: One note, in Wednesday's Morning Briefing, we incorrectly gave Carter Kieboom a home run in his stats; we were wrong. Kieboom hasn't hit a homerun yet during Spring Training.

Today's Top Story: Jon Lester Makes His Washington Nationals Debut on the Mound

After some hiccups, Jon Lester made his Washington Nationals debut on the mound in yesterday's win over the New York Mets. The veteran southpaw pitched two innings and tossed 31 pitches with nine changeups, eight fastballs, six cutters, five sinkers, and three curveballs. According to Statcast, Lester's fastball reached 89 mph, with his fastest pitch coming in at 89.9 mph.

In yesterday's postgame news conference with reporters, Dave Martinez said that he could see Jon Lester starting the season in the rotation despite missing time due to Thyroid surgery. According to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post: "The plan is to get him up to around 75-80 pitches before leaving Florida and then go from there. As mentioned earlier, multi-inning relievers could be a big factor early."

Additional Notes from Yesterday's game:

  • Kyle Schwarber and Josh Bell both hit home runs yesterday against Mets Pitchers. Schwarber hit a home run off Marcus Stroman that Kevin Pillar almost caught. Josh Bell hit another home run, this one off of reliever Aaron Loup, bringing his total to three home runs and six RBI. Bell has nine hits for a .333 batting average with a .778 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.184. Kyle Schwarber continues to have some success at the Plate. During Spring Training, Schwarber has hit a pair of home runs with four RBI. He's hitting just .185, but has drawn four walks while posting a .313 OBP.
  • OF Yadiel Hernandez had a pair of hits, including his second homer of Spring Training, as he continues to push for a bench spot on the Opening Day roster. Hernandez has produced a .476/.522/.762 hit line in 13 games this Spring.
  • Robles Continues to Shine in the Leadoff Spot. Yesterday, Victor Robles once again showed those watching that he is ready for this season. Yesterday, Robles hit a sharp line drive that got him a double after Hernandez's home run off of Jeurys Familia. Robles finished the game 1-for-3. If he continues to improve in his game, the center fielder might win "Comeback Player of the Year" for the Washington Nationals.
  • Unfortunately, Carter Kieboom continues to struggle at the plate. Yesterday, Kieboom went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and two fly outs. Kieboom is hitting .160 and has only four hits in 25 at-bats.

Strasburg Update: According to Jessica Camerato of MLB.com, Stephen Strasburg will be throwing a simulated game today after throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday. "Instead of getting him out facing another team," Martinez said. "This way, if something were to come up, we could stop, we could let him take a longer rest, do whatever we need. But [he can] build up his pitches, which will be nice."

Read this great article that appeared on MASN about how Strasburg's adjustment in his setup has shown that he has grown as a pitcher.

Perspective: Has Joe Ross Pitched his way to the Fifth Spot of the Washington Nationals Rotation?

Fast forward to this year's Spring Training, and the big question that the Nationals need to figure out is if Ross is going to be their fifth starter during the season. During this Spring, Ross has been solid, and it looks like he might be that fifth starter in the rotation that Washington needs.

Click here to read the full article

MASN to Broadcast Two Spring Training Games

Yesterday, MASN announced that they would be broadcasting two Washington Nationals Spring Training Games. They announced that they would be broadcasting the March 28th game against the St. Louis Cardinals and the March 29th contest against the Houston Astros. Both games begin at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Additionally, the network announced that all broadcasts of regular-season games on MASN or MASN2 will include a 30-minute "Nats Xtra" pregame show and a 30-minute "Nats Xtra" postgame show.

Podcast Alert: In the Clubhouse with the Nats Report

I am going to be sitting down with Washington Nationals Prospect Jackson Cluff for an upcoming In the Clubhouse with the Nats Report Podcast. We will be publishing the episode on Monday Morning. Subscribe to In the Clubhouse with the Nats Report on all the major podcasting platforms:

ICYMI on the Nats Report

Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball Headlines

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