Unanswered questions
Submitted by Jeff on Thu, 03/20/2008 - 5:17am.
- How's the pitching doing? Who's going to start at first? Or second? Those are some of the questions Mark Zuckerman tackles in the Times this morning. Many are as yet unanswered, but he notes that, in the battle between Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young for the first base job, "Those who have watched both players this spring, though, know Johnson has won the job."
- Bill Ladson offers his starting rotation prediction to start the season: Jason Bergmann, John Patterson, Odalis Perez and Tim Redding, with a fifth starter to be added after the first week. Shawn Hill would be ready in mid-April, he thinks. "I hope part of my prediction is wrong, because young lefty John Lannan deserves to be in the rotation. I believe he is the real deal." Ladson also predicts that Johnson will win the first base job.
- While yesterday was an off-day for the Nats, Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann, and Paul Lo Duca all got some work in. Hill had a 35-pitch bullpen session and felt no discomfort in his arm afterwards. Bergmann threw six innings in a minor league game while Lo Duca caught; he is expected to be in the lineup tonight as DH against the Astros and play catcher on Friday.
- Looking to the future, top prospect Chris Marrero certainly doesn't lack ambition: "I want to get to the big leagues by the end of the year," the 19-year-old, now playing first base, said. That might be a bit of a stretch—the Nats are thinking of starting him off at high-A Potomac this year—but are factoring him into their long-term plans at first after Johnson's and Young's contracts expire.
- Want to gamble (legally) on the Nats? Well, you can, sorta: DC and Virginia are peddling scratch-off lottery tickets with an artist's rendition of the new ballpark. One-third of the proceeds will go to educational programs in the District and Northern Virginia.
- The Nationals unveiled plans for disabled parking at Nationals Park, with the number of spots available exceeding what's legally required, according to the team.
- Ryan Zimmerman will take part in an online chat today at 1:30 pm at washingtonpost.com.
Maintenance of the new Nationals Park
Who will be maintaining the new Nationals Baseball Stadium on a daily basis? Will that responsibility be on the team or the city?