Notes and quotes from Opening Day in GABP…
STRESS THE POSITIVES:
Looking for positives coming out of a season opener which saw Nick Senzel injured (before the game even started), and which saw Josiah Gray struggle on the mound in an 8-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez did note the work Washington’s bullpen put in, covering four innings in which they allowed a combined two hits and one earned run, walking no one and throwing efficient frames.
Robert Garcia, Dylan Floro, Matt Barnes, and Tanner Rainey threw an inning each with the only run to score after Gray was done coming in the eighth when Rainey gave up a single, hit a batter, and had a run score on a fielder’s choice grounder.
“The bullpen was really, really good,” Martinez told reporters in Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. “I think combined they threw [48] pitches for four innings, so that was definitely a positive.”
Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images
Rainey, who returned from Tommy John surgery to make one big league appearance late in 2023, sat around 92.2 MPH with his fastball (down from an average of 96-97 in the past), an issue he said earlier this spring would work itself out as he gets going this season. Martinez chalked Rainey’s outing up to the circumstances in his 2024 debut.
“Opening Day jitters,” Martinez explained. “He gets that out of the way, and we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”
OFFENSE IN CINCY:
Nationals’ hitters didn’t do much against Reds’ starter Frankie Montas, who gave up just four hits in six scoreless innings, striking out four without allowing a walk, in an efficient, 81-pitch outing.
The only runs for the Nats in the season opener came on a two-run homer by Eddie Rosario off of reliever Emilio Pagán in the top of the seventh.
It was a 389 ft. shot to right for the 32-year-old slugger who signed with the Nationals late this spring (on March 8th).
Rosario had some catching up to do when he got to Spring Training in West Palm Beach, but his manager said things are coming along well for the veteran at the start of his 10th season in the majors.
“His timing is way better,” Martinez said. “Good at-bat. It was a really good at-bat. He got a ball where he can handle, and crushed it. He’s definitely going to help us. And you see that home run today, but I’ve seen him do that a lot.”
ok but dingers pic.twitter.com/LjHms1gl5H
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 28, 2024
As for the rest of the offense? Were they chasing and pressing on Opening Day? Was the Reds’ Montas just sharp?
“I honestly think it was a little of both,” Martinez told reporters.
“Montas threw the ball really well. We knew that we got to get the ball up in the zone with him, but we were behind a lot and hitting with two strikes a lot. And even early in the counts, we just swung at pitches that we shouldn’t be swinging at. I wants us to be aggressive, but I want us to be aggressive in the zone, and we did pretty good with that in the spring, so we need to get back to that.”
Having a day off after the excitement of the season opener, Martinez said, would be good for his team as they try to even things up with the Reds.
“We get a day off tomorrow, we got to come back and come back strong. Opening Day is always weird. A lot of adrenaline. Uncharacteristically, we chased a lot of pitches. We didn’t do that in spring. We’ve got to get the ball in the zone. We get the ball in the zone, we hit the ball hard. Joey [Meneses] had a good day swinging the bat, but on the whole we’ve got to get the ball in the zone and be ready to hit.”
It wasn’t just in hindsight (after the loss) that Martinez noted how Opening Days are weird, and something to get through, hopefully with a win, but either way.
“Opening Days could be tricky, it really can,” he said before the game, but he wanted all his players to take it in and enjoy it. “I just want them to take it in today, be where their feet are and then go out there and play the game.”
Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images
“I told them all, ‘Hey, you should be excited,” Martinez said of his message heading into the game. “Hopefully you guys got butterflies. I know I do, and this is 38 for me, so … [laughs] … but just take it all in. Like I said, you only get one every year, take it all in but be ready to play.”
He liked the way the club wrapped up Spring Training, and said he hoped they would carry it into the regular season.
“We finished Spring Training off pretty good, so I want them to continue to build off of that, and build off of last year,” he explained. “Some of our young players did really well at the end of last year, and they came to Spring Training a lot more confident. CJ [Abrams], Keibert [Ruiz], MacKenzie [Gore], Josiah [Gray], [Jake] Irvin, those guys, they got some time under their belts now in the major leagues, so they’re a little bit more relaxed. So I want those guys to just continue what they’re doing, continue to process everything, and build from what they did last year, and get off to a quick start.”