Washington Nationals vs New York Mets: Grapefruit League GameThread

Erick Fedde and the Nationals take on the Mets at 12:05 PM ET in West Palm Beach today, in a game that’s being shown on MASN! Huzzzah!! Enjoy one last game from WPB before Thursday’s season opener…

Erick Fedde had a little scare in the lead-up to the start of the regular season, when the 29-year-old, 2014 Nationals’ first round pick felt tightness in his right side (oblique) as he worked out between starts in West Palm Beach, FL. Fortunately, it appears that it wasn’t bad enough to keep him off of Washington’s Opening Day roster, and with some other pitchers dealing with injuries of their own this spring, Fedde is likely to make his next start of the year after today as part of the Nats’ rotation once the regular season gets underway later this week.

“He’ll be good,” Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez said, as quoted by MASN reporter Mark Zuckerman, after Fedde tested the oblique in a bullpen session. “He’ll fit into the rotation.”

In two starts in Grapefruit League action, Fedde, who’s also gotten work in on back fields in Florida, has given up three hits and three walks but no runs in 4 ²⁄₃ IP, striking out three and holding opposing hitters to a .200 AVG.

He said before testing things out on Sunday that he wanted to take things slowly and not make them worse with the start of the regular season days away.

“I want to be back out there as quickly as possible,” Fedde told reporters, as quoted, again, by MASN’s Zuckerman.

“But like I said, I think that comes with having been around for a long time now. The idea of missing a month sounds a lot worse than maybe one start. I’m just trying to be smart in that sense. So whatever it comes down to, the idea is to be cautious.”

He’ll go out there one more time this afternoon in Grapefruit League action against the New York Mets, and if all goes well, next time he takes the mound it will count…

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR TODAY’S GAME WITH THE METS: