Tuesday was the second official day of the NFL offseason, although there’s still a parade to come in Kansas City…but Tuesday was also the LAST day of the MLB offseason, because Nationals (and many other) pitchers and catchers report tomorrow!
The Caps and Wizards are what they are, but the Commanders at least have hope for some optimism this spring as the new regime gets working…and how are we feeling about that rebuild in the Navy Yard?
“I would be cised to just go down to West Palm Beach for a couple days and just watch baseball,” Grant said. “What do you think: the four of us, we just head down for a weekend, eat a little barbecue and watch some spring training baseball. I wanna hear the crack of the bat, smell some grass, see C.J. Abrams run and Dylan Crews take an AB.”
“I will do it as long as you guys agree to be ready to order when the waiter comes the first time,” Danny replied. “If everyone could agree to that, I'll do it. I want to sit in our spot under that little makeshift tent by the fence, and I want all those pitchers lined up throwing their bullpens, you know, right there where we're facing it straight on and hear that smack of the catcher's mitt every time. I want it.”
It’s a time for optimism renewed, although, then again…
“Those pitches in the Nationals spring training bullpen aren't going to be as nasty as we want them to be,” GP lamented. “It used to be like Stras and Scherzer were next to each other throwing pitches, and now, it’s not the same.”
“Do you remember that year, Scherzer’s first bullpen, where he’s cursing and spitting and like paints the corner with a fastball with a little arm-side run, back across the outside corner against a righty, but he was furious at the execution of the pitch, stalking around like he's been wronged?” Danny asked. “Fuming at a spring training bullpen where, if I was part of the Nationals organization, I would call every young person together and tell them to watch it, and do what he does every second of every day or don’t make it? I want that.”
The Nats did sign another legitimate MLB player on Monday, adding Jesse Winker (a frequent guest on Grant’s old MLB Network Radio show) to a minor-league deal, and even that has GP thinking he’s the starting DH on Opening Day for the Nats…which led to Grant’s projected lineup!
He wasn’t really loving it, but tomorrow is spring training.
“We’re doing shtick, but every Nats fan gets it, because we're going, this is nice, I want to watch thes guys take another step,” Danny said. “We’re all looking at our watches that are moving quicker, and it’s James Wood and Dylan Crews season soon, and you see some of the other young players in the organization, you can close your eyes and squint a little bit and go, they’re not that far removed from having a really fun young core. The division is a buzz-saw, but they've got some really, really fun young pieces, and that's what everybody's looking for.”