The play looked eerily familiar, and not just because it had just happened moments earlier to the previous batter, who hit a nearly identical dribbler up the first base line.

No, for anyone who has watched the Nationals on a semi-regular basis since 2019, Manuel Margot’s little roller up the line in the top of the second Monday night immediately struck a chord. It certainly did once Trevor Williams picked up the ball and threw toward first base, only to watch as Margot (running in fair territory) ran past Dominic Smith and knocked his glove off to reach safely and then advance to second on the error.

Yep, it was the Trea Turner Play all over again. The one that nearly cost the Nationals in Game 6 of the World Series. The one that plagued Turner again two years later at Wrigley Field, not to mention Josh Bell in Miami. And led to multiple ejections for manager Davey Martinez.

Martinez didn’t get ejected this time, but he still couldn’t help but reiterate his point about the usage – or, in this case, non-usage – of Rule 5.09a(11), which states any batter-runner who is not in the designated running lane and in the judgment of the umpire interferes with the first baseman’s attempt to catch a throw shall be called out.

That’s what umpires called in the previous cases of Turner and Bell. Larry Vanover and his crew did not call it on Margot on Monday.

The Nationals opened the season in traditional fashion, with a three-game series against a division rival. Major League Baseball’s new schedule, though, has dramatically reduced the number of division games, so get ready to see a bunch of unfamiliar opponents now. Fourteen of the next 18 games, in fact, will be against American League teams, beginning tonight against the Rays.

Because of that, there’s not a lot of familiarity between hitters and pitchers. Only four members of the Nats roster have ever faced Drew Rasmussen (Jeimer Candelario, Michael Chavis, Lane Thomas, Ildemaro Vargas) and combined they’ve only totaled seven at-bats against the right-hander. Conversely, only three Tampa Bay batters have ever faced Trevor Williams (Yandy Diaz, Manuel Margot, Jose Siri) and they’ve combined for only seven at-bats as well.

Williams makes his Nationals debut. He’s technically the No. 4 starter, but he arguably could rank much higher within the rotation when it’s all said and done. The right-hander has a track record, he got a two-year deal over the winter and he takes a leadership role on the staff. Tonight he’ll get his first chance to show the Nats what they have in him.

The Nationals lineup has Luis García back in the leadoff spot. It has CJ Abrams back at shortstop after a day off. And it has Ildemaro Vargas in left field, not Alex Call despite Davey Martinez's claim Sunday that Call would make the bulk of the starts there with Corey Dickerson on the injured list.

TAMPA BAY RAYS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 68 degrees, wind 15 mph out to left field

Davey Martinez admitted this spring he might be trotting out different-looking lineups on a daily basis, based on matchups, lefty-righty splits and other assorted information. Whether the Nationals manager realized all along how different his Game 1 and Game 2 lineups would look is a valid question.

The lineup card Martinez submitted for this afternoon’s game against the Braves features eight of the same names that started on Opening Day, with only Corey Dickerson replacing Alex Call in left field. But only one of those eight players is actually batting in the same location: Joey Meneses, who again gets the No. 2 slot.

“We’re going to have to mix and match a little bit this year,” Martinez admitted during his pregame session with reporters. “The one thing I do like is having Joey in the 2-hole. Because if we do have someone that needs to get that last at-bat (in the ninth inning), I want to make sure he gets it.”

The most notable change from Thursday is at the top of the lineup. Luis García, who batted seventh in the opener, is leading off today, flip-flopping with Lane Thomas.

García did get several opportunities to lead off in spring training, and he also did it eight times last season. A notorious free-swinger who owns one of the lowest walk rates in the league, the 22-year-old doesn’t exactly profile as a typical leadoff man. Martinez, though, specifically liked him batting first today against Braves starter Spencer Strider.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We’ve got a “Nexus of the Universe” moment coming up tonight when the Nationals and Astros take the field at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. On the mound for Houston will be Luis Garcia. At the plate for the Nats will be Luis García. Prepare for your minds to be blown.

It is kind of interesting that García leading off. We’ll hear from Davey Martinez if that’s actually something he wants to get a look at, or if it’s just happening tonight for whatever reason. You’ll notice a flip-flop of yesterday’s 2-3 hitters, with Joey Meneses batting second and Dominic Smith batting third. And a flip-flop of yesterday’s 4-5 hitters, with Jeimer Candelario now batting cleanup and Corey Dickerson batting fifth.

On the mound is Trevor Williams for his second-to-last tune-up. Williams should be aiming for close to 100 pitches tonight, and he’ll still get a chance to pitch in Tuesday’s exhibition finale at Nationals Park against the Yankees, along with MacKenzie Gore.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (Astros broadcast)
Radio: MLB.com (Astros broadcast)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 12 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García
LF Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Corey Dickerson
RF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
C Riley Adams
CF Víctor Robles

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Luis García is an energetic personality in the Nationals clubhouse.

Ever since he made his major league debut with the team back during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he’s been the fun-loving, goofy kid on the team.

It’s even more noticeable now that he has a partner-in-crime in CJ Abrams.

What else can you expect from two 22-year-olds playing a game for a living?

García’s skills with a bat in his hands have been clear since he went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in his debut three years ago: He can hit.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – A lot was made this week of Max Scherzer’s use of the pitch clock when he started against a Nationals split squad on Sunday here at Clover Park.

While manipulating the pitch clock by coming set early and then either throwing very quickly or holding onto the ball until the very last second, Scherzer struck out five Nationals and only gave up three hits and one run in two innings.

Today, however, the Nats were ready for it. And along with help from some poor Mets defense, the guys in red were able to tag the former Nationals ace back en route to an 11-6 win in front of 5,441 fans in Port St. Lucie.

“We had a plan,” manager Davey Martinez said of facing Scherzer the second time this week. “We talked to the players. We taught them how to kind of work the clock. He can't quick-pitch you. If he does and you're not engaged, it should be called a balk, like you saw what happened. But you gotta understand what the clock is for. … I think they learned today how much time they really have.”

Scherzer had perfect first and second innings on just 21 pitches. It seemed like he was about to repeat his Sunday result with fewer strikeouts.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals open exhibition play Saturday, which means we’ll see the very first version of Davey Martinez’s 2023 lineup in action.

Don’t pay too much attention to the names in that lineup, though, or where they’re lined up.

Martinez said he plans to use these early Grapefruit League games as an opportunity to get certain players as many at-bats as possible before they depart. That’s why CJ Abrams will lead off Saturday against the Cardinals, with Luis García second and Joey Meneses third.

That’s not Martinez’s lineup plan for Opening Day, at least not at this point. He believes both Abrams and García could become top-of-the-order hitters in time, but that time isn’t yet. He wants to make sure both get comfortable with swing and approach changes they’ve been working on before moving up in the lineup.

“For me, it’s tricky,” Martinez said. “I don’t want to put them in a situation right away where they feel like they’ve got to get on base, they’ve got to rush. I might just let them hit at the bottom of the order first until they get going, and then we’ll see what happens.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The numbers suggest Luis García’s offensive performance last season wasn’t connected at all to his defensive performance. Which is a testament to the young Nationals infielder, because no matter how much he struggled in the field at shortstop in June and July, he didn’t take those struggles with him to the plate.

Ballplayers are human, though, and it’s hard to believe anyone can completely separate the two parts of the game. Someone who isn’t comfortable in the field probably isn’t going to be as comfortable at the plate as he could be.

That’s why the Nats’ decision late last season to move García back to second base – a move made possible by CJ Abrams’ arrival from the Padres – could have real ramifications for García beyond his defensive metrics.

Does his comfort level at second base allow him to focus more on improving his offensive game?

“Absolutely, I feel less pressure,” he said today, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “I feel more comfortable at second base. I feel like there’s less pressure. You work hard. You’re still working hard at second base. Just the fact I play the position and feel comfortable, it relaxes me when I come to hit, also.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The first live batting practice session of the spring is always going to favor pitchers over hitters. Pitchers have been building up to this for a while. Position players, on the other hand, haven’t even officially reported to camp yet.

So most eyes this morning at Nationals camp were focused on the likes of Patrick Corbin, MacKenzie Gore and others who faced hitters free to swing away if they liked. Corbin went up against projected regulars Joey Meneses, Luis García and Dominic Smith. On an adjacent field, Gore faced Stone Garrett, Michael Chavis and Derek Hill, all trying to crack the Opening Day roster as bench players.

All told, 11 pitchers took the mound for about 10-15 minutes a piece: Corbin, Gore, Trevor Williams, Jose Ferrer, Hunter Harvey, Kyle Finnegan, Wily Peralta, Paolo Espino, Erasmo Ramirez, Alex Colome and Thaddeus Ward.

“My focus was really on watching pitchers, their mechanics and where they’re at,” said manager Davey Martinez, who bounced from field to field, trying to get a glimpse of as many guys as he could. “For today, basically I was trying to get everybody to throw the ball over the white of the plate. Just hit the white and focus on hitting strikes.”

Which isn’t to say there wasn’t some reason to notice what some hitters were doing. Chief among them was García, who after facing Corbin in the first round of live BP had to go up against the hard-throwing Harvey in the next round.

It’s never easy trying to predict how any ballplayer is going to perform in the coming season, but it feels like an especially difficult task trying to guess how the members of the Nationals’ projected lineup will perform in 2023.

Seriously, is there one sure thing in the entire group? One guy you can definitively say will reach certain statistical mileposts? It sure doesn’t look like it.

On the bright side, there’s the possibility for a lot of these players to have big seasons, whether youngsters realizing their potential or experienced hitters finding the form they displayed only a few years ago. On the down side, there’s also the possibility of complete disaster, from flash-in-the-pan candidates to supposedly highly touted youngsters failing to take that critical next step and enjoy success in the majors.

There’s a wide variance of possibilities for the 2023 Nationals lineup. You can see that when running through each player’s potential best-case and worst-case scenario for the coming year …

KEIBERT RUIZ
Best case: Up to 120 games started, with a batting average over .275, an increase in power to get his slugging percentage over .400, one of the highest caught-stealing percentages in the league and his first career All-Star selection.
Worst case: Nagging injuries prevent him from catching 100 games, he makes too much weak contact and bats .250 again with a .360 slugging percentage. Loses his magic touch behind the plate and tries to compensate by throwing too many balls away for costly errors.

As much as the Nationals pitching staff struggled last season, there was always an underlying question in the back of coaches and front office members’ minds: How much did bad defense contribute to those struggles?

Statistically, the Nats pitching staff was the worst in the majors in 2022. So, too, was the team’s defense.

Until mid-August, that is, at which point things took a distinct turn in a positive direction.

On Aug. 15, the Nationals promoted CJ Abrams from Triple-A Rochester. One of the prized prospects acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto blockbuster trade two weeks earlier, Abrams immediately was handed the starting shortstop job. And he immediately paid dividends.

On the morning of Aug. 15, the Nationals pitching staff sported a 5.30 ERA while also watching opponents score .45 unearned runs per game. From that day through the remainder of the season, the staff ERA dropped to a far more respectable 4.26, with opponents now scoring .39 unearned runs per game.

The Nationals were bad last year, but you already know that. They want to be better this year, and you probably do, too.

But will they be better? That’s what we’re going to attempt to predict the next two days.

Though there’s still a month to go until spring training, and more additions or subtractions are possible, the Nats have already assembled what looks like it could be their Opening Day roster. So, it’s not too early for this exercise.

We’ll look at position players today, running through each of the positions (included designated hitter). Then we’ll look at the pitching staff tomorrow. Will the 2023 Nationals be better, worse or the same as the 2022 Nationals? Here we go …

CATCHER: Moderately better
As a group, Nationals catchers posted a .223/.286/.330 offensive slash last season, with 26 doubles, 12 homers and 48 RBIs. Keibert Ruiz (.249/.313/.361) was better than that, and there’s good reason to believe he’ll improve as a hitter in his second full big league season. The Nats would love for his power production, in particular, to improve. Defensively, Ruiz already is solid, but there’s also room for improvement there with experience. The real issue comes on days when he doesn’t start. The team’s backup catchers were really bad last season, with Riley Adams, Tres Barrera and Israel Pineda batting a collective .198/.233/.273 over 215 plate appearances. Somebody from that group is going to have to be better this year.

The Nationals’ latest waiver claim was noteworthy in that it was a well known name that was surprisingly available.

Jeter Downs, whom the Nats claimed on outright waivers from the Red Sox yesterday, is known for being a former top shortstop prospect and being included in two major trades since the Reds made him the No. 32 overall pick in the 2017 draft.

He was grouped with Homer Bailey and Josiah Gray – the latter now his Nationals teammate – in a Dec. 21, 2018 trade to the Dodgers for Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood. Then on Feb. 10, 2020, he was famously included in the package with Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong that went to the Red Sox for Mookie Betts and David Price.

A central piece in two major trades and a highly rated prospect before turning 22 years old, Downs was, surprisingly, exposed to waivers when the Red Sox designated him for assignment last week after signing outfielder Masataka Yoshida. But of course, there’s a reason for that. His struggles in the Red Sox system and during his brief stint in the majors forced Boston to give up on the now 24-year-old.

Now, almost four years to the day since his trade to Los Angeles, Downs joins a Nationals organization where he is reunited with fellow former Dodgers prospects Gray and Keibert Ruiz. And he brings much-needed infield depth, whether he’s on the major league roster or in the minor league system.

The Nationals’ offseason moves to date have been, well, less than inspired.

They signed Jeimer Candelario for one year and $5 million, then Trevor Williams for two years and $13 million. They acquired, via the Rule 5 draft and the waiver wire, unproven players named Thad Ward, Stone Garrett and A.J. Alexy. They brought back sentimental favorites Sean Doolittle and Matt Adams on minor league deals. And they’re now on the verge of bringing back Erasmo Ramirez for one year and perhaps as much as $2 million if he hits all his incentives.

Not exactly a rousing Hot Stove League to date. Certainly not compared to the rest of the National League East, which has seen the Mets, Phillies and Braves continue to bolster what already were playoff rosters with even more talent and even more dollars devoted to payroll.

It’s frustrating, for fans and team employees alike who were hoping for a bit more financial commitment from ownership on the heels of a 107-loss season.

Are the 2023 Nationals as currently constructed any better than the 2022 Nationals were? It sure doesn’t look like it on paper. They might even be worse, hard as that is to believe.

The Nationals were bad in a lot of ways this season. You don’t lose 107 games because of a deficiency in one single department. You lose that many games because of multiple problem areas.

And one of the Nats’ most notable problems in 2022 was a lack of power. Like, a complete lack of power.

They hit only 136 home runs, fewest in the National League. That represented the team’s lowest total for any scheduled 162-game season since 2008, when they finished with a league-worst 117 homers.

The Nationals hadn’t resided anywhere close to the bottom of the league in all the years since. Only once did they rank 10th in the NL, and that came during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. From 2011-19, they always ranked in the top half of the league in homers, and five times ranked among the top four power-hitting teams in the NL.

Suffice it to say, they’re going to need to improve in this area next season if they’re going to make some real strides in their rebuilding efforts.

Davey Martinez knew what he was getting into during the 2022 season, his fifth as manager of the Nationals. In the first full year of the Nats’ rebuild, he wouldn’t have the most talented roster in the major leagues and they wouldn’t win a lot of games. But he at least expected his players to give their best efforts and make fundamental plays every night.

The effort was always there. The same cannot be said about the fundamentals.

It was a roster filled with inexperienced players and journeyman veterans during a season in which development was the focus. Still, it seemed like the Nationals too often had difficulty with even the most basic plays, especially on defense and on the basepaths. Common signs of a rebuilding team.

The Nationals finished the season with a -39 defensive rating and -47 defensive runs saved as a team, both second-worst in the majors per FanGraphs. However, they did fare slightly better in ultimate zone rating, another widely used defensive metric, at -8.8, which ranked 21st in the majors.

So how can the Nats improve defensively in 2023? Aside from the obvious solutions of practicing in spring training, making routine plays, acquiring better defenders to fill out the roster and perhaps even pitching better, they could benefit simply by players playing in their proper positions for the majority of the season.

PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCÍA

Age on opening day 2023: 22

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

MLB service time: 1 year, 164 days

2022 salary: $700,000

Patrick Corbin’s 2022 season came to a close this afternoon. It was another one with less-than-satisfactory results for the presumptive “ace” of this Nationals staff.

The day started with some confusion and uncertainty. With this game meaning a lot to the Phillies, who entered with a 1/2 game lead over the Brewers for the final National League wild card spot, and bad weather forecasted for most of the day, there was concern that we could be in for a long day at the ballpark.

The Nationals, Phillies and Major League Baseball discussed this morning all possible scenarios, including the idea of starting the game either an hour or 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled 1:35 p.m. start time.

But the weather cleared up enough for Corbin’s first pitch to be thrown as planned. The next question was if they could finish without any delays. They could not, with a rain delay that lasted one hour and 28 minutes before the final result of an 8-1 loss for the Nationals in six innings in front of an announced crowd of 32,789 on a cold and rainy afternoon on South Capitol Street.

“There was like a chance, I think, of a 12:30 p.m. start and then they said we're on time," Corbin said after the game. "It is what it is. Nothing you can really do about it. They tell you the game is going, and you go out there and try to do your best.”

As each day passes and Joey Meneses’ numbers keep climbing, the question keeps getting asked and the answer keeps sounding more plausible.

"I don't think the way he hit was a fluke," Davey Martinez said this morning of his 30-year-old rookie sensation. "I think the kid knows how to hit."

All the evidence to date backs up that assertion, and Meneses only bolstered the case with another standout performance today during the Nationals’ 13-4 trouncing of the Phillies in the rain-delayed opener of a rescheduled day-night doubleheader.

With a single, a double, a homer, a walk and four RBIs, Meneses added to his growing resume. Throw in a 440-foot moonshot from Luke Voit, a three-run homer and two RBI singles from Luis García and another dominant bullpen performance, and the Nats cruised to victory over a Philadelphia club that fell back into a tie with the Brewers for the final wild card berth in the National League with five games to go.

Meneses, as he’s so often done since bursting onto the scene Aug. 2, led the way at the plate. His bases-loaded double past a lunging Alec Bohm at third base keyed a five-run bottom of the second. Then his leadoff homer to right-center in the fifth extended the Nationals’ lead after the Phillies tried to claw their way back into the game.

MIAMI – Though it’s been inevitable for a while now, the Nationals’ march to 100 losses nevertheless isn’t something anyone wanted to be a part of. Alas, the time has arrived to reach that unceremonious milestone, perhaps as soon as today if they can’t salvage one win this weekend against a Marlins team that has absolutely dominated them all season.

If they’re going to delay the inevitable for at least one more day, the Nats simply are going to need to score more runs than they have against this Miami pitching staff. How bad has it been? In 18 head-to-head games, they’ve scored an average of 2.55 runs, posting a .205/.279/.312 slash line. Is it any wonder they’ve gone 3-15 in those games?

Today’s Marlins starter looking to continue the trend is Edward Cabrera, who of course dominated the Nationals in his one previous outing against them this year: one run, two hits in six innings during a 12-2 win here on June 7.

Aníbal Sánchez starts for the Nats, and while that thought may have sent shivers down everyone’s spines earlier this summer, remarkably the veteran right-hander has become their most consistently effective starter down the stretch. Over his last six starts, Sánchez is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA, having allowed a grand total of five runs on 14 hits over 29 1/3 innings. How about that?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors