PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – T.J. White thought this might as well have been a real major league game. Cole Henry was thrilled when Drew Millas successfully got a ball turned into a strike with a formal challenge. Travis Sykora was so amped up, he couldn’t hold a cup of water without spilling it.

The first “Spring Breakout” game in Nationals history this afternoon was unlike anything these prospects had been a part of before. And though they took a 4-2 loss to the Mets’ top prospects in the seven-inning exhibition, that result didn’t diminish the experience.

Every team in the sport is participating in one of these games this week, in this case as an opening act to tonight’s Grapefruit League contest between the Nationals and Mets. Many of the Nats prospects who played today have been in big league camp all spring, so the experience might not have been unique to them. But for a host of younger kids who have been in minor league camp, this was a big deal.

“To me, it kind of felt like playing a real MLB game,” said White, who drove in both of the Nats’ runs with a pair of two-out RBI hits. “It kind of felt like getting my first big league hit, almost. It was just a surreal experience.”

Davey Martinez, who managed this game and will let bench coach Miguel Cairo handle the nightcap, noticed how amped up some of the players were. He put his hand on Sykora’s chest and said it was “going 1,000 mph.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The long weekend continued Saturday for the Nationals. After last night’s “weird game” against the Cardinals, they got ready for a split doubleheader against the Astros (as the away team) and Marlins (as the home team) at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

The early morning and quick turnaround didn’t work out well for the boys in navy blue jerseys and gray pants.

The Nationals came out sluggish in the opening game and eventually lost 9-4 to their West Palm Beach neighbors.

After manager Davey Martinez emphasized last night the need to hit with runners in scoring position, the bats couldn’t drive in Luis García Jr. when the second baseman led off the first with a double.

Things started to come apart quickly from there. Or maybe they were never together.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – That Josiah Gray struck out five Mets batters today during his two-inning spring debut was good news for the Nationals

That he struck out three of those batters swinging at fastballs was great news for Gray.

“Anytime you can get swings and misses, especially on the fastball, is a good feeling,” the right-hander said. “A confidence booster.”

Gray has shown the ability to be a strikeout pitcher at times during his burgeoning career, with five double-digit outings the last two seasons. But most of those whiffs came on breaking balls, with the occasional called third strike sprinkled in for good measure.

What Gray showcased today during an eventual 6-3 exhibition loss was something different. And something the Nationals have been waiting to see for a while.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Cole Henry missed out on the opportunity to attend his first major league spring training in 2023. He was still recovering from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he had in August 2022.

Now 18 months removed from the complex procedure, which involved removing a rib and a neck muscle, the 24-year-old right-hander finally finds himself inside the Nationals clubhouse at the team’s spring training facility. And more importantly, he’s participating in team workouts.

“As of right now, I'm feeling really good,” Henry said. “This is the first offseason I've been able to really work on just strengthening and perfecting the craft a little bit mechanics-wise and stuff like that and not worry about having to rehab. Just make sure I'm able to throw by the time spring training comes around, so it's very productive as far as that stuff goes. I just had to tweak a couple things trying to get back to the way I was before as far as my mechanics and stuff, pitch shapes, different things like that. Majority of the offseason was working on just trying to get stronger, trying to be more durable and just overall focus on just building strength and getting ready for a long season.”

The further removed Henry gets from his surgery, the better he feels. And the closer he gets to getting back to normal. But he still understands the complexities of his surgery and recovery, and that just because he’s back on a mound, that doesn’t mean he’s completely done with the aftereffects.

“I definitely think, as with any surgery, it's going to take a year or two years just to be fully past it,” he said. “I mean, I'll still have hiccups here and there as far as just a little bit more soreness on different days. Doing new things or pitching for a little bit longer than I'm used to. Whatever it is, there's gonna be a little bit of that. But as far as being able to let the reins loose a little bit, take the training wheels off it's been full-go. No restraints as far as rehab or anything. I've been basically going after it like it's gonna be a regular full season.”

As the first week of the new year comes to a close, we’ve done our fair share of looking back at the Nationals’ 2023 season and ahead to the 2024 campaign. At the major league level.

During this week’s “The Hot Stove Show” on MASN All Access (which you can watch here), Brendan Mortensen and I talked a lot about the Nats’ top prospects in the minor league system and what to expect from some of them this year.

That got me thinking: We haven’t really looked back at the most significant stories from last year on the farm.

So to briefly coincide with Mark Zuckerman’s “Most significant stories of 2023” series from the week leading up New Year’s Day, here are seven of the most important headlines from the Nationals’ minor league side of the past year …

1) Dylan Crews drafted No. 2 overall
This one is the most obvious selection. At this time a year ago, one of the main focuses heading into the season was who the Nationals would select with the No. 2 pick in the MLB Draft.

What was the most astounding stat about the 2023 Nationals? How about the fact they only used eight starting pitchers the entire season?

That represented the second-lowest total in the majors (only the Blue Jays were better) and matched the club record for fewest starters used in a single season (previously set in 2012 and 2014).

Fewer starters, unfortunately, didn’t mean better starting pitching. The Nats rotation still ranked 25th in the majors in ERA (5.02), WHIP (1.501) and strikeouts (702). Improvement remains paramount.

But the Nationals still could take pride in their ability to keep just about everyone in their rotation healthy. Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams each made 30-plus starts. MacKenzie Gore made 27 starts before a blister on his finger ended his season a couple weeks early. Jake Irvin joined the group in early May and never lost his spot. All of that allowed the team to overcome a lost year for Cade Cavalli, who tore his elbow ligament during spring training.

With Cavalli on target to return in June, the Nats should enter 2024 feeling good about the health of their rotation. They also should enter the new year fully aware the odds of duplicating their good luck are minimal.

NASHVILLE – This afternoon’s Rule 5 draft marks the end of the Winter Meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Typically held on Thursday morning the week of the Meetings, the league bumped it up to Wednesday afternoon last year, much to the delight of beat reporters who get to travel home a day early.

The Nationals historically haven’t utilized this avenue of roster building. Designed to keep teams from stashing prospects in the minor leagues, general manager Mike Rizzo has usually turned to acquiring established major leaguers instead of taking a flier on an unproven prospect that has to take up a roster spot for the entirety of next season.

But the Nats did stray away from that last year by selecting Thaddeus Ward from the Red Sox with the first-overall pick in the Rule 5 draft, their first selection in 12 years.

Although they hold the No. 5 overall pick this afternoon and have two open spots on the 40-man roster, the Nats aren’t assured of making a selection. But that doesn’t mean the Rule 5 draft will definitely be uneventful for them.

The Nats, of course, can lose players in this event and they have already taken steps to assure they keep the ones they definitely want.

The Nationals chose to protect four prospects, all pitchers, from being lost in the upcoming Rule 5 draft. To do so, they cut ties with three players who ended the season on their major league roster, most notably first baseman Dominic Smith.

Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott were both designated for assignment today, with reliever Andrés Machado granted his unconditional release as well to pursue opportunities in Japan. The team then used those three open slots, plus one that already was open, to add left-handers DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker, plus right-handers Cole Henry and Zach Brzykcy, to their 40-man roster. That ensures none of those four prospects can be lost in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

The decision to drop Smith came as the biggest surprise of the day, considering the manner in which club officials spoke up the first baseman’s defensive value and clubhouse leadership this season in spite of his offensive struggles. Signed for $2 million last winter after the Mets chose not to tender him a contract, Smith hit .254/.326/.366 with 12 homers, 46 RBIs and a .692 OPS in 153 games for the Nats. Six of his 12 homers came in September alone, leaving the 28-year-old with some hope he had solved the power woes he endured for the majority of the season.

Even with those woes at the plate, Smith was lauded for his glove work at first base, where he produced five Defensive Runs Saved and was a calming influence for young infielders CJ Abrams, Luis García and Carter Kieboom.

Smith was eligible for arbitration and was projected to make roughly $4 million through that process. Now, the Nationals will be in the market for a new first baseman for the second straight offseason, likely prioritizing power from that corner position to help bolster a lineup that hit a National League-worst 151 homers this year. They could also move Joey Meneses full-time to first base and seek a new designated hitter.

PROSPECT REVIEW: COLE HENRY

Age on opening day 2024: 24

How acquired: Drafted in second round in 2020 from LSU

Ranking: No. 18 per MLB Pipeline, No. 17 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2024
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

Cole Henry has had a long road in front of him. Ever since he decided to undergo surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last August, he has faced an uphill climb to get his career back on track.

All things considered, it’s been so far, so good for the Nationals’ No. 12 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

Thoracic outlet syndrome surgery has a negative stigma surrounding it in baseball, especially here in Washington as it derailed the careers of Stephen Strasburg and Will Harris.

Granted, those pitchers were older than the now 24-year-old Henry was when they had their surgeries. But any procedure in which a rib and a neck muscle are removed would come with tales of caution.

But Henry is on the path to being a success story having been able to report to spring training just six months after his own surgery and pitching in minor league games three months after that.

As we await the official announcement that Dylan Crews has signed his deal with the Nationals, some top prospects are anxiously awaiting to welcome the No. 2 overall pick into the minor league system.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported yesterday that Crews agreed to a deal worth about $9 million, which is over the slot value of $8,988,500. Now it’s just a matter of the team making the announcement.

While in Bowie this week, some of the top prospects in the organization with Double-A Harrisburg were excited to see the Nats select the Golden Spikes Award winner in the first round.

“I thought it was awesome. I was watching it,” said Brady House, the Nats’ No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline and 2021 first-round pick. “I did a couple of events in high school that were like (Team) USA and all that stuff that Dylan was part of too. So I watched him all throughout his college career especially. I did a lot of watching LSU baseball this year. So I love to see it and I'm happy that he's with our organization.”

Crews is already ranked by some outlets in the top five of their top 100 prospects lists, joining the Nats’ current top prospect James Wood as two of the highest ranked outfielders in the game.

Sean Doolittle is making a significant step in his recovery from an elbow procedure done last year.

Rehabbing at the Nationals' facility in West Palm Beach, Doolittle will start throwing on back-to-back days, the next benchmark he’s been working toward for a while.

“Sean Doolittle is gonna go back-to-back days now,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “Once he does that, then we'll reassess and go from there.”

The veteran left-hander was limited to just 5 ⅓ innings in six games with the Nationals last year before being shut down with an elbow injury. After trying to just rest it, Doolittle decided to undergo a similar but less invasive procedure as Tommy John surgery with the hope that he would recover faster and be able to pitch this season.

He reported to spring training healthy on a minor league deal, but was ultimately shut down out of precaution of ramping up too fast. If Doolittle feels good after throwing back-to-back games, the Nationals could start looking to get him into game action.

Fifty-five players appeared in a game for the Nationals last season, and six of them made their major league debuts in the process.

At least one of those debuts, by Cade Cavalli, was both expected and promoted. The others, though, came as something of a surprise, whether it was Lucius Fox making the Opening Day roster, Jackson Tetreault and Evan Lee getting summoned to start big league games after others got hurt, Israel Pineda getting a September call-up or Joey Meneses finally making it at age 30.

A 162-game season is full of twists and turns, and the 2022 season had no shortage of those from the Nationals’ perspective. And there’s every reason to believe the 2023 season will feature a number of debuts, of both the expected and the unexpected variety.

Who might we see don a curly W cap for the first time?

The likeliest candidate among the organization’s top prospects is Robert Hassell III, though the 21-year-old outfielder is hardly a lock to make it to D.C. this season.

Way back in early June, when the Nationals were languishing with the worst rotation in baseball, we wondered if the day might be coming soon when they would have a whole new set of starters pitching for them, guys who not only would be more effective than the current group but also would be younger and part of the organization’s long-term plan.

Here we are entering the final week of August, and unfortunately that hasn’t been the case at all. The Nats’ last five games have been started by Cory Abbott, Anibal Sanchez, Paolo Espino, Josiah Gray and Patrick Corbin.

Yes, they’ve been far more effective than they were nearly three months ago. But outside of Gray, nobody else from this quintet realistically is going to be part of the long-term plan around here. Even Erick Fedde, set to return from a shoulder injury Tuesday in Seattle, remains a shorter-term solution, something of a bridge starter until younger, more promising prospects arrive.

But when will they actually arrive? Will we actually see anybody new and intriguing before season’s end?

By all accounts, yes. It’s going to require a little more patience, though.

The All-Star break, for better or worse, is all about the future of the Nationals. Juan Soto’s potentially dwindling future with the organization. Elijah Green and all the other 2022 draft picks’ potential future with the organization.

These are franchise-altering days, developments that could determine whether this team has a chance to be a winner again in the near-term or not for many more years to come.

But those guys alone aren’t going to decide the outcome. They’re going to need others to surround them, especially younger players who come up through a revamped farm system.

So it’s also a good time to take stock of that farm system, one that still ranks near the bottom in baseball according to most publications that produce such rankings but undoubtedly is home to a handful of potential high-end building blocks who could make a difference, some sooner than others.

De Jon Watson, in his first year as the Nationals’ director of player development, recently met with beat writers to provide insight into many of the organization’s top prospects. Here’s what he had to say about them, along with a midseason update on each …

As he stood inside the clubhouse at Nationals Park last week, seeing a few unfamiliar but mostly familiar faces, Tres Barrera felt like he was home.

“This is what you work for,” the 27-year-old catcher said. “This is where you want to be.”

Barrera hadn’t been in D.C. yet this season, not necessarily through any fault of his own but rather because of the organization’s increased catching depth acquired over the last calendar year. After spending a large chunk of the summer of 2021 in the big leagues, he was bumped down to Triple-A Rochester following the acquisitions and promotions of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams, leaving him the third wheel on a roster that only had room for two catchers.

Ruiz is the unquestioned No. 1 guy behind the plate, now and presumably for many years to come. Adams quickly assumed the No. 2 role after his acquisition from the Blue Jays last July. That left Barrera on the outside looking in, even though his performance at the big league level suggested he was worthy of staying.

In 30 games with the Nats last season, 27 of them starts, Barrera hit a solid .264 with an impressive .374 on-base percentage, two homers, 10 RBIs and a .758 OPS. He caught only one of 20 basestealers, but still managed to produce 0.5 WAR (per Baseball-Reference’s formula).

ARLINGTON, Texas – Among the most pertinent questions facing the Nationals over the season’s final 3 1/2 months involve their top two pitching prospects. How soon will Cade Cavalli make his major league debut? And will Cole Henry make his in 2022?

The bad news: Neither is currently pitching for Triple-A Rochester, each having just been shut down for the moment, Henry while being placed on the minor league injured list with shoulder soreness.

The potentially good news: The Nats’ decision to shut both right-handers down now could be construed as evidence they intend to bring both up to the majors later this season.

How so? As general manager Mike Rizzo explained Friday afternoon, the organization is making a concerted effort to give its pitching prospects planned time off in the middle of the season in an attempt to ensure they still have fresh arms to be on the mound at the end of the season.

“You’ll see each starting pitcher will be skipped throughout the season; usually at the 10-start mark we try to skip a start or push a start back,” Rizzo said prior to Friday’s series opener against the Rangers. “That’s the situation with Cavalli, (Rodney) Theophile, (Jake) Irvin and those guys. They’ll get pushed back a start or two, just to give them a blow. No physical abnormalities there.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Nationals have not yet finalized a full rehab plan for Stephen Strasburg but don’t feel an urgent need to devise one while the right-hander is in the early stages of rest from the stress reaction in his ribs that sent him back to the injured list 10 days ago.

General manager Mike Rizzo said he, the Nats’ medical staff, orthopedist Neal ElAttrache and Strasburg himself will jointly decide on a plan of action once they’ve gathered all information, “but we don’t have that yet.” Strasburg flew to Southern California last week to be examined by ElAttrache after an MRI taken in Washington revealed the stress reaction to his second and third ribs, likely connected to the thoracic outlet syndrome he dealt with last summer.

Because he can’t attempt to begin throwing or beginning a rehab program until that stress reaction heals, there isn’t much urgency to proceed with a larger plan for now.

“He can’t do anything until he’s pain-free and feeling good,” Rizzo said prior to tonight’s series opener against the Rangers. “He’s not there yet, so there’s no rush to put a plan together when he’s on rest now anyway.”

Strasburg’s rehab from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery seemingly had gone quite well, with three minor league tune-up starts and then his return to a major league mound June 9 in Miami. Though he surrendered seven runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Marlins, Strasburg threw 83 pitches and was highly encouraged by how he felt physically during his first big league start in more than a year.

The Nationals’ 2022 season began exactly two months ago, and it began with an uninspired loss to a Mets club that has proceeded to win eight of the 10 head-to-head matchups between the two division foes so far.

Along the way, there hasn’t been much reason to get excited about these Nationals. Even after winning three of four over the weekend against an equally struggling Reds team, they own a 21-35 record. At this pace, they would finish 61-101.

But for many, the losses haven’t even been the most frustrating part of the season to date. Many could stomach the losses if they were the product of a young roster learning and growing on the job together. But that’s not what this roster has looked like the last two months.

Though there are a handful of young players who could and should be part of the organization’s long-term plan, most of the guys in uniform have been veteran placeholders. Guys who are only going to be here until the real future of the franchise arrives, whether internally from the minor leagues or externally from other organizations or upcoming drafts and international signing periods.

Slowly but surely, though, that’s going to change. For the first time this season, we are beginning to see potential long-term pieces to the puzzle supplant short-term fillers. With the promise of more to come this summer.

As the Nationals wrap up their West Coast road trip by starting a three-game series tonight in Anaheim, we took a look at some of the headlines back east on the farm system on the “MASN All Access Podcast.”

Kyle Glaser, a national writer for Baseball America covering the top prospects in the country, joined Amy Jennings and me on the show to discuss some of the top names on the Nationals farm.

We started with the big question surrounding the Nats, which was also the main focus of the episode: When will Luis García get the call back to the majors?

García, a graduated former top prospect, is raking at Triple-A Rochester, while Nationals shortstops have floundered at the big league level.

The 21-year-old infielder is slashing .351/.406/.649 with a 1.055 OPS, five doubles, three triples, six home runs, 16 RBIs and nine walks in 23 games with the Red Wings. He went 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run while scoring both runs of a 2-0 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees) last night.