JUPITER, Fla. – The 0.55 spring ERA, to be sure, is really nice. So is the 0.918 WHIP. It would be hard for Josiah Gray and the Nationals to look at those numbers as camp wraps up and not be pleased.

The spring stats that really stood out to Gray, though, were the two that showed dramatic improvement from his 2022 season.

“Walks,” he said. “I think walks are the biggest one. If I can keep those down, that puts me in a really good position early on. … And then we all know the home run ball. Just being able to limit that is obviously going to take away the biggest negative play for a pitcher. So those two are big.”

Gray, for those who don’t remember, surrendered a major-league-high 38 home runs last season while issuing a National League-high 66 walks. It proved to be a deadly combination that turned what at times looked like a promising campaign into a frustrating one for the young right-hander.

It’s spring training, of course, so this comes with all the usual caveats. But over the course of five starts and 16 1/3 innings this spring, Gray issued only two walks and did not surrender any homers.

JUPITER, Fla. – And so we have reached the end of the road, the final game of spring training. The Nationals, for those who care about such things, have actually fared pretty well down here, going 12-11-2 in official Grapefruit League play. A win today over the Marlins would secure a winning spring record, if that’s worth anything.

Josiah Gray gets the ball for his final tune-up before his expected season debut April 1 against the Braves. Like Patrick Corbin on Saturday night, Gray will probably be pulled early, not needing to use up any unnecessary pitches before it counts for real.

Most of the regulars are in the lineup, aside from Corey Dickerson and Luis García. The relievers on the schedule to pitch after Gray (in no particular order) are Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Finnegan, Mason Thompson, Thaddeus Ward and Hobie Harris.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Roger Dean Stadium
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Marlins broadcast)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 14 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
1B Dominic Smith
LF Alex Call
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Ildemaro Vargas
SS CJ Abrams
CF Victor Robles

JUPITER, Fla. – Josiah Gray’s best pitch, it has become clear, is anything but a fastball.

Opponents mashed the Nationals right-hander’s four-seamer last season to the tune of a .304 batting average and .738 slugging percentage. A whopping 24 of the league-high 38 home runs he surrendered came off that pitch.

Gray’s breaking balls – a slider to right-handed hitters, a curveball to lefties – were highly effective, and at times he turned to those pitches almost exclusively to get him through a game. But a starting pitcher can’t really get by like that. He needs to throw something with fastball velocity, even if it combines movement with speed.

He tinkered with a two-seam fastball late last season, wanting to see if down-and-away movement to his right would work. But this winter, he decided instead to focus on developing a cutter, which breaks to his left and actually aligns more with his natural throwing motion.

“He falls that way,” manager Davey Martinez said. “That was our whole objective: If he’s going to fall that way, rather than teach him a two-seamer, just try to teach him a cutter and see if it can allow him to get more in on lefties. And he’s done it well.”

JUPITER, Fla. – While there’s been plenty of reason to fret about the Nationals rotation this spring, there hasn’t been much reason to worry about Josiah Gray. At least, not based on the right-hander’s results to date.

Gray enters today’s start against the Cardinals with a sparkling 1.42 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts. He’s allowed only one earned run across 6 1/3 innings. He’s issued only one walk while striking out six. The workload isn’t as high as others, because his last outing came on a back field against minor leaguers. But the results have been positive so far.

The lineup has a bit of a different look to it today, with CJ Abrams leading off and Victor Robles batting second. I wouldn’t read too much into that, other than Davey Martinez wanting to get both guys at-bats without having to play too deep into the game. But it’ll be nice to see how Abrams handles the leadoff spot against Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (Cardinals broadcast)
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Sunny, 76 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
DH CJ Abrams
CF Víctor Robles
RF Alex Call
LF Corey Dickerson
1B Matt Adams
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams
SS Jeter Downs
2B Michael Chavis

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Wily Peralta has been doing this long enough to know not to stress over a couple of rough outings early in spring training. The veteran right-hander debuted with the Brewers in 2012 as a 23-year-old, and more than a decade later he’s trying to crack the Nationals’ Opening Day roster off a minor league contract.

So when Peralta struggled in his first two appearances of camp, allowing four runs in two innings, others might’ve thought that doomed his chances of making the team. Peralta didn’t worry.

“The main thing for me early in spring training is just how my body feels, and how my arm feels,” he said. “I think it’s been feeling great through the whole spring training. And I’m feeling better lately throwing.”

Peralta certainly looked the part tonight during a 3-0 victory over the Mets, tossing three scoreless innings against an opponent that hit only one ball out of the infield against him. Getting a chance to make his first start because Josiah Gray got his work in earlier in the morning on a back field, Peralta made the most of it, inducing seven ground balls and one popup while striking out two.

The prevalence of balls on the ground was perhaps the best sign of success for Peralta, who relies on a sinker to induce weak contact.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Few within the Nationals clubhouse have known Keibert Ruiz longer than Josiah Gray, the two having come up together in the Dodgers’ farm system before their lives were forever changed when they were the centerpiece prospects acquired for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner.

So when Ruiz officially signed an eight-year, $50 million extension Saturday, Gray couldn’t help but feel something special for his teammate and friend.

“It was awesome,” the right-hander said. “Keib deserves it. We all see how hard he’s worked, how good he is with you guys in the media, how good he is with us in the clubhouse. Really happy for him. He’s all-deserving, and I’m really excited to throw to him for years and years.”

Ruiz is now under contract through at least the 2030 season, with club options for 2031 and 2032 tacked onto the deal beyond that. Gray, with 1 1/2 years of big league service time, is under team control through 2027 unless he agrees to an extension as well someday.

Regardless, they’re going to be working together as a battery for a while, two of the key faces of the Nationals’ rebuild.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s a big day here at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. At least, big by spring training standards. The Nationals are set to hold a 3 p.m. press conference to announce their eight-year, $50 million extension with Keibert Ruiz (which, by the way, also includes club options for both 2031 and 2032). Then they’re set to take the field at 7:05 p.m. to face the Mets, live on MASN.

Ruiz will have the honor of batting cleanup tonight, and he and his teammates will be facing Kodai Senga for the first time. Senga, a 30-year-old right-hander from Japan, signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the Mets this winter and will be slotted into a rotation that includes a couple of future Hall of Famers in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. This is only Senga’s second start of the spring; he allowed one run to the Cardinals in two innings on Sunday.

(UPDATE: Well, so much for that. The Mets announced Senga has been scratched from the start due to "discomfort at the base of his right index finger." John Curtiss will now start tonight's game in his place.)

Josiah Gray gets the ball for the Nats for his third start of the spring, his second against the Mets. The right-hander is slated to go four innings.

As stated, you can watch tonight’s game live on MASN, with Bob Carpenter and Dan Kolko on the call. They’ll have interviews with a host of big names (Mike Rizzo, Davey Martinez, Ruiz), plus one very small name (yours truly). Coverage begins at 7 p.m.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s all anyone wants to talk about this spring training, whether you’re in Florida or Arizona: Major League Baseball’s new rules for the upcoming season.

The one rule that has garnered the most attention is the pitch clock, which has affected nearly every part of the game.

The most noticeable effect it has had is on the length of games. Spring training games across the major leagues are averaging just under two hours and 40 minutes. The average length of a spring training game in 2022 was just over three hours.

But the clock doesn’t just affect the pitchers on the mound. It affects the catchers, the defense in the field, the batter in the box, the next batters up, the pitchers in the bullpen and the coaches in the dugout.

It’s been an adjustment period, for sure. In Nationals camp, the starting pitchers have enjoyed getting used to the pitch clock and the faster tempo it brings.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It was a rare day – and probably the last of this spring – when you saw two Nationals starting pitchers appear in the same game.

Luckily for Nats fans, it was two-thirds of the young Big Three they’re hoping leads this rotation for years to come.

Because of Sunday’s split-squad games and Monday’s off-day, Josiah Gray's and Cade Cavalli’s next scheduled times to pitch a game both landed today, in what would end up as a 9-6 loss to the Cardinals in front of 3,260 fans. They both had the same plan: Complete two innings and throw between 35 and 40 pitches, with Gray starting the game and Cavalli following out of the bullpen.

They both completed their objectives, in similar yet somehow different ways.

Gray started the game with a three-pitch strikeout of Brendan Donovan. He then gave up back-to-back singles before getting a popup and groundout to finish the frame on 12 pitches, nine strikes.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals get to play their next two games on their home field, starting with this afternoon’s matchup with the Cardinals.

Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli are both expected to make their second spring appearances today at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Gray will start the game and Cavalli will follow out of the bullpen, with both expected to go about two innings and throw around 35-40 pitches.

The Nationals lineup includes a lot of regulars, with CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson, Joey Meneses, Dominic Smith, Jeimer Candelario, Keibert Ruiz and Victor Robles starting today. Jake Alu is the only starter who is battling for a spot this spring.

The game can be heard on 106.7 The Fan back in the D.C. area.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Weather: Partly cloudy, 89 degrees, wind 11 mph out to right-center field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Corey Dickerson
DH Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
DH Jeimer Candelario
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Jake Alu
CF Victor Robles

RHP Josiah Gray

CARDINALS
3B Brendon Donovan
LF Jordan Walker
2B Nolan Gorman
C Wilson Contreras
1B Juan Yepez
DH Paul DeJong
RF Moisés Gómez
SS Juniel Querecuto
CF Mike Antico

LHP Connor Thomas

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On March 18, 2022, the day of the Nationals’ first game of a shortened spring training due to the lockout, Carter Kieboom felt something wrong in his throwing arm during pregame warmups. He was scratched from the starting lineup, had an MRI the following day and was placed on the 60-day injured list two days later with a right forearm flexor mass/ulnar collateral ligament strain. About two months later, he underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his fourth big league season before it even started.

Today, about a year later, Kieboom is back in the Nationals lineup for the first time this spring, batting ninth as the designated hitter in a game against the Marlins at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

Although his return to game action is a significant step in his recovery, the Nationals are still taking a slow and cautious approach with the third baseman.

“We just want to give him some at-bats,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Like I said, we're going to kind of ease into this thing with him, so he gets to DH and get him some at-bats and get him going.”

Kieboom has been fine swinging the bat in camp. It’s throwing that still remains a work in progress. But any sort of game action, even just hitting as the DH, will be helpful.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If Davey Martinez and Jim Hickey had only one message for pitchers entering spring training, it was as simple a message as they get: Throw strikes.

The Nationals issued 558 walks last season, fifth-most in the majors. They simply can’t afford to keep issuing free passes at that rate.

Three games into Grapefruit League play this spring, the trend has been reversed in dramatic fashion. Yes, it’s only three games, two of them played today alone. But the Nats have walked a total of only five batters in 26 innings, and none of them came during this afternoon’s 3-2 victory over the Astros at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

“These guys are coming in with 9-, 10-, 13-pitch innings,” Martinez said. “We’re pounding the strike zone. That’s something we want to instill in their heads. We told our catchers we’ve got to get strikes. They’ve been good. They’re throwing the ball well.”

Nine different pitchers took the mound here today, and all nine retreated to the dugout having forced Houston’s hitters to earn their way on base. The trendsetter was Trevor Williams, who tossed a scoreless first, escaping a jam thanks to a 6-4-3 double play but allowing just two singles (one of them a little dribbler between the mound and third base).

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s day two of Grapefruit League play, and already the Nationals are pulling double duty. Yes, it’s the one and only split-squad day of the spring for the boys, with half the team staying here in West Palm Beach to face the Astros while the other half heads to Port St. Lucie to face Max Scherzer and the Mets.

Davey Martinez decided to keep most of his veterans here, but there are still a good number of big leaguers playing in the road game. And there are actually three members of the projected Opening Day rotation pitching today between the two sites.

Trevor Williams gets the start here against the Astros, scheduled for one inning. He’ll actually be followed by Cade Cavalli, who was on schedule to pitch either today or tomorrow. Since the team is off tomorrow, Cavalli gets to piggyback Williams today. (He’ll start his next turn through the rotation.) Josiah Gray, meanwhile, starts the road game against the Mets, also slated for one inning.

The lineups are pretty much split up, as well. Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson, Jeimer Candelario, Dominic Smith, Keibert Ruiz and Victor Robles are starting against the Astros. CJ Abrams, Luis García and Joey Meneses will bat 1-2-3 on the road for the second straight day. Also of note: 2021 first-round pick Brady House is on the travel roster for the game in Port St. Lucie and could come off the bench late in the game.

You can watch both games with an MLB.tv subscription, and you can listen to the home game online at nationals.com, with Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler behind the mic.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The second day of full-squad workouts saw the arrival of Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner, the return of several pitchers for their second round of live batting practice and some moments of levity.

Mark Lerner made his first appearance of the spring at camp, his first public appearance since the death of his father, founding principal owner Ted Lerner, on Feb. 12. Mark Lerner was greeted by nearly everyone in the organization over the course of the morning, accepting condolences and offering thanks to everyone who has shared kind words about his 97-year-old father.

Lerner, who hasn’t spoken publicly about the potential sale of the franchise since early last year, wasn’t subjected to questions from reporters today.

Lerner did make a point to watch several drills up close, including live BP sessions by two of the organization’s top rotation candidates: Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli. Both faced hitters for the second time in camp.

Gray went up against a group of hitters that included Victor Robles and Matt Adams. The young right-hander continued to emphasize a straighter stride toward the plate upon delivery, his biggest point of emphasis over the winter. He also showed again what has made him most successful since arriving in the big leagues: his breaking ball, which he got Robles to whiff at during the session.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Day two of live batting practice saw nine more pitchers take the mound to face hitters for a simulated inning of work, most notably Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli.

Every pitcher has specific things he’s focusing on during these sessions, but the theme is pretty universal: Keep your mechanics in sync and throw strikes.

For Gray, that ties in with a specific change he made this winter as he attempts to close up his stride, finishing more on a straight line toward the plate instead of to his left, which often caused his fastball to tail back over the heart of the zone. If his first session facing hitters this spring was an indication, all of the pertinent parties were pleased with what they saw.

“It was good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He wasn’t trying to overdo it. He wasn’t trying to step on it. But the ball was coming out the way he wanted it to, and the misses weren’t crazy, which is the big thing we want to do. … The misses were way better than I’ve seen from him before.”

Gray, who had thrown with an open stride his entire pitching life until now, admits it’s not coming fully natural to him yet. But he’s getting there.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – While Wednesday’s news about Stephen Strasburg – he’s been shut down again after experiencing another setback in his latest attempt to return from thoracic outlet surgery – proved to be the biggest headline on Day 1 of Nationals spring training, truthfully, the bigger story was the presence of three other pitchers stationed along one wall of the home clubhouse.

Much as they hope Strasburg can still have a positive impact for this club, the Nats already have transitioned to building the next generation of their rotation on the broad shoulders of three young starters: MacKenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli and Josiah Gray.

Strasburg may not be healthy at the moment, but those other three guys are. And that probably has more significance to the franchise’s long-term well-being than anything.

“Starting pitching is very important if you want to compete in the big leagues and have a good team,” Gore said. “The starters need to … good teams have good starting pitching. There’s a responsibility that we have a job to do. I think that’s probably the best way to put it.”

There’s a responsibility, and there’s also a certain amount of pressure on Gore, Cavalli and Gray to live up to their billing. The Nationals’ chances of kicking their rebuild into serious gear rest in large part on the development of those three into frontline, big-league starters.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s been a long winter. And it may be a very long summer back home in D.C. as the Nationals navigate their way through another rebuilding season.

But if ever there’s a time for optimism, this is it. It’s the first day of spring training, and while there’s little reason to believe the 2023 Nationals are going to be dramatically better than the 2022 Nationals were, they begin today with a clean slate and at least the hope of better things to come.

There are six weeks to prepare for a March 30 Opening Day date with the Braves. Much can and will happen between now and then, some of it expected, some of it unexpected.

Here’s what to expect on day one …

With some pitchers and catchers still getting their physicals completed, the day actually will get off to a later start than usual. Most days, the team will take the back fields behind The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches a little after 9 a.m. for Davey Martinez’s “Circle of Trust” meeting, then stretch and workouts. But for day one, that meeting won’t begin until 12:45 p.m., so the first workout of the spring will be an afternoon affair.

Pitchers and catchers don’t have to officially report to the Nationals’ facility in West Palm Beach until Tuesday. But it’s not uncommon to see guys start arriving a week or so early.

Josiah Gray is among those already down there getting ready for the start of camp. He joined “The Hot Stove Show” last week over Zoom from his back patio under cover from the sun after getting Florida license plates for his car.

Even professional athletes can’t avoid the pain of a trip to the DMV. A necessary evil to save the hassle for future spring trainings.

This will be Gray’s second spring training in West Palm Beach after coming over to the Nats in the blockbuster trade with the Dodgers in July 2021. And this time he’ll be looking to become one of the top pitchers in the starting rotation.

While a lot of focus will be on the Nats’ top prospects entering the second full season of this rebuild, attention will still be paid to the young players at the major league level to see how their development progresses, Gray included.

As the start of spring training gets closer and closer – pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach in a mere nine days! – we’re looking at how unpredictable the upcoming season could be for each member of the Nationals’ potential roster on an individual basis.

With few established players that look like sure things entering the year, there’s a wide variance of possibilities in each case. We looked at the nine likely members of the lineup Friday. Today, we look at the pitchers most likely to be in the mix for spots on the Opening Day roster.

Here’s the best-case and worst-case scenario for the 2023 season for each of them …

MACKENZIE GORE
Best case: His elbow back to full health, the lefty picks up where he left off during the first half of last season in San Diego. Over 30 starts, he maintains an ERA around 3.00, striking out more than one batter per inning and establishing himself as the young leader of this rotation moving forward.
Worst case: A return of elbow discomfort would really be worst-case, but even if his arm feels fine there’s still a fear of diminished velocity and stamina. A fastball in the low 90s, combined with less-than-ideal command, could leave the Nationals questioning if he really will live up to his billing long-term.

CADE CAVALLI
Best case: Fresh off a restful winter, with his major league debut already behind him, Cavalli proves he’s ready to stick in the big league for the long haul. The Nats are still careful with his workload, limiting him to 26 starts or 140 innings, but he makes the most of those outings with a sub-3.50 ERA and more than 150 strikeouts.
Worst case: Even with a mid-to-upper 90s fastball, if he doesn’t maintain precise command, big league hitters will have success off that pitch. His secondary stuff helps bail him out sometimes, but a high WHIP leaves him looking like something less than a frontline starter.

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 attempting to predict the last 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 looked at position players yesterday, running through each of the positions (included designated hitter). Today, we look at the pitching staff, running through each slot in the rotation, plus multiple bullpen roles. Will the 2023 Nationals be better, worse or the same as the 2022 Nationals? Here we go …

NO. 1 STARTER: Slightly better, you have to hope
Who was the Nationals’ No. 1 starter last year? Patrick Corbin started Opening Day and threw the most innings. Josiah Gray led the staff in wins and strikeouts. Aníbal Sánchez (?!) led the starters in WAR. Point is, they don’t have a No. 1 guy, not yet. So for these purposes, we’ll go with Corbin and just look at how he may fare in 2023 vs. 2022. Enough has been said and written about the left-hander, who has steadily devolved over the last three seasons into the worst starter in baseball. He’s not going anywhere, not with two years still left on his contract. So, can he be better than 6-19 with a 6.31 ERA and 1.697 WHIP? You sure hope so, don’t you? Nobody’s going to suggest he can return to his elite 2019 form anymore. But it is fair to think he could become somewhat more respectable, and the main reason for that would be better defense behind him. His 4.83 FIP last season suggests he wasn’t solely to blame for his wretched numbers. Let’s see if an entire year of CJ Abrams at shortstop might actually bring Corbin’s ERA down under 5.00, which would have to be considered a major win.