WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals moved a step closer to finalizing their Opening Day roster this afternoon, cutting nine players from big league camp, including top prospects James Wood, Dylan Crews and Brady House.

Wood, Crews and House were reassigned to minor league camp, along with lefties Richard Bleier and Joe La Sorsa; infielder Juan Yepez, outfielder Robert Hassell III and catcher Israel Pineda. Zach Davies was granted his unconditional release, making the veteran right-hander a free agent and seemingly keeping the Nats’ rotation intact heading into the season.

The demotions of Wood, Crews and House did not come as a huge surprise. None was expected to make the club coming into their first big league camp, though Wood made a strong case for himself with a dominant first week and ultimately a .342/.491/.707 slash line in 21 Grapefruit League games, including a team-high four homers.

For all his success this spring, though, Wood (like the others) has yet to spend a day at Triple-A Rochester, where he is likely to open the season. The 21-year-old outfielder figures to be in line to make his major league debut sometime this season, provided he stays healthy and continues to perform on the field.

Crews and House, two of the Nationals’ last three first-round draft picks, each had some positive moments this spring, most recently Crews’ walk-off single to seal Thursday afternoon’s win over the Twins. But both also looked overmatched at times against big leaguers, with Crews finishing with a .161/.297/.323 slash line in 19 games and House finishing 7-for-28 with one homer, zero walks and five strikeouts.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Zach Davies has been doing this long enough to have real perspective. The 31-year-old right-hander is one of the most introspective players in Nationals camp this spring, understanding that the big picture matters but so does his most recent performance.

And his most recent performance was hard to ignore. For all the wrong reasons.

In his last scheduled start of the spring, Davies was roughed up by the Cardinals during a 13-4 trouncing, unable to get himself out of a seven-run top of the fourth that required 40 pitches on his part.

If this happened any of the previous springs, when Davies was assured a spot in his team’s Opening Day rotation, it wouldn’t have carried much weight. But in this spring, with Davies attempting to make the club off a minor league contract, it stood out like a sore thumb.

“I was extremely pleased with everything, except for the last inning that I pitched,” he said. “It’s unfortunate being in this position. Your last start of spring you don’t really have any more chances to show them what you have. All I can do is be prepared for whatever’s next.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – No spring training game truly counts, but let’s acknowledge that tonight’s game against the Cardinals means a little bit more than nothing. For one thing, a Nationals victory would clinch a winning record in the Grapefruit League this spring!

OK, that’s not actually the reason it means something. The significance of tonight’s game involves the Nats’ starter, Zach Davies, who is running out of time to make his case for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. The veteran right-hander is making his fourth start, and the three previous ones haven’t been overwhelmingly good or bad. He enters with a 4.35 ERA and 13 baserunners allowed in 8 1/3 innings.

If Davies is going to bump Trevor Williams to the bullpen, he’s going to need to show something at some point. So tonight’s game offers an opportunity for him. Now we’ll see if he can seize that opportunity.

Speaking of opportunities … Trey Lipscomb gets another chance to start a game, this time at second base. Though none of the team’s top prospects has been expected to make the club, if there’s one who maybe could force his way in, it might be Lipscomb, who has played well and really pushed Luis García Jr. Here’s another chance for him tonight to make his case.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Cardinals feed)
Weather: Chance of storms, 85 degrees, wind 14 mph out to right field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Finnegan was back on a mound today, albeit a bullpen mound outside CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches as opposed to one inside the stadium.

Finnegan, who hasn’t pitched in a game in six days due to a back tightness, took his first step toward a return this afternoon when he threw a bullpen session. Barring any setbacks, the Nationals closer will appear in Wednesday night’s Grapefruit League game.

“It was something I wanted to keep going through, keep pitching,” said Finnegan, whose back tightened up on him after a weight room workout. “I don’t like to get off-schedule. But we thought it would be a better idea to let it heal completely, feel 100 percent. … I feel 100 percent right now. Just took a few days to let it calm down.”

A creature of routine, Finnegan normally would’ve made several game appearances over the last week. As he learned, though, a little break at this point of spring training isn’t the worst thing.

“I’ve been doing a lot of hot tub, which I’ve enjoyed,” he said. “It’s been pretty nice. They told me don’t do much of anything for a few days.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Zach Davies hasn’t been in this position in a while, pitching in spring training not to get ready for his team but to make his team.

Such is life on a minor league contract, and such is the dilemma facing Davies this month as he tries to convince the Nationals to include him on their Opening Day roster.

“In years past, having a secured job, the things that run through your mind are you’re still probably trying to work on something,” the 31-year-old right-hander said. “There’s times within a game that’s your focus. And then there’s a couple innings in there where you’re going to try to go after guys and be game-like. For me, I feel like you have to mix all that into every at-bat at this point. Just because I’m not on the roster and I’m still trying to make the team. Try and be competitive every time I’m out there.”

Davies said all this minutes after he departed tonight’s game at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, having just allowed two runs over five innings during the Nats’ 5-3 exhibition victory over the Astros. It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece – Houston collected seven hits and a walk, and Davies needed 89 pitches to complete his five frames – but it was hard to argue with the final results.

And results are what matter most to Davies right now.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We’ve got another night game here, and the Nationals will field a lineup worthy of playing under the lights. It’s all regulars for Davey Martinez (if you count Jesse Winker as a regular), with some interesting nuggets in there.

Keibert Ruiz is catching back-to-back days for the first time this spring, having already been behind the plate Wednesday against the Marlins. And Eddie Rosario, who made his debut in left field Wednesday, is starting in center field tonight. The 32-year-old has played only 58 of his 1,030 career major league games in center, and most of those came in 2016-17 with the Twins, but Martinez has suggested he could be an option there for the Nats, which would be an interesting way to get everyone in the lineup (at the expense of Victor Robles).

Zach Davies is tonight’s starting pitcher, and you would think the veteran right-hander needs to start showing something if he wants to force his way into the Opening Day rotation. Davies tossed two scoreless innings (albeit with two walks and a hit batter) in his debut, but then gave up three runs in 3 1/3 innings his last time out. We’ll see how he handles the Astros’ lineup.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 11 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
DH Joey Meneses
1B Joey Gallo
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Eddie Rosario
3B Nick Senzel
2B Luis García Jr.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Well, it’s going to be a long day for the Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches as they play a split doubleheader against the Astros and Marlins. The first game, a 12:05 p.m. start on MASN, will have the Nats as the road team before they are the home team for the nightcap at 6:05 p.m.

Dan Kolko and Kevin Frandsen will be on the call of the first game with coverage starting at noon.

Davey Martinez and the Nationals brass spent a good amount of time yesterday figuring out how they were going to fill out their lineup cards for the two games, keeping in mind they have an early bus for the three-hour ride to Fort Myers on Sunday morning.

The first lineup may leave a lot to be desired from the fans watching on MASN back home, who were hoping to see a lot of the top young prospects play on TV. A big name (figuratively and literally) they can look forward to seeing is James Wood, who is back in the lineup after getting an off day yesterday. He’ll play center field and bat third.

Lane Thomas, Victor Robles and Luis García Jr. are among the regulars playing the first game. Trevor Williams makes his second start after a strong first appearance Monday. Jordan Weems, Derek Law and Luis Perdomo may make appearances out of the bullpen.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Yesterday’s rainout against the Marlins made the Nationals get a little creative in order to get players the work they missed out on.

Hello, intrasquad game on the back fields, where the results are even more meaningless than your typical spring training game.

“A bunch of guys are just gonna go there and get at-bats mainly against our pitchers who have to throw,” manager Davey Martinez said before today’s game against the Cardinals.

Zach Davies (yesterday’s scheduled starter) and Jackson Rutledge were the starting pitchers with a group of minor leaguers playing the field behind them. At times, the outfield wasn't even occupied. Stepping into the box were a handful of regular major leaguers, including CJ Abrams, Stone Garrett, Riley Adams, Jake Alu, Carter Kieboom, Juan Yepez, Alex Call, Travis Blankenhorn, Trey Lipscomb, Israel Pineda and Brady Lindsly.

Pitchers behind Davies for the “home” team included Robert Garcia, Jordan Weems, Jose A. Ferrer and Amos Willingham. Behind Rutledge for the “away” team were Joan Adon and DJ Herz.

WEST PALM BEACH – The Nationals are back on the Atlantic Coast side of Florida after yesterday’s cross-state trip to Fort Myers. They’ll be here for the next week before making their final trip to the Gulf Coast side a week from today to face the Twins.

What was supposed to be Trevor Williams’ spring debut turned into Zach Davies’ second start after the Nationals flipped the two starters to have Williams pitch tomorrow. Davies had a strong debut with the Nats on Tuesday, pitching two shutout innings with three strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter. The right-hander threw 23-of-40 pitches for strikes against an Astros lineup that included a lot of big-name regulars.

Today he’ll try to go a little deeper in the game against a Marlins split-squad team. Joan Adon, Tanner Rainey, Robert Garcia and Jose A. Ferrer are among the pitchers listed to follow Davies out of the bullpen.

Among the Nationals regulars in the starting lineup: Lane Thomas is leading off and in right field, James Wood is batting second and making his first appearance in left, Joey Meneses is at first base, Keibert Ruiz is catching, Nick Senzel is at third and Victor Robles is in center.

And hey, what better way to spend your Sunday than watching the game on MASN at 1 p.m.?

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Zach Davies arrived at Nationals camp late, having signed his minor league deal three days after pitchers and catchers reported and having arrived here three days after that. So the veteran right-hander understandably is a little behind the rest of his teammates.

That probably came into focus during Davies’ spring debut Tuesday afternoon. After a sharp first inning that included a pair of strikeouts of big-name Astros hitters, he labored a bit in the second.

“Overall, command felt pretty good,” the right-hander said. “In the second inning, I think I got a little bit tired and tried to rush to the plate, started missing arm-side with a lot of stuff. But in the first inning, I felt really good, fluid, under control. I think those are just kind of the nerves and the jitters of getting back into games and trying to do too much. But I’m ready to go to work for these next five days and go back out there next time.”

The end result was still a positive one: No runs or hits allowed on 40 pitches, 23 of which were strikes. There were two walks and a hit batter, the byproduct of that early spring fatigue Davies alluded to. But given the lineup he faced, with a top five of Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Jose Abreu, it was hard to find much fault with the showing overall.

More impressive than the results were the surprising number of swings-and-misses Davies elicited. An admitted “pitch-to-contact” guy who relies on a sinker to induce ground balls, he somehow got Houston’s accomplished hitters to whiff at several of his pitches.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals’ top prospects have been given a good amount of playing time early this spring, but most of that time has come later in games, when they’re facing minor league pitchers. That changes today, because Davey Martinez has four of the kids in the starting lineup against an accomplished major leaguer.

James Wood, Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell III and Trey Lipscomb are all in there, set to face Astros right-hander José Urquidy in what should be their biggest challenge to date. Their performance in this one game isn’t going to make or break their spring, but it does give club officials a little more evidence of their readiness against top competition.

Speaking of tough challenges, Zach Davies today will have to face most of the Astros’ “A” lineup. Davies, the veteran right-hander trying to make the club on a minor league deal, will need to keep his sinker down in the zone and hope to induce some ground balls out of Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez and Co. if he wants to make a good first impression.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: MLB Network, MLB.tv (Astros feed)
Radio: MLB.com (Astros feed)
Weather: Sunny, 76 degrees, wind 12 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
DH Lane Thomas
SS Ildemaro Vargas
RF James Wood
1B Joey Meneses
3B Jake Alu
CF Dylan Crews
C Riley Adams
LF Robert Hassell III
2B Trey Lipscomb

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Pitchers and catchers had already reported to camps throughout Arizona and Florida, and Zach Davies was still sitting at home, waiting to figure out where he would be playing this season. The call from agent Scott Boras finally came last Wednesday with news of a minor league contract offer from the Nationals.

Davies took a couple of days “to see what else was out there,” and made the decision Friday night to accept the Nats’ offer. The veteran right-hander signed the deal Sunday, flew to West Palm Beach on Monday and today donned his new uniform for the first time.

And why was this the right choice for Davies?

“It’s a young, up-and-coming team,” he said. “I think it’s one of those (types of) organizations I’ve been with in the past. I know how it works. I’m trying to give myself an MLB opportunity somewhere along the line. And I’ll just try to help the team however I can.”

The Nationals had been in the market for rotation depth all winter. They arrived in Florida without having achieved that goal. Davies may not fit the description of a proven starter who can challenge Trevor Williams or Jake Irvin for a spot in the Opening Day rotation, but he’s a viable option if something happens to one of the projected starting five, whether during the spring or sometime after the season begins.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Friday saw the Nationals address a need for bullpen depth with the addition of veteran reliever Jacob Barnes. Today saw the Nats address a need for rotation depth with the addition of veteran starter Zach Davies.

The Nationals and Davies agreed to a minor-league deal with an invitation to big-league camp, according to a source familiar with the terms. It won’t become official until he reports to West Palm Beach and passes a physical, but club officials expect that to happen by Monday.

Davies, 31, is an accomplished major-league starter with a 60-58 record and 4.36 ERA in 200 career outings, more than half of those coming with the Brewers. The right-hander is coming off a ragged season with the Diamondbacks, though, in which he finished with a 7.00 ERA in 18 starts and missed time with oblique and back injuries.

The Nationals don’t view Davies as a serious challenger to unseat one of the current projected five starters (Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Patrick Corbin, Jake Irvin, Trevor Williams) but would likely give him the first opportunity to take one of those slots should there be an opening.

It’s a role not unlike the one held last spring by Chad Kuhl, who came to camp on a minor-league deal but wound up making the Opening Day rotation after Cade Cavalli suffered a torn elbow ligament in March. By season’s end, Kuhl was one of only eight big-league starters the Nats used, the second-lowest total in the sport.