Starting lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

February 27, 2017, 5:20am

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JUPITER, Fla. - If you want to know what the real benefits of the Nationals' spring relocation are, here's a perfect example: I just drove from The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches to Roger Dean Stadium in 17 minutes. And, had I been gutsy enough to try to beat a yellow light, I might've done it in 15 minutes. That's a beautiful thing.

You should notice a difference on the field, too, as a result of these short drives, with more veterans making road trips than they did while training in Viera. Sure enough, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Adam Eaton, Derek Norris and Tanner Roark are all here today to face the Cardinals. And had this game been taking place a week from now, you might well have seen Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters here, too.

You'll notice an interesting tweak to Dusty Baker's lineup: Harper is batting second, with Eaton batting sixth. Don't read too much into that at this early stage of the spring, but Baker did mention the other day he plans to try out a lot of different batting orders, and this would suggest he's at least considering the idea of Harper batting second.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EST
TV: None
Radio: None
Weather: Mostly sunny, 82 degrees, wind 18 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
SS Trea Turner
RF Bryce Harper
2B Daniel Murphy
3B Anthony Rendon
1B Adam Lind
CF Adam Eaton
LF Chris Heisey
C Jhonatan Solano
DH Derek Norris
RHP Tanner Roark

CARDINALS
CF Dexter Fowler
SS Aledmys Diaz
1B Matt Carpenter
DH Jhonny Peralta
C Yadier Molina
3B Jedd Gyorko
RF Tommy Pham
LF Chad Huffman
2B Breyvic Valera
RHP Lance Lynn