PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A little more than a week ago, Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his start after injuring his left ankle during a conditioning session. On Saturday, he said the ankle gave him no problems in a 10-2 loss to the New York Mets.
“It’s kind of like a trust factor,” Strasburg said. “You sprain your ankle really bad, you’re bracing for it so it’s hard to get over that. I didn’t really feel anything alarming, so it’s progress. I’ve just got to keep going out there and I’m sure it’ll be an afterthought soon.”
Strasburg gave up four earned runs and four hits over four innings with two walks and two strikeouts. Most of the damage was done in the third inning, when Curtis Granderson hit a three-run home run and David Wright followed with a solo shot.
Manager Matt Williams said Strasburg struggled with his command at times after not pitching for more than a week, but otherwise looked great.
“It’s a little rust,” Williams said. “You take that time off in the middle of the spring, you’re not going to be pinpoint coming back through it. But we got him through, which is good. That’s all we were looking for.”
Strasburg threw 70 pitches on Saturday and will throw 85 pitches in his final spring start. After missing two starts with an ingrown toenail and the aforementioned ankle injury, he will enter the season with less in-game preparation than the rest of the rotation. Does he feel one more start will be enough?
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“Yeah, it’s going to have to be,” Strasburg said. “The thing is you make 33 starts. The biggest thing is having the stamina up there and I’m just going to go out there and give everything I have and keep plugging along.”
Harper okay after slipping on the warning track
While fielding a hit from Lucas Duda off the right-field wall in the sixth inning, right fielder Bryce Harper slipped and appeared to injure his hands during the fall.
Harper was twisting his right wrist after the play, prompting Williams and assistant trainer Steve Gober to pay him a visit. The 22-year-old told them he was fine and stayed in the game. He was replaced by pinch-runner Randolph Oduber in the bottom of the eighth inning after drawing a walk.
“The ball just took a funny hop and he slipped,” Williams said of Harper, who was not made available for comment after the game. “The track here is a lot of gravel and he slipped, but no issues. He jarred himself a little bit, but he was fine coming out. He had another at-bat. He was good.”
Earlier in the sixth, Harper had hit a mammoth home run to right field, scoring Washington’s first run of the game. He finished 1 for 3 at the plate in his second game since recovering from a stomach illness.
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“He’s powerful,” Williams said. “The times that he realizes he doesn’t have to do too much, he gets results. So the last 4-5 days before he got sick, he was really swinging it good. Then you take a couple days off, it takes a couple days to get back into it. But I think he’s right where he needs to be.”
McLouth a long shot for Opening Day
Nate McLouth is still recovering from shoulder surgery in August and has only taken at-bats in two games this spring. Williams said he will likely not be ready for Opening Day.
“It’s probably in jeopardy at this point,” Williams said. “The fact that he would have to go through a whole throwing program again to get strong enough to be able to get out there and go. He’s in the process of coming back. But with a week to go it would be stretching it I think.”
McLouth went 2 for 5 over a two-game stretch as a designated hitter on March 11 and 12, but he has not appeared in a game since. Given their current lack of outfield depth, the Nationals could choose to place him on the 60-day disabled list to begin the season, thereby clearing a spot on the 40-man roster.
Offensive woes don’t concern Williams
The Nationals have scored only six runs in their past four games, albeit with a depleted lineup and several minor leaguers rotating through the lineup in the later innings. Williams said he is focusing on situational hitting and quality at-bats rather than the number of runs his team is putting on the scoreboard.
“For me right now, it’s about if we’ve got a guy on second, let’s get him to third. If we’ve got a guy on third, let’s get him in,” he said. “I’m just concerned about the quality of our at-bats and us being competitive up there every at-bat.”
At the beginning of spring, Williams said he would place an emphasis on situational hitting and the ability to manufacture runs. He wanted to see the Nationals take advantage of their opportunities with runners in scoring position, or less than two outs.
When asked Saturday if he has been generally pleased with his team’s performance in that department so far, Williams said his answer would depend on the day.
“You can get pleased and displeased every day, depending on the situation,” he said. “We know with baseball it’s not perfect. We want to create those opportunities, come through in those opportunities, create confidence in those. On any given day, we may leave a guy on third base. You can’t be disappointed about it. We just want to make sure we’re focusing on it.”
Rendon, Span, Werth continue to progress
Williams said third baseman Anthony Rendon feels better every day, but his left knee was still sore following a few ladder drills Friday. Rendon sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee March 9.
“What he’s reported to us is he’s feeling better about it, but it can be a process,” Williams said. “Ligaments attach things together, so if you sprain one then its going to be a little sore. So it’s what we have to deal with, and we’ll continue to push through it as long as his knee and he allows us to do that and he feels good about it.
“We talked about we don’t want to send him into a season too early and have it nag all year long and have him not play the way he wants to play the game. So it’s important for us that he plays it the way he wants to play it. That’s where we’re at. So we’ll keep monitoring, keep improving, keep doing the work that’s needed and go from there.”
Denard Span, who had abdominal surgery March 9, ran in the outfield Friday and told Williams he felt “really good.” Jayson Werth, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, took Friday off as expected. He was scheduled to play some defensive innings on the minor-league side Saturday.
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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