Cade Cavalli will be the Nationals Opening Day starter vs. the Cubs.
Really, really neat after all he has been through over the last few years.
Made my @ewpod.bsky.social debut to talk about the state of the Nats, the changes they’ve made and how long it might take for all of this to show up on the field.
Tap in! open.spotify.com/episode/4n22...
Innings incentives for Littell, per source:
100k each for 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 IP
250k each for 150, 160 IP
500k each for 170, 180, 190 IP
He got to 186.2 innings last year.
First on the money: bestie @andrewgolden.bsky.social
Also, Richard Lovelady was DFAed as the corresponding move.
The move is official: The Nationals have signed Zack Littell to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2027.
It’s $7 million this year, per source, with the potential to get up to $9.5 million with innings incentives.
2027 mutual option is $12 million. $4 million buyout.
The Nationals and Zack Littell are in an agreement on a one-year contract pending a physical, source confirms.
@kileymcd.bsky.social and @jeffpassanbot.bsky.social were first.
March 16 for me, and amped for it! Can’t speak for anyone else, though.
With Caleb Lomavita, I’ll be keeping an eye on which trait improves at the plate this year: walks or homers.
He’s 20th on Keith Law’s Nats’ Top 20:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...
Bryce Montes de Oca and Tyler Baum: WSH has a ton of flexibility in how it manages, options and add/DFAs from the pen this year.
That’s why it was smart to add a bunch of NRI relievers who may be a tweak or two away. More options, better chance of striking gold.
Given that the only middle infielders on the Nats 40 man are CJ Abrams, Luis García Jr., Nasim Nuñez and José Tena, it feels like the two infielders here (Orelvis Martinez and Sergio Alcantara) have a path to playing in the majors this year.
Luis Perales: I’ll be keeping a close eye on how the staff in Rochester manages his workload and helps him with the command. Because the stuff? It’ll play! x.com/tjstats/stat...
Riley Cornelio! There’s “new Brad Lord” potential here, for sure.
Stuff has ticked up. Look at the sinker this spring (first image) vs. last year (second image is AAA metrics).
Feels like a matter of when he will make starts in Washington, not if.
My job hasn’t started yet, but marginal moves call out to me like the green goblin mask
so here is some context from afar on the Nats spring training cuts:
Me too!
Hey! My first day is March 16, so you won’t see anything on site until then.
My first day at @theathletic.com is March 16!
I’ll keep breaking news and writing features, but there’s a new element to this, too — answering your questions directly. (More on that soon!)
Hope you’ll come along for the journey!
New IG & TikTok: byspencernusbaum
As expected, top prospects Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora were among the first cuts at Nationals spring training.
They will head to MiLB camp alongside Andry Lara, Eddy Yean and Max Romero.
Andrew crystallized, to me, what it takes to be a great reporter. That’s by being yourself — which, in Andrew’s case, meant being kind, grounded, funny and eager to poke at anything that made him curious.
This role, as such, is a perfect fit. He’s gonna crush it.
Thank you! I feel welcomed already!
Will keep you posted, but it appears likely!
lol that’s all you!
Thank you! I’m amped! And will post here when I have that date locked down!
Oh, yeah, subscribe to @theathletic.com
Yes, this is surreal. Yes, this is quite the list of people to see my name alongside.
And if you’re curious about the beat structure, I’ll have more on that soon! But it’ll be a whole lot of me talking to you all, you all talking to me, and deep reporting. Let’s ride!
Well, Nats fans, I’m sticking around.
Thrilled to announce that I’m joining the @theathletic.com as the Washington Nationals beat reporter.
I’m amped about our plans for the beat, and believe you will be, too.
www.nytco.com/press/the-at...
Good morning from CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Glad to be here with MLBdotcom's Jessica Camerato. Wish our friends @andrewgolden.bsky.social, @spencernusbaum.bsky.social and @chelseajanes.bsky.social were here, too.
Here’s what’s on tap today: natsjournal.com/p/live-from-...
Anyways, yeah. This is an incalculable loss for the region and sports journalism. It will be jarring to wake up in the morning — in one of the biggest metro areas in the country — and not have a sports section (and so many other great parts of The Post) to turn to.
Also, it was really nice that my final story for the Post was one I co-bylined with @andrewcgolden (and was edited, as always, by an incredible team of editors).
We did some great work together
The sports section basically taught me how to read growing up. Somehow, years later, they let me write in those pages. I’ll cherish that forever.
I was laid off by The Washington Post today. This is gutting for our readers and our section, but I’m grateful for the 4 years I had to cover sports alongside friends and legends.
If you’re hiring or know of someone who is: spencernusbaum(at)gmail(dot)com
