Today marks the deadline for teams to submit to Major League Baseball their initial spring training player pools, which can comprise up to 60 players. Players are not eligible to participate in either a spring training or regular season game until they are included in the pool. Teams are free to change the makeup of the pools as they see fit. However, players removed from a team’s 60-man (for reasons unrelated to injury, suspension, etc.) must be exposed to other organizations via trade or waivers.
Not all players within a team’s pool are ticketed for MLB playing time, of course. Most teams will include well-regarded but still far-off prospects as a means of getting them training reps with no intention of running them onto a major league diamond this season. A comprehensive review of 2020’s unique set of rules can be found here.
The Nationals’ initial player pool consists of the following players.
Right-handed pitchers
- Joan Adon
- Dakota Bacus
- Aaron Barrett
- James Bourque
- Wil Crowe
- Tyler Eppler
- Paolo Espino
- Erick Fedde
- Kyle Finnegan
- Steven Fuentes
- Javy Guerra
- Ryne Harper
- Will Harris
- Daniel Hudson
- Jake Irvin
- Kyle McGowin
- Kevin Quackenbush
- Tanner Rainey
- Joe Ross
- Jackson Rutledge
- Anibal Sanchez
- Max Scherzer
- Stephen Strasburg
- Wander Suero
- Austin Voth
- Austen Williams
Left-handed pitchers
- Fernando Abad
- Ben Braymer
- Tim Cate
- Patrick Corbin
- Matt Cronin
- Sean Doolittle
- Roenis Elias
- Sam Freeman
- Seth Romero
- Nick Wells
Catchers
Infielders
- Asdrubal Cabrera
- Starlin Castro
- Wilmer Difo
- Luis Garcia
- Howie Kendrick
- Carter Kieboom
- Jake Noll
- Brandon Snyder
- Eric Thames
- Trea Turner
- Ryan Zimmerman
Outfielders
DarkSide830
no Condra-Bogan? boo!
DarkSide830
also 6 catchers is crazy
BuddyBoy
Six catchers is gonna be normal in most cases. Two on active roster, one on travel group, three in reserve
dugmet
Catchers are needed to catch bullpen sessions.
DarkSide830
what was the last team to use a roster guy to catch BP for? unless you mean for ST, but still seems like a waste
rd42
Definitely part for ST, but there will also be 30+ guys on the “inactive” roster. You’ll need guys for those practice sessions, whether its a bullpen for guys or some organized scrimmage.
tcostant
Zimmerman is back. I’m shocked.
Armaments216
Not sure what the rules are. Is Zimmerman back, or are the Nats just keeping the option open for him?
nats3256
So what is the protocol for someone like Zim, who is on this roster, will be on the 25 (or whatever number were going with this year) active rosters- but may opt out of playing due to covid?
DarkSide830
id assume they can be transferred to a list like the 60 day list where they dont need to be exposed to waivers but also arent holding a roster spot.
adc6r
I believe they are designated Not Active and don’t count against the roster limits.
bhambrave
They could have just left Zimmerman off at first and added him later.
MBDaGod
Wrong Javy Guerra