Spring Training is a time for players to work at different positions in low-stakes settings. Perhaps the most interesting development from the first week of Nationals camp is that All-Star outfielder James Wood has made a couple starts in right field. Two of his first three Spring Training appearances have come at the position.
The 23-year-old has not played right field in a regular season MLB game. Wood had a little over 400 innings there in the minor leagues. He has been exclusively a left fielder or designated hitter over his season and a half in the majors.
Nats manager Blake Butera hasn’t made any declarations about a position change. There’s no harm in reintroducing Wood to the position even if they intend for him to see the majority of his regular season work in left. The Nationals didn’t get him any action in right field during Spring Training 2025.
Daylen Lile was the primary right fielder after he came up in May. Lile hit the ground running offensively, batting .299/.347/.498 through his first 91 MLB contests. It was a different story on the other side of the ball. Lile was among the worst defensive outfielders in the league. He’s a good athlete with plus speed but turned a handful of easy outs into hits with poor routes or questionable decisions to let catchable balls drop in front of him.
Lile made 21 starts in left field and 52 in right. He didn’t grade well at either position. Wood has also had poor defensive metrics, albeit not to the same extent. If the Nationals feel he’s the better corner defender of the two, they could prefer to have Wood in right field against lineups that skew left-handed. They’ll each get a decent amount of DH work as well.
Dylan Crews can play anywhere in the outfield, though he doesn’t have much left field experience in pro ball. Jacob Young is easily the team’s best outfield defender. He’ll be in center whenever he’s in the lineup but fits best in a fourth outfield role because of his light bat.
However the outfield sorts itself out, those four players all go into camp with spots on the MLB roster secured. That’s not true of many players on the pitching staff. Free agent signees Miles Mikolas and Foster Griffin join Cade Cavalli and Josiah Gray as likely members of the season-opening rotation. Gray missed all of last season recovering from July 2024 internal brace surgery. Cavalli came back from Tommy John surgery of his own last year. He made 10 starts late in the season, pitching to a 4.25 ERA across 48 2/3 innings.
Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner wrote about the pitchers’ respective rehab processes this week. President of baseball operations Paul Toboni told reporters that Cavalli is “full go” this spring. That might also include a repertoire adjustment.
The 27-year-old righty said he worked with pitching coaches Simon Mathews and Sean Doolittle to incorporate a sweeper. Cavalli’s primary breaking ball is an 86 mph knuckle-curve that has more of a vertical shape. A sweeper would give him something with an east-west profile that he can run away from right-handed hitters. Cavalli tossed two scoreless innings in his exhibition debut this week.
Gray has yet to get into a Spring Training game, though he’s expected to be fully built up by Opening Day. If he secures the fourth starter role, that’d leave one spot available for a group including Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, Brad Lord, Andrew Alvarez and Jake Eder.
Veteran right-hander Trevor Williams is midway through his own surgical rehab. He underwent an internal brace procedure last July and figures to be out at least through the All-Star Break. As Mark Zuckerman of Nats Journal wrote recently, Williams paused his throwing program and went for precautionary imaging after feeling some elbow soreness last weekend. It’s common for pitchers to have pauses along the way in their return from elbow ligament procedures. Butera downplayed the team’s concern on Saturday, though the Nationals haven’t provided any specifics on the MRI results.