Senzel injured before opening game:
Nick Senzel said on a Zoom call with reporters after signing with Washington this winter that he plans to return to Cincinnati, where he played five seasons with the Reds, where he drafted him No. 2 overall in 2016, for his first series with his new team. talked about.
“I have nothing but love for it,” the Nationals’ 28-year-old infielder said of his time in Cincy.
“It will be fun to go back and see the fans and go to the stadium. It will also be nice to get the opening weekend out of the way.
“I’ve been playing with them for a long time, so I’m excited to play against them.”
Unfortunately for Senzel, who was plagued by various injuries during his time with the Reds, his 2024 season opener was over before it even began.
Senzel broke his right thumb on a grounder before the game, sidelined him and headed to the IL.
Nick Senzel broke his thumb while handling a ground ball before the game, according to a person familiar with the injury.
— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) March 28, 2024
“The hit right before the game today really hurt a little bit,” coach Davey Martinez said after the 8-2 loss in Game 1 of 162.
“Nick broke his right thumb. So he’s going to be out for a little while,” Martinez continued.
“So it was kind of a bad situation. He took a bad hop during BP.”
The seventh-year coach told Senzel to keep his head up and work until he recovers.
“I told him, ‘Hey, I know how you’re feeling right now, but wait a minute,'” Martinez said.
“‘You’ve got to be positive, you’ve got to be ready. He can do a lot of things to get ready. Keep your legs in shape, keep your core in shape.
“Obviously, he can’t swing a bat or play the field or anything like that yet, but as soon as he’s able to do things like that, we’re going to get him out there and as soon as possible.” I’m going to try to be ready.”
The injuries that occurred on that occasion were particularly devastating.
“It’s awful. He was in a good position and we were in a good position with him,” Martinez said of the infielder, who signed a one-year/$2 million free agent contract this winter.
“He was looking forward to today, but it was just a fluke. We will miss him, but he will work hard to get back as soon as possible.”
A few hours earlier, Martinez spoke about how well Senzel is settling in at his new club.
“He was great,” the captain said in the pre-match press conference. “He really is.
“He does really well as a third baseman, so we’re going to keep him there every day. We’ve worked on some things to make his bat more consistent.
“He started swinging the bat really well at the end of spring training, so we’re excited to have him here. He brings a lot of energy and passion to this team. ”
With Senzel out, Trey Lipscomb, the last Nationals player off the roster before Opening Day, was reportedly optioned to minor league camp at the end of spring training and headed to Cincinnati. .
Source: Trey Lipscomb is on his way to Cincinnati this afternoon to join up with the team following Nick Senzel’s injury.
Lipscomb hit .400 with the Nationals this spring and competed with Luis Garcia for the 2B spot during his time at ST. He will soon make his MLB debut.
— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) March 29, 2024
Coach Martinez was not ready to officially announce Senzel’s replacement during his postgame press conference.
“I’ll sit with you. [GM Mike Rizzo] After we meet here,” he said, “…and we’ll make plans. You know. [Ildemaro] Vargas is a good fit as a third baseman, but another body is definitely needed.
“So we’re going to sit back and see what we can do.”
Although they didn’t have a chance to implement the plan, the Nationals are looking to develop Lipscomb, the organization’s 2023 Defensive Player of the Year and an all-around player who won the Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award last season and played primarily as a third baseman. I was planning on letting him play. He was an infielder in the minors, so he will be ready to play wherever he is needed this season.
“We’re going to have him play second base, but we’d like him to play shortstop just in case, and maybe third base once a week,” Martinez said before yesterday’s Opening Day.
With the injury to Senzel, who was scheduled to play every day at No. 3 this season, will Lipscomb get a chance to play every day at No. 3?
Josiah Gray’s opening day wasn’t so great:
Before Josiah Gray takes the mound against the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2018 draft during the Nationals’ season opener against the Reds yesterday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. , Davey Martinez said, “He got better.”
“I just told him, ‘Hey, go to the next pitch and stay in your foot position.’ So he’s going to go out there and attack the strike zone,” Martinez said. continued, “…and I said to him, ‘Please keep me in the game as long as possible.'”
Gray avoided a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning, but Washington’s 26-year-old starter allowed a one-out single to the leadoff batter in the second inning, the latter was hit with an RBI, and then a two-run homer to the second batter. . Reds DH Nick Martini hit a cutter in the zone and the first of his two home runs from 405 feet to right-center field, giving the home team the advantage.
An RBI double and Martini’s second hit, this time from a hanging curve, a 389-foot three-run home run to right-center field, extended the lead, and the Reds extended their lead to 7-0 with three RBIs.
In the fourth inning of a 1-2-3, Gray threw a total of 80 pitches and ended up losing the game 8-2.
“Both had one bad pitch.” [innings]it really cost him,” Martinez said of Gray’s outing after the game.
“But he’s got to attack. He’s got to stay in attack mode. He’s got good stuff. So I’m not disrespecting him in any way. It’s just one day. .
“I know he’s going to come back stronger next game. I already told him, ‘Hey, let’s put this behind us, learn from it and move on.’
On the day, Gray produced 15 swinging strikes, earned six Ks from 22 batters he faced, and had 14 called strikes overall. That said, his two pitches to Martini…
“It’s easy to watch that at-bat.” [to Martini] and the damage done,” Gray said. Quoted by Jessica Camerato of Nationals.com:
“But to be honest, every pitch is [catcher] Keibert [Ruiz] We got the call, so we threw with confidence into the zone we wanted to throw. They did some damage to other batsmen. It’s easy to see the damage and just chalk it up to, “It is what it is.” Now that he’s on the pitch, he needs to be better next time. ”
Gray and his manager hoped he could keep the team in the game as long as possible, but it didn’t work out his way.
“We weren’t able to do that today, but I think we all know how we’re going to bounce back in two days.”
“Overall, today was his first opener,” Martinez said of his start.
“We were able to calm him down. We walked two. That’s not bad. One was a borderline call. But we put this game behind us and came back Saturday and made one.” We have to win by -0.”
