On December 1, 2023, the Washington Nationals announced that they will play an exhibition game in the nation’s capital on March 26, 2024.
Instead of the usual late spring game, as a final preparation for the regular season (And the soft opening of the stadium) Against a rival MLB team, the club plans to field the top prospects in the organization and play against a major league team in front of its home fans.
“We are extremely grateful to our Washington, D.C. fans for their continued support and can’t wait for them to see some of the players who will make up our next championship roster,” Baseball Operations said. & the president said. GM Mike Rizzo said in a press release regarding the game. “Players like James Wood, Dylan Cruz, Brady House, Robert Hassell. [III] It’s certainly garnered a lot of attention, and once fans get a chance to see the full lineup of young players in our system, there’s even more reason to be optimistic about where we’re headed. Dew. ”
Photo by: Daniel Sharry/MLB Photo by: Getty Images
The prospect roster (and 26-man major league roster) will be announced in late March.
A few days after the press release about this game, Rizzo and Nationals manager Davey Martinez spoke about the prospect of all of the organization’s top players playing on the field in D.C. and testing themselves in the 2023-24 winter meetings. he said excitedly. big league club.
“People think they know our prospects by name and stuff,” Rizzo told reporters.
“But they know some of the more popular ones. We have a good, deep system with exciting players that are going to thrive there. It’s going to be fun for them to play and we… It’s going to be fun to sit back and watch, and it’s going to be great for fans to finally have a name on a face and be able to track something all season long in the minor leagues. is.”
Martinez said he hopes to see the top players in action in this year’s spring training and then put on a show at Nationals Park.
“I hope they’re all in big league camp because I want to see them play,” Martinez said. “They’re definitely going to get a lot out of it.” [out of being in big league Spring Training]. The most important thing is really getting to know them and working with them to give them an idea of what we’re looking for and how we want to attack the game. That would be the biggest thing.
“The other thing is, this year we’ve got a matchup of this prospect that I’m really excited about. For myself, for the coaching staff, and for the fans as well, we’ve got a lot of talent for our young prospects. I think it’s fun to catch them, and now that I have a lot of them, I think it’s a lot of fun.
![San Francisco Giants v Washington Nationals](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q7c7WqqeJndXzCESK0BmULmR34A=/0x0:4808x3205/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4808x3205):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25246644/1548837474.jpg)
Photo by Diamond Images/Getty Images
“I think it’s going to be a fun match,” Rizzo added. “I think it’s going to be great for the fans, that’s why I was so committed to it. I think the fans love to see young players like everyone has read about, and I think they love to see them in a major league ballpark, in a major league ballpark.” I think it’s going to be fun to watch them play against each other and I think it’s going to be great interaction between the new players and the veterans. It’s going to be good for them. I think it’s a win-win for everyone. I think it’s going to be an exciting day.”