'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
The baseball world doesn't stop when you do. While Kimball and Marrero feel like they're back to where they were pre-injury, the Nationals have moved to another level.
The goal this year is simple, as manager Davey Johnson has already laid out as plain as can be: World Series or bust. Here are five storylines to watch as the Nationals go through six weeks of preparation for the 2013 season.
Taking a look at the roster the Nationals will break the 2012 season with.
Nationals spring training roster
The Washington Nationals completed their 2011 roster expansion Tuesday, adding right-hander Brad Peacock and infielder Steve Lombardozzi, along with right-handers Yunesky Maya, Craig Stammen, left-hander Atahualpa Severino and outfielder Corey Brown.
There was a moment Thursday night, while Livan Hernandez lay flat on his back on the front of the pitcher's mound at Petco Park, that the Nationals' right-hander had more to worry about than the one-run deficit he was working with and the two-run homer he'd given up to the Padres in the first inning.
If the Washington Nationals offensive onslaught Friday night at Camden Yards was the perfect example of just how badly they were primed to break out, Saturday's effort served once again to prove how fickle that production is.
Cole Kimball figured he was in trouble.
Here's a look at the next wave of prospects the Nationals hope will be making their way to Washington sooner or later:
"My mindset was I'd never really hurt my arm before, so I didn't know what it was. What was I going to say?" he said. "I thought it was just tendinitis or something. If I'd known it was something serious, I would have said something. I didn't know that it was. I was pitching good. What was I going to do?"
"It stinks. It is terrible," Kimball, a right-handed pitcher, said in the Washington Nationals spring clubhouse as he prepared to get in some work. "Missing a year of baseball, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. It is awful."
