'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
The Nationals' slow offensive start has been concerning to some, worrisome to others and downright nerve-fraying to certain factions of the fanbase. For plenty, it's been maddening to watch them strike out, swinging or looking, so often. To see them come up small in large situations. To hit the ball on the screws, and right at a waiting fielder.
They came in with a fairly firm idea of who would occupy each of the 25 spots on their Opening Day roster, provided they stayed healthy. And over the course of seven weeks, a long spring even by long spring standards, they largely managed to do that.
Bernadina spoke glowingly of his time in the WBC. The best moment of the entire tournament for him was when the Dutch team beat Cuba to advance to the final round, even though he didn't play in that game.
How quickly we forget the spring training sensation is just 22 years old with 133 professional at-bats to his credit, thanks to last season's serious ankle injury.
Porter thrust himself into conversation for national player of the year honors, along with Michigan's Trey Burke and Indiana's Victor Oladipo, after depositing 33 points, eight rebounds and five steals against Syracuse last week.
Enjoy baseball's exhibition season for what it is, a sign the real thing isn't far away. Do not put too much stock in anything that actually happens on the field.
Gonzalez has twice been brought up unprompted by manager Davey Johnson as one of the pitchers who has impressed most early. That's good news for the Nationals, who will lose him to Team USA after his third start of the spring.
