Notes: Scherzer sim game; player pool updates

WASHINGTON -- Baseball returned to Nationals Park on Friday morning for the first time since Game 5 of the World Series on Oct. 27. Day 1 of Summer Camp began bright and early with workouts at 7:45 a.m. and ran through 5:30 p.m.

Players had been split into groups for COVID-19 testing before camp opened. The entire first group was cleared to report Friday. The team was awaiting the results of the second group as of Friday afternoon.

The Nationals looked to resume where they left off when Spring Training was halted on March 12. There are questions to be answered before Washington opens the 2020 season later this month to defend its World Series title, and it got an early glimpse on Friday into how the team is shaping up.

Pitchers back on the mound
Nationals pitchers had an abbreviated winter after throwing 153 innings in the 2019 postseason. Over the past three months, they had the chance to continue getting into game form. Starters Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, along with reliever Will Harris, put in work on Friday morning.

Scherzer threw a simulated game of 65 pitches to hitters. Strasburg and Corbin, general manager Mike Rizzo said, are in "full bullpen mode."

"Some of the guys we saw today look like they have been pitching quite a bit on their own under the guidance of [pitching coach] Paul Menhart," Rizzo said. "We feel that they are much closer to game ready than they would have coming into a normal Spring Training because of the game plan we had during this absence."

No Ross -- now what?
Leading fifth-starter candidate Joe Ross elected not to play this season, leaving the question if the Nats will shrink their rotation to four (Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez), or name a fifth during Summer Camp. Nationals manager Dave Martinez doesn't want to overwork a shorter rotation, and he said there's a spot to be earned. Erick Fedde and Austin Voth, who previously shared the fifth spot with Ross, will be given strong looks.

"Right now, we're focusing on using a five-man rotation," Martinez said. "As we get going, we'll see where we're at. Without Joe Ross, we feel like we have two guys that can fill in with Fedde and Voth. We also got some younger guys in camp that we're going to take a look at. But, I've got a lot of confidence in both those guys to come in here and win the fifth starting job."

Updates to the 60-man player pool
Catcher Welington Castillo joined Ross and Ryan Zimmerman in electing not to play this season. Martinez noted Castillo's two small children and wife are in the Dominican Republic.

"I don't hold anything against those guys," Martinez said. "They have family."

With spots open on the 60-man Player Pool, the Nationals added this year's first-round pick, right-hander Cade Cavalli, to the group. Cavalli traveled to Washington and underwent COVID-19 testing on Friday.

"Hopefully he'll be on the field very soon," Rizzo said. "And then we'll have a couple of open spots to leave our options open for further down the road."

Gearing up for games
In a traditional Spring Training scenario, there would be a buildup of workouts to competitions between teams. The Summer Camp schedule does not include exhibition games, but the Nationals are exploring options to incorporate them. Their plan is to hold workouts for five days and then begin holding scrimmages to help get the players ready for regular-season action.

"Our starters need to go out there and face hitters," Martinez said. "Our hitters need to face live pitching."