Nats' mantra: 'Just focus on the now'

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Nationals expect few -- if any -- easy days when they take the field to defend their World Series title this season.

Even though it was only a Grapefruit League contest to open March, Washington got a friendly reminder of that sentiment during Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Mets at Clover Park.

Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom pitched three scoreless innings by commanding the zone (36 pitches, 27 strikes) and showing off his velocity (97 mph on his first pitch) in his spring debut.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez knows that the NL East will feature multiple aces, including deGrom, in 2020. In order to tackle that on a daily basis, he expects his lineup to work good at-bats and piece together offense, much like it did during the 2019 postseason.

"I think our guys learned a lot about pressure last year in their at-bats," Martinez said. "We faced some unbelievable pitching and they handled them pretty well. Now they understand, especially some of our younger guys, what they need to do and how they need to approach each at-bat and each pitch. We'll see.

"I told these guys, 'Don't base everything on numbers because, especially at the beginning of the year, by the end of the year, honestly, your numbers are going to be similar to what they typically are. ... 'Just focus on the now.' That's my biggest thing with this group. 'Focus on the now.'"

Ryan Zimmerman, who grounded out to first base in his lone at-bat against deGrom on Sunday, admitted that it's easier said than done to maintain the same level of focus during a 162-game season as a seven-game playoff series.

"In the postseason, the quality of pitching you're facing, you're not hitting home runs, you're not stringing together tons of hits," said Zimmerman, who went deep during Game 1 of the Fall Classic but hit just .208 in the series. "Just having good at-bats, fouling balls off, working your walks. Against guys like Jacob, and a lot of guys in our division, I think it showed us what kind of success you can have if everyone takes that approach.

"In the playoffs, things are ratcheted up a little bit, but I definitely don't think that experience hurt us. Our division is going to be one of the toughest divisions. These guys obviously have a really good rotation. There's not going to be any real easy series. To see these guys and to get into it, it's always good, especially this early when you're still feeling your way into it."

Latest on Harris

According to Martinez, Will Harris was scheduled to throw off flat ground up to 75 feet on Sunday. The reliever tweaked his left abdomen and was scratched from his spring debut on Thursday.

The club will reevaluate the 35-year-old Harris, who combined for 69 2/3 innings and 80 appearances between the regular season and postseason with the Astros in 2019, after he throws on Sunday. The right-hander signed a three-year, $24 million deal over the winter to bolster Washington's bullpen.

"He's itching to get back on the mound," Martinez said. "I told him, 'Hey, the extended year last year for you, we've got time.' We can do a lot of different things to get him ready."

Sánchez finishes strong

Right-hander Aníbal Sánchez has been around long enough to know what he needs to get out of Spring Training in order to be ready when the games count.

The 14-year veteran uses his starts to build his stamina and pitch counts after months of being away from competition.

Sánchez, who went two innings in his spring debut on Tuesday, threw three frames on Sunday. He rebounded from early command issues during a 25-pitch, two-run first to go two more scoreless frames.

"At the end, it's [to] finish your goal," Sánchez said. "Even if I got three innings today, I want to finish my three innings. I don’t want to be 2 1/3 [innings], 2 2/3 [innings]. The key for every starter is [to] finish the goal."

Up next

Right-hander Joe Ross, who is a candidate for the fifth spot in the rotation, will make his second spring start as the Nationals host the Marlins at 1:05 p.m. ET on Monday at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Follow the contest live on Gameday.