Viera has not been kind to the Washington Nationals this spring. As the regular season quickly approaches, all the various ailments and injuries to the Washington roster are severely hampering manager Davey Johnson's attempt to get an opening day lineup on the field while still in Florida. Via Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post:
Davey Johnson had planned on using a lineup today that mirrored, or at least closely resembled, the one the Nationals will employ on opening day. Injuries, though, are still keeping that from happening.
With Michael Morse, Adam LaRoche and Rick Ankiel nursing ailments, Steve Lombardozzi is starting in left field, Mark DeRosa is starting at first base and Roger Bernadina is in center. It's Lombardozzi's first start in left since the Nationals added "outfield" to his job description.
Here, then, is the full lineup the Nationals will be using today against the New York Mets:
1. Ian Desmond, SS
2. Danny Espinosa, 2B
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Jayson Werth, RF
5. Mark DeRosa, 1B
6. Jesus Flores, C
7. Roger Bernadina, CF
8. Steve Lombardozzi, LF
9. Stephen Strasburg, SP
We'll have much more on Spring Training here at SB Nation DC in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out SB Nation's Nationals blog, Federal Baseball, for more news and notes. And don't forget to visit Baseball Nation, the MLB hub of SB Nation for information from around the league.