Plenty of news already on this Saturday in Kissimmee, where the Nats are about to play the Astros...

Shawn Hill, whose forearm tightness has been a near-daily topic this spring, had to cut his throwing session short yesterday due to discomfort. He tried to downplay the significance of this development this morning when I talked to him at Space Coast Stadium: "I wasn't feeling 100 percent. I wasn't happy with it. But it wasn't all that bad. It was kind of the same."

Still, the Nats are at least mildly concerned. Hill was given a cortisone shot last night, which hopefully will decrease the inflammation and discomfort in the arm. But he doesn't know when he'll next throw, and while the club isn't ruling anything out yet, are chances of Hill pitching on Opening Night at Nationals Park looking less and less likely? "I don't know how to answer that question, because I know his ligament's fine," GM Jim Bowden said. "I know the nerve is fine. We don't know why he's having pain there. We haven't had a doctor or anyone be able to tell us exactly what it is. So I don't know, that's the way I'd have to answer you right now."

Obviously, plenty more to discuss about this issue.

In the meantime, today's other development: The Nats have renewed Ryan Zimmerman's 2008 contract for $465,000. What does that mean? Well, because Zimmerman still has less than three years' big-league experience, he is not yet eligible for salary arbitration. So the Nats have the right to assign any salary they want to him, which is what they did last year. The club decided to give him $465,000, which is a very modest $65,000 raise from 2007. Zimmerman had no say in the matter, but Bowden made a point to say that the two sides continue to discuss a long-term contract and still believes a deal can be struck at some point.

"We will continue to negotiate with him, until the day comes when we get a multi-year contract with him," Bowden said. "I said this when we drafted him and I will say it now: We want him to start his career and finish his career as a National. And as I told him yesterday, I look forward to the day No. 11 is hanging on the outfield wall as the first Washington National to be retired in 20 years. That is our goal, and we are going to work toward it in our relationship."

So there you have it. Plenty more on both subjects in tomorrow's paper. Until then, here's the Nats' lineup against the Astros:

SS Felipe Lopez
CF Lastings Milledge
3B Ryan Zimmerman
DH Wily Mo Pena
RF Austin Kearns
1B Luis Jimenez
2B Ronnie Belliard
C Jesus Flores
LF Willie Harris

P Tim Redding, to be followed by Rob Bell and Saul Rivera.