From Jeffrey Saffelle in Alexandria, VA:
What do you feel is going to happen with The Nationals at 2nd Base and Shortstop? Cristian Guzman does not look ready to play, by Opening Day. Are The Nats even considering moving Felipe Lopez back to short and putting Ronnie Belliard or Josh Wilson at 2nd? And, is Luis Ayala anywhere close to appearing in a real game, anytime soon? Thanks
Mark Zuckerman:
We're not quite at the point of no return for Guzman, but we're not far off. He needs to play in the field and soon. If for some reason he's not ready by Opening Day, look for Lopez to move to shortstop and Ronnie Belliard to take over at second. Come to think of it, even if Guzman is healthy, if he struggles, Belliard could force his way into the lineup. As for Ayala, he's also quickly approaching a point of no return, and Manny admitted as much yesterday. I've been surprised all along that the club thought he'd be ready to come back from Tommy John surgery in less than a year.

They just sang the national anthem here at Space Coast Stadium with no PA system. Couldn't hear a word, but the girl who sang still got a standing ovation afterward.

From Mike Henderson in Silver Spring:
Has Manny settled on even one other pitcher to join JP in the rotation? Or are there still four slots to fill?
Mark Zuckerman:
Officially, no, he hasn't named another starter. Unofficially, Shawn Hill appears to be a lock (despite the leadoff triple he just surrendered to Jose Reyes). Hill's looked the best of anyone this spring, and he's healthy. The other three spots? Still very much up for grabs, though I'd say Matt Chico and Jason Simontacchi have separated themselves slightly from the rest of the pack.

From Brian in Mount Vernon:
Has Josh Wilson pulled ahead of D'Angelo Jimenez in the competition for backup MI? Is there any chance both Belliard and one of those two make the 25-man?
Mark Zuckerman:
Probably too early to declare either Wilson or Jimenez ahead of each other, but Wilson has looked pretty impressive at the plate the last week. He's hitting .412 all of a sudden. In the field? Well, he's got some issues to work out. So does Jimenez, who has four errors. I do believe, though, that the Nats will keep some other infielder on the 25-man besides Belliard. They need someone who can play shortstop, and Wilson, Jimenez and Jose Macias fall into that category.

Mets scored one in the top of the first, with Reyes coming in on Paul Lo Duca's groundout. Otherwise, Hill looked good. Nats at the plate now.

From Kevin in Fairfax:
The cuts continue, and none were of men out of minor-league options. All teams will do that eventually. What are the chances that one of the Nats' starting 5 will be someone not yet released from another team?
Mark Zuckerman:
For those who haven't heard yet, the Nats announced four roster cuts this morning: Chris Michalak, Jermaine Van Buren, Brett Campbell and Darnell McDonald. None especially surprising, and I suspect there will be more later today. To answer your question, though, I don't think there's a real strong chance of an outsider making the Nationals' Opening Day rotation. The chance of someone becoming available and being better than the in-house options seems slim to me.

From Owen Dowell in Bowie:
We haven't seen too much of Beltran Perez in games lately. What are his chances of cracking the rotation?
Mark Zuckerman:
Apparently not too good, which is somewhat surprising to me. I had Perez as a strong contender when camp opened, but he's been pitching exclusively out of the bullpen and has made only two Grapefruit League appearances so far. Could be that the Nats view Perez as a reliever (remember, he spent most of last season in the bullpen at Harrisburg).

Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-out double in the bottom of the first but was stranded there when Austin Kearns grounded out. And scrap what I said previously about Josh Wilson's defensive troubles. He just started a really nice 6-4-3 double play on a bouncer up the middle.

From Jonathan England in College Park:
Thanks for your efforts Mark, you do an excellent job. Which minor leaguers have been impressive thus far? Just want to see if there is any hope for the "Plan." Lastly, I will be in Viera this weekend--any places I must go? Thanks
Mark Zuckerman:
Haven't been able to spend as much time over at the minor league complex as I would have liked, but from talking to people, several youngsters look good. Chris Marrero (last year's No. 1 pick) is a man-child and is tattooing the ball. Right-hander Collin Balester continues to develop and could be a candidate for a late-season call-up if things go right. Esmailyn Gonzalez is still raw at age 17 but has a bright future. And former Terp Stephen Englund (any relation to you?) looks like a keeper. As for must-visit places in Viera, my favorite dinner spots are Bonefish Willy's (sit out on the deck on a nice night) and Pineda Crossing (try the shrimp quesadillas). Also, it's worth heading out one night to Cocoa Beach. Just be warned: It's Spring Break week, so be prepared for tons of rowdy college students (in case you don't like that kind of thing).

Chan Ho Park is making the Nats look helpless (not that they need much help many days with that). After two innings, he has three strikeout victims. Heading to the third, Mets up 1-0.

From Miss Chatter in Falls Church:
Have you entered the guess the rotation pool? If so, who did you pick (and if not, who would you pick)?
Mark Zuckerman:
Rotation pool? Gambling taking place in the press box? I wouldn't know anything about that. Next thing you're going to tell me we're all going to be doing an NCAA Tournament pool! Now, if by any chance I happened to submit an entry into a guess-the-rotation pool back at the start of camp, it might have looked like this: Patterson, Redding, Hill, Simontacchi, Perez. If I had a chance to revise that today, I'd go with the following: Patterson, Hill, Chico, Simontacchi, Bergmann.

From John in Fairfax:
This might be more of a fantasy question . . . but is Felipe Lopez as good as his numbers from last year indicate? A decent average and OBP and all of those steals. Perhaps I wasn't paying enough attention to him at the end of the year.
Mark Zuckerman:
You and me both. I have to admit I didn't realize Lopez played as well following his trade from the Reds as he did. In 71 games with the Nats, he hit .281 with 22 RBI, 21 steals and a .362 OBP. What impressed me the most about Lopez was his patience at the plate. Didn't know that about him. The Nats will need him to keep up that pace this year now that he's hitting leadoff.

Shawn Hill pitched a 1-2-3 third, so he continues to look sharp. Three innings in the books, one run on three hits. Nook Logan just led off the bottom of the inning with an extra-bses hit down the right-field line. Lastings Milledge had trouble corralling it, and Logan came speeding into third with visions of an inside-the-parker. Tim Tolman put up the stop sign, though, and now the crowd here is all over the third base coach. Too bad, would've been interesting to see Logan pull it off.

From Brian in Alexandria:
Will the Nationals consider service time when they make roster decisions? Or more clearly would the Nationals consider hold off on rostering Matt Chico until May in order to preserve an extra year in the arbitration process by preventing him from becoming a Super Two?
Mark Zuckerman:
I know some teams will do this, and it makes sense in some cases. But I don't think it applies to Chico. If the Nats think he's ready for the show, they'll put him on the roster. And so far, they've given every indication they think he's ready. Chico's still got a few more spring starts to come, but I think they're willing to let him take his lumps a little in the majors if it means he gets the experience and is better for it down the road.

From Jerry in Washington:
Are you really picking Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Big Dance?
Mark Zuckerman:
Well no, not really. But I do have a soft spot for TAMUCC because I covered the program during its first two seasons of play from 1999-2001. The Islanders have come a long way since then, going from a D-I independent to champions of the Southland Conference and a 15-seed in the Midwest. It's probably asking too much for them to beat Wisconsin on Friday, but I'll tell you what: coach Ronnie Arrow's boys will give the Badgers a run for their money. As far as an actual tournament prediction, I haven't decided yet who I like to win it all. But I have to say I'm pretty tempted to go with that little Big East program from northwest D.C. with the famous coach's son. Name one team in the country playing better than them right now. You can't.

And on that note, we'll wrap things up for today. The Nats have come back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third on Nook Logan's triple, Chris Snelling's HBP, Ryan Zimmerman's ground-rule double to left and a Chan Ho Park wild pitch. Thanks for joining us. Come back next week for another round.