SUNDAY, MARCH 27 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D11
BY JESSE DOUGHERTY
west palm beach, fla. — To
any former Washington Nation-
als pitchers who may read this, it
could be smart to keep your
phone close, ringer on. The club
just signed 3 7-year-old reliever
Tyler Clippard to a minor league
deal with an invite to spring
training, which comes after they
did the same with starter Aníbal
Sánchez and inked reliever Sean
Doolittle on a major league con-
tract.
But this is not quite getting
the band back together on the
pitchers’ side of the spring train-
ing c lubhouse. Clippard p redates
Doolittle and Sánchez by a few
years.
“At this point in my career, this
scenario I’m in right now is the
best possible s cenario,” said C lip-
pard, who pitched for the Na-
tionals from 2008 to 20 14.
“There’s so many factors when
you reach my age, and I’ve been
so many different places. Not to
say that it’s tough to get excited,
but s ometimes when you f eel like
you’re just a hired gun and go
from organization to organiza-
tion.. .”
He trailed off a bit. Then he
brought his mind back to D.C.
“... there’s an element of be-
ing here where my heart is i n it. I
kind of left my heart here be-
cause I was here for so long and
we went through so much. And
then it was just four months in
Oakland a nd traded to N ew York.
You don’t have those emotional
connections to each organiza-
tion that you’re in. But I do here.
For me, that’s going to help.”
Connections t o his old Nation-
als teammates are strong. He
still talks with Tom Gorzelanny,
John Lannan, Sean Burnett, Ian
Desmond and Ryan Zimmer-
man. He played in a golf event
with Craig Stammen this offsea-
son and wants to tee off with
Liván Hernández down in Flori-
da. He and Drew Storen, a for-
mer bullpen mate, remain good
friends and recently started a
business selling whiskey made
with corn that was grown where
“Field of Dreams” was shot in
Iowa. But of that group, only
Clippard and Stammen remain
active.
Since he left for Washington,
Clippard has pitched for Oak-
land, the New York Mets, Ari-
zona, the New York Yankees,
Chicago White Sox, Houston,
Toronto, Cleveland, Minnesota
and the Diamondbacks again
last year. At the start of 2021, he
missed 3^1 / 2 months w ith a capsule
sprain in his right shoulder.
Otherwise, t hough, h e has been a
model of durability, averaging 6 8
appearances a season from 2009
to 2019.
A 3.13 career ERA isn’t so bad,
either. The Nationals are risking
nothing to see what he has left.“The foundation of who I am,
the nuts and bolts of who Tyler
Clippard is, is never going to
change,” Clippard said. “ The fast-
ball-change-up, of course. But
obviously when you’re in the
game and you age in the game,
you have to make adjustments.
That’s what baseball is. Evenweek to week, you need to make
adjustments.
“So t his i s eight y ears removed
from being a Washington Na-
tional.... [I’ve] definitely
evolved, g ot a few new toys in t he
chest and doing all sorts of fun
things out there now.... I feel
like I c an d o it a t a high level still.It might look a little different,
but it still gets the job done.”
The new toys? He drops his
arm angle on some pitches,
sweeps a curveball and mixes in
a sinker, which could help a
traditionally flyball pitcher in-
duce more grounders. Fan-
Graphs still had Clippard at
43 percent four-seam fastballs
and 34 percent change-ups in
2021. Evolution doesn’t have to
mean totally forgetting who you
are.
But at his age and with hitters
looking to launch high pitches
into orbit, it makes sense for
Clippard t o tweak his a rsenal. He
told reporters Saturday that he
has thrown eight live batting
practice sessions and could be
ready for an exhibition soon. He,
Martinez and pitching c oach Jim
Hickey will discuss next steps,
with Clippard on the fringe of
Washington’s shoddy bullpen.
With the regular season less t han
two weeks away, it seems likely
Clippard extends his ramp-up
past April 7 and waits for a
chance.
“Look, we want to make sure,
one, that you’re healthy and
you’re going to stay healthy,”
Martinez said Saturday. “His vet-
eran presence, the way he goes
about his business, he’s going to
help us.
“He’s going to help us in the
bullpen. But I want to make sure
that he’s ready.”Nationals bring back old hand Clippard on a minor league deal
RICH SCHULTZ/GETTY IMAGES
“There’s an element of being here where my heart is in it,” said
Tyler Clippard, 37, who pitched for Washington from 2008 to 2014.MARK BROWN/GETTY IMAGES
If pitching plans hold as expected, f ormer Washington ace Max Scherzer will face his longtime team when t he Mets play at Nationals Park in the season’s second game.
BaseballASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Yankees star slugger
Aaron Judge soon will get a pro-
posal for a long-term contract ex-
tension, General Manager Brian
Cashman s aid Saturday.
“Between now and Opening
Day we’ll make an offer and he’ll
obviously receive an offer and all
the conversions will have taken
place a nd will either r esolve into a
multiyear deal or it won’t,” Cash-
man said.
“We’re committed. We’ ll make
an offer and hear what he has to
say in response, a nd t hen i t will b e
pencils down before Opening
Day,” he said.
The Yankees open April 7 at
home against the Boston Red Sox.
Judge said he was “pretty sure”
he doesn’t w ant to negotiate a new
contract during the regular sea-
son. The outfielder, who turns 30
next month, is e ligible to become a
free agent after t he World Series.
“We haven’t decided y et, but for
right now that’s what we’ve got,”
Judge said. “I want to be here. Get
a chance to play here for quite a
few more years, that would be
great. If it happens, it h appens. If i t
doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m not too wor-
ried.”
The Yankees and Judge have
failed to reach a deal for 202 2,
which could result i n the two sides
heading into arbitration during
the season. He asked for a raise
from $10,175,000 to $21 million,
and the Yankees offered $17 mil-
lion.
Judge hit .287 with 39 home
runs and 9 8 RBI last season.
l REDS: Cincinnati signed free
agent outfielder Tommy Pham,
trying to boost a s pot where a pair
of all-stars no longer play.
Nick Castellanos signed this
month with Philadelphia as a free
agent, and left fielder Jesse Wink-
er was traded to Seattle.
Reds Manager David Bell said
Pham “will be a big part of our
lineup.” Pham gives Cincinnati a
right-handed-hitting outfielder
who c an hit left-handed pitching.
The 34-year-old Pham i s expect-
ed to add speed and power to
Cincinnati’s lineup in the outfield
with Nick Senzel in center and
Tyler Naquin i n right.
Pham is an eight-year veteran
who spent the past two with the
San Diego Padres. He hit .229 last
year with 1 5 homers and 49 RBI.
He is a career .26 5 hitter with
97 h omers a nd 300 RBI.
l CARDINALS: The Grape-
fruit League debut of veteran
catcher Yadier Molina was p ushed
back another day to give h im more
time to hone his swing, Manager
Oliver Marmol said.
Molina had been scheduled to
play in Sunday’s game against the
New York Mets in Port St. Lucie,
Fla.
Molina, a 10-time all-star, now
is scheduled to make his debut
Monday against Houston.
Molina, 39, missed the first
week of what could be his final
spring training for personal rea-
sons. A career .280 hitter with
171 homers a nd 9 98 RBI, Molina is
entering his 1 9th major league
season.
l GUARDIANS: Reliever
James Karinchak could miss the
start of the regular season with a
shoulder strain.
One of Cleveland’s top bullpen
arms, Karinchak underwent an
MRI exam Thursday that r evealed
a mild strain in his right teres
major muscle. The team said Kar-
inchak will not throw for up to
10 days before being r eevaluated.
Karinchak went 7-4 with a
4.07 ERA and 11 saves l ast season.
Also, backup catcher Luke
Maile could be out for a month
with a strained hamstring.
l ATHLETICS: Jed Lowrie is
staying with O akland to extend
the infielder’s third stint with the
club, reaching agreement on a
one-year contract.
Lowrie, who turns 38 next
month, returned l ast season on a
minor league contract. He batted
.245 with 28 doubles, 14 h ome r uns
and 69 R BI over 139 g ames.
l BLUE JAYS: Toronto pitch-
ing coach Pete Walker apologized
after being arrested o n a charge of
driving under the influence.
Walker was arrested early Fri-
day morning in Pinellas County,
Fla., and released later that d ay o n
$5 00 cash b ond.
“I’m very apologetic to the Blue
Jays organization, Blue Jays fans
and my f amily,” Walker, 52, said.
Walker pitched for Toronto
from 2002 to 2006 and has been
with the organization as a coach
since 2009.MLB NOTES
Yankeespreparingan o≠erfor JudgeBY JESSE DOUGHERTY
west palm beach, fla. — The
Washington Nationals-New York
Mets game April 8 will be broad-
cast exclusively on Apple TV
Plus, according to four people
with knowledge of the situation,
kicking off Major League Base-
ball’s newest streaming partner-
ship. The game, which will be
available for free and not require
an Apple TV Plus subscription,
will not be shown on Mid-Atlan-
tic Sports Network, the Nation-
als’ television network, or S ports-
Net New York, which broadcasts
all in-market Mets games.
And if pitching plans hold as
expected, that is the night Max
Scherzer will return to face his
old team at Nationals Park.
The game will not b e subject to
any blackout restrictions, but
fans will need to have or down-
load Apple TV Plus. According to
a joint announcement from MLB
and Apple this month, games
will be free and won’t require a
subscription only for a limited
time. Nationals-Mets will be part
of an Apple TV Plus doublehead-
er, though the other matchup is
not yet public.
This is the fifth season MLB
has had a streaming package; it
partnered with Facebook i n 2018,
Facebook and YouTube in 2019 ,
and YouTube in 2020 and 2021.
It makes sense for both MLB
and Apple to want to make a
splash with their first offering.
It’s also fair if some fans are
frustrated with having to shift
their setup or miss the second
game of the regular season — o ne
that, given what Scherzer means
to each team, will b e chock full o f
emotions and intrigue.Fedde exits early
Washington lost, 4-2, to the
Mets on Saturday in Port St.
Lucie and got only 22 / 3 innings
from starter Erick Fedde. The
plan was for Fedde to throw four
innings and around 60 pitches.
But because 60 pitches came
quickly, with the Mets fouling off
18 of them, Fedde was hooked in
the third, setting up Reed Gar-
rett, Steve Cishek and Kyle
Finnegan to yield runs out of the
bullpen. Lane Thomas, starting
in left field, accounted for the
Nationals’ damage with a two-
run homer over the batter’s eye
in center.Who is the backup catcher?
Ostensibly, it’s Riley Adams
because Manager Dave Martinez
said Friday that he wants Adams
to catch every day if Keibert Ruiz
suffers an injury (then he
knocked his head for good luck
when there was a wooden table
right in front of him). But be-
cause Martinez wants Adams
ready for that scenario, he pon-
dered aloud whether it could
make sense t o stash him with the
Class AAA Rochester Red Wings,
where he could be the regular
starter. And that would push Tres
Barrera, 27, into the mix after he
earned the pitching staff’s trust
this past summer.
At this point, Barrera’s defense
is sharper than Adams’s. Adams,
though, h as p ower from the right
side and a knack for getting on
base. The Nationals have toyed
with sliding him to first for a few
extra at-bats over the course of
the season. Signing Nelson Cruz
this month means there won’t be
many to pick up at designated
hitter. But Adams is making his
case to both head north with
Washington and get in the box.
Against the St. Louis Cardinals
on Friday, he clubbed one homer
to dead center and another way
out to left, showing his offseason
focus on flattening his swing
plane to keep his bat in the zonelonger. So far, it has worked.
“Gosh, it might have been all
the way back in college,” Adams,
25, said Friday afternoon about
the last time he hit two home
runs in a game. “... I mean, this
is spring training, but I don’t
think I’ve ever had [a two-homer
game] in pro ball or t he minors. I
think! I don’t know. I don’t really
pay attention to those things. It’s
been a while, at least.”
Well, he’s certainly right about
not paying much attention to his
own home runs. After the inter-
view, the team’s communications
director told Adams he had a pair
of two-homer games with the
Class AAA Buffalo Bisons last
season.García is trending down
As of Saturday morning, Luis
García seemed unlikely to make
the Opening Day roster. Marti-
nez c alled the 21-year-old infield-
er the Nationals’ “future” in his
pregame meeting with reporters.
The manager also admitted to
considering a platoon with
García and a right-handed-hit-
ting infielder to start the year,
which probably means Alcides
Escobar. But Martinez wants
García to play every day, which
the Nationals often do with
young players, and the best op-
portunity for him to do so inApril is probably with the Class
AAA Rochester Red Wings.
Is there an argument to try
García at shortstop during
what’s expected to be a rebuild-
ing year? Yes, though the Nation-
als would contend that he’s not
ready there and more poor de-
fensive results could stunt his
growth. After signing a regular
second baseman in César
Hernández, then giving Escobar
the bulk of reps at shortstop this
spring, the Nationals seem to
have made their middle-infield
plans c lear. The question, t hen, is
whether Martinez and the front
office see any short- or long-term
value in carrying García on the
bench. Precedent suggests they
won’t.Cruz’s bracket busted?
Nelson Cruz isn’t doing great
in his NCAA tournament pool
after North Carolina’s win over
UCLA on Friday night. Walking
through the clubhouse Saturday
morning, Cruz looked at a taped-
up bracket and asked: “UNC
won? No way.” The score had
been final for about 10 hours.
Yes, UNC won, a few of the
clubhouse attendants told Cruz.
The veteran designated hitter
smiled and shook his head.
“Damn,” he said quietly. “That
means I’m down.”NATIONALS NOTES
Reunion with Scherzer slated for Apple TV Plus
Game against the Mets
is scheduled to b e part
of doubleheader April 8