thursday, february 20 , 2020. the washington post eZ M2 D3
our team game is off, and that
results in poor defensive efforts
from basically our team.”
Dillon, who is 6-foot-4 and
weighs 225 pounds, gives the
Capitals five of the top 21 hitters
in the NHL: Dillon, Tom Wilson,
radko Gudas, Alex ovechkin and
Garnet Hathaway.
“There are guys around the
league that play hard and that
play the r ight way, a nd he’s o ne of
them,” Wilson said. “We’re really
excited to have a guy like that
come into our room. I’ve heard
nothing but really top-tier things
from pretty much e verybody thatdefense, even without Tuesday’s
acquisition of Dillon.
“I think we have a good team
that’s not playing the right way,
and we need t o find the right way
to play,” macLellan said of the
Capitals, who have lost four of
their past five games and are
10-10 over their past 20. “I think
sometimes our defense is getting
pinpointed for it where I think
team defense should be more the
focus of the criticism. I think our
forwards contribute to the pres-
sure that’s put on our ‘D’: wall
play in our own end, back pres-
sure, lack of a forecheck. I thinkFROM NEWS SERVICESA few days ago the big ques-
tion in mesa, Ariz., was whether
Kris Bryant would make it
through spring training in a
Chicago Cubs uniform.
After Bryant met with manag-
er David ross on Wednesday
morning, the question was
whether Bryant would be the
Cubs’ next leadoff man.
The answer, ross later re-
vealed, was yes.
“my goal is to put the best
players and the best at-bats in the
top of the order,” ross said. “Kris
Bryant is a really good at-bat,
gets on base, probably one of our
best base runners. His baseball
IQ is extremely high. So when
you talk about putting the best
players in baseball at the top of
the order, that’s our best player,
and I want to put him at the top.”
Bryant, who typically hit sec-
ond or third in the lineup for the
first five years of his career, said
he would embrace the new role.
“I led off my whole junior year
in college, and I won every col-
lege award — first-team all-
American, the Golden Spikes
Award,” he said, referring to the
honor given to the best amateur
player in the nation.
l YanKEEs: New York out-
fielder Giancarlo Stanton imag-
ined having the advantage the
Houston Astros gained in their
scam.
“ If knew what was coming in
’17, I probably would have hit
80 -plus home runs,” he said.
Stanton agreed with team-
mate Aaron Judge that the Astros
should be stripped of their 2017
World Series title and that they
kept on cheating in 2019.
“ They did their investigation,
and it was clear-cut that they
cheated that y ear, which means i t
should be taken away,” Stanton
said. “ If you cheat i n another way
during the season, you can’t even
be in the playoffs. It’s pretty
much the same difference.”
l atHlEtiCs: mike fiers is
scheduled to start a split-squad
game for oakland on Sunday in
his first game action since he
revealed the Astros’ cheating
scheme.
It had not been determined
whether fiers’s spring training
debut would come in the home
game vs. San francisco or against
Arizona in Scottsdale.
fiers went 15-4 last season,
including the second no-hitter of
his c areer, as the A’s earned an AL
wild-card spot.
l piratEs: P ittsburgh’s Pablo
reyes was suspended 80 games
under the major league drug
program following a positive test
for the performance-enhancing
drug Boldenone.
He became the second player
in three days suspended f or Bold-
enone, which is sold under the
brand name Equipose and is
used commonly on horses.spring training notesBryant will
hit leado≠
for Cubs
this season
mcCullers grinned. He exhaled
and looked up at the ceiling. If he
was indeed waging an internal
debate about whether to lob one
more grenade, he opted for de-es-
calation.
“If we get to the World Series,
we’ll play any team,” he said.
This was, in one small way, the
Astros acting on the principles
they have preached since their
apology tour began. They want to
put the scandal behind them, to
discuss what they have learned, to
play baseball. The war of words
seems on the verge of subsiding,
and if they continue to counter
criticism as Baker and mcCullers
did Tuesday — with humor and
restraint — then it will matter a
little less if the rest of baseball
continues firing. They will be one
step closer to what they want: a
chance to prove they are the team
they say they are.
[email protected]That was a thinly veiled refer-
ence to the Dodgers, whose stars
have torched the Astros. Justin
Turner argued “they shouldn’t
have rings,” and Bellinger deliv-
ered one of the harshest rebukes
by arguing Altuve “stole” t he 2017
mVP award from Judge like the
Astros “stole” the World Series
title from the Dodgers. The teams
aren’t scheduled to face each oth-
er this season.
“Those guys aren’t going to
have to face us, which is maybe
why they feel like they can speak
like that,” mcCullers continued.
“But we’re moving on. That’s not
what people may want to hear,
but we stood here as men and we
addressed [the scandal]... .We’re
just looking forward to playing
baseball again.”
A reporter asked: Would the
Astros like to settle their dispute
with the Dodgers in the World
Series?innings to win Game 4 in the
World Series. The organization’s
top prospect, right-hander for-
rest Whitley, could round out the
rotation down the line.
“We’re still pretty set with tal-
ent,” Verlander said. “I love our
team. I love the rotation.”
Time — and the bravado of
Correa — has seemingly sparked
this surge in confidence.
The shortstop recently told the
Athletic that one of the Astros’
most vocal critics, the Los Angeles
Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, should
“shut the f--- up,” and Correa’s
teammates have since either de-
clined further comment on the
scandal or puffed up themselves.
What once required contrition
has molted into motivation.
“[The teams talking trash are]
going to have to play us,” mcCull-
ers told The Washington Post.
“Except for the guys who are
popping off the most.”cluding George Springer, José Al-
tuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos
Correa — knows the pressure is
on. A fan alluded to the scandal by
banging a trash can during the
team’s first public batting prac-
tice of spring training, and it
served as a reminder that their
reputations are at stake. If they
don’t h it well this year, as reddick
pointed out, “people are going to
look back and say, ‘They’re not
using anything, so they obviously
suck without it.’ But that’s not the
case. We got too many good play-
ers in here.”
Larger question marks lurk in
the rotation. Verlander admitted
“you can’t replace Gerrit” but ar-
gued the Astros will be fine. Their
projected third starter, Lance mc-
Cullers Jr., is coming back from
To mmy John surgery but could
return to all-star form, and their
fourth, José Urquidy, two-hit the
Washington Nationals over fivewe’re still a juggernaut to be reck-
oned with.
“A t some point, you have to
move on and not give a s---,”
outfielder Josh reddick said, add-
ing, “We’re going to go out there
and win and shut everybody up.”
This much is true: The Astros
are too good to ignore. They lost
the American League Cy Young
Award runner-up, Gerrit Cole,
but return the winner in Justin
Verlander and a candidate for this
year’s i n Zack Greinke. T he lineup
that scored the third-most runs in
baseball last season (920) brings
back everyone except catcher
robinson Chirinos, who often hit
eighth. Baseball’s brainiacs and
traditionalists find common
ground in forecasting the Astros
as one of the majors’ best teams
this season.
The heart of the order — in-
astros from D1
Despite bad deeds, Astros still good enough to go to World Series
said the team would like to see
Dillon in Thursday’s game, if
possible. If not, he probably
would be in the lineup Saturday
at N ew Jersey b efore Washington
plays an important matinee
against the Pittsburgh Penguins
on Sunday at home.
macLellan said he had an eye
on Dillon since he first came to
the NHL in 2012, a year after he
signed with Dallas as an undraft-
ed free agent. The Capitals felt
the cost to add Dillon was fair —
they gave up a 2020 second-
round draft pick and a condition-
al third-round pick — especially
with San Jose retaining 50 per-
cent of Dillon’s salary and salary
cap hit.
macLellan seemed open to the
idea of additional player moves
in advance of monday’s trade
deadline, and he said they would
probably involve forwards rather
than defensemen.
“We’re going to pursue any-
thing that we think can make us
better,” macLellan said. “We’ll
continue to talk to teams. We’ve
had conversations as we’ve had
with the defense, and we’ll keep
doing it and see if we can make
our team better.”
When asked whether the team
would be looking to make any
major deals, macLellan didn’t
rule it out. He m ade clear, howev-
er, that goaltender Braden Holt-
by was not on the trading block.
macLellan said he was satis-
fied with the Capitals’ depth on
Capitals from D1
knows him, so we’re excited to
have him and excited to add him
to the group.”
reirden said Dillon, who is a
left-handed shot and played on
the left when paired with Brent
Burns in San Jose, will play
alongside either John Carlson or
Dmitry orlov.
“Now that we have another
player here and who knows what
else as we get closer to finishing
up the deadline here, it creates
competition and it’s going to
bring out the best in our players,
and how do they deal with the
adversity?” reirden said. “Some
of these guys haven’t had to go
through a lot of adversity this
year or within their careers. And
now they’re going to have to.
We’ll get to see a little bit of the
makeup of certain players and
how they handle themselves as
we make this final push in the
last 20 games.”
[email protected]Capitals’ next t hreevs. Montreal C anadienstoday7nBcsW,
nBcsnat n ew J ersey Devilssaturday1nBcsWvs. pittsburgh penguinssundaynoon nBcRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM),
WFED (1500 AM)Caps hope Dillon’s veteran presence boosts defense
John Woods/canadian press/associated press
Brenden Dillon, left, is a top-four defenseman most recently with
the sharks. the Capitals hope he can make his debut thursday.ed with Kendrick chopping a
grounder up the middle. But their
next matchup, the last one of
Harris’s simulated inning, fin-
ished with Kendrick watching a
cutter for strike three.
Harris walked toward the plate
and smiled. Kendrick laughed
and tipped his cap.
[email protected]ing on the fence yelled. “Hit one
out to right field again!”
Kendrick took a pitch, then
another, then swung at a front-
door, middle-in cutter. It wasn’t
low like the cutter in Game 7 of the
World Series. But Kendrick’s bat
sliced it, much like that decisive
pitch, and sent it flying foul out of
the practice field. The at-bat end-er raudy read. The cutters made
a loud popping noise. The curve-
balls reached a softer landing.
And soon Harris left the bullpen
through a swinging black gate
and started toward the mound.
The first hitter he faced was
ryan Zimmerman. T he second, of
all people, was Kendrick.
“Come on, Howie!” a fan hang-evolving.”
After Harris passed the World
Series champions signs in the
hallway and looked at the World
Series champions clock and put
on a white uniform with a World
Series champions patch on its
sleeve, he readied for an inning of
live batting practice. He fired a
flurry of warmup pitches to catch-since been tainted by the sign-
stealing scandal that keeps cours-
ing through baseball. So last
Thursday, in his first meeting
with the local media, Harris was
pressed on the validity of that
championship, what he knew
about the illegal sign-stealing
scheme and whether he regrets
not speaking up to hitters who
participated in it.
He told reporters he is willing
to discuss whatever he knows
with the Nationals. Closer Sean
Doolittle thought Harris’s apology
and openness to continued dia-
logue really resonated in the club-
house. The character report was
that Harris is a very good person.
The Nationals were also intrigued
by the way he has pitched.
He led all qualified American
League relievers with a 1.50 ErA
last season. His reverse s plits — as
a right-hander who excels against
lefties — will be even more impor-
tant with a new three-batter-min-
imum rule for relievers. The Na-
tionals’ bullpen ErA in 2019, an
alarming 5.66, was the worst ever
for a playoff team. That led to
signing Harris and re-signing
Daniel Hudson, giving manager
Dave martinez a handful of late-
inning options.
martinez envisions Harris
pitching the seventh or eighth,
then using either Hudson or
Doolittle in the ninth. But he has
mentioned Harris as a closer, if
need be, and likes how adept he is
at retiring left-handed hitters.
Harris’s two-pitch mix includes a
cutter and curveball. The cutter is
his go-to, thrown about 58 per-
cent of the time last season, and
often inside to lefties. In 2015,
when lefties had a .129 batting
average against him, that pitch
made up 80 percent of his overall
usage.
“The more years you spend in
the league, the more you have to
mix it up and stay ahead of the
book on yourself,” Harris said.
“Everyone knows I like to throw
my cutter a lot. But when I throw
it and where I throw it keeps
nationals from D1
For Harris, the reminders of 2019 are everywhere
John Mcdonnell/the Washington post
Former astros reliever Will Harris signed a three-year, $ 24 million contract with the nationals about two months after the World series.ASSOCIATED PRESSThe New York rangers, mika
Zibanejad and Chris Kreider have
all gotten hot and are ready to
chase a playoff spot.
Zibanejad and Kreider each
had a goal and two assists as the
visiting rangers scored five times
in the third period and beat the
Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3, on
Wednesday night.
Pavel Buchnevich had a goal
and assist and filip Chytil, ryan
Strome and Artemi Panarin
scored as New York rebounded
from a 3-1 loss to Boston on
Sunday to win for the fifth time in
six games. The rangers also won
their sixth straight on the road.
The line of Kreider, Zibanejad,
and Buchnevich got rolling in the
third to break a 1-1 tie.
“I think it’s comfortability
playing with each other,” Kreider
said. “We weren’t able to get a lot
going through the first two. There
wasn’t a whole lot of flow.
“We talked about some things
we wanted to do, some adjust-
ments we wanted to make. Get in
the middle, get inside instead of
just being kept to the outside and
playing perimeter hockey. Ithought we did a better job of
that.”
l stars 3, CoYotEs 2: Ja-
mie oleksiak broke a third-period
tie with his first goal in 26 games,
and host Dallas held on to beat
Arizona.
oleksiak stepped up into the
top of the slot, took a pass from
Alexander radulov and sent a
low snap shot past goalie Antti
raanta with 8:22 remaining.
l BrUins 2, oilErs 1 (ot):
David Pastrnak scored the win-
ner 1:1 4 into overtime to give
visiting Boston a victory over
Edmonton.
Pastrnak was set up for the
goal on a pass from David Krejci.
He tucked the puck between oil-
ers goalie mike Smith’s legs for
his 43 rd goal of the season.
Patrice Bergeron scored his
27th goal for the Bruins.Vegas acquires Martinez
The Los Angeles Kings traded
Stanley Cup-winning goal scorer
Alec martinez to the Vegas Gold-
en Knights for two second-round
draft picks.
The Kings got the Knights’
second-round pick in 2020 and
St. Louis’s second-round choice
in 2021 for martinez, the defense-
man who scored the iconic dou-
ble-overtime goal that won Los
Angeles its second Stanley Cup
six years ago.nhl roUnDUpNew York’s late flurryhelps it stymie Chicagorangers 6,
Blackhawks 3