Final Predictions for Washington Nationals' Key Spring Position Battles

The Washington Nationals' mostly solidified and entirely stacked roster is very low on drama this spring when it comes to position battles. 

Entering camp, the Nats had eight position players locked into everyday roles and five veteran starting pitchers plugged into the rotation.

Injuries shuffled the deck a bit—Denard Span will miss the beginning of the season and Jayson Werth is still probable, but not 100 percent ready, for Opening Day. But Span's injury just gives eventual-starter Michael A. Taylor a jump on his big league career and Nate McLouth is a perfectly capable placeholder for a few Werth-less games if need be. 

Washington's real parity is beyond the face value of the starting lineup. 

Tyler Moore and Mike Carp look like the last two Nats standing in a battle for the final spot on the 25-man roster. Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer still don't know who will start on Opening Day and Gio Gonzalez is making sure he remains a starter in general. 

In this list, we'll take a look at those less conventional position battles and make a call on who's done enough in spring training to win them. 

Last Spot on 25-Man Roster

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Tyler Moore has been one of Washington's best performers in spring training.

Competitors: Mike Carp, Tyler Moore and Ian Stewart

The way Tyler Moore has played this spring, it's tough to even call this a competition anymore. 

He leads the Nationals in hits (8) and RBI (7), all while maintaining the highest batting average (.444) among players with 10 or more at-bats. 

The only entry in the "cons" column of the Tyler Moore pros and cons list is his right-handedness. 

Washington has a very righty-heavy roster. Mike Carp and Ian Stewart are both left-handed hitters, so if manager Matt Williams decides it's absolutely necessary to throw another lefty on the roster, Moore's efforts will be in vain. 

In that event, Carp runs away with the competition over Stewart. Carp, like Moore, is a first baseman and an outfielder, both positions at which the Nats absolutely need more depth. Stewart plays almost exclusively at third base, where Washington is just fine.

Moore is a home-grown player who is out of minor league options after three years of inconsistent playing time in the majors. At this point, a spot on the Opening Day roster would be a relief for Moore and the contingent of Nationals fans who were starting to feel bad for the guy.  

Winner: Tyler Moore

Opening Day Starter

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Stephen Strasburg has started in three consecutive Opening Days for the Nationals.

Competitors: Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann

Whoever Matt Williams decides to send out to the mound Opening Day, it probably won't be on the merits of his spring training performance. 

The so-called No. 1 starter in a rotation full of No. 1 starters will be decided mostly based on politics. 

In a vacuum, Max Scherzer should get the label of Opening Day starter. He has seniority over the other two pitchers vying for the start, he racked up the most wins (18) and strikeouts (252) of the three last year and he's the only National with a Cy Young award sitting somewhere in his house. 

But we're not in a vacuum, are we? We're in a world where Stephen Strasburg was drafted to save the franchise and has started the last three Opening Days for Washington. 

Jordan Zimmermann threw a no-hitter in his most recent regular season start and finished fifth in Cy Young voting a year ago, but this is pretty much a game of one-on-one between Scherzer and Strasburg at this point. 

No pitcher has botched a spring training outing and hurt his chances at the Opening Day start yet. That's mostly because none of them have started more than two games thus far. 

Strasburg was scratched from his second start due to an ingrown toenail, but both his toe and his arm will be "perfectly fine" according to Williams via MASN's Chris Johnson. 

Winner: Stephen Strasburg

Fifth Starter

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Gio Gonzalez's status as Washington's fifth starter isn't entirely safe following Tanner Roark's impressive first year.

Competitors: Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark

This isn't as much a competition as it is a warning for Gio Gonzalez to stay on his toes. 

The addition of Max Scherzer crowded Washington's rotation, effectively bumping Tanner Roark out of the mix and into the bullpen. But Roark's numbers from 2014 were too good to completely rule him out as a starter. 

In just his second year, Roark won 15 of his 31 starts and earned a 2.85 ERA. 

And according to The Washington Times' Tom Schad, the Nationals began spring training intent to leave Roark as a starter. He's received one start so far, tossing 2.2 innings against the Mets in one of Saturday's two split-squad games. 

Roark has also pitched three innings in relief this spring. Williams obviously isn't married to the idea of keeping him as a sixth starter, but the manager is doing his due diligence giving Roark starting opportunities in camp. 

Gonzalez's two spring starts have turned up mixed results. In his first outing, he kept a 0.00 ERA, allowing one hit in two innings. Saturday, in his second start, Gonzalez allowed four runs and issued two walks in 2.2 innings. 

But it will take a lot more than that for Williams to send Gonzalez to the bullpen. The 29-year-old has been a starter for all seven of his major league seasons. Out of 186 games played, Gonzalez has started 180. 

Winner: Gio Gonzalez

Second Base

DG/Associated Press

A shortstop by nature, Yunel Escobar will be the Nationals' starting second baseman this season.

Competitors: Yunel Escobar, Danny Espinosa and Dan Uggla

Second base is another competition in which the winner is at least 90 percent decided. 

Yunel Escobar was brought in via a trade with Oakland to fill Washington's vacancy at second base. The only hiccup in that plan is the fact that he hasn't played second base at all since his rookie year in 2007. 

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reported Escobar wasn't originally on board with a move to second, but a chat with Matt Williams seems to have alleviated the 32-year-old Cuban's concerns.

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"Obviously, I need to have patience, and the team needs to have patience in me. It's not something that will happen immediately," Escobar said through his agent/translator Alex Esteban. "There are no guarantees. But if I practice enough, I think I can pick it up. If I am putting my mind to it and dedicating myself, I think I can be an All-Star-caliber second baseman."

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Danny Espinosa is penciled in as Escobar's backup, with Dan Uggla clinging to the slimmest of slim chances at a roster spot. According to The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes, general manager Mike Rizzo said Uggla has "to be the best second baseman in camp to win the job."

Escobar hasn't played in any of Washington's spring training games so far. He's dealing with a Grade 1 oblique strain.

But as of now, he's not in jeopardy of missing Opening Day and the job at second base is Escobar's. 

Winners: Yunel Escobar (starter), Danny Espinosa (backup)

*All stats courtesy of MLB.com, unless otherwise noted

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