WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. 鈥� Nationals catcher Matt Wieters is coming off the worst season of his career, but聽he鈥檚 not letting it get him down.
Instead, he鈥檚 looking to turn a negative into a positive as he enters his second season in D.C.
鈥淓very year is different,鈥� he said at camp Thursday. 鈥淵ou learn from all your experiences 鈥� good and bad 鈥� and that鈥檚 what helps you. What I always feel makes veteran players so valuable in a clubhouse is that they know what they鈥檝e done well and haven鈥檛 done well. The best athletes in the world have the ability to adjust.鈥�
Wieters had to adjust following Tommy John surgery in 2014, and then again in 2017, his first season playing for a team other than the Orioles. He was signed by the Nats right after spring training opened, when he was also recovering from an offseason cut on his wrist.
Did he feel like he was playing catchup?
鈥淕oing through it, you don鈥檛 feel like that,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut then realizing how good I feel coming in this year, and how much easier it is for me to recover before the next day, it was definitely a different offseason. I definitely feel I can give it more this year than I could last year.鈥�
Wieters disagrees that he wore down as the season progressed. He played in 123 games, but that was nothing new.
鈥淏efore Tommy John, I was routinely catching 135 to 140 and I like that. But everything kind of evolves. I want to play as many as I can where I鈥檓 as effective as I can to help the team. I鈥檓 not going to get hung up on a number, saying I have to play this many games. I just want to be in as good of shape to where, if needed, I can play any given day.鈥�
Familiarity with the pitching staff should help. Last season was a learning experience for Wieters. Now, he said, he can build on that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really freed me up to put some more time into hitting. As a catcher, your first responsibility is always to handle the staff, get the staff ready, and I really enjoyed doing it last year. This year, I just feel a little bit more comfortable where I can have some more time in the cage and work with [new hitting coach] Kevin Long, and I鈥檓 excited about that.鈥�
Long had good things to say about Wieters’ progress.
鈥淲e鈥檙e well on our way to getting him to where he needs to be,鈥� said Long. 鈥淗e鈥檚 done a lot of things so far, made some adjustments, and he feels pretty sexy about what he鈥檚 doing.鈥�
鈥淪exy鈥� or not, Wieters is definitely leaner. He dropped 15 pounds, reporting to spring training at 225, his rookie weight.
鈥淭he good thing about the offseason workout is I was able to do everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 rehabbing any one part, so I was able to give complete attention to my total body. The last three offseasons, it鈥檚 been a focal point, whether it鈥檚 been the elbow or the wrist. It鈥檚 always been something I鈥檝e been focused on.鈥�
The Nationals pitchers love when he calls a game. If Wieters can bring a little more offense, it would certainly add more punch to an already-solid lineup.
Nats notes
Tommy Milone will start Friday鈥檚 first preseason game against the Astros as the co-tenants in West Palm Beach open up Grapefruit League play. This is the second go-round for Milone in Washington, after making his Major League debut with the Nationals in September 2011 against the Mets. He hit a three-run homer on the first pitch he saw but did not get the win, as he didn鈥檛 make it through five innings. Malone was part of the Gio Gonzalez trade that winter and pitched briefly with the Mets last season.
Minor league outfielder Ryan Raburn got loud cheers from his teammates when he belted a home run off the bullpen roof in left field during batting practice. Unofficially, the blast was over 400 feet.
