A New Era in West Palm

Nats Chat

Mark Zuckerman & Al Galdi

Sports, Baseball

4.9 • 573 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Pitchers & Catchers" (and a lot more) have reported to West Palm Beach to begin the 2026 Nationals campaign. Mark (Live from Florida) & Al discuss the initial impressions of a camp run by Paul Toboni & Blake Butera. Hear what the reaction has been to the upgrade in technology and infrastructure behind the scenes. (14:00) Washington signed veteran starting pitcher Miles Mikolas to a one-year deal around $2M. Mikolas has not had a ERA below 4.00 since 2022, but consistently starts over 30 games a year. (18:30) An early look at the potential starting rotation and if Cade Cavalli will take the mound on Opening Day. (22:40) Almost all position players have already reported to Florida, including James Wood. (31:15) This is a critical season for Dylan Crews, who is aiming to take on a larger leadership role in the clubhouse. (34:00) Updates on Travis Sykora & Jarlin Susana, who are out for the season, but are participating in Big League Camp.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Walters is back for another season as the official bar of the Natschat podcast.
0:05.6	Walters is the best spot to go before and after home games located at the southeast corner
0:11.4	of Capitol and End Streets, right across the street from the ballpark.
0:19.6	The standard that we hold for the people that were bringing in the door that weren't a part
0:23.6	of the organization is the same standard we hold for those that are in the organization,
0:27.6	and that's, you know, carry themselves with the values that we hold sacred, and then also just really having a great confidence that there is this openness and willingness to become a better version of whether they're a coach or, you know, athletic trainer or whatever it might be, becoming a better version of themselves.
0:46.4	So we've done a lot of work to get where we want to go, but obviously there's still work to be done.
0:55.5	And welcome to Nat's chat, but obviously there's still work to be done. And welcome to Natsch chat, along with Natchjournal.com, National's insider Mark Zuckerman,
1:00.4	who is in West Palm Beach, Florida, site of Nat Spring Training. I'm Al-Galdi, host of the
1:04.3	Al-Galdi podcast. It is great to have you with us. It is great to say that 2026 National
1:09.8	Spring Training has begun.
1:11.3	Pitchers and Catchers reported on Tuesday.
1:13.4	The first workout for pitchers and catchers was on Wednesday.
1:16.5	The first full squad workout is this Monday.
1:19.6	This is a new look, Nat Spring Training, in a variety of ways.
1:23.1	More on that shortly.
1:24.4	Also, we have a starting pitching acquisition for the Nats.
1:27.1	They on Wednesday on Wednesday evening announced having signed free agent starting pitcher Miles Michaelis
1:31.3	to a one-year major league contract. This is the only Nats podcast for which there is a new
1:36.2	episode for the morning after every Nats regular season game day. But we're coming to you
1:40.1	during spring training on a weekly basis. And we thank you for being with us for what is
1:44.8	season number six of the Nats chat podcast. Mark, it is good to see you. And let us say
	...

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