Wire Taps: Washington Nationals' Spring Training Links - Ryan Zimmerman, Cole Kimball, Yunesky Maya.

LINKS AND LINKS AND...

• Nats Beat:

• LINK: CSN Washington NatsInsider.com's Mark Zuckerman: "Nats' Storen a big-league undergrad."

"Other than a brief trip to Washington in November for the unveiling of the Nationals' new uniforms, Storen spent the entire fall quarter in Palo Alto, inching ever closer to the Stanford degree he is committed to earning some day."

• LINK: Washington Post Adam Kilgore - Nationals Journal: "Ryan Zimmerman explains why more veterans will matter."

Ryan Zimmerman:  "The more you play, you get a routine. That's the hardest part. You don't know what to do when you're younger."

• LINK: Washington Post Adam Kilgore - Nationals Journal - "Bryce Harper's second day, Chien-Ming Wang's progress, Jim Riggleman's meeting."

"During live batting practice, Harper first faced off against Cole Kimball. "Kimball wheeled away the L-screen every other pitcher used for protection, which fits with Kimball's grip-it-and-rip-it persona."

MORE LINKS AND LINKS AND...

• LINK: Washington Post - Adam Kilgore: "Danny Espinosa prepares to take over at second base for the Washington Nationals."

"'Everybody tells me not to do it,' Espinosa said. 'To me, I have to do it. I've always tried to push myself beyond what I am. Maybe those goals are beyond my reach. I'm still going to set them that way.'"

• LINK: MLB.com's Bill Ladson: "Washington Nationals reliever Cole Kimball may reach the Majors this season."

Pat Corrales on Cole Kimball: "He has command of his breaking stuff -- a curveball and a split. He has come a long way the last two years."

•  LINK: MLB.com's Bill Ladson: "Harper to come off the bench on Monday."

"Outfielder Bryce Harper is expected to travel with the Nationals to Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Monday and come off the bench against the Mets, according to manager Jim Riggleman."

• LINK: MASNSports.com Kristen Hudak: "Lerners hope to break ground on new urban baseball academy in May."

"It was a dream that always seemed far off into the future - an obscure plan to host an urban youth baseball development academy in the nation's capital. "That day is arriving, or will be arriving soon, and the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation is busy moving forward at a frenzied pace after overcoming complex bureaucratic obstacles..."

• LINK: Honorary Bat Girl Contest | MLB.com: sponsors/komen

"Nats' Press Release: "Major League Baseball® and Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, recently launched the 2011 Honorary Bat Girl Contest, a campaign to recognize baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and have demonstrated a commitment to eradicating the disease."

• NATIONAL NATS TALK:  

• LINK: INSIDERS ONLY - ESPN.com's Buster Olney looks at the way rumors from sites like SB Nation.com shaped the Zack Greinke story: "MLB: Zack Greinke, the Brewers, and the culture of misinformation."

"The Nationals met with Greinke for more than two hours and were not scared off, so Rizzo pushed ahead on a possible trade and contract extension. But late in the winter meetings, before the parameters of a deal could be set, Greinke told Moore he wouldn't accept a trade to the Nats."

• LINK: Baseball Prospectus - Kevin Goldstein - Future Shock: Monday Morning Ten Pack: Throwing Darts

On Yunesky Maya: "His competition for the last two rotation slots in Washington are Luis Atilano and John Lannan, which helps his cause even more."

• TWITTER: Today's Message from the Dalai Lama (@dalailama) on Twitter:

"Large human movements spring from individual human initiatives."

• NATOSPHERE: 

• Will Yoder of The Nats Blog examines an ESPN report saying Werth is more Bay than Holliday...The Nats Blog - Will Yoder: Nationals Today - Is Werth Jason Bay or Matt Holliday? Did the Nats luck out by not landing a top starter? 

• Nats320: "HIghlights From Day Two--Full Training Camp" -- "I really don't miss football anymore," [Destin] Hood told Nats320 yesterday. "I know I made the right choice in my career. I just need to continue working hard so I can move up within the organization."

• Fanspeak.com - Alan Zlot - "Washington Nationals: Bo Knows Coaching."

"[Bo Porter] informed them that the Nationals were ranked 27th in the Majors last season, running from first base to third base. Porter gave the guys the stat to back it up. Looking right at Bryce Harper, Porter said. "Gentleman we had had 292 chances to go from first to third last season we made it just 63 times, that’s embarrassing and pathetic..."

• NL EAST UPDATES: 

• Braves - LINK: Talking Chop - gondeee - "Yankees Inquire About Braves Starting Pitcher Tim Hudson." - Talking Chop fans examine the latest rumor of the Yankees' interest in Braves' starters.

• Marlins - LINK: FishStripes - GameFish: "Hanley Takes the Plunge." - "The Marlins' all-star shortstop can now be added to the growing list of Tweetin' Fish. @HanleyRamirez officially joined Twitter Wednesday, and unlike the blogs he supposedly 'wrote' for MLBlogs.com a few seasons back, Hanley is actually the one composing his tweets."

• Phillies - LINK: The Good Phight - Fuquamanuel - "Updating My Innings Pitched Projections." - "Well, Bill James projects Joe Blanton to pitch 192.0 innings in 29 starts (6.62 IP/S) in 2011. If we add these 192.0 innings to the 901 innings the top four members of the rotation are expected to pitch, we get a total of 1093 innings pitched in 155 starts (or 7.05 IP/S) for the rotation..."

• Mets - LINK: Amazin' Avenue - Chris McShane: "Mike Pelfrey's Lost Sinkerball Season." - "Although he lived up to his reputation as a groundball pitcher in 2010, Mike Pelfrey didn't throw his sinkerball anywhere near as often as he might have hoped."

• MLB News: 

• LINK: MLB.com Marty Noble: "Adam Wainwright awaits second opinion on injured right elbow."

"[Adam Wainwright] has been betrayed by the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. If a second opinion -- that of renowned orthopedist Lewis Yocum -- confirms what the Cardinals' medical people suspect, Tommy John surgery awaits Wainwright."

• SB Nation.com - Rob Neyer - "MLB Players Of The Decade: Starting Pitcher Offers Host Of Candidates." 

"This isn't easy. Figuring out which starting pitchers are going to be excellent six, seven, eight years down the line is almost inherently impossible, simply because throwing a baseball 90 miles an hour is a risky activity."

• SI.com's Joe Posnanski - "The Buck O’Neil Award"

"When Buck O’Neil died — and we’re closing in on five years ago now — there were people who believed that he died with a broken heart. My own thought is that everybody who thought that got it wrong. Buck died of old age — he was almost 95 years old when he passed away in October of 2006."

• MLB.com: "Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt thinks the 2011 Phillies could be the best team in franchise history."

"'Jimmy Rollins can't do what Pete Rose did?" he said. 'Just take a year. Pete Rose got 200 hits 10 straight years, and Jimmy is faster. I just think Pete understood more what his role was. Jimmy needs to be more Pete Rose-like in his approach to the game, and more accountable for getting on base.'"