When Matt Williams was asked about finalizing the Washington Nationals' roster for the NLDS this afternoon, the first-year skipper said he just wanted to get through the team's workout before announcing anything.
"We're going to get through today's workout," Williams said, "and make sure that everybody comes out of that good and make sure that everbody is healthy and feels good about it, and then we'll be able to announce that. But we have to get through this workout today and make sure."
Williams was, however, clear that there were no particular injury concerns that were delaying a final decision.
"No," he said. "Just total, get through the workout and make sure. Strange things happen in baseball sometimes, so I don't want to announce something until we're finalized on it.
"But there's no concern."
Ryan Zimmerman, whose postseason role is as-yet undefined, played left field during the Nationals' intrasquad game earlier this week, and Williams said he sees a way he can use the 30-year-old infielder/outfielder.
"I think there's a possibility for matchup within the series for Zim. He played in the intrasquad game yesterday with no issues. Took his at-bats, ran around, ran the bases with no problem, so I think he's fully ready to go, and we'll look for oppoportunities to get him at bats, for sure, and then look at matchup opportunities too, within the series."
Williams declined to comment when asked about Rafael Soriano, whose second-half struggles have landed him on the bubble as far as the postseason roster.
The Nats' skipper wasn't saying either way.
"We'll determine the final roster when we get out of this workout. Those decision will be made and everybody will be made aware of those when we go ahead and announce it, but we haven't announced that yet. That will be forthcoming shortly."
Only... it wasn't, "forthcoming shortly, that is.
The Nationals' pre-NLDS workout was not followed by an announcement on the makeup of the postseason roster, though one player did spill the proverbial beans on his own situation, which unofficially confirmed what many believed:
Not a surprise, but Tanner Roark said he'll be in the bullpen.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) October 2, 2014
That has not been confirmed by the Nationals, who haven't officially named their fourth starter.
Williams did name the top three though, telling reporters today it will be Stephen Strasburg in the opener, Jordan Zimmermann in Game 2 and Doug Fister in Game 3 on the road in San Francisco. So the no.4 starter?
"We'll wait for a later date to announce that one," Williams said.