President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo said Wednesday that the Nationals will be cautious with Garrett (fibula) in spring training, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Rizzo didn't explicitly say that Garrett will begin the season on the 10-day injured list, but the 28-year-old may face an uphill battle for Opening Day after undergoing surgery in August to address a fractured left fibula. Per Patrick Reddington of FederalBaseball.com, Garrett started running and hitting in late December, but he looks as though he'll be relegated to completing his rehab program on the back fields at the start of camp before rejoining the Nationals' main group. After serving mostly as a short-side platoon player in 2023 before suffering the season-ending injury, the right-handed Garrett was expected to get a look as an everyday player in 2024, but the Nationals' recent addition of left-handed designated hitter/corner outfielder Jesse Winker could alter those plans.