Nats send impressive Fedde to Minors camp

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- A day after he put together his most impressive outing of the spring, the Nationals reassigned right-hander Erick Fedde to Minor League camp Friday morning.
Fedde, the Nats' No. 2 prospect as rated by MLBPipeline.com, tossed five shutout innings in Thursday's 1-0 victory while holding a lineup made of most of the Mets' projected starters to just two hits. Manager Dusty Baker raved about Fedde after the game and said he was close to being Major League ready and called him "at the very top of the list" as far as potential starting pitching candidates.
"He had a good camp," Baker said. "We liked what we saw."
Worth noting
• Baker said Friday morning the Nationals had not made a decision on right-hander Joe Nathan, who can exercise the opt-out clause in his contract starting Friday. Baker also said general manager Mike Rizzo was scheduled to speak to Nathan's agent and that the Nats had not resolved the situation yet.
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Nathan, 42, has allowed five runs in 10 2/3 innings this spring with eight strikeouts and three walks.
• Nationals right-hander A.J. Cole threw a bullpen session Friday morning, his first since he had been shut down for a few days with triceps soreness. Cole has not thrown in a Grapefruit League game since March 15.
Elsewhere on the backfields of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, both Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross threw in Minor League games Friday morning as they look to keep on track to start the season. Strasburg needed to pitch today in order to remain in line to start Opening Day, although the team has yet to make that announcement official.

The Nationals have used those games to get some of their proven pitchers innings, including Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen and Joe Blanton, while getting a look at some of the players competing in position battles.