WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- With games Sunday and Monday against the Nationals, the Mets decided their top two pitchers -- Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard -- would be better suited to get their work on the back fields rather than face the team they will play on Opening Day, less than two weeks from Sunday's game. Did Stephen Strasburg consider the same?

"I mean, I’m the longest-tenured pitcher in the NL East,” Strasburg said. "What's another start against the Mets?"

So, Strasburg was fine to have his latest Grapefruit League tuneup come against the Nats' National League East Division rival, in a game that the Nationals won 10-5 over the Mets. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning before running out of steam a bit at the end of his outing, but he held the Mets to three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Against a lineup loaded with Mets regulars, he focused on throwing his fastball primarily to get ahead in the count and felt happy with his command. Other than that, he did not want to reveal too much to the team he will face when it counts on March 30.

"You want to work on stuff, but at the same time, [you're] well aware we open up with them," Strasburg said. "So, you know, [you] don't want to be featuring everything you might be featuring later on."

Tee for Taylor

Michael A. Taylor took one-handed swings off a tee, played light catch at 90 feet and ran in the pool on Sunday afternoon, encouraging signs for him just two days after an MRI revealed a sprained left knee and left hip.

"It's a good sign, but it's a progression," manager Dave Martinez said following Sunday’s game. "We'll see how he comes back and feels tomorrow. But for us that's a good thing -- that he's feeling that good. We'll see where it takes us in the next couple of days."

Martinez said Taylor would be sidelined for a "significant amount of time" following the diagnosis of his injuries, but has declined to put a specific timetable on how long that could be. It still seems unlikely he will be ready to start the regular season on time considering the Nationals will want him to be completely pain free before he begins ramping up baseball activity, but feeling healthy enough to even start some light work has to be taken as a good sign.

"When you fall like that and you feel the pain like that, you get nervous," Martinez said. "The MRI kind of calmed him down a little bit."

Nats name starters

Martinez officially revealed his starting rotation for the first four games of the regular season. Max Scherzer was named as the Opening Day starter last week and then Martinez will follow with Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez.

The order should not come as a surprise, but the Nats had toyed with the idea of slotting one of their innings-eaters, such as Corbin, fourth in the rotation to help preserve the bullpen. Ultimately, they decided against that.

It sets up the pitching matchups for the Nationals' opening three-game series against the Mets like this: Scherzer will face reigning National League Cy Young Award winner deGrom, Strasburg will go against Syndergaard, and Corbin will take on Zack Wheeler. Sanchez will pitch the fourth game of the season against the Phillies, in Bryce Harper’s return to Nationals Park.

The Nationals will have a decision to make for the fifth game of the year. They could turn to Scherzer again on regular rest or use fifth starter Jeremy Hellickson.

Catching plan still undefined

The Nationals have been reluctant to commit to a plan to split playing time between their two catchers all spring, and on Sunday, Martinez said he was still undecided who would catch Scherzer on Opening Day in Washington.

Martinez did commit to pairing Sanchez with Kurt Suzuki to help build on what Sanchez considers his bounce-back season, when the pitcher and catcher worked together regularly in Atlanta. But the manager did not lend much more detail into how Suzuki and Yan Gomes would split timing beyond that.

"It's going to be based on information," Martinez said. "Right now, the way things are playing out, nothing's set in stone. They're both going to get opportunities to play."

Earlier in the spring, Martinez mentioned he wanted to use his backup catcher to pinch-hit at times instead of leaving a potential good hitter on the bench because of the health risk. Injuries to Taylor and Howie Kendrick have thinned the Nationals depth lately, which could make Gomes or Suzuki more valuable off the bench.

"This is something that I've thought about a lot, especially now that both our catchers can swing the bat," Martinez said. "If we have a situation late in the game where the opportunity arises where I can use them to pinch-hit, they will pinch-hit."

Up next

The Nationals have their first split-squad game of the spring Monday when they host the Marlins at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches at 1:05 p.m. ET and send a team to First Data Field to face the Mets at 1:10 p.m. ET. Corbin will take the mound at home and Joe Ross will make his first start of the spring in Port St. Lucie.