The Nationals and Astros are "rushing to complete" their new Spring Training home, the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, in time for when pitchers and catchers report next month, according Chelsea Janes of the WASHINGTON POST. Nationals sources "acknowledge the hurry, but maintain that the facility will be ready enough." The site in West Palm Beach last week looked something like an "ant hill, with workers bustling about the walled facility." The basis of a ballpark "stands, but from afar, a bare concrete, still-growing exterior betrays the work left to be done." According to tweets from the Nationals' official page, lights "are up and some seats are installed." But the ballpark, which will "host its first game Feb. 28, looked more like a concrete shell than finished product." The venue has "made significant and promising strides" since late in the '16 MLB season. Practice fields are "rolled and sodded, new backstops and tall netting to keep balls from going into the surrounding neighborhoods are up and ready." The entrance to the facility -- a road that "drives up to the stadium and splits the Astros’ side from the Nationals’ side -- is now lined with palm trees, as are the outskirts of the facility." The non-ballpark components of the facility "looked nearly ready for action" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/5). MASNSPORTS.com's Mark Zuckerman noted the project "remained on a tight schedule, though everyone still expects the facility to be usable when players begin to arrive next month," if not 100% finished. Fans planning to "attend the early workouts or the first few Grapefruit League games" may end up "inhaling plenty of fresh paint fumes" (MASNSPORTS.com, 1/4).
