"Sosa just pitched about two weeks ago in the Caribbean World Series, so he's ready to go."

The right-hander was suspended for 50 games last season after testing positive for an amphetamine - considered a performance-enhancing substance - while pitching for Triple-A Tacoma in the Mariners organization. The Nationals signed Sosa to a minor league contract on Dec. 18.

Note

Acta named pitchers for the first six games of the spring, starting Wednesday against the Astros in Kissimmee. John Lannan will get the start Wednesday, followed by Collin Balester, Shawn Hill, Daniel Cabrera, Scott Olsen and Josh Towers in an exhibition against the Italian team the following Tuesday. ... Cabrera opted not to pitch for the Dominican Republic's World Baseball Classic team, but it had little to do with his pitching arm. Cabrera spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Orioles in the American League, but finds himself needing a new skill if he hopes to help his team in other ways in the National League. "He felt that he really needed to work a lot on bunting and swinging the bat," Acta said. "We're going to work with him as hard as we can and as often as we can. But that's the least of my worries here, how many hits Cabrera is going to get, or how good of a hitter he's going to become."