WASHINGTON – Listen up baseball fans – spring training is here.

Sunday is the report date for pitchers and catchers at the Washington Nationals spring training facility in Viera, Fla.

WTOP’s Craig Heist has been covering spring training for over a decade and says this is the time to make the trip.

“If I’m a fan and I’m going down there I would get there while they’re practicing, before the games actually start,” Heist says.

Practices start Monday with the first full squad workouts set for next weekend. Exhibition games start March 2.

“You don’t have to pay to get to the practices,” Heist says. “They’re all free of charge to the public and you can start at the batting cages when you walk to the back fields.”

Even if your plans are last minute finding a reasonably priced flight or hotel room should not be an issue.

WTOP’s John Aaron contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)