On Wednesday, we told you that White Sox LF Carlos Quentin is a strong candidate to be the American League Comeback Player of the Year.
A National League counterpart made his case today. Spring training reports that don’t involve new injuries are almost all rosy. That was the case with news of Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Webb’s first 45 pitches of 2010, but it isn’t difficult to envision him returning close to 20-win form.
Webb also could be an NL Cy Young Award candidate again. Two other pitchers who threw today also are likely to be contenders.
RHP Roy Halladay went from the AL’s Blue Jays to the Phillies. The biggest obstacle to his winning the award should be moving into a more hitter-friendly home park.
Marlins RHP Josh Johnson has made great leaps forward in each of the last two seasons. He threw 30 pitches, almost one for each of the 39 million dollars on his new four-year contract. His team isn’t bad, and its park doesn’t unnecessarily punish pitchers. For Johnson, the key is avoiding injuries.
Here’s how spring training is progressing. Even though not everybody has been required to report yet, there’s already talk about the opening exhibition games. Though Florida is likely to have Johnson start the regular-season opener, the Marlins will use RHP Ricky Nolasco in their first exhibition game Wednesday against the University of Miami. Other teams will open spring play Tuesday.
What they’re working on:
Some of the most important bits of information coming out of spring training are those that tell us what players are working on to improve. We’ve found that the best prospects are those who know their weaknesses and work to eliminate them.
Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa was one of the top recommendations in last year’s “Pitchers to seek and to avoid.” We recommended seeking him when his record was 0-6. De La Rosa went 16-3 over the remainder of the season. This spring he’s working on holding runners and his fielding; he made five errors in 2009.
Reds CF Drew Stubbs wants to draw more walks to allow himself to stay near the top of their lineup and become a more dangerous offensive threat. He was striking out about twice as often as he had walked at Triple-A Louisville before Cincinnati promoted him to the majors. That ratio ballooned to about 3:1 in the National League.
White Sox SS Alexei Ramirez is working with his new backup, 42-year-old Omar Vizquel, to improve his defense. Chicago is hoping Vizquel can ease Ramirez’s road to playing the position effectively the way he did for SS Elvis Andrus last year in Texas.
1B/OF Adam Dunn, expected to be a full-time first baseman this year for the Nationals, has been working on his footwork with coaches Tim Foli and Pat Listach, who were shortstops during their playing careers. Washington needs to improve a defense that led the majors with 143 errors last season. Dunn is in a contract year. Expect the usual 40 homers and a bit more from him.
Contract years:
It isn’t totally a contract year for Astros 1B Lance Berkman, but he’d have to have an incredible year to get Houston to pick up its $15-million option on his contract. Berkman will want to do well anyway to come up with what’s likely to be his last big contract.
Except for the fact that he didn’t come from another organization, RHP Jeremy Bonderman has been almost like the Tigers’ version of Carl Pavano since signing a four-year, $38-million contract. Three years and just 14 wins since, Bonderman is entering a contract year. He’s slated to begin the season as Detroit’s fourth starter, in part because he’ll have to serve a three-game suspension for throwing at Twins OF Delmon Young.
Position battle:
Cubs 2B Mike Fontenot, who lost the job by playing poorly last season, is back in the hunt at the position with 2B/3B Jeff Baker. Fontenot also could play some at shortstop, but manager Lou Piniella said that if starting SS Ryan Theriot had to miss significant time, the team would promote SS Starlin Castro from the minors. At this point, you couldn’t expect Castro to have fantasy value because he would be far from major league-ready as a hitter. But he could be a good addition to a reserve roster.
Reporting:
Most teams have had all of their players working out already. Jointing that group today will be the batters for the Mets in Florida and the Padres in Arizona.
News/notes:
Tales of Texas Rangers:
The Rangers voided SS/3B Khalil Greene’s contract before he made it to spring training, apparently because his anxiety problems have resurfaced. His absence could reopen the door for Texas to acquire 3B Mike Lowell from the Red Sox as a righthanded-hitting first baseman and DH. A trade that would have sent him and $9 million to pay most of his salary was scuttled because Lowell’s wrist wouldn’t pass a physical exam. That deal would have sent hard-hitting C/1B Max Ramirez to Boston.
Texas LF Josh Hamilton missed today’s workout because of the bruised left shoulder he suffered Wednesday. The team still isn’t sure when he’d return to action.
Rookie RHP Omar Poveda will seek a second opinion from Dr. Lewis Yocum before agreeing to undergo Tommy John surgery on his elbow.
The Rangers hope LHP Derek Holland (sprained knee) will be able to throw off a mound again this weekend.
C Jarrod Saltamacchia, who underwent shoulder surgery last year after he’d had difficulty throwing the ball back to the pitcher, reportedly has been throwing well in Arizona.
Free-agent 1B Hank Blalock, who has played his entire major league career with Texas, has received interest from the Marlins, who would use him as a left-handed batter off the bench, and the Rays.
Weighty issues:
We’ve talked about Rockies RHP Aaron Cook and Rangers LHP Matt Harrison, who have lost weight since last season, and Dodgers C Russell Martin, who had put on pounds in an effort to increase his power. Athletics OF Jack Cust lost 15 pounds during this season, but has gained it back to get back up to what he considers his playing weight: 240.
News and notes:
The Diamondbacks are negotiating multiyear contracts with 3B Mark Reynolds and RF Justin Upton to avoid some arbitration years, and could do the same with C Miguel Montero.
The Mariners have been working 2B Jose Lopez at third base and 3B Chone Figgins at second. They’re not satisfied with Lopez’s defense, specifically his range, but switching their positions still appears to be a longshot. Figgins would have higher relative value if he were eligible as a middle infielder.
The Red Sox might consider reducing the workload on RHP Manny Delcarmen, who is 10th in the majors with 181 games pitched over the last three years. That could help prevent the shoulder fatigue that reduced his fastball’s speed to low-90s mph.
Astros 1B Aaron Boone has retired.
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