It’s too early to know for sure, but we’ll be getting some clues as to how teams will set their rotations for the regular season from what they do for their initial exhibition games. Those begin as early as Tuesday.
Some teams already have announced their Opening Day starter. In some cases, but probably not many, that pitcher also would be the first to pitch in exhibitions. We won’t really know for sure about some teams’ ace and rotation until mid-March, or maybe even March 20 in this season that begins later than in most recent years.
At that point, it would merely be an exercise in counting backwards five days at a time to find the likely starter for the opener.
Your team’s first regular-season game is scheduled for April 5? OK, five days back from that is March 31, another five days March 26 and another five would be March 21. So even if the manager is holding some suspense. You could figure that the March 21 starter would be the Opening Day pitcher. In spring training, off days on the major league team’s schedule don’t really count, because split-squad games, minor league games and even simulated games can allow two pitchers to go on the same day or a major leaguer starter to pitch when the rest of his team is off.
A couple of high-profile teams have announced their plans for the first few days of exhibition games, and set up a likely two-inning matchup between two pitchers that would be a battle of behemoths in October. In March, though, it’s just a time for Phillies RHP Roy “Doc” Halladay and Yankees LHP C.C. Sabathia to work up a sweat and maybe work on another pitch.
That will happen Thursday afternoon in Clearwater, Fla. Though both pitchers are prohibitive favorites to start on the real Opening Day, neither is starting his team’s first exhibition.
Philadelphia’s initial rotation goes like this: LHP A.J. Happ Wednesday night against Florida State, Sabathia Thursday, LHP Cole Hamels Friday vs. the Blue Jays in Dunedin, RHP Joe Blanton Saturday against the Pirates in Bradenton and Happ again Sunday against the Rays. That’s just four starters, but you can expect RHP Kyle Kendrick to fit into one of those games in relief before getting some starts himself, and for LHP Jamie Moyer to pitch when he’s physically able.
For the Yankees, RHP Chad Gaudin will start Wednesday’s opener against the Pirates, which isn’t a lot different from pitching against Florida State. After Sabathia Thursday, RHPs Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain will pitch Friday in some order against the Rays. On Saturday, RHP A.J. Burnett will start vs. the Blue Jays. Sunday’s pitchers will be Gaudin and RHP Sergio Mitre in some combination.
Sabathia, whose current throwing day was pushed back to Sunday because of bad weather today, and Burnett are the only givens in the equation from among those pitchers. LHP Andy Pettitte also will be in the rotation, but his first start isn’t scheduled until Friday, March 12, against the Nationals at Space Ghost Stadium in Viera.
For now at least, Hughes and Chamberlain will be pitching on the same day. The better pitcher would go into the rotation, with the other taking a bullpen role. There’s a similar battle among Gaudin, Mitre and RHP Alfredo Aceves for the fifth starter’s job. All three are scheduled to pitch Wednesday.
The White Sox also have named the starter for their exhibition opener against the Angels in Tempe, Ariz.: LHP John Danks.
What they’re working on:
Hamels and the Phillies believe that National League batters caught up with him because he had just two effective pitches, a fastball and a changeup. For that reason, he’s working on a curve and a cut fastball, with whichever one works better likely to expand his arsenal.
Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija spent much of the off-season rising early for 6 a.m. workouts with RHP Ryan Dempster and LHP Tom Gorzelanny. He also has worked on adding a curve. Because he doesn’t come over the top, he won’t be throwing a curve that breaks much vertically but more of a slurve.
Pitching futures:
Rookie RHP Stephen Strasburg, the closest thing the Nationals have ever had to a rock star, threw 35 pitches in 12 minutes during a batting-practice session when his teammates didn’t swing a bat but merely stood in and tracked the pitches.
Lining up:
New Indians manager Manny Acta is planning to move CF Grady Sizemore from leadoff to second in the batting order, with SS Asdrubal Cabrera moving up from ninth to first. Behind them would be LF Shin-soo Choo and DH Travis Hafner. There could be a huge positive domino effect if Hafner could return to his production of 3-4 years ago. If he’s a threat, pitchers would have to throw more fastballs to Choo, which would benefit him. In fact, mark him down as a breakout possibility. Choo’s presence and a base-stealing threat from Cabrera, the only Cleveland player likely to steal many bases, would give Sizemore many more fastballs and help him improve last year’s woeful average. Cabrera would steal more bases and score more runs than in 2009 for our 5X5 friends.
Speaking of speed:
The Athletics are planning to run more this year, using the speed of OFs Rajai Davis and Coco Crisp (if he isn’t hurt again). Rickey Henderson is helping as a special instructor in spring training. That approach could have Billy Beane, who dissed the effectiveness of base stealing as the “Moneyball” GM, turning over in his box seat.
Position battle:
For the Cardinals, David Freese or Joe Mather could be the starting third baseman. If neither impresses, newly signed 2B Felipe Lopez also could be a possibility at third.
For Mark Prior fans, an injury report:
The Mets’ bullpen will be slow in developing. They sent RHP Francisco Rodriguez, their closer, home from workouts because they didn’t want him spreading his pink eye through the clubhouse. RHP Kelvim Escobar, whom they’re hoping could be their setup man even though he has pitched only once during the last two major league seasons, is having more shoulder problems and isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day. That could leave RHPs Bobby Parnell, Sean Green, Fernando Nieve and 30-year-old rookie Ryota Igarashi battling for the setup job. The Mets also are negotiating with LHP Joe Beimel, who would seem to be a last resort.
Also, the New Yorkers were encouraged by LHP Oliver Perez in his first two throwing sessions. He’s back from surgery on his right knee. Best case, he could be the Mets’ number two starter. Worst case, he’d be the same inconsistent Oliver Perez who has frustrated his employers and fans.
Diamondbacks LF Conor Jackson missed most of last season because of a case of the Southwest’s own valley fever, seems on track to be productive after a successful winter season in the Dominican Republic.
Tigers 3B Brandon Inge had off-season surgery on both knees, which could slow him down in the field and curtail his style of diving after grounders.
C Rob Johnson has the Mariners’ starting job clearly in his sights. The question is whether he has healed from off-season operations on both hips and a broken right wrist to be able to withstand the demands of catching regularly. Behind him is only rookie prospect Adam Moore, who might not be ready for the majors this year.
All present and accounted for:
Infielders and outfielders for the Twins in Florida and the Brewers in Arizona had their first official workouts today, meaning that every player under contract to every team should be in camp.
Bring on the games!
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