Spring training moved into high gear with 27 major league teams playing in 14 games. The Nationals lost two split-squad games.
Sean Rodriguez continued his hot start toward winning the Rays’ second base job by hitting his second home run in two games. It was the only hit against Orioles LHP Brian Matusz in 1 1/3 innings of their 6-5 defeat.
Blue Jays C prospect J.P. Arencibia won their game over the Tigers 9-7 with a two-run homer in the ninth inning against Tigers RHP Zach Miner. Our thinking is that Arencibia is a much better prospect than Detroit SS Brent Dlugach, who hit his second homer this spring.
Listened to part of the Rangers-Royals spring opener. Texas was one of the big-hitting teams – in fact, each major league team from the Lone Star State banged out 21 hits. The Rangers defeated Kansas City 13-3, and the Astros clobbered the Nationals 15-5. For Houston, RF Hunter Pence hammered two homers – in the fourth inning. Those were against marginal RHPs Shairon Martis and Joel Peralta, but Pence’s 3-for-3 day with four RBI might have signaled the beginning of what we think could be a big year for him.
The Rockies had a mere 17 hits in their 11-1 victory over the Diamondbacks.
The teams walked to runs in the Mets’ 17-11 victory over the Cardinals. There were 18 bases on balls. A name to file away: St. Louis 2B Daniel Descalso. He might not be in the majors until 2011, but he was 2-for-2 in the game.
Mets SS Jose Reyes missed the game to undergo a blood test. There apparently was an abnormality in an earlier test during his physical exam.
LHP Johan Santana threw off a mound for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery last September. He made 40 pitches in batting practice to Rod Barajas and rookie Josh Thole, who are expected to be New York’s catchers this season.
Almost all of the scoring – two runs apiece – was against the bullpen in the Phillies’ 3-2 win over the Yankees. The starters, RHP Roy Halladay and LHP C.C. Sabathia, each pitched two scoreless innings.
The dishonor of playing the spring’s first tie game, 4-4 in 10 innings, went to the White Sox and Angels. They couldn’t possibly have played any longer – not with approximately 7,000 pitchers and a couple of hundred position players available in their spring training camp.
It wasn’t long ago that RHP Radhames Liz was a fraudulent prospect with the Orioles. He’s now with the Padres, and he gave up six runs in the eighth inning of their 9-3 loss to the Mariners. Included was 1B Tommy Everidge’s grand slam. It was a good day for Seattle first basemen; Ryan Garko also hit a solo homer.
The Nationals were hoping to improve their bullpen by trading for RHP Brian Bruney, but he was the losing pitcher in their 10-4 loss to the Marlins.
A guy we’ve touted as a potential closer somewhere is RHP Joe Nelson. He saved Boston’s 2-1 victory over the Twins.
What they’re working on:
Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon, who has no reason to feel that Nelson is a threat to the closer’s job, is trying to regain his split-finger pitch. He threw four of them among his 13 pitches against the Twins.
Worth noting:
The Cubs’ closer of record, RHP Carlos Marmol, was 11-for-11 in save opportunities after taking over the job last season. A word of caution: His 161 appearances during the past two seasons were the majors’ second-highest total, so he could feel the pressures of being overworked. Or he might be one of those pitchers who haven’t always babied their arm so that the workload wouldn’t bother him.
The White Sox have used 3B Gordon Beckham, fueling speculation that he could be used in a trade with the Padres for 1B Adrian Gonzalez.
The Angels credit RF Bobby Abreu, who has a long-established and well deserved reputation as a selective batter, with helping SS Erick Aybar exceed his career on-base percentage by 55 points last season and 3B Chone Figgins and CF Torii Hunter improve theirs by 40 points.
Sample Scouting Report:
J.P. Arencibia, C, Blue Jays
Ht: 6-1 Wt: 215 Age: 24 B: R
{2010}Arencibia hasn’t yet lived up to the potential that Toronto saw when it made him a supplemental first-round draft pick in 2007. The former Tennessee Volunteer’s average has dropped at each of his last two stops, and he has struck out at least four times for every walk in each of his four minor league stops. You should look past his .236 average at Triple-A Las Vegas last year to consider it a negative but not something that would keep him from having fantasy value. That would come from his 21 homers and 75 RBI, which would give him more value than most catchers. A year earlier, he totaled 27 dingers and 105 RBI in high Class A and Double-A. J.P. also needs to work on his throwing. He has a strong arm, but threw out just 25 per cent of potential base stealers in 2009. The Jays need a catcher; by mid-season Arencibia could have that job.
Projection
AB: 385 BA: .264 HR: 17 RBI: 62 SB: 0 R: 50 Value: $5
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