Justin Upton will not bat second in the Tigers lineup to start the season, Brad Ausmus said. Asked who could, he said, “Anybody else.”
Upton was moved down in the lineup after he was awful his first four months in Detroit. He was batting .226 with 13 home runs and 140 strikeouts in August.
Jon Lester has only intentionally walked four batters in his career, and zero since 2012.
Tony Cingrani is working on adding another pitch this season. He threw his four seam fastball almost 90 percent of the time in 2016, so it is no surprise that the new pitch is a breaking pitch. He led the Reds with 17 saves while posting a 4.14 ERA in 65 appearances last season.
Drew Storen went to high-school with Reds catcher and new teammate, Tucker Barnhart. Expect Storen to make a serious play at the closer role in Cincinnati this spring, although Manager Bryan Price isn’t inclined to name a closer.
With multiple-inning guys like them, you don’t need to designate a closer, would really like to look at the end of the year and see Storen, Iglesias, Cingrani and Lorenzen in particular to have some saves.Reds Manager Bryan Price
You’ve seen the evolution of the bullpen,You’ve seen how important they view those last three innings. We have a unique situation with (relievers) who can go multiple innings. It’s going to be a fluid situation. Whatever gets me the ball in a big spot late in the game is fine with meDrew Storen
Manager Pete Mackanin is pleased with how Aaron Nola has been throwing so far this spring. He suffered a sprained UCL last July which ultimately ended his season. He was given a platelet-rich plasma injection and rehabbed his injury during the offseason. Nola claims to be fully healthy, but he hasn’t truly tested his arm yet.
While it seems that the Angels’ first base situation is ripe for a platoon, General Manager Billy Eppler is planning to watch Luis Valbuena, C.J. Cron, Jefry Marte and Matt Thaiss closely this spring.
You’ll see all those guys, but ultimately we’ll save that decision for the last possible minuteAngels Manager Billy Eppler
Cam Bedrosian is behind schedule after suffering a groin strain on Tuesday. While not a significant cause for concern, his 2016 season was also cut short by a finger injury and then a blood clot in his right arm which required surgical repair.
A couple shots of Carlos Santana from Wednesday. Francona said there are no plans as of now for Santana to play the outfield. pic.twitter.com/QSDn6wembJ
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 22, 2017
Sandy Alcantara could pitch in the big leagues this year and will use spring as a launch pad to do just that. Trevor Rosenthal did it. Carlos Martinez did it. And the organization is going to position Alcantara to do it this year.
I’m usually more cautious, but let’s throw caution to the wind, When you think about where Rosey was or Carlos Martinez was in their careers, I think Sandy is paralleling them. What could this year look like for him? It wouldn’t shock me if he pitched in the big leagues Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak
The Yankees are not going to just give Aaron Judge right field despite Aaron Hicks‘ disappointing debut. Judge could end up starting the season in the minors if he struggles this spring like he did last year.
The top two candidates for the fifth spot in the Cubs rotation:
- Mike Montgomery will face the A’s
- Brett Anderson starts Monday at home against the White Sox and will likely be the front runner for the job if he can only be healthy.
The Dodgers ranked:
- Last in MLB in batting average .213
- Last in MLB in On-Base Percentage .290
- Last in MLB in Slugging Percentage against left-handed pitching. .332
Only nine teams in the history of Baseball have had five starting pitchers make 30 or more starts in a season
Only two teams had four starters get 30 or more starts last season.
Among the 43 pitchers who threw at least 400 changeups Astros Chris Devenski’s .484 OPS against was fourth-best. He only used his slider 10 percent of the time overall, but it was devastating with a .194 OPS against and 45 percent strikeout rate in 31 plate appearances, leading him to up its usage in the second half in lieu of the curve.
Sleeper:
Seattle Pitcher Dan Altavilla made his debut inheriting 9-2 deficit to the White Sox, facing the heart of the order in the eighth inning last Aug. 27. He only needed nine pitches to get out of the inning seven for strikes. Two groundouts to Melky Cabrera and José Abreu, and then struck out Todd Frazier on four pitches.
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