Felix Hernandez was on a pitch count and wasn’t sharp Friday. He needed 51 pitches in less than three innings, including 20 balls.
Seth Lugo – 5.1 shutout innings in Friday’s World Baseball Classic win over the elite Venezuela lineup that includes Jose Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez and Victor Martinez. Lugo is battling to become the Mets’ fifth starter,
Manager John Farrell says David Price has a full range of motion and could begin light throwing in the coming days Farrell added that Price will participate in simple plyometric exercises Saturday as the team continues to ease him back into action
Zach Wheeler threw two innings in his first Grapefruit League start, walking a batter, striking out another, and serving up a home run. The oft-injured 26-year-old appeared healthy.
Matt Harvey allowed a solo home run, struck out two while striking out two batters and walked one in three innings Friday, and should be able to have a normal spring training from here out.
Blake Snell needed 49 pitches to get through his two frames, struggling with his command throughout. It was his second straight appearance with just under 50 pitches
Eric Thames is hitting .211 and struggling to make contact. He is still doing a good job getting on base
Taijuan Walker turned in his third consecutive impressive start, this time tossing four scoreless, innings not allowing a hit and striking out eight. Walker retired the first 11 batters he faced before walking 3B Travis Shaw.
Reynaldo Lopez recorded his second consecutive excellent start this spring, blanking the host Brewers through 4 1/3 innings while striking out four in the White Sox’ 4-3 win Friday. Lopez averaged 91-94 mph and touched 96 mph on the Sox’ radar gun.
Definitely base running, I think I can get better at base running. I think it would take my game to the next level. All facets, from rounding the bag to taking the lead to knowing who’s playing where and who’s on first, second, third.Also, knowing when to go first to third, second to home. The ball is hit in the hole, and you read it. And instead of just staying on second, you make a hard turn for third. Stuff like that. I know the speed’s there, It’s just a matter of anticipating when to steal and reading that pitcher and getting comfortable on the basepaths. That’s the goal right now.
Addison Russell is working on base running this spring. He only attempted to steal six times last season and seven times as a rookie in 2015.
‘‘As far as [Russell] wanting to steal bases, it needs to be situationally based,’’ manager Joe Maddon said. ‘‘He’s not just going to go out there on a nightly basis and try to steal one base. Is it the right matchup? Who’s the pitcher? Who’s the catcher? What part of the game are we in? All those things.‘‘So I like situational base-stealing being more of the concern right here. If we can pick out the right situations for him and he learns how to do that, it could be very helpful.
Gattis will see more time behind the plate over the spring, where he seems to hit better. He had 251 of his at-bats last season as a DH, hitting (.219/.298/.410), and the other 190 as a catcher, batting (.295/.345/.647)
Aaron Hicks has put himself in position to send Aaron Judge back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Judge has six strikeouts times in 26 at-bats, hitting .346. Hicks is at .261.
We never said it was going to be Judge, Hicks is a young man with a lot to prove. He is having a great camp on offense and defense. Judge is having a good camp, too. I know it’s early.Brian Cashman
There is a chance James Kaprielian, Yankees’ top pitching prospect could join the big-league staff at some point in the upcoming season.
Stephen Piscotty is both the cleanup hitter and the top base stealer on the Cardinals team.
Initially, I would say McCann will look like more of the everyday guy and Gattis will play maybe a touch more than a traditional backup but will get plenty of time. I think what can change that is how the DH plays. Obviously the performances will change. But McCann will catch a majority of the games, Gattis will catch the balance of them and then as the schedule permits and the health permits, then we’ll adjust accordingly.
One of the primary objectives of advanced statistics is to provide alternatives to conventional wisdom. For baseball, that can mean looking at the batting lineup with a more critical eye. The Nationals are considering a batting order where Bryce Harper hits second rather than his typical role in the third or fourth spots.
I’ve considered it,But it just depends on you still have to put like two or three lefties in a row. We’ll see. But I got to have somebody to protect. I had [Murphy] protecting [Harper] last year because Murphy was more productive. So we’ll see how it works out.
The biggest benefit to batting Harper second is more at-bats. Over the course of a 162-game season, the No. 2 hitter would have 737 plate appearances compared to 718 and 702 for the third and fourth batters, respectively. And since Harper is projected to be the best hitter on the team the more times he is at the plate, the better it is for the Nationals.
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