Mike Rizzo says the Nationals closer will be one of Shawn Kelley, Blake Treinen or Koda Glover
The Nationals are in the process of signing Matt Wieters when they should have signed a closer. Wieters hits but the Nats aren’t short on hitting. He has never proven himself to be a great pitch framer, which is exactly what the Nationals need because they have no closer.
Did I mention that the Nationals have no capable closer?
Jeff Bridich talks with Jim Bowden about Charlie Blackmon’s turf toe which limited his ability to run in 2016 and David Dahl, one of the Rockies exciting new prospects.
Archie Bradley appears to be in a three-man competition for one of the Diamondbacks’ final two rotation spots
Carlos Gomez is in line to sit atop the Rangers’ batting order for 2017
Garrett Richards is extremely optimistic about returning to full health without needing elbow ligament replacement surgery. Richards chose a combination of stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma injections, and feels that treatment has been working well. Richards threw his first bullpen session of spring training this week.
Kennys Vargas enters spring training as the leading candidate to win the starting DH job, His competition this spring will be Byung ho Park and Robbie Grossman. Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano will also see time at DH to give them days off from being in the field. Vargas hit 10 home runs in 47 games last season, along with 13.6 percent walk rate.
Avisail Garcia lost 14 pounds this offseason, and will be given a chance “to settle into right field,” manager Rick Renteria said. Garcia fell short of high expectations last year when he displayed below-average defensive skills, along with 12 home runs, 51 RBI and a .245/.307/.385 slash line. (.355 average with runners in scoring position.)
Tyler Naquin hit .296 (95-for-321) with 18 doubles, five triples, 14 homers and 43 RBI last season. He finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting and topped all other rookies with a .514 slugging percentage. His defense on the other hand, was not so impressive as he finished the season with a minus 18 in defensive runs saved.
Tom Murphy only played in 32 major league games over the past two seasons hitting .266 with eight home runs, 22 RBIs and a .949 OPS over 79 at-bats.He also struck out 33 percent of of the time.
Bruce Rondon:
- Fstball is his go to pitch and sits in the upper-90 m.p.h. range.
- Slider is his next best pitch.
- Was one of the Tigers’ best relievers last season – 2.97 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 36 ⅓ IP
- Enters 2017 as the setup man for Francisco Rodriguez
- Is working to incorporate the changeup more.
Unless someone gets hurt, or a rookie named JaCoby Jones pulls a reprise of the old Spring Phenom act, Mikie Mahtook is in line to be the Tigers’ choice in center when they get rolling
A.J. Reed will get a lot of playing time this spring in an attempt to “hit his way onto our roster” according to manager A.J. Hinch. Reed batted .164 with three home runs and three doubles in 122 at bats in his major league debut last season. He struck out 34% of the time and fell from being the eleventh best prospect in baseball to number 72 on the list.
Angels General Manager Billy Eppler already indicated, after signing Luis Valbuena to a two year $15 million contract in January, that Valbuena will see significant time at first base next season.
This leaves C.J. Cron heading into Spring competing for playing time.. A platoon of Cron and Valbuena at first base doesn’t work as they both hit better against right-handed pitching.
Greg Bird enters Yankees camp with the job at first base his to lose. Hal Steinbrenner is looking for Aaron Judge to start in right field, and his goal is to cut down on the strikeouts that plagued his brief time in the majors last season.
Matt Olson, 23, made his debut with the A’s playing both first base and some right field toward the end of 2016. He hit .095 with a .321 on-base percentage, and Oakland already has a first baseman in Yonder Alonso. Manager Bob Melvin stated:
Olson’s versatility allows him to get to the big leagues with the opportunity to potentially stay. For me, he’s still one of those prototypical first basemen. He’s still a big prospect in our organization. A couple of years ago he was in position to get the opportunity. We’ve made some acquisitions since that have made it a little bit of a tougher road for him. But if you do well, if you perform, you’ll get an opportunity.Manager Bob Melvin
J.P Crawford hit well below his career averages with an AVG/OBP of .244/.328 in 87 games with the IronPigs last season. He had a horrid August,with just 14 hits in 74 at bats. which likely delayed his getting a call up in September.
I think he needs to go back and prove he’s a better hitter than he showed, I really haven’t seen enough of him so far this spring. But I know one thing: He’s got a lot of potential, a lot of ability. … He’s probably going to go to triple A and get his bat going and get his game going, and then we’ll see where we go from there. I certainly believe he’s going to play in the big leagues at some point.Manager Pete Mackanin
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