Mets are encouraged early. The big four pitchers are “throwing the (tar) out of the ball,” Terry Collins says
The Mets’ faith in Travis d’Arnaud will be interesting to watch now that Matt Wieters has agreed to sign with the division-rival Nationals.
Alcides Escobar, Jonathan Schoop, George Springer were the only three players who played in 162 games last season
Michael Bourn will make $2 million next year if he makes the Orioles major league roster, or he can opt out of the deal on March 25 if he’s not
The Brewers made an attempt to extend Jonathan Villar by offering him around $20 million, but Villar was not interested
Michael Brantley has undergone two extensive surgeries to repair the tendon that was ripped away from his shoulder bone. He continues to rehab but do not be surprised when he isn’t ready to play ball on opening day.
Terry Francona said he’ll plug a plethora of people into the vacancy in left field during spring training. Daniel Robertson, Greg Allen and Bradley Zimmer will start in the outfield for the club’s first game on Saturday. On Sunday, Tyler Naquin, Lonnie Chisenhall and Abraham Almonte will man the outfield. Yandy Diaz will see some time in the outfield during the team’s third spring game.
Pirates GM Neal Huntington announced the team’s pecking order for saves:
Huntington typically doesn’t permit his relievers to pitch three straight days, and will give Hudson the chance to potentially close after Watson has thrown in back-to-back calendar days.
Braves Manager Brian Snitker is leaning toward moving Dansby Swanson to the second spot behind Ender Inciarte.
There have been indications that Brandon Phillips will bat sixth behind Freddie Freeman, Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis.
The Braves lineup would look like:
Tim Anderson can steal a base but needs to work on plate discipline. He struck out 117 times while walking only 13 times over 431 plate appearances last season.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon confirmed Thursday that Kyle Schwarber is the clear front runner to bat leadoff. Maddon is waiting for the “geeks” in the analytics department to provide some projections for a lineup with the pitcher batting eighth and either Jon Jay or Albert Almora hitting ninth.
The question remains as to who will bat second in the Tigers lineup. We already know it will not be Justin Upton or J.D. Martinez.
Nick Castellanos volunteered for the job but will not be in the lineup today as he is under the weather
I’ve talked to Nick, and Nick is a possibility and, quite frankly, Nick wants to hit second Brad Ausmus
Castellanos is under the weather. Infante will start at third instead. https://t.co/Khf5M61YSC
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) February 24, 2017
Yesterday’s lineup:
- Ian Kinsler, 2B
- Nick Castellanos, 3B
- Miguel Cabrera, 1B
- Victor Martinez, DH
- J.D. Martinez, RF
- Justin Upton, LF
- James McCann, C
- Mikie Mahtook, CF
- Jose Iglesias, SS
Tyler Collins is scratched from CF for a while. He has a lat strain and won’t throw for 10-14 days. He can DH, though.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) February 24, 2017
Alex Gordon hit .220 last season, with a career-worst .312 on-base percentage, .380 slugging percentage and struck out a career high 148 times. He missed five weeks with an injured wrist, which is one of the worst injuries for a batter. It affects power, bat speed, timing and control.
Gordon allows that the injury was a particular problem, because it kept him from baseball work for a month in the middle of the season, at a time when pitchers are getting sharper.
28 percent of Gordon’s balls hit in play were line drives — the best rate of his career, and far above the major-league average of 19 percent. His batting average on balls in play, generally viewed as an indicator of luck, was among the worst of his career
Yasmani Grandal suffered a shoulder injury last season that appeared to affect his swing plane. While his exit velocity from the left side (92.8 mph) and right side (91.1) last season were nearly equal, the launch angles were drastically different – 14 degrees as a left-handed hitter, 7.7 as a right-hander. The result was a 53.6 percent ground ball rate as a right-handed hitter.
Share this Post