Rich Hill of the Chicago Cubs is coming along nicely in Spring Training. Hill is a guy who can be a high risk high reward player this year. He is high risk because he is a sophomore and because he got bombed from time to time early last year. He is potentially a high reward player because he has shown the ability to dominate big league hitters. Hill has established his dominance over AAA hitters to the extent that it is a waste of time for him to be there and at the end of 2006 he appeared to have finally figured it out at the big league level. Hill was 6-3 with a 2.93 earned run average, 79 strikeouts in 80.1 innings of work and posted a WHIP of 1.05 in the second half last year. Cole Hamels is receiving big attention in Philly, and he may deserve it, but Rich Hill has the potential to steal the show. Hill threw three innings in his second Cactus League appearance on Friday and allowed one run on four hits while fanning three.
Cliff Floyd of the Chicago Cubs is expected to make his Spring Training debut early next week. The Cubs are reportedly just being cautious with his recovery from his achilles injury.
Reportedly the top four spots in the Chicago Cubs starting rotation are filled. With Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lily, Jason Marquis and Rich Hill filling the top four spots. This comes as no big surprise but it does leave the final spot up for grabs between Mark Prior and Wade Miller. Both Prior and Miller are throwing in the middle eighties. This should be expected from Wade Miller since he had arthroscopic shoulder surgery but Prior in the mid eighties is not good in any way. Miller threw three innings and surrendered just one run in his second outing. Prior will make his second appearance today. The Cubs will not make any hasty decisions with Prior and the fifth spot because the Cubs may not need a fifth starter until the third week of the season.
As a result of the most recent injury to Mike Hampton of the Atlanta Braves they announced the signing of Mark Redman on Friday. Redman was 11-10 with a 5.71 earned run average for the Kansas City Royals in 2006. Certainly the Braves are better than the Royals and Redman did make 29 starts, 11 of which were quality starts so it isn't a bad plug for that hole Hampton has left for more than a year. Redman is not a flashy player he is more of an inning eater and that is exactly what he should do.
In a report coming out of the Boston Red Sox camp on Friday Brendan Donnelly was identified as a potential candidate for the closers role this season but no one has been officially appointed to that role yet.
Carl Pavano of the New York Yankees did not make his scheduled start on Friday afternoon. The Yankees did not reveal the specifics of the situation but they did say that he would likely return today.
Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies got touched up, to say the least, in his start on Friday against the Boston Red Sox. Hamels lasted two innings while allowing three hits, four walks and four earned runs. Don't pay too much attention to these numbers since it is only his second outing of spring training. However, Hamels did paint a big target on his back last week for National League hitters when he said his goal is to win 20 games this year.
Chris Burke of the Houston Astros started at second base on Friday rather than centerfield. Burke, a former infielder, made the start simply because Craig Biggio and backup Mark Loretta didn't want to make the bus trip. Burke will start in centerfield on opening day.
Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers did something on Friday I don't think I ever saw him do in all of his years with the Chicago Cubs and that is beat out an infield ground ball. Sosa seems very determined to make the big league team and is doing whatever it takes. Sosa has at least one hit in every game he has appeared in so far this spring and he has two homeruns as well.
Mike Piazza of the Oakland Athletics is hitting the ball well this spring training. Piazza was two for three with two runs batted in on Friday and he is batting .500 so far this spring.
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his first homerun of the year on Friday. Every swing of his bat will count this season but this one doesn't. Bonds looks fresh this spring, he has legged out a couple of doubles and even made a road game earlier in the week.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim announced that John Lackey will be their opening day starter on April 2nd. This statement came with the safety net of "if he stays on routine throughout March." Angels Manager, Mike Scioscia also tip toed around saying specifically that Lackey would start on opening day by saying that he hasn't decided yet, but Lackey is a front runner. Lackey was 13-11 with a 3.56 earned run average in 2006 and he is projected to win 15 games and post a 3.64 earned run average in 2007.
Rafael Furcal of the Los Angeles Dodgers has missed 10 out of 11 games this spring and the end of his absence from the lineup isn't yet in sight. Furcal said he would be ready to start getting ready for opening day sometime next week in a report that came out of the Dodgers camp on Friday. Furcal has been out because of a sore shoulder.
Much has been made about Aramis Ramirez's slow starts over the past several years. And the issue was finally addressed in the broadcast of the Cubs game on Comcast Sports Net Chicago on Friday afternoon. Len Kasper, the Cubs broadcaster, said that the Cubs need to find someway to trick Ramirez into thinking it is 75 degrees for the first two months. A more realistic approach is to get him extra at bats in spring training much like they did for Derrek Lee in 2005. If Ramirez can eliminate his slow start and hit like he does in June-September in April and May he could become one of the best offensive players in the game. Ramirez had four runs batted in on Friday via a two run-double and a two-run homerun.
Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds made his spring debut on Friday and he looked pretty good going two innings without allowing a run and striking out three. Arroyo is looking for his first breakout season this year. Arroyo now has three full seasons of experience under his belt and despite winning nine games before the All-Star break last year he has yet to top 14 wins in a season. Expect more of the same out of Arroyo this year.
