Pre Season Blog, March 17, 2008

Good Morning and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Josh O'Beckett played come catch with Red Sox pitching coach John O'Farrell on Sunday throwing 46 tosses from 60 and 75 feet. This was the first time Josh threw since he left the mound with back spasms a little over a week ago. It was officially announced that Josh will miss the trip to Japan and quite possibly the Sox three exhibition games in LA that come after.

Farrell said that Josh was free and easy with his tosses and felt no pain. He further guessed that Beckett will start in one of the two games in Oakland on April 1^st or 2^nd… If he says so … Josh hasn't faced MLB hitters yet this spring and with the Sox leaving the country it is unlikely he will before Farrell's return estimate.

Josh is next scheduled to throw off a mound on Thursday as long as his back reacts well to yesterday's work.

Pedro O'Martinez was sharp in his spring debut, holding the Tigers lineup, which included O'Rodriguez, O'Guillen, O'Ordonez, and O'Cabrera, scoreless over 4 IP on 4 hits, a walk and 4 Ks. Pedro's first scheduled start was rained out this spring and his second scheduled start would have required a 3-hour bus trip and Peety was having none of that.  Three of Pedro's four whiffs were in order against Guillen, Cabrera, and Ordonez. Ordonez went down on a 68 mph curve that dropped nicely from 12 to 6. It was a nicely encouraging outing for Martinez. Let's see if he can carry his success over to his next outing.      

Scott O'Kazmir couldn't answer the bell on Sunday in his first scheduled start since coming up with a strained elbow back on February 26^th. Further, the Rays now say that Scott will likely start the season on the DL. Despite all of this troubling news, manager Joe O'Maddon maintains that Scott's injury is "minor" and that he is expected to join the Rays' rotation by the middle of April.

This injury is being a little more tenacious that I am comfortable with, but the tenor of the Rays' organization is such that it appears they are being honest in their public evaluations. "Honest" is not always the same as "right" however.

Jeff O'Francoeur escaped serious injury yesterday after being hit in the face by a Todd Wellemyer pitch. X-Rays were negative and it looks like Jeff got off with a bruised lip and jaw. He will miss a couple of days and is expected to return to action mid-week.

The Mets' Carlos O'Delgado dodged a bullet on Sunday as well he was leading off of third base when Brady Clark's bat shattered. I piece hit Delgado on the right forearm opening a 4-stich gash. No estimated return yet, but this doesn't look serious.

Garrett O'Anderson sat out yesterday's spring game with an irritated knee. Of course it's the spring so there is no way to tell how cautious the Angels were being. But it never pays to take a Garrett Anderson injury lightly. More when we get it.

Willie O'Bloomquist will play for the M's on Monday after missing almost a week with a strained quad. He says he has been over cautious and could have played a couple of days ago.

Greg O'Smith put the final nail in the MLB coffin of Gio O'Gonzalez on Sunday with 4 solid innings against the Rangers. That followed a rugged outing by Gonzalez in which he allowed 6 runs, 4 earned, in just 6 outs of work, punching his AAA ticket in the process.

Smith on the other hand will stick with the club in long relief and possibly as the As first option if a starter gets dinged.

Ben O'Sheets got batted around for the third straight outing, allowing the M's 4 runs, 3 earned in 4 IP. There are no health problems or whispers about health problems, so let's just assume Ben has been working on some things. There's nothing to be alarmed about at this point.

Brian O'Giles spring debut after knee surgery last October was rained out on Sunday and he is expected to play three or four innings today.

Chien Mien O'Wang allowed the Indians 4 runs in 4.1 IP on Sunday, but the big number in his stat line was his seven (count 'em!) strikeouts. That's a big number for Wang who normally works out his issues with ground balls. But Wang had added emphasis to his slider and change this spring and yesterday against the Tribe that translated into some extra punch outs. This doesn't mean there will be a quantum leap in his K rate this season but this may help him get a little deeper into his starts by allowing him to present some doubt to hitters the 3^rd and 4^th time they see him in a start. Expect Wang to continue to feature his sinker this year, but a few extra complimentary pitches per start may help keep hitters from sitting on it.