Injury news, positional battles, a retirement announced. Lots of things happening in spring training.
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Neftali Feliz- TEX- Feliz will be starting today, but that doesn’t mean he will be a starter once the games start to count. His eventual role is yet to be decided. Feliz will still likely end up in the bullpen, but that is more in the hands of the other potential starters. If it gets down to the last few days of spring training and the Rangers feel the need they could still move Feliz into the rotation. Right now the 6 candidates for the final 3 rotation spots have a combined 7.83 ERA in their last outings. Feliz will have fantasy value but just which categories it will be in will be up in the air until very late.
Julio Borbon- TEX- Borbon has had a solid spring, hitting .357. However his defense in center field has left a lot to be desired. He has made 5 errors, including 3 dropped fly balls. The Rangers are committed to Borbon in center field, moving Josh Hamilton to left. With Chris Davis tearing up the Cactus League, though, there is a possibility that if Borbon’s bat cools off he could move to the bench, Hamilton come back to center field and Mitch Moreland go from 1B to left field to make room for Davis.
Brian Matusz- BAL- Matusz had an impressive outing yesterday, giving up 1 run and striking out 8 over 4-2/3 IP. He also didn’t walk anyone, which is a nice thing to see after his BB/9 rose to 3.23 last year. Matusz turned 24 last month, so he is still in his formative years. He only threw 110 or more pitches 5 times in his 32 starts for the Orioles last season, so he hasn’t suffered from overuse. His ERA of 2.18 from August 1 onwards last year was a good sign. Matusz will probably provide help in the ERA and strikeout columns and could contribute wins, even with Baltimore.
Justin Duchscherer- BAL- Duchscherer is hoping to be in the Baltimore rotation once the regular season starts. However, given that he has thrown just 2 IP this spring and right now is still throwing on flat ground, the odds are not good that Duchscherer will be on the Opening Day roster. His hip soreness will likely have him on the DL to start the season.
Matt Dominguez- FLA- Dominguez had been slated to make the jump from AA ball to the majors and start at 3B for the Marlins this season. However, he is hitting just .219 in the Grapefruit League. This could be an indication that the prospect needs at least a little bit of seasoning at the AAA level before facing big league pitching on a daily basis. A possibility is that the Marlins could bring back Luis Castillo, released by the Mets yesterday, to play 2B and have Omar Infante play 3B until Dominguez is deemed ready.
Chris Coghlan- FLA- Coghlan is suffering from tendinitis in his shoulder. This is hampering his throwing to the point where he may start the season on the DL. Coghlan will be playing in minor league spring games in an attempt to get the shoulder worked out enough to let him take his projected spot in center field.
Jake Peavy- CHA- Peavy’s stats are encouraging (3.72 ERA, 7 hits, 3 BB, 5 Ks in 9.2 IP) but aren’t overwhelming. If he has a poor outing today don’t hold that against him. Peavy is recovering from a major bout of the flu but still wants to pitch to keep himself on an every 5 day schedule. Coming back from significant shoulder surgery, he wants to keep his routine going, even if his stomach is not in favor of the idea. Peavy says his shoulder feels fine and if he can keep decent results in his non-flu outings this spring he can be a low risk- high reward player to snatch up.
Zack Greinke- MIL- Greinke’s broken rib will push his Milwaukee debut past the hoped for date of April 16th. He has not even started playing catch and will have to go through what amounts to his own personal spring training once the rib has healed enough to allow him to start baseball related activities. The Brewers aren’t even speculating on a new projected return date.
Wily Peralta- MIL- The Brewers need to find someone to insert into the rotation until Zack Greinke is ready to return from his broken rib. They thought that the 21-year-old Peralta would be able to make the jump from AA but after yesterday’s start, they aren’t so sure any more. Peralta imploded, retiring only 1 of the 8 batters he faced and allowing 5 runs. In the long run it might be better for Peralta to go back to the minors now. He has a high ceiling, but with 64 walks in 147 minor league IP last year, getting better command of his pitches at AAA will be beneficial.
Brad Lidge- PHI- Lidge has been hampered by right biceps tendinitis for the past week but was able to throw 35 pain free pitches in a bullpen session yesterday. Lidge owns a career spring training ERA of 7.67 so a slow start isn’t worrisome. It seems like he is usually nursing some aches and pains in Florida.
Scot Shields- LAA- Shields decided to hang them up. The major league leader in holds from 2005-2008 announced his retirement, although there was interest in him from several clubs. Shields never bounced back from knee surgery in 2009 and felt he would rather spend time with his family. He provided a lot of value in leagues where holds are counted because of his numbers in that category but also in ERA, where he was consistently low with a large amount of IP for a reliever.
Scott Rolen- CIN- Rolen doesn’t like to hear about his fragility but since 2005 he has missed at least 20 games every season and has only played at least 130 games twice. Manager Dusty Baker plans on having Rolen start 120 games this season so that will affect his value. If you draft Rolen for his power (20 homers in 471 ABs last year) hopefully you are in a daily transaction league where you can sit him on day games after a night game and other spots where Baker will rest the veteran.
AJ Burnett- NYA- The Yankees were trying to put some positive spin on yesterday’s outing, but with 2 wild pitches and a number of pitches in the dirt, Burnett was showing signs of regressing to the wildness that saw him post BB/9 numbers of 4.22 and 3.76 in his first two seasons with New York. He does have a 2.77 ERA this spring and hasn’t issued a walk in 13 IP, so maybe this was an aberration. However, keep a watch on his control before deciding that Burnett is anywhere near the pitcher he was with the Marlins or Blue Jays.
Jonny Venters- ATL- The Braves will use both Venters and Craig Kimbrel as closers when the season starts for real. However, it looks like Venters will be the junior partner in this arrangement. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said he plans to use Venters on nights when Kimbrel needs to rest or when the opponent’s 9th inning lineup skews left handed. Expect Venters to pick up some saves early in the season and then be the primary set up man for the bulk of the year.
JJ Putz- ARI- Putz was shut down after feeling stiffness in his back while warming up for yesterday’s game. He said this was the first time he had problems like this with his back (lucky him.) Putz reportedly felt a little better after getting worked on in the trainer’s room. There is no diagnosis or word as to whether this is anything serious. We will have to see how Putz feels in the next day or two to determine if there will be any impact on his availability for the start of the season.
Joe Nathan- MIN- The Twins are ramping up the workload on Nathan to see if he will be able to shoulder the closer role to open the season. Yesterday he pitches for the first time with only one day of rest. Over the next couple of weeks Nathan will try a multiple inning outing and will also pitch on consecutive days. He passed yesterday’s test and if he continues to jump the hurdles in front of him he should be saving games for Minnesota out of the gate.
