A very honest Ivan Nova admitted that he really hurt himself in his battle with CC Sabathia for the New York Yankees' fifth starter spot on Friday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles. Nova went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, five earned, on five hits -- three of which were homers."I put myself in a really bad position right now," Nova said. Nova's ERA this spring jumped to 5.71 compared to Sabathia's 5.84. Neither has looked great, but Sabathia may taken the edge with one start to go based on his resume and his $25 million salary.
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Never know about those spring homersComment -
A-Rod to retire after 2017 season: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15...re-2017-season
"I won't play after next year," Rodriguez said. "I've really enjoyed my time. For me, it is time for me to go home and be Dad."Comment -
Sleeper candidate?
After being informed that he’s making the Opening Day roster, Tyler Naquin celebrated Friday against the Diamondbacks by going 3-for-4 with a solo homer.
He also made a nice running catch in center field. With another strong day at the plate, Naquin has improved his spring average to .476 (20-for-42). Michael Brantley (shoulder) is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, so Naquin figures to see most of the action in center field against right-handers. The 24-year-old batted .300/.381/.446 with seven home runs and 13 steals in 84 games last season between Double- and Triple-A. He’s a wait-and-see option in mixed leagues, but should be a useful piece in AL-only formats as long as the playing time is there.Comment -
- Like most organizations, the Phillies have several opt-out dates approaching — particularly in their relief corps. As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes, the Phils face potential decisions on Edward Mujica (Saturday) and Ernesto Frieri (next Thursday) in short order, with Andrew Bailey (May 1) and James Russell (June 1) to follow. Mujica seems destined for a big league job, says Zolecki, while it’s not clear that Frieri will make it onto the active roster after rough results thus far.
- Members of Braves brass like Jeff Francoeur as a right-handed bench bat, which means the club could elect to give him its last outfield spot over Nick Swisher and Emilio Bonifacio, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Braves brought Swisher to camp with the hope that he’d show well enough to entice another team to trade for him. While Swisher has hit .294/.429/.382 in 34 at-bats, a deal hasn’t come along. Thus, the Braves could ultimately eat the 12-year veteran’s entire $15MM salary in order to get rid of him. Bonifacio, who’s due a much more palatable $1.25MM this year, is potentially movable. If not, the Braves will have an easier time eating his contract than Swisher’s.
- Elsewhere, Mike Foltynewicz is favored to beat out Williams Perez and Manny Banuelos for the Braves’ fifth starter spot, per O’Brien. Regardless, the Braves won’t need a fifth starter until April 12, so they might start the season with an eight-man bullpen. That would ostensibly bode well, at least temporarily, for the out-of-options Jose Ramirez and Rule 5 pick Dan Winkler.
- MLB.com’s Mark Bowman agrees that Foltynewicz is making a strong case for a rotation slot with the Braves. He has recovered quicker than expected from a scary bout with a blood clot. Meanwhile, John Gant has remained in the running longer than might have been expected. Per Bowman, the 23-year-old, who came over in last year’s Juan Uribe/Kelly Johnson swap with the division-rival Mets, may be in line behind Foltynewicz and Jhoulys Chacin.
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Luebke was a good pitcher in 2011 but with all of his injuries it is hard to believe he is ever going to get back to that form. He is a good one to keep an eye on just in case (if he gets right he could be a waiver wire gem).Comment -
Southpaws that can throw 94 will be given every opportunity in the majors, key may be whether or not Luebke can maintain his velocity if they tinker with his mechanics.Comment -
they have to decide on him by the 29th I believeComment -
Happy Easter, Everyone!
Opening Day is right around the corner...
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Forecast for Opening Day here in Pittsburgh next Sunday...
High of 43 and a chance of snow!
Haha! It will probably be 73 and sunny!
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Six more days til baseball, let's go!Comment -
The Dodgers could consider a trade to help their ailing pitching staff, but only if an “impact” arm could be acquired, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter links). That said, rotation help could come from within, as Ross Stripling, Zach Lee and Carlos Frias are all in the running to be the fifth starter. Here’s more on the Dodgers…
- The Dodgers’ low-key offseason and now their spring injury plague has led to some pessimism about the club, as Sherman explores in a column. In not stripping the farm to acquire big names at either last July’s trade deadline or during the winter, however, the Dodgers feel they’ve amassed the depth necessary to withstand this injury bug. Yasiel Puig has also been in good form both on the field and in the clubhouse this spring.
- With all the injury gloom surrounding the Dodgers’ rotation, one major bright spot has been Kenta Maeda’s excellent Spring Training, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick writes. Maeda has a 1.89 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 19 spring innings, firmly establishing his place in the pitching staff. The Japanese righty signed a rather unique eight-year, $25MM contract (with over $65MM available in incentive bonuses) with Los Angeles this winter, a structure inspired by some concerns the Dodgers had over Maeda’s physical.
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i think tie games in the preseason helps the books
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Man. Everything gets milked out now-a-days in sports...
Papi's last spring training ride
David Ortiz was driven off the field in a golf cart by fellow Red Sox legends Luis Tiant and Jim Rice in the final home spring training game of his career.Comment -
5 days away from the regular season starting. Still think all openers should start on Monday myself.Comment -
Matt Harvey had a blood clot in his bladder, but expects to be fine to start Opening Day against the Royals on Sunday.
Advice: There were all sorts of questions about Harvey's mystery ailment on Monday, but fortunately everything is already back to normal. He told reporters Tuesday morning that he expects to throw a few innings on Wednesday and should be good to go for his Opening Day assignment as originally planned.Comment -
youchy
that does not sound goodComment -
yeah we only need tours for like 1-2 players every generationComment -
MLB Network Ahoy! @Plesac19 is taking over @Pirates' camp and talking with the team on #30Clubs30Days. Don't miss it at 7pE!Comment -
I'm a Huge College Baseball Fan. Here are the Latest DI Rankings if you're interested...
Rankings - D1Baseball.com Top 25
Last Updated - March 28, 2016
D1Baseball.com Top 25
1 Texas A&M 3-1 21-3 2 2 Florida 2-2 23-3 1 3 Vanderbilt 3-1 20-4 5 4 Miami (Fla.) 4-0 20-4 7 5 South Carolina 3-0 23-2 14 6 Oregon State 1-3 16-5 3 7 North Carolina 2-2 19-4 4 8 Louisville 3-1 19-5 9 9 Florida State 3-0 18-5 11 10 TCU 2-2 18-5 6 11 Mississippi State 3-1 17-7 15 12 California 3-0 14-6 17 13 Ole Miss 1-3 20-5 8 14 Clemson 1-3 17-6 12 15 LSU 2-2 16-7 10 16 Long Beach State 2-1 16-7 21 17 NC State 0-2 16-8 13 18 Arkansas 3-0 18-6 20 19 East Carolina 3-1 16-8 19 20 Virginia 2-2 17-8 16 21 Oklahoma State 4-0 17-7 22 22 Florida Atlantic 3-1 18-4 24 23 Houston 3-1 16-7 25 24 UC Santa Barbara 3-1 18-4 NR 25 Georgia Tech 3-1 18-5 NR Comment
