FLB: Spring Training Notebook 3/22
• The L.A. Times reports that Yhency Brazoban is scheduled to pitch against live hitters on Friday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last April. He's been throwing off a mound for most of spring training, but the Dodgers are going extremely slowly with the 26-year-old former setup man. Expect Brazoban to begin the year on the DL, but don't be surprised to see him active in the season's first half.
• The Times also reports that, as expected, Jered Weaver will begin the season on the disabled list. What's surprising is that evidently Dustin Moseley will take Weaver's place in the Angels' rotation, at least the first time around, meaning that swingman Hector Carrasco will be used exclusively as a reliever. Weaver will throw a minor-league game this weekend, and, if he's all right, will probably miss only a single start.
• Will Julian Tavarez really be Boston's closer to begin the year? Evidently so, according to the Boston Herald, which reports, "Unless Joel Pineiro is lights-out during the remainder of spring training, Tavarez will likely start the year as closer." Of course, all this was mentioned in the context of Mike Timlin beginning the season on the DL because of his strained oblique. The Herald went on to say that Tavarez might hold the closer's job for about six days, whereupon Timlin could assume the role, if he's healthy. In summary: Yeah, it's still a mess.
• With Cliff Floyd still battling a left foot injury (surprise!), Matt Murton is expected to receive most of the playing time in left field to begin the season, according to the Cubs' official Web site. Floyd reportedly will avoid the disabled list, but the DL's siren song will no doubt lure Cliffy some time soon. As it is, the "strict platoon" everyone predicted when the Cubs signed Floyd this winter will be no more strict than a substitute gym teacher. Murton is a very nice sleeper.
• Kei Igawa pitched well in his first pressure start as a Yankee on Tuesday night, throwing five shutout innings against the Phillies just as the media was beginning to speculate he might begin the year at Triple-A. That wasn't ever going to happen, but now it's completely out of the question, as Igawa has sewn up New York's fifth-starter role. Jeff Karstens will either pitch in long relief or head to Triple-A.
• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Braden Looper will be the Cardinals' fifth starter, and that Brad Thompson and Ryan Franklin will be headed to the bullpen. Some might consider this a surprise, given Looper's relief history and the season-ending injury to Josh Kinney. Looper has never started a major-league game. He'll probably go back to the pen if and when Mark Mulder gets healthy this summer.
• Oakland's fifth-starter role is less settled. Joe Kennedy was supposed to win the job no questions asked, but he has been terrible this spring (9 2/3 innings, 22 earned runs, and no, that's not a typo). On Wednesday, the Contra Costa Times reported that manager Bob Geren declared the battle "wide open," and that Brad Halsey and Jason Windsor are in the mix. Remember also that the A's have been rumored to be interested in Byung-Hyun Kim, who could slide into their rotation, probably badly.
• On their Web site, the Dodgers announced that Brad Penny will miss his next exhibition start, which would've been his second-to-last, because of a sore shoulder that "didn't feel right." The team says an MRI showed nothing wrong, and apparently the problem is unrelated to the "bruised nerve" Penny suffered in 2004. Penny says he remains on track to start the team's fourth game this year, but keep an eye on how he looks (and says he feels) when he throws next week.
• The strange saga of J.J. Putz's elbow continues. The Mariners' Putz has thrown exactly one exhibition inning this spring, and that took place during the first week of March. Since then, very little has gone right. First he experienced elbow tightness. Then he threw a bullpen session that went fine, but he felt pain afterward. Then he had an MRI that revealed "no structural damage." Then he wasn't cleared to throw for several days while doctors evaluated his tests. Finally, Tuesday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, he threw from 100 feet on flat ground. If you were the gambling sort, I'm not sure you'd want to place a ton of money on Putz being ready for the season, but we'll know more within the next few days.
• For all the chaos about the bullpen situations in Boston, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Florida, Tampa Bay, et al, one team you don't often hear mentioned is San Diego, where Trevor Hoffman has been closing for what seems like 72 consecutive seasons. However, on Tuesday, Hoffman allowed a run in his fifth consecutive appearance, and exhibition batters are hitting .370 off of him. That includes 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Hoffman is 39 now, and coming off a near-Cy-Young season, but scouts are warning that his fastball has deteriorated so much that there might not be enough of a difference between it and his vicious changeup. But heck, I drafted Hoffman in my mixed keeper league earlier this month, so obviously I'm not too freaked out here.
• The St. Petersburg Times reports that Rocco Baldelli will miss a couple of exhibition games because of a sore right hamstring. Manager Joe Maddon doesn't seem to think it's a big deal, but anyone who's owned Baldelli's balky hammies the last season or two would beg to differ.
• The San Francisco fifth-starter role appears to have boiled down to Russ Ortiz, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That doesn't mean you want any part of him.
• The Astros' fifth-starter role hasn't been decided yet, according to the Houston Chronicle. The contenders are Wandy Rodriguez, Chris Sampson, Brian Moehler, Fernando Nieve and Matt Albers. Manager Phil Garner told reporters that he might wait until the last two days of March to decide who gets the job.
• Ryan Freel returned to action Wednesday and went 0-for-2 in his first exhibition game in nine days. In the interim, he was named Cincinnati's starting center fielder.
• Bobby Jenks got rocked again on Wednesday, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks in two innings. Jenks has been pretty bad this spring: His last outing was last Friday, and he gave up three runs in that game, too. While the fantasy community seems ready for Jenks to lose his hold on the White Sox closer's job at any moment, it's worth keeping in mind that Jenks did this last year, too, and then turned in a downright excellent fantasy season in '06.
