Here are some thoughts after reviewing Tuesday’s spring training boxscores:
Fantasy Baseball: Tuesday’s Spring Training Roundup
It appears that the Reds will send pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman to the minors to start the season. He will be back soon though. The 5th starter competition is down to Travis Wood and 2009 draft pick Mike Leake. Chapman will be a top 10 pick in the UBA minor league draft, and possibly top 5.
Johan Santana pitched against minor leaguers on Tuesday and got rocked for 7 runs. Sure its spring training and he is coming off elbow surgery, but I would damper my expectations in the early going of the 2010 season.
FWIW Dept.- I was listening to Baseball This Morning on XM175 on my ride into work this morning, and Rob Dibble stated he would not be surprised to see Jason Heyward hit 30 HRs in 2010. Wow.
Rays closer Rafael Soriano got hit around for 4 runs on 3 hits, one a HR, a walk, but struck out 2 in one inning of relief. Have the Rays ever had a shutdown closer?
I am getting tired of writing about Austin Jackson, but he has had a very good spring, and he continued on Tuesday going 2-3, with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, a SB and an RBI. Curtis who?
Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill was 1-3 with a HR and 2 RBI. The homer was his third of the spring. Does anyone see him hitting 30 HRs again?
Padres right fielder Will Venable went 0-4 with a walk, but stole 2 bases to give him 9 in spring training. The green light is always on for Bud Black, and fantasy owners who need some late round SBs should not forget about Venable. I know I won’t. I have a 30 round draft Wednesday night.
Padres reliever Luke Gregerson struck out 3 in 1.1 innings to earn his 2nd spring save. Should Padres closer Heath Bell get traded to the highest bidder, Gregerson and Mike Adams will fight it out for the closer spot in San Diego.
Twins 5th starter Francisco Liriano struck out 8 in 6 innings of work vs the Pirates on Tuesday. He gave up 3 hits and walked 3, lowering his spring ERA to 2.70. Liriano should move up draft lists after this outing.
Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter held to Mets to one earned run in 5 innings. He gave up only 4 hits but walked 6 batters. Not a good sign for a control pitcher like Carpenter. I won’t be drafting Carpenter this season.
As I stated before, I have a 30 round draft on Wednesday night, so there may not be a blog post from me on Thursday morning.
See More:
