Jason Giambi is going to miss the start of the regular season because of a broken rib he suffered Thursday after being hit by a pitch. Early estimates are that he will miss three to four weeks, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
MLB roundup: Giambi injured, Taveras optioned, Lynn dazzles
Catching you up on the stories from around the league on Thursday.
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Giambi was set to come off the bench as a pinch hitter for the Indians while getting starts at designated hitter on occasion. Assuming there are limited complications, Giambi should be ready by May. He hit .183/.282/.371 in 216 PA for the Indians in 2013.
Oscar Taveras will start 2014 in the minors
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Cardinals' top prospect Oscar Taveras won't be with the team when it breaks camp in two weeks, but will instead start his season in the minors, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Cardinals will open the season with Matt Holliday, Peter Bourjos, and Allen Craig taking most of the reps in the outfield with Jon Jay also seeing time. Apparently, the Cardinals believe Taveras needs a little more seasoning before being handed a starting role in St. Louis. He dealt with an injury that limited his playing time in 2013, but Taveras hit .321/.380/.572 in 531 PA with the team's AA-affiliate.
Taijuan Walker’s 25-pitch bullpen goes well
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The Mariners kept the press away during their star prospect's bullpen session to avoid a media circus, but the reports were very positive on the hurler's sore shoulder, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune.
If things continue to go well, the Mariners hope to have Walker on the mound for the big league club in mid to late April. Thursday marked the first time he had thrown on anything but flat ground since reporting soreness on Feb. 28. The 21-year-old’s next major league start will be the fourth of his career.
Lance Lynn dominates against the Braves
Spring training stats don’t really mean anything, but it’s always impressive to watch some dominate in the way that Lance Lynn did on Thursday. The Cardinals right-hander tossed four innings of one-hit ball while striking out 10 and walking no one.
The performance included eight consecutive strikeouts, and the only two outs he recorded that didn't come via the punchout were a line out from Evan Gattis and a ground out by Chris Johnson. Lynn has quietly been an above-average starter over the last two seasons and figures to slot in behind Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha in the Cards' rotation, even if we shouldn't expect him to reproduce Thursday's results.
Michael Pineda looks sharp against the Orioles
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It’s been quite a while since Michael Pineda pitched in a meaningful baseball game, and while that didn’t happen on Thursday, he did take another step in the right direction with a solid performance against the Orioles in a split squad affair.
Pineda worked 2 ⅔ innings, surrendering three hits and a walk while striking out five. It's unclear exactly how he'll be used out of the gate for the Yankees, but his dazzling rookie campaign in 2011 is enough to make Yankee fans dream considering the player they traded for him, Jesus Montero, is barely hanging on to a big league roster spot. Pineda's average fastball in 2011 sat in the mid-90s, so an early indicator of his health will be how close the 25-year-old can come to that mark.
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