Eric Gagne made his first appearance in "A"games this spring and was rudely welcomed by Kevin Frandsen with a long HR. Gagne settled down after allowing the HR getting two groundouts and a strike out to end the inning. Gagne's a difficult pitcher to project coming into this season and he hasn't pitched in a major league game since 2005 due to a nerve injury in his arm. When he's been healthy he's been an elite closer since making the switch from starter to reliever and he has the reigns in Texas as the stand-alone closing option right now, but his health concerns and the potential lost velocity that may force him to pitch more like Trevor Hoffman skew my abilities to project him. If you're delving in the murky waters of Eric Gagne this year it makes sense to handcuff him with Akinori Otsuka in larger leagues.
Some troubling news coming out of Devil Rays camp where Rocco Baldelli had to leave yesterday's game early with some tightness in his hamstring. Baldelli missed all of 2005 with knee and elbow injuries that also limited him at the beginning of 2006. Baldelli came back for the 2nd half of the season and made a lasting impression for fantasy owners swatting 12 HR's, swiping 10 bases, and posted an .819 OPS. Baldelli's HR Rate and Slugging % both trended up during this period and the Rays recent lineup tweak that placed Rocco in the 3 hole gave even more hope to a breakout 2007 season. While the Rays stress this move was strictly for precautionary reasons, the press clip reads that Baldelli asked out of the game. With Baldelli's history of injuries a little tightness in the hamstring could lead to more, pay close attention to this situation over the next few days to see if Baldelli's hamstring injury is more than Tampa Bay is currently leading on.
Bobby Crosby got some AB's in a minor league game on Tuesday and appears set to play in his first Cactus league game today. Crosby was a favorite sleeper pick heading into last season after an impressive 2005 campaign that saw him hit 9 HR's and 25 2B's in limited time. The problem is the limited time which seems to be a constant with Crosby who only managed to participate in 96 games last year has been labeled an injury risk by most. Crosby remains a late round selection in mixed leagues and remains a sleeper option for power out of the SS position. However his injury concerns along with his rapid decline in EYE and Slugging last season lead to concerns about his ability to be reliable and productive going forward.
Rich Harden's impressive spring continued on Tuesday as he struck out 7 White Sox in 5 innings of work. He now has 25 strikeouts in just 13 innings and appears as healthy as he's ever been heading into camp. Harden's ADP continues to rise as he continues to flash big spring training numbers but many owners are still showing a bit of restraint in letting him fall well past the 6th round. When healthy Harden is one of the most valuable pitcher's in fantasy and if you throw out his limited sample in 2006 (which wasn't that bad) his K rate had been increasing for 3 straight years while his BB rate had been declining along with a dwindling HR rate. While I usually tend to stray from risk, I believe Harden offers terrific value if you can obtain him between the 75th and 100th picks of your draft and for those that load up on hitters early, Harden's the type of guy I'd roll the dice on as your Ace.
Mike Pelfrey continued his solid spring last night only allowing 1 earned run in 5 innings against the Orioles last night. He's now only allowed 2 earned runs in his 14 innings of work this spring and appears set to take hold of the 5th spot in the Mets rotation. Pelfrey should benefit from a loaded Mets lineup and plenty of run support if he's awarded the spot and remains a solid sleeper option in NL Only leagues.
Kei Igawa pitched well on Tuesday night allowing only 2 hits and 3 walks in his 5 scoreless innings while striking out 3. Igawa's spring has been up and down as he's allowed 20 base-runners to reach in his 12 innings of work but has limited the damage to 4 ER due to his 15 K's. Igawa has shown strong K potential in the Japanese leagues but has also struggled with his command. He appears set to be a Doug Davis type in the states who racks up strong K numbers with high BB totals and short outings, but his spring has been even more volatile and closer to Daniel Cabrera type numbers. I think Igawa could benefit significantly in the early going of the season from the unfamiliarity of teams facing him and could be a guy that you look to deal midway through the season. He's currently being undervalued and with his strong K and W potential he should be a solid #4 starter for your fantasy rotation.
Justin Verlander continues to struggle this spring as he allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks against the Pirates. Verlander's big jump in innings last year over his career high leads many to caution about potential injury concerns for the young right-hander going forward. Verlander's ugly spring hasn't helped quell fantasy owners concerns as he's posted a 8.31 ERA in 13 spring innings allowing 14 hits and 5 walks in the process.
Troy Tulowitzki's strong spring continued on Tuesday as he went 2-4 with a 2B, RBI, and a Run against the Cubs. Tulowitzki is now hitting .361 this spring and is nice sleeper option at SS for both power and a bit of speed.
Grady Sizemore's spring struggles continued on Tuesday with another 0-3. Sizemore is now 5-39 this spring for an underwhelming .130 average. I admittedly have a large man crush on Sizemore and firmly believe he's one of the best 10 players in all of baseball. His owners should not be concerned by the spring training slump and should be prepared for another step forward in the young player's development this season. The sky is the limit for the guy that racked up 92, that's not a typo, extra base hits last season.
Kerry Wood reportedly looked strong in a bullpen session on Tuesday and has been thrust back into the planned pitching rotation for Thursday's game against the Padres. This happens to come once again on the same day Mark Prior will be pitching for the Cubs. As a tortured Cubs fan, the irony of these two pitching in the same game together just twists the knife a bit deeper. Wood is a popular sleeper candidate for saves this season after posting dominant peripheral numbers in his short bullpen stint in 2005, however the Cubs seem committed to Ryan Dempster as the closer initially and other more stable options like Bob Howry still remain on the staff. In deep leagues Wood is worth a flier but too often the name value is pulling people in sooner than I'd like.
Scott Podsednik appears back on track to be ready by opening day. Pods went 2-6 with a 3B in an intra-squad game on Tuesday and declared himself on pace to be ready for opening day. Those fantasy owners fascinated with speed will be happy to know Pods seems to have put the sports hernia surgery he had behind him and appears healthy heading into 2007.
Just a week after Julian Tavarez was timidly declared the most likely option to close at the beginning of the season an interesting situation played out in the Red Sox game against the Twins on Tuesday. Joel Pineiro pitched an uneventful 9th inning against the Twins and picked up his first save of the spring and lowered his spring ERA to 3.42. While each manager handles their bullpen differently during spring training we're getting closer to that period of time where managers will start emulating game situations more closely and the use of Pineiro in the 9th inning could be an indicator that he's still firmly in the running for the closer position heading into Opening Day.
Reports out of Arizona on Monday indicated that Carlos Quentin has a small tear in the labrum of his non-throwing shoulder. Quentin will rest the shoulder for 10 days by not swinging a bat and is now uncertain as to his availability for opening day. Quentin is among one of the better sleepers at the OF position after posting an .844 OPS in 160 AB's last season at the big league level.
