Yu Darvish- TEX- Hot- The most impressive thing about Darvish's outing last night might not be the near perfect game. Ok, maybe that is the most impressive. Very close, though, is that he struck out 14 and didn't walk anyone. In his rookie campaign a year ago he gave up 13 free passes in his first 3 starts and threw 189 of his first 333 pitches for strikes. Last night 78 of his 111 pitches were strikes. If Darvish has advanced his control his performance this season could be scary.
Lucas Harrell- HOU- Hot- Harrell picked up where he left off in his breakthrough season of 2012, tossing 6 innings and allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. His control was not all it could be as he threw 42 balls in 96 pitches. The league switch could make it hard for Harrell to duplicate his 3.76 ERA of last year, but last night was a good sign.
Matt Wieters- BAL- Hot- Wieters' lucky number yesterday was 2. He was 2-for-3 with a 2-run homer, 2 runs and 2 walks. He hit 5 homers in 45 ABs in the Grapefruit League and drew 7 walks. It's way too early to count on it but Wieters could have the kind of monster year that has been expected of him as he turns 27 next month.
David Price- TB- Stats- Price threw 110 or more pitches 9 times before the All Star Break last season but only 5 times after. This was also a significant drop in high-pitch games from the 21 he threw in 2011. Price only threw 100 pitches yesterday. This is a good sign for him to avoid burning out.
Franklin Gutierrez- SEA- FYI- Gutierrez will get regular rest and was out of the starting lineup yesterday. He did come in as a defensive replacement and doubled in his only AB. The fragile Gutierrez, who has played in only 132 games over the past 2 seasons, had some leg soreness in spring training. The Mariners aren't going to push him. He will play today, though.
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