| Joe Crede, 3B, Chicago White Sox | Saturday 3/1, 10:36 PM CT |
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| Joe Crede is not willing to role over and give up his starting third base role to the younger Josh Fields. The veteran Crede blasted a home run over the bullpen beyond the left-field wall in Saturday's win over Arizona. Crede, however, has a chronic back ailment that can't be trusted. He is a high risk - low reward option -- and Fields might not get enough at bats to justify a roster spot in mixed formats. Third base for the Pale Sox is one position that should be avoided until late March. |
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| Chien-Ming Wang tossed two scoreless innings on Saturday, allowing but one hit and registering one strike out. Wang, who is currently the Yankees projected opening day starter, bolstered his fantasy value in his first spring outing. |
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| Shelley Duncan recorded five RBIs on Saturday afternoon with a three-run homer and a two-run double. The 28-year-old Duncan made a dramatic impact last year with seven homers and 17 RBIs, but earned some brownie points today in what figures to be a competitive battle for starter status at first base. Duncan is battling Jason Giambi, Morgan Ensberg and Wilson Betemit for playing time. |
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| Jon Lester, P, Boston Red Sox | Saturday 3/1, 7:42 PM CT |
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| Jon Lester, walked four of the nine batters he faced in his first spring start Saturday against Minnesota.
He gave up five runs, four earned, and recorded only three outs. Lester's velocity was present in the debut, hitting as much as 94 MPH on the gun, but his command was awful. |
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| B.J. Ryan, P, Toronto Blue Jays | Saturday 3/1, 5:38 PM CT |
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| Skipper John Gibbons told the Blue Jays team website that the days of using closer B.J. Ryan for more than one inning are done. Ryan, who led the Majors with 13 multi-inning saves in 2006, will not see any eighth inning work this season as long as he is the primary ninth inning option.
"He's one of the best closers in baseball," Gibbons said, "but you won't see him coming in the eighth inning again. You won't see any of that. We want to try to definitely stay away from that. Plus, we've got guys we've got confidence in to get that final out of the eighth."
Ryan is scheduled to throw 25-30 pitches in a batting-practice on Sunday morning and receive his first Grapefruit League action in mid-March. |
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| Daniel Cabrera had his stuff working on Saturday against Washington, pitching three shutout innings. The 0's talented right-hander gave up two hits and struck out one while facing 10 batters on the day. Cabrera had everything working and his command was abnormally outstanding. His 7-1 ground ball-to-fly ball ratio was also encouraging. Cabrera has been a breakout candidate for so many years, most sharp players avoid his inconsistent performances. If the hard-throwing righty can ever "get it" -- he will be a stellar mixed league option. |
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| Scott Moore, 3B, Baltimore Orioles | Saturday 3/1, 5:23 PM CT |
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| Scott Moore hit a home run to deep right field on Saturday as the O's defeated the Nats 4-1. Moore added a two-run double on the day. Moore, who played in 19 September games last year had 12 hits in 52 at bats and while he registered only one home run, he did record 11 RBI. Moore is slated to back up Melvin Mora at third base this year, but this past week was taking grounders at second base. If Brian Roberts is traded like many believe he will, Moore becomes a viable fantasy option in AL-only formats. |
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| Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told the Star Tribune that Craig Monroe has a strained calf muscle, this following his team’s 7-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox Saturday.
Monroe hasn’t been able to work since Thursday, but he was back in the batting cage today.
“He felt more like a cramp than anything else,” Gardenhire said. “But we’re just backing him up — a little more precautionary. A couple days. He wants to get out there pretty quick, so hopefully we’ll be able to get him back out there.”
Consider Monroe nothing more than a deep league AL-only option when healthy. |
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| Adam Loewen, LF, Toronto Blue Jays | Saturday 3/1, 1:49 PM CT |
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| Adam Loewen is out of minor league options, which means he can't be sent down without passing through waivers, according to MLB.com. The Orioles plan to keep him in their rotation and let him learn on the fly, even if that costs them in the short term. "All I know is he has good stuff, and all young pitchers go through trying times," added pitching coach Rick Kranitz. "I'm sure he'll have a few ups and downs, but as long as [he learns] from it -- especially [the] mistakes -- he'll be fine." Loewen has plenty of talent and upside, but he missed most of last season due to a stress fracture in his elbow, so he'll have to prove he can stay healthy before proving he can mature into a quality fantasy option. |
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| Recovering from elbow surgery, Dustin Moseley felt some soreness in the joint Friday and was shut down for the day, according to the LA Times. He's expected to pitch in a game next week, so obviously at this point, the Angels aren't too concerned about it. |
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| Aubrey Huff, DH, Baltimore Orioles | Saturday 3/1, 10:33 AM CT |
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| Aubrey Huff has faced live pitching the past two days, according to the Baltimore Sun. He's working his way back from hernia surgery and could see his first spring game action next week. At this point, Huff should be ready for the beginning of the regular season. |
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| As expected, Brandon Fahey returned to action Friday after missing the previous day's exhibition game because he had fluid drained from his thigh, according to the Baltimore Sun. "The bruise went away, but it still swelled up, so they just drained the fluid that was in there. It's fine. It doesn't hurt at all," he said. "It was just calcium deposits or something. They figured it was better to drain it. It didn't hurt when it was swollen." It appears this was just a minor malady, and he should be good to go. Fahey started at shortstop and went 0-for-2 on Friday. |
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| B.J. Ryan, P, Toronto Blue Jays | Saturday 3/1, 10:12 AM CT |
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| B.J. Ryan will have his surgically repaired elbow examined on Sunday, according to the Toronto Star. We should have a better idea after the exam about whether he really will be over his Tommy John surgery in time for the regular-season opener. |
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| Rays manager Joe Maddon said Friday that the inflammation in Scott Kazmir's elbow is "going away a bit," and he's making progress in his recovery, according to the St. Petersburg Times. While that's positive news, Kazmir still has no timetable set for his return. Until a timetable is set, his availability for the beginning of the season will remain up in the air. |
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| Anderson Garcia is getting closer to resuming regular workouts, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Garcia has been limited recently by biceps tendintis, but it looks like he will soon get back to trying to win a spot in the M's bullpen. |
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| Tigers manager Jim Leyland formally announced Friday that Justin Verlander will start their opening day game against the Royals on March 31, according to the Detroit Free Press. No surprise here, as Leyland already had hinted that Verlander would get the nod. He had 18 wins and posted a 3.66 ERA and 1.23 WHIP last season. |
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| David Ross, C, Boston Red Sox | Saturday 3/1, 8:53 AM CT |
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| David Ross hasn't played in a spring game yet due to a sore back, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We're going to give him another day, just in case, another day before he starts hitting," manager Dusty Baker said. "Back spasms, they let go when they want to and they can grab you when they want to. We want to make sure it subsides." Right now, this sounds like just a minor early spring ailment that shouldn't affect his status for the regular season. |
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| Angels manager Mike Scioscia said that Kelvim Escobar is "still in the same window" to begin a throwing program in mid-to-late March, according to the LA Daily News. Even if he stays on course throughout his rehab from a sore shoulder, Escobar probably will not be ready for game action until May. |
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| Toby Hall, C, Chicago White Sox | Saturday 3/1, 8:22 AM CT |
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| The White Sox are taking things slowly with Toby Hall this spring after he battled a dislocated shoulder all of last season, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "They just want to be very cautious with me so we don't have any setbacks," Hall said. "I'm on a program, and it's coming along. I'm really doing almost everything that the rest of the team is doing, except playing in games. They want to make sure I'm ready to go by the final two weeks of the spring, so that's what we're shooting for." Hall opted against undergoing surgery to repair the joint, so he's hoping it will just heal with rehab. It's something to consider if he hits any bumps in the road once he does start playing in games. |
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| The Boston Globe reports that Bartolo Colon threw another session of long toss on Friday. The former Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session Tuesday and follow that up with three bullpens, every other day, thereafter. The team is working him up to his first scheduled game action on March 15. |
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