"Normal spring training. Normal routine. Normal preparation," Carpenter said. "Last year, I was coming back from surgery. ... This year, I'm going out there to do everything I can until they have to take the ball away from me. I go into it thinking I'll be OK."There's nothing normal about this start. All eyes and ears will be on Carpenter's performance to see if the Cardinals ace is back in form.
Carpenter has made one start at Busch Stadium since leaving the mound on April 1, 2007, and that was five innings Aug. 5. After two elbow operations and two years loaded with rehab, a setback-free spring training allows Carpenter to enter today's start the same as his peers — ready, not recovering.
Freese, acquired for popular center fielder Jim Edmonds in December 2007, bypassed Double-A and batted .306 with 29 doubles, 26 homers and 91 RBIs last year at Class AAA Memphis. His .967 fielding percentage led all Pacific Coast League third basemen, and his 216 assists ranked second.Fantasy Impact: It's somewhat disappointing for fantasy owners to learn that Freese will not be getting the job full-time with Troy Glaus out. The Cardinals have a number of options off the bench, including Brian Barden and Joe Thurston. At least for the interim, they'll be cutting into Freese's playing time. Consider Freese a stop-gap at third with the potential to produce some pop if he gets consistent playing time. Right now he's better left on the fantasy bench.
Still, Freese is prepared for anything. He knows that with La Russa, the master of many lineups, anything is possible on a daily basis.
"Tony kind of expressed that," Freese said. "Early on, just be ready to play because you don't really know who's going to be out there. Everybody has a possibility of going out there."
“I wasn’t surprised. I thought someone would pick him up,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before New York faced the Baltimore Orioles. “The job he did for us last year was really, really good. The thing is, he can do a lot of different things for a club. He can start, spot start, long relief, an inning— he’s always going to throw strikes (and) you know what you’re going to get, for the most part, every day. That’s why I felt a club might take a chance on him.”Giese might get a shot at the Oakland rotation should either Trevor Cahill or Brett Anderson falter in their rookie campaigns. Giese ultimately might end up a swing man, like the role Chad Guadin handled for the A's in recent seasons.
Mauer told the newspaper that he still hasn't gotten to the point of running, meaning there remains no timetable for his possible return to the team. While there is nothing specific in terms of him coming back, the club believes their catcher will be back by the end of April.
The only time that Mauer has experienced pain in his inflamed right sacroiliac joint -- where the base of the spine meets the pelvis -- is when he tried to run earlier this spring. The club has said that they are going to wait until all of the inflammation is out of the joint before Mauer attempts to run again.
"We're going to skip Brandon Webb's next start," Melvin said. "He came in with a little soreness today, and I decided I'm going to take care of this early on. I'm not going to let him go out there and do a bullpen today, as long as there's some stiffness."Whom to believe? The MLB.com article is more recent, and Melvin sounds definitive. No Webb this weekend.
"I'm not going out there and putting 100 percent effort into every pitch," Ray said. "As long as I'm putting the ball where I want to, the velocity isn't going to matter as much. It's not a conscious effort. I'm just not going out there grunting on every pitch. I used to just try to wing it. I [stopped doing] it this spring training and it was working, so I'm sticking with it."There's speculation that the Orioles would like Ray to win back his old closer role this season. He did a pretty good job of it as a fire-baller. We'll see if the refined Ray can get it done.
Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz said he's fine with Ray's approach.
"He knows his body better than I do," Kranitz said. "It's a process. I don't expect him to come out here throwing the ball 96, 97 miles an hour either. I think that's a good thing for him so he doesn't start overthrowing and missing location."
It has been more than eight years since the 36-year-old reliever pitched in the big leagues, but Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said a recent tryout in Arizona was impressive and the hurler passed a physical that spanned Monday and Tuesday in Seattle.Relievers Chad Corder and Tyler Johnson continue their rehab work with Zimmerman in extended spring training.
Zimmerman will begin workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Wednesday, and he will be on a program that, according to Zduriencik: "Will get him ready to pitch for us this year. I can't tell you the time frame."
The chronology of the seventh inning collapse:Campillo, the only pitcher to yield less than two runs, gets a blown save. At least he retired more than one batter, something the other three relievers couldn't do combined.
• O’Flaherty starts the inning for the Braves with a 10-3 lead and gives up a one-out single to Utley, then hits Howard with a slider in his back.
• Moylan replaces O’Flaherty, walks Jayson Werth to load the bases, then yields RBI singles by Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz before a four-pitch walk to Matt Stairs to bring in another run.
• Boyer replaces Moylan with bases still loaded, walks Chris Coste on five pitches to bring in one run, walks Jimmy Rollins on four pitches.
• Jorge Campillo replaces Moylan, bases still loaded, and gives up a Shane Victorino RBI single, then a five-pitch Utley walk that brings in the tying run. Howard’s RBI groundout drives in eighth run, Phillies lead 11-10.
Those decisions aren't the ones concerning manager Jim Leyland right now. With the relief corps lacking definition at the back end, Leyland wants to get rid of some of the uncertainty.Both Perry and Rodney pitched Wednesday night for the first time in 2009. In non-save situations Perry struck out one batter in a perfect eighth, while Rodney retired the Blue Jays side in the ninth, preserving a 5-1 Tigers win.
"We have to get the tail end of our bullpen going," Leyland said, "and we've got to mess with it a little bit until things fall into place."
Asked when he'd like to have his bullpen sorted out, Leyland said, "Now. Now's the time."
Part of the challenge in doing that is the hope that the Tigers have a healthy Joel Zumaya coming back soon. With Zumaya throwing 43 pitches in his most recent extended spring camp outing Tuesday, he's stretching his arm out to the point where a rehab stint at Triple-A Toledo or Double-A Erie likely isn't far off. He's eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday, but barring something spectacular, Zumaya won't be ready to join Detroit then. At this rate, though, he shouldn't be far off.
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