Roy Oswalt was hit in the head yesterday. He says he is feeling just fine; nothing but a bump on his head which is really good news because of how terrifying that can be as a pitcher. It has to be hard to get on the mound after being struck in the head. Manny Ramirez hit the ball and got himself a cheap hit to help pad his Spring stats (.350 Avg, 3 HR, and 2 2B in 40 ABs).
Brandon Beachy won the fifth starter job for the Braves and Mike Minor will be sent to
Triple A to start the season. Both of these guys can pitch very well in the Majors and I imagine GM Frank Wren will be getting calls from teams inquiring on Minor’s availability. All this may turn out to be a moot as Jair Jurrjens had to leave today’s spring start with a side injury. Jurrjens seems to think its nothing more than a side cramp on a warm day in Florida. However, side injuries concern people nowadays with an increasing number of players going down for extended periods with oblique strains (Martin Prado and Billy Wagner both had similar injuries at the end of 2010). Maybe down in Braves camp they should incorporate side stretching along with PFPs.
The Nationals signed Oliver Perez. Aside from Max being mad that Perez will not have to go down to the unemployment office, I don’t see how this affects my life very much. On a serious note, Perez will not make the Nationals team and should enjoy the Nats minor leagues about as much as he enjoyed the Mets (Remember he didn’t like them very much). I do no get the signing for the Nationals. The man is a cancer and his putrid attitude may manifest in the younger players whom the Nationals will depend on for many years. Here’s to hoping that Strasburg sits as far away from Perez in the Nationals Spring Training locker room as possible…..
Neftali Feliz has been put back in the closer’s role. At this stage in his career, this is truly the right move. The guy was one of the top closers in the game last year and should be again in 2011. I’m not entirely sure how Feliz would have fared in a full season as a starter. He’s never thrown more than 127 innings in a season and his innings count would have to be monitored. Its important to remember that a starter means more to his team than a closer (not named Rivera). I’m sure the Rangers thought about all this (and their alternate No. 5 starter Matt Harrison) before making their decision. We’ll see how it works out going forward.
-Sean Morash
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