John Smoltz is mentoring the Red Sox's young pitchers, including Justin Masterson and Waubonsie Valley's Michael Bowden. He has been especially helpful in trying to help Masterson improve his mind-set as a swingman whose role could change at any time. … The Indians weren't crazy about Shin-Soo Choo's insistence on playing for Korea in the World Baseball Classic. He has been having pain in his left elbow, which required surgery in 2007, and is limited to DH duties. The Indians have him penciled in as their regular right fielder, prompting GM Mark Shapiro to call it "an uncomfortable situation." … Tampa Bay closer Troy Percival appears on track in his recovery from back surgery. … San Francisco's release of Dave Roberts cleared a spot for Eugenio Velez, a hitter without a position. He will move between the outfield and maybe second base, where the Giants are looking at a platoon between Kevin Frandsen and slick-fielding Emmanuel Burriss. … Anybody else watch 21-year-old lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu in Korea's World Baseball Classic opener? He has a big-league future, and 22-year-old teammate Suk Min Yoon might be even better. …
Oakland's signing of Type-A free agent Orlando Cabrera means the White Sox are now on track to draft 23rd, 38th, 61st and 71st in the June draft. The biggest surplus belongs to the Angels, who have five of the first 47 picks after losing Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez and Jon Garland. … There's less of Brett Myers this year. The Phillies starter lost 35 pounds, which he credited to his off-season diet. "Making smarter choices while you drink beer," he said. "Instead of pizza, eat salad. Play for the tie." … Braden Looper's strained oblique probably will land him on the disabled list to open the season — not what the Brewers were hoping for when they signed him to stabilize a rotation that lost CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets. … With Jayson Werth going 20-for-21 in steal attempts and Jimmy Rollins 47-for-50, the Phillies became the first team in the modern era to have two players with a 90-plus percent success rate for at least 20 stolen-base attempts. First-base coach Davey Lopes, who teaches baserunning, hopes Shane Victorino (36-for-47 last season) can improve into that range. The bet is all of them will go down as opponents focus on stopping the base-stealers.
Monday, March 9, 2009
John Smoltz mentoring Boston Red Sox's young pitchers
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment