Carl Crawford played as the DH in his first game on Saturday. His availability for Opening Day is still up in the air. His response about being ready Opening Day doesn’t give me a lot of hope he will make it “I’m definitely trying to make it back by opening day. Will it happen? I don’t know. It’s definitely something I would like to do.”
Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp both hit their first home runs on Sunday.
Casey Janssen saw his first game action on Sunday against the Phillies Triple-A team; he pitched against four batters and got them all out. This is a move in the right direction for him to be ready for the beginning of the season. Sergio Santos is still a must own for any Janssen owner.
Yesterday Zack Greinke threw a bullpen session and he was pain free. Six days ago he received an injection of platelet-rich plasma to temper inflammation in his right elbow. I bet he begins the season the DL, but that wouldn’t be that big of a deal because they have two days off the first eight days of the season and will not need a 5th starter until April 13.
John Lester thew six scoreless innings on Sunday, striking out six batters. However, the Rays lineup looked more like a good Triple-A team instead of a Major League team. I’m still not buying Lester this year; his K% and Whiff% has decreased year over year the past three seasons.
Tyler Skaggs was just optioned to Triple-A. He pitched in give games, throwing 12 innings. In those innings he gave up 11 earned runs. Skaggs wasn’t overly impressive last year in the majors so spending a couple of months in Triple-A should benefit him.
It’s looking more likely Hiro Nakajima will see most of his time at second base rather than shortstop.
Logan Morrison will not be ready for Opening Day.
