Best wishes and prayers go out to everyone connected to Aroldis Chapman, who was hit in the face with a comebacker last night. Apparently the liner came off a 99-MPH fastball. That'd put the comebacker, potentially, in the upper-90's when it reached Chapman. Scary stuff. Just have to hope that Salvador Perez didn't get all of it and that both men recover just fine (reports were that Perez was shaken up emotionally afterwards).It's a tough spot for the sport. Pitchers are grossly overexposed on the mound and there isn't sufficient time to react and respond to a batted ball and a great many pitchers leave themselves in a poor position to defend themselves against a batted ball. Thankfully, it is incredibly rare when it happens but it is highly visible and, if Chapman misses significant time, I wouldn't be surprised to see MLB taking some action surrounding pitcher safety. That's what it takes, I suppose.
- Bruce Levine is reporting that the Tigers have sent their top scout out to watch Darwin Barney and Nate Schierholtz. Seeing that the Cubs could have a glut of talent in the MI that is roughly equal to Barney and that Schierholtz is in the last year of team control, I could see this trade happening in the Spring. It would give the Tigers worst-in-the-league-last-year defense a huge boost which would greatly help the pitching staff and the Tigers have a hole in the OF to fill along with a glut of pitching talent to send back.
- Before you get all in an uproar about Drew Smyly and Rick Porcello (Porcello I could see, maybe, but I doubt they'll move Smyly), just know that those deals are unlikely. Even though the Tigers are pitching rich, they still want every opportunity to win-now. With that said, there are some intriguing arms in the system and I could see the Cubs shooting for one of their top-10 pitching prospects and someone further down the line.
- Mike Olt will be playing third base tomorrow. We just never know which tomorrow they are talking about. If his shoulder heals, I highly suspect he will make the Opening Day roster and it might make it easier for them to part ways with Barney this early or if they keep Barney, that might push Bonifacio into more of an OF role. Ahh, the joys of roster roulette brought to you by the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Chicago Cubs.
- In that same article, it mentions that Starlin Castro will be playing some minor league games here soon. Why minor league games? The loose rules that would allow the Cubs to bat Castro every inning to get his work in. Hopefully they tell him to take it easy on the basepaths.
- In the modern game, Spring Training is entirely too long. Maybe it is some sort of recency bias but it seems like there is a ton of injuries this Spring. It makes sense. Players are using their muscles in a way they haven't for 5 months. For every chased foul ball or diving slide on a steal attempt I cringe. Short of injecting sedatives into these players, they are going to play hard every game, meaningless or not, but I would like to see pitchers throwing softer early in the Spring, baserunners and fielders not going full bore until closer to Opening Day. Sure, it'd hurt the experience for fans but isn't the same thing happening when players miss games in the regular season because of doing too much in Spring?
- Jeff Sullivan is doing a positional power ranking throughout the league and he starts at catcher. I'd encourage you not to look. The Cubs come in at 17th. I guess it's not terrible, somewhere near league average, at least. The Cardinals come in at 3 and the Pirates at 12. Thankfully we have depth in the minor...oh, wait. Well, Castillo should be serviceable for a little while longer and who knows, maybe he figures out the pitch framing thing.
- The Hawkeyes were elimated from the NCAA tournament. BOOOO FIRE FRAN MCCAFFERY!!! (My fair-weatherness of Hawkeye sports showed here. I had to lookup how to spell his name)
- Don't forget, leave a comment. I'd like it (it improves my feelings of self-worth).
- Now, the pic/gif/whateverthehellIfeellikeposting of the day, since it's the first day of Spring:
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