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 03/07/2015
MLB Note - Detroit Tigers Simon, Alfredo
RHP Alfredo Simon, who pitched two scoreless innings in his first
spring start, says he'll benefit from pitching at spacious Comerica
Park instead of at his previous home field in Cincinnati. "I think
it's going to help me a lot," said Simon, who had pitched for
Baltimore and Cincinnati before being traded to Detroit. "I pitched
in Cincinnati last year and it's a small park. Detroit is a park for
pitching. It's going to help me a lot. I can throw my sinker no
matter what count. I can throw my cutter. I'm going to pitch in a
big park and it's gonna help me." Simon showed off a 58 mph splitter
in his first outing.
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MLB Note - Detroit Tigers Cabrera, Miguel
1B Miguel Cabrera is on track to being close to ready for Opening
Day, according to his manager. "My feeling is Miggy's on track,"
manager Brad Ausmus said, "barring a setback. I can't put a date on
when he'll return to the lineup in spring training or the regular
season, but I'm confident he'll be around for the bulk of the
regular season." Cabrera was close to being told he can get off the
AlterG treadmill and run outside bearing his full weight but was
still at least a week away from being cleared to play exhibition
games. "We will not rush him just because of opening day," Ausmus
said.
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MLB Note - Detroit Tigers Martinez, Victor
DH Victor Martinez reported March 2 and, as expected, immediately
went to the hitting tees and took 25 swings from each side. "I was
supervised by the trainer (Doug Teeter). If he wasn't there, I
probably would have taken 50," Martinez said. He was running on the
same AlterG anti-gravity treadmill being used by 1B Miguel Cabrera
but is not at the same stage. Martinez is not expected to be ready
to play in exhibition games until late March but the club feels he,
like Cabrera, should be close to being ready when spring training
ends.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins Pinto, Josmil
C Josmil Pinto is day-to-day with a strained right quad. Pinto is
battling with Chris Herrmann and Eric Fryer for the back-up
catcher's spot behind starter Kurt Suzuki.
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MLB Note - Kansas City Royals Collins, Tim
LHP Tim Collins has ligament damage in his left elbow and the Royals
reliever is seeking a second opinion.
"All I can say right now is we're waiting on a second opinion, then
we'll have some answers and go from there, my choices and what are
we going to do," Collins said.
Collins was 0-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 22 relief appearances last
season, spending most of it with Triple-A Omaha. He also missed a
month with a left flexor strain and appeared in three World Series
games.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins Dozier, Brian
2B Brian Dozier could be close to a contract extension with the
Twins. Dozier and the team could not come to an agreement last
spring, but reports have the two sides talking again this week.
Dozier is arbitration-eligible following the 2015 season and is
under team control through 2018.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins Arcia, Oswaldo
LF Oswaldo Arcia was one of five players affected by the flu that
has made its way through Twins camp. He was back in time for a
Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte,
Fla.
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MLB Note - Detroit Tigers Iglesias, Jose
SS Jose Iglesias is starting every other exhibition game and playing
just a few innings as the Tigers bring him back slowly from a year
away from baseball. He got a scare March 6 when he came up grimacing
after sliding into second with a stolen base in the last of four
innings he was scheduled to play. He was pulled from the game and
diagnosed with a right shin contusion. "I hit the bad with my shin,"
he said. "It's just timing. I slide late and I hit it with the wrong
spot. But I will be fine." The Tigers medical staff did not believe
the injury to be serious. Iglesias said he would stay on his program
of working out one day and then playing limited innings the next.
The Tigers will slowly lengthen his innings and work up to where
he's playing every day by the end of March.
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MLB Note - Detroit Tigers Krol, Ian
LHP Ian Krol, whose work habits were criticized by the Tigers after
he wore down last season, is showing some urgency this spring as he
is one of four southpaws competing for one or two spots in the
Detroit bullpen. Krol unveiled a cut fastball in his first outing,
in which he retired three straight right-handed batters, although he
walked the lone left-handed hitter he faced. "I am gaining
confidence in it, for sure," he said. "That's going to help me
against right-handers; my change-up, too. But the cutter has come a
long way. It's hard, too, like 90-91 mph -- which is nice."
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MLB Note - Detroit Tigers Avila, Alex
C Alex Avila missed three days of spring training to be with his
wife, Kristina, during the birth of their second daughter. Baby Zoey
was born March 4. Earlier, Avila had to miss a game due to back
tightness. He is using a new mask this spring, a hockey style piece
of equipment, and is catching on one knee with nobody on base as he
attempts to cut down the number and severity of times he gets hit
with foul balls. Concussions have been an issue with Avila over the
last few seasons.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins May, Trevor
RHP Trevor May was one of five players affected by the flu that has
made its way through Twins camp. He was back in time for a
Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte,
Fla.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins Buxton, Byron
CF Byron Buxton was one of five players affected by the flu that has
made its way through Twins camp. He was back in time for a
Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte,
Fla.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins Suzuki, Kurt
C Kurt Suzuki was one of five players affected by the flu that has
made its way through Twins camp. He was back in time for a
Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte,
Fla.
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MLB Note - Minnesota Twins Schafer, Jordan
OF Jordan Schafer was one of five players affected by the flu that
has made its way through Twins camp. He was back in time for a
Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte,
Fla. -----------------------------------------------
MLB Note - No MLB Team Free Agents Hanrahan, Joel
RHP Joel Hanrahan was released March 4 by the Tigers after learning
he would need a second Tommy John surgery. "It's going to be two
more years of doing the same thing I've been doing the last two
years," Hanrahan said. He will return to his home in Texas and have
Dr. Keith Meister of Dallas perform the operation March 18. "We will
see what happens. I am not going to sit here and say I'm not going
to do this or I'm not going to do that. Who knows? I've been in
professional baseball for 15 years. We will see where it takes me.
My pitching might be over. My body may tell me that. But my mind is
not telling me that." Hanrahan said he was told by Meister last
winter a second operation was going to be needed. He says it's not a
quality of life issue as much as anything. "I can't golf. I can't
pull the strings back on a bow. I can't play ping pong. I have a
two-year-old son I look forward to having a lot of time with,"
Hanrahan said. He said he won't even touch a baseball for nine
months. He had signed a minor league contract with Detroit that
called for a payment of $100,000 if he was released before the end
of spring training.
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MLB Note - Cleveland Indians House, T.J.
LHP T.J. House, who was one of the Indians' best pitchers coming
down the stretch last season -- the Indians were 7-0 in his last
seven starts -- pitched two scoreless and hitless innings, with two
strikeouts and no walks in his first spring training game. "He
continues to pitch down, with a lot of movement," said Manager Terry
Francona. "He's going to get a ton of ground balls, but he's also
going to get some swing and misses, because he gets below their
barrel so much."
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MLB Note - Cleveland Indians Brantley, Michael
OF Michael Brantley finished third in the MVP voting in the American
League last season, hitting .327, with 20 home runs, 97 RBIs, 200
hits and 23 stolen bases. What's the next step for Brantley? "What
he's doing now is fine," said manager Terry Francona. "He's so
consistent at a high level, and I don't see that going away."
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MLB Note - Kansas City Royals Infante, Omar
2B Omar Infante, who was scheduled to DH Friday, was held out with a
lingering sore elbow and scheduled to get an MRI. "Not too good,"
Infante said Friday when asked how his elbow felt. He said it was
the "same thing" last year with his elbow. "I think I'll be OK,"
Infante said. Infante can take ground balls and hit with no pain,
but said "the only thing I can't do is throw."
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MLB Note - Kansas City Royals Morales, Kendrys
DH/1B Kendrys Morales homered in his first at-bat of spring
training. He is hitting .455 in the first three games, hitting
safely in all three. After not signing last year until June 8 with
the Twins and missing spring training, manager Ned Yost said he
wants to get Morales significant at-bats this March for him to
regain his timing.
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MLB Note - Kansas City Royals Flynn, Brian
LHP Brian Flynn, who the Royals acquired from the Marlins for RHP
Aaron Crow in a Nov. 28 trade, has made only one relief appearance
as a pro, but could be a Royals' bullpen candidate. He did make some
relief appearances at Wichita State. "The major leagues, that would
be the best case for me," Flynn said. "I'll throw once every three
weeks as a reliever. I'll throw every day. I'll start every five
days. I just want to prove something up here."
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MLB Note - Cleveland Indians Chen, Bruce
LHP Bruce Chen is in camp on a minor-league contract and trying to
win a spot on the Opening Day staff. In his first spring outing,
March 5 vs. Cincinnati, Chen was very impressive, pitching two
hitless and scoreless innings, with three strikeouts and no walks.
The 37-year-old Chen is competing with RHP Danny Salazar, RHP Zach
McAllister, RHP Josh Tomlin and LHP T.J. House for one opening in
the starting rotation, or perhaps a spot in the bullpen.
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MLB Note - Chicago White Sox Abreu, Jose
1B Jose Abreu wasted no time picking up from where he left off in
2014. In his first two games of the spring, the reigning AL Rookie
of the Year went 3-for-5 with a run scored.
-----------------------------------------------MLB Note - Chicago
White Sox Ramirez, Alexei
SS Alexei Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs in the
White Sox spring training opener. Ramirez, 33, hit .273 with 15 home
runs and 74 RBIs while playing 158 games for the fourth consecutive
season in 2014.
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MLB Note - Chicago White Sox Penny, Brad
RHP Brad Penny struck out four batters in two innings in his first
appearance of the spring. Penny, 36, is trying to win a job as a
fifth starter or long reliever after appearing in only eight major
league games in the past two seasons.
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MLB Note - Chicago White Sox Sale, Chris
LHP Chris Sale is expected to be sidelined for at least the first
three weeks of March because of an avulsion fracture of his right
foot.
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MLB Note - New York Mets Harvey, Matt
RHP Matt Harvey took the mound to pitch in a game for the first time
in 18 months and it couldn't have gone any better than it did
Friday. After underdoing Tommy John surgery and missing the 2014
season, Harvey worked two perfect innings in an exhibition game
against the Detroit Tigers. He threw 25 pitches and retired all six
batters he faced, reaching 99 mph with his fastball. "The big thing
is I was happy throwing strikes and not walking anybody. Those are
the things you try to work on," Harvey said. "Especially hearing
things about guys going through this process and having tough
command, for me, that was the big thing that I was focusing on
today. And I was pretty happy about it."
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MLB Note - No MLB Team Free Agents Olivera, Hector
INF Hector Olivera was declared a free agent by Major League
Baseball on Friday, according to MLB.com. The Cuban, who will be 30
on April 5, is now free to negotiate and sign with any team at any
time. A number of major league clubs have expressed interest. There
are some risks other than his age, including a recent report by
Yahoo Sports claiming there is concern that Olivera has a damaged
ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm. Olivera's
representatives claim he has already passed physical examinations by
four teams. Olivera is expected to be able to contribute
middle-of-the-order power and can play second and third base.
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