Cody Ross will not be ready for Opening Day because of the strained left calf. Once a position of strength, the Diamondbacks are now short of outfielders with Adam Eaton out for two months too. A.J. Pollock, who profiles as a 4th outfielder, is likely to be the starting right fielder. If Pollock played the entire year he could be a 10/10 player with a .265 batting average.
Jemile Weeks was optioned to Triple-A. It’s still a mystery who becomes the Athletics second baseman. Eric Sogard, Scott Sizemore, Adam Rosales and Hiroyuki Nakajima are all candidates. The front runner appears to be Sizemore, but everything I’ve read suggests he’s been awful. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nakajima is at second and Jed Lowrie is at shortstop.
Brett Lawrie will start the year on the DL. However, the Jays expect he’ll miss no more than two weeks.
David Freese will have an MRI on his back. It’s possible he will not be ready for Opening Day.
Oscar Taveras is still with the big league club. Originally, he was supposed to be optioned to Triple-A, but Carlos Beltran is still being bothered by a bad toe. It’s highly unlikely Taveras starts the year in the Majors if Beltran will only be out for a couple of weeks. What’s more likely is Allen Craig will be in right field and Matt Adams at first base if Beltran isn’t ready for Opening Day.
Pablo Sandoval’s right elbow showed “no new unexpected findings.” It looks as though his availability for Opening Day in jeopardy. However, since his injury could be backdated, he could only miss the first four games of the year as long as he doesn’t play in any games in Spring Training.
Vernon Wells was traded to the Yankees today. Is Wells good? No, but he could be a cheap power source. Last year he had 11 home runs in 262 plate appearances and in 2011 he had 25 home runs in 529 plate appearances.
David Murphy took batting practice yesterday and reported no discomfort. David Wright also participated in batting practice on Sunday, the first game action since March 14. Both Wright’s and Murphy’s availability for Opening Day is up in the air, but I have a gut feeling they’ll both play on Opening Day.
