Chen is better used out of the bully, imo. He's a good starter, but a great setup/long relief guy. At least that's the impression I got watching him before they re-inserted him in the rotation last season. He didn't suck as a starter by any means, but....

I'm still convinced the plan with Chen is for him to make around 10 starts and cover the innings they want out of his spot in the rotation but know they can't get out of Duffy (because he's limited to 140-150 this year) or Zimmer.

I'd rather see Duffy in Omaha continuing to work on his slider than pitching out of the bullpen, but using him out of the Royals pen at the start of the year DOES allow them to limit his innings while still having his work supervised by Eiland.

I wonder, too, how much Duffy's development would have been helped if they'd just let him start throwing a slider 3-4 years ago rather than insisting he stick to a curveball as his breaking pitch. His arm slot is probably more conducive to a slider, and it works better off of his fastball than a curve (and is harder to recognize, improving the swing and miss ability of both pitches).

Interesting article on the star today. The Royals are doing a bunch of different things to try to keep Salvy from suffering another concussion.

They are trying out more padding in his helmet this spring, and they ordered a heavier old-fashioned solid steel mask to replace his lightweight mask. (the lightweight masks are more comfortable, but they don't disperse impact as well as the old-fashioned steel masks) They also want Salvy to inch up closer to the plate to make foul balls less likely to hit his head.

I wonder what sport costs more money in injuries throughout the USA: baseball or football..

Football easily.
Posted via Mobile Device

Football it would seem.

Dyson displaying his power

Gio displaying his power

3-0 KC over a split squad Cubs team.

Shields: 10K in 6IP, only 75 pitches

He's mowing em down.
Too bad it's not only a split squad team, but a Cubs split squad team :)

Still nice to see though no doubt.

Rauch and Collins give up 3 runs each and the SS Cubs take the lead 6-5.

Hes not competing directly, no. But in a way he is. If he was any good, then he would push the weakest other starter (Chen) out.


Chen is ok as long as hes not overworked.. IMO the reason he played well last season is because he wasnt overworked the beginning of the year. He was used sparingly, and still had enough in the tank the last half of the year.

Dodgers started a 17 year old today against the Padres.

In a last hour switcheroo, the Los Angeles Dodgers decided to start 17-year-old phenom Julio Urias during Game 1 of their split squad doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.

Urias handled one inning of work against the San Diego Padres and was absolutely flawless, striking out two on only 14 pitches. He started off the inning with a strikeout of six-year pro and left-handed hitting Will Venable despite falling behind in the count 3-0.

How's that for poise under pressure?

After getting Chris Denorfia on a grounder to third, Urias struck out another left-hander swinger with major league experience in Yonder Alonso.

All three players will be on the Padres opening day roster, so it's not like the Dodgers threw him into a cupcake matchup. And based on the information coming from Camelback Ranch, he's already an extremely tough at-bat for left-handed hitters. Now just imagine how much better he'll be with experience and a little bit of seasoning.

It's a scary thought if you're not a Dodgers fan.

The Tigers just lost their shortstop for most of 2014.

Everyone now expects the Tigers to rescue Stephen Drew from QO purgatory, but that would probably be a downgrade.