McAllister’s goal: Give Indians longer outings
Cleveland Indians reliever Zach McAllister made his first start of spring training in a 6-5 win Thursday over the Oakland Athletics in Goodyear, Arizona, with the goal of reaching a point where he can go more than one inning per game this season.
"It's a good thing for me," said McAllister, who gave up two runs on three hits in two innings.
"I'll do it during the season. I did it last year and I've done it years before that. If something happens, I have to go multiple innings.
“It's part of the role that I've been in. It's a weapon for me, to be able to embrace that, for them to know that if something happens there's a guy in the bullpen that can give them some innings when they need that, is a good thing.”
Both of his runs came on homers. Until the Indians moved him to the bullpen in 2015, McAllister had been a starter. It's something he'd still like to pursue.
"It's never out of the question, never," McAllister said. "I think I'm built for it. I'm strong enough to maintain the innings and not get fatigued in that way. But again, there is a time and place for everything. Right now I'm doing whatever I can to help us win and embracing that role, whatever is."
Scherzer to miss Nationals' opener
National League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer probably will miss the Washington Nationals' opener against Miami on April 3 because of a stress fracture in his right ring finger.
The stress fracture had caused Scherzer to change the grip on his fastball, placing three fingers on top of the ball instead of two, but he went back to his old grip Thursday during his first game action this year, a three- inning stint in a minor league exhibition against New York Mets triple- A players.
"That's the really good news today," said Scherzer, who struck out five. "It's good to be back to the normal grip. From here on out, I'll be obviously progressing that way. Now I'm dialing it in, trying to hit locations and really trying to pitch with the fastball again. Now I feel back."