Team- by-team-spring training notes,
Baltimore Orioles
Chris Tillman’s chances of beginning the season in the Orioles rotation are in jeopardy. Tillman has yet to pitch this spring because of shoulder soreness and cut short a bullpen session Sunday after 10 warm-up tosses.
“It’s discouraging for Chris, I know,” manager Buck Showal
ter said. “His being one of our five starters at the start of the season is in jeopardy.”
The Orioles have several inhouse options to take Tillman’s spot in the rotation, including right-handers Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson and Gabriel Ynoa and lefties Jayson Aquino and Chris Lee.
u After finding no takers on the free agent market, Pedro Alva
rez returned to the Orioles, signing a minor league contract March 11. Alvarez, who has never played the outfield, is expected to be part of the outfield mix this season. He appeared in 87 games last year as DH and in 10 games at third base. He hit .249 with 22 home runs.
Boston Red Sox
Left-hander David Price threw March 11 for the first time since being sidelined by elbow soreness. He made about 25 throws in the cage into a net.
“The range of motion, the freeness to the movement is all positive,” Red Sox manager John
Farrell said. “Granted, we recognize it’s the early stages right now, but a good day for David today.”
Farrell said there is no timetable for Price’s return to game activity. The left-hander felt soreness in his elbow after throwing a two-inning simulated game Feb. 28. Three days later, he met with orthopedic surgeons James Andrews and Neal El-Attrache, who recommended rest and said surgery and an injection would not be needed.
uLeft- hander Roenis Elias will not throw for about three weeks after he was scratched from his scheduled start vs. Team USA on March 9 because he strained a chest muscle while warming up. Elias is among a group of pitchers the Red Sox are counting on as major league depth.
New York Yankees
Masahiro Tanaka needed 45 pitches to get through four perfect innings against the Detroit Tigers on March 11, and he struck out the first six batters he faced.
He said he was happy with his performance but took it in stride because of the World Baseball Classic.
“Not to downgrade anybody, but a lot of the good players are playing in the WBC,” he said. “So the batters that you’re facing might be a little bit different, too. So in that regard, it wouldn’t really be safe just to look at the results.” u Matt Holliday hit .409 (9-for-22) with two home runs and six RBI in his first nine spring training games. The right-handed hitter was signed to a one-year, $13 million contract in December and is expected to be the primary DH as well as a backup first baseman. But Chris Carter, who was signed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal in February, also could see time in those roles.
Tampa Bay Rays
The news that shortstop Matt
Duffy had a setback with his surgically repaired left heel likely will open the door for Tim Beck
ham to begin the year at shortstop.
Beckham, the top pick in the 2008 draft, was drafted as a shortstop but has been a utility infielder since reaching the big leagues. He also has seen time in left field this spring.
uRight- hander Jumbo Diaz, claimed off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds on March 10, has a chance to make the opening-day bullpen. Diaz’s time in camp will be limited because he is pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, but the Rays have liked him for a number of years. With the way some of the veteran relievers have pitched this spring, he could be a better fit.
Toronto Blue Jays
Sidelined by a strained calf early in camp, third baseman Josh Donaldson fielded ground- ers and took batting practice on the main field March 11.
“It’s pretty much the same thing I’ve been doing (on the back fields) the last four or five days, except I did it with the team today,” Donaldson said. “It feels great. I’m probably 40, 50% running right now, and obviously it’s got to get to the point where I can run 100%. And I feel like hopefully that should be sometime (this) week, just the way that it’s progressing now.”
u Relief pitcher T.J. House returned to the clubhouse March 11, a day after he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Detroit’s John Hicks in Lakeland, Fla. House, who was taken by ambulance to a hospital, said exams revealed no skull fractures, but he wasn’t sure if he had a concussion.
“They definitely want to monitor it to see if there are any residual effects from what happened,” he said. “But, for the most part, I feel fine.”