I went to a very small college, which among many things meant extremely small classes, especially after your freshman year. One of my accounting classes in particular had eight people in the class. We met in a small room that was probably smaller than a professor’s office at a larger school. Since it was a small class in the Spring time at 1:00 PM, and since my professor was a huge baseball fan, we always had Spring Training games on the TV (side note: sometimes I wonder why I didn’t become an accountant…watching baseball during accounting class was probably a big reason).
Most years it’s cold this time of year, so the start of Spring Training always brings that nice feeling that Spring, and Summer, are on the way (it happens to be 60 degrees here today). Regardless of the temperature, there’s nothing like seeing baseball on the TV for the first time each year.
Here are some links to help you follow the action all Spring:
–The Spring Training Tracker: Keep track of all of the non-roster invitees, the players in camp, and the cuts throughout Spring Training
–The Projected 25-Man Roster: Keep track of who is projected to make the opening day 25-man roster.
–The 40-man Roster/Payroll Projection: As roster moves are made, the payroll projection will be updated accordingly.
Now for some links and news from the first day of Spring Training:
-Announced earlier today, Pittsburgh Lumber Company and Wilbur Miller’s Pirates profiles are joining Pirates Prospects. You can read about it here. I’m very excited by the addition of Matt Bandi and Randy Linville from PLC, and Wilbur’s player profiles will be a strong feature for the player pages.
–Rob Biertempfel mentions that Tyler Yates is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, and will be on the same throwing program as everyone else. Yates is a non-roster invitee, although I don’t see him making the team out of Spring Training. He should provide bullpen depth out of AAA.
–40 of 41 pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training. The only exception is Jose Ascanio, who is having visa issues in Venezuela. Ascanio should arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Biertempfel.
