Saturday, February 17, 2007

Bucs Spring Training; Must be baseball season, another pitcher hurt

  • Here we go again. The Bucs didn't even make it to the first workout of the season before they had their first pitcher injury of the season. Brad Lincoln, the Bucs' 2006 1st round draft pick, has what the Bucs are calling "irritation" in his right elbow, and although they don't believe it to be too serious, it could force Lincoln to miss all of spring training. Great, just great.
  • As probably should've been expected, Japanese pitcher Masumi Kuwata, he of the whopping 83 MPH fastball, has made Bradenton look like they kidnapped Ichiro in the offseason. The Bucs' PR people have stated that they have issued 50 credentials for the Japanese press contingent. Kuwata is expected to be headed for AAA Indianapolis.
  • We'll see if the weight that Jose Castillo is rumored to have lost in the offseason will relate to any reduction in bonehead plays he's made in the last couple of years.
  • Call me crazy, but don't the same visa delays happen EVERY year with the Central American players ?? Couldn't one time, for a change, the management and the players actually be proactive, and start these visa proceedings more in advance so that by the time they're resolved, they can actually report ON TIME ??
  • Neil Walker is permanently moving from catcher to third base. I'm sure Neil is a great athlete, but I have to admit I'm not very thrilled about this. As is the case with Ryan Doumit, the Bucs are too happy with Walker's defensive liabilites behind the plate, so they felt moving him to third gives him a better shot to get to the big club in a quicker timeframe. I'll believe that when I see it.
  • The Bucs start their spring training schedule on March 1st vs. Cincinnati, unless you count the annual slaughter vs. Manatee CC on Feb. 28th.

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