DUNEDIN, Fla. — The old saying “hope springs eternal” only applies to the beginning of Spring Training. The reality is that once players begin to show up and the baseball is tossed around, the possibility of doom and gloom always lurks around the corner.
Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost shortstop Gavin Lux for the entire season due to an ACL injury. Or the San Diego Padres, who’ll be without Joe Musgrove for some time after the right-hander broke his big toe in a weight-room accident.
On Thursday, some of spring training’s charm dissipated in New York Yankees camp as general manager Brian Cashman revealed that Carlos Rodon — the club’s prized off-season addition who it signed to a six-year, $162-million deal — will begin the campaign on the IL with a left forearm strain. Rodon will be joined by key relievers Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino and that’s on the heels of news last month that starter Frankie Montas would undergo shoulder surgery and could miss all of 2023.
That’s no doubt a big test of organizational depth for the defending AL East champions.
Meanwhile, in Toronto Blue Jays camp, the outlook is vastly different. And manager John Schneider knows it.
“You always worry about health and things like that, especially early in camp,” Schneider said following a split-squad 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.
“I don't want to jinx it, but you want to get out of camp healthy. You want to have your full roster ready to roll on March 30.”
On that front, the manager received some good news on Thursday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who’s been dealing with right-knee inflammation, told Schneider that he “felt good” after taking part in baseball activities in the morning at the Blue Jays’ player development complex.
Guerrero Jr. went through his normal pre-game routine of hitting in the cages as well as outside during batting practice. Schneider said that he looked like himself and added that the first baseman did some running and took ground balls.
“Good day — step in the right direction,” said the manager. “I think him moving around today the way he did was a good sign.”
Guerrero Jr. will likely hit against live pitching on Friday and be reevaluated during the weekend, at which point the Blue Jays will decide when he can get into game action.
“It helps having the amount of time we do left in camp and where he is,” said Schneider. “He was locked in (before the injury). He was built up. So, that gives us a good baseline to fall back on, too. But we should have plenty of time to get him ready.”
Catcher Alejandro Kirk, who arrived to camp late due to the birth of his daughter, is progressing nicely in his ramp up and could also see game action soon, potentially early next week, Schneider noted.
One of the larger questions coming into spring training for the Blue Jays was how baseball’s new pitch clock was going to affect right-hander Kevin Gausman and his toe-tapping delivery. On Thursday, he made his second Grapefruit League start and that perceived issue seems to be a non-factor.
Gausman allowed just two singles across his 3.2 innings, walking none and striking out two. He tossed 48 pitches (32 strikes) relying primarily on his four-seam fastball — which topped out at 96.9 mph — while mixing in his splitter. Most importantly, he didn’t violate any of the sport’s new rules.
The right-hander even executed a nifty back pick in the second inning, firing a strike to Cavan Biggio at second base to catch Sam Hilliard, who was leaning too far off the base. Gausman believes his delivery, coupled with the new rule limiting pitchers to two disengagements (pickoff attempts or step-offs) per batter, will mean more baserunners are going to try to test him.
“Certain situations in the game, there's going to be teams that are going to try to push the limit,” Gausman said. “And so, if you burn (a disengagement) too early, you’re going to see guys running all over the place. But it was cool to do the stuff that we worked on all camp — the back picks. When it works out, you’re able to get a quick, easy out like that. Ninety feet is going to be at a premium this season as opposed to others so if you can pick guys off and keep them guessing out there, then you can have success.”
Gausman and fellow Blue Jays starters Alek Manoah, Chris Bassitt and Jose Berrios form one of the best rotations in the American League. Of course, it’s a healthy unit at the moment compared to the division-rival Yankees, who entered the spring with a formidable starting corps of their own.
“If we have a four-game series, you're seeing a completely different starter every given night,” said Gausman. “Even if it’s Manoah and Berrios back-to-back, their stuff is just different. You know, they’re sinker-slider guys, but the way that the ball comes out of Manoah's hands is a lot different than me and way different than Bassitt.
“It’s just such a good mix of stuff and experience,” he continued. “Whereas I've been on some staffs where guys had pretty similar stuff and I always felt like teams could figure out a plan of attack.”
The club’s first four-game series of the campaign is still three weeks away, so there’s plenty of time for doom and gloom to come knocking. However, Schneider will take the way things are going right now.
“So far, so good,” said the manager.
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