Spring Training Report

     With only a few days left in spring training, I thought that it would be a good time to not only look back at the questions of spring training, but look forward to the upcoming season.  Spring training this year, as is the same every year, was marred by high profile injuries.  I have already mentioned Adam Wainwright's lost season and Chase Utley's uncertain future, but other teams are now facing the injury bug.  Brian Wilson, star closer/crazy person and postseason hero Cody Ross of the San Francisco Giants now will most likely start out the season on the disabled list.  One of the famed “Four Aces” in Philadelphia, Roy Oswalt, just was struck with a line drive in the neck, although all indications are that he will be fine.  New Brewers ace Zach Greinke will miss a while after messing up his knee playing pickup basketball down in Florida.  Looking forward though, you can see the steps that some players are taking this year.  Mike Stanton, sophomore standout for the Florida Marlins, played his first spring training game, lighting up Cy Young hopeful Clay Bucholz to the tune of two homers and seven runs batted in.  Neftali Feliz said that he wanted to be a starter for the Rangers, but the Rangers had other plans.  The reigning rookie of the year will once again close for Texas, probably for the best. 

         This season looks to have several incredible division battles ahead in the National League.  In the NL East, there are the now injury-plagued favorites, the Phillies.  However, the Braves and even the Marlins could challenge them for the crown.  The NL Central features the Reds, Brewers and the Cardinals.  In my opinion, this is the most contested division.  All three of these teams are about even in terms of hitting, although the Brewers now have an advantage in pitching.  The NL West is the Giants’ to lose, although the Rockies are definitely on the rise and could challenge the defending NL champs.

Utley's Injury

     With all the talk of the Big Four in Philadelphia, many people forgot about the offensive struggles of the aging lineup the Phillies had last season.  Many people attributed the struggles to the injuries to pretty much every major contributor in the lineup.  Most Philadelphians thought that this bad luck could not continue this season.  However, the start of the year is looking like an eerie premonition of what is to come this season.  Chase Utley, one of the key cogs from the Phillies' former powerhouse lineups, is now out indefinitely with a knee injury that no one seems to have a real diagnosis for.  How will this hurt the Phillies, who have already lost right-handed slugger Jayson Werth to free agency and superprospect Domonic Brown to a broken bone in his right hand?  It will no doubt be a chink in the armor of the National League favorites.  Suddenly, that already struggling offense employs journeyman utility player Wilson Valdez and an unreliable bench player in Ben Francisco.  Can this offense really back their rotation with enough run support to make a serious run to another title?  It would seem possible only if Lee, Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels can hold their opponents under four runs every game.  The Phillies still have many stars, who can still carry the squad.  This should not take the Phillies out of the top 4 teams in the National League, but they are no longer the lock that they seemed to be before Utley's injury.

Teams to Watch

This season there are two teams that all of baseball should be watching out for: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Oakland Athletics.  Both teams were one dimensional last season, but big offseason improvements have created an even greater level of optimism from two already solid organizations. 

The Brewers dealt for Zach Greinke, one of the few true aces in the whole league, and Shaun Marcum, a solid number two from the Blue Jays.  While the Brewers gave up some of their top prospects, adding Greinke and Marcum to a rotation that already featured rising star Yovani Gallardo was well worth the price.  Now, the Brewers, who were once just an offensive power, have a pitching staff to back up their feared lineup.  Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder lead a very powerful offense that finishes in the top-5 of the National League every year in runs.  The Brewers are in win-now mode as it appears that this is Fielder’s last season with the organization.  With the new pitching, the Brewers should challenge the Reds and Cardinals in the NL Central.

The Oakland A’s already had the top pitching staff in the majors last season.  Their four best starters are all 28 or younger, creating the dangers for an even better finish than their second place run last season.  Last season, they had the second worst offense in the whole American League.  However, the A’s went out and got some hitting help with former Royals outfielder David DeJesus and Hideki Matsui.  If Oakland can get any offense out of their new additions, the young rotation should carry the A’s to at a challenge of the first place Texas Rangers.  Watch out this year for the Oakland Athletics and the Milwaukee Brewers to take the whole league by surprise and challenge for their division crowns.