Stay For a Nightcap

- We have a house built in the 1940's with the original hardwood floors still in place in the front of the house. We're getting them refinished because they've had their share of nicks, termite damage, etc... So this blog will be under the influence of sniffing wood stain and ears pounding from power sanders running all day.

- I dig the little minutiae of the game, from transaction rules, defensive positioning and possibly unearthing a sleeper or two. Dejan Kovacevic's recap of Monday night's Pirates-Giants game has a lot to chew on in that vein. First, Ross Ohlendorf's back spasms put the Bucs in a bind. They had already sent down Daniel McCutchen, who got bombed on Sunday by the Diamondbacks, to accommodate the return of Joel Hanrahanfrom the DL. But because Ohlendorf wasn't going on the DL, the Pirates had to find a way to call up a pitcher that was not already on the 40-man roster and clear a roster spot for that pitcher. So, they turned to a sub-optimal option in Brian Burres, and had to submit Hayden Pennto waivers to clear the active and 40-man roster spot. Maybe they'll get Penn through, maybe not, but he has some semblance of upside, whereas Burres does not. Meanwhile, Burres, who was the fifth starter for Triple-A Indianapolis, pitched about as poorly as expected, giving up six runs and 12 baserunners over four innings to get the loss. As Kovacevic details in his recap, Burres had some help - the Pirates' defensive alignment had their outfielders shifting towards right, creating a scenario where a few fly balls that would have been caught by a left fielder positioned regularly instead dropped harmlessly. The needle of positive news in a haystack of grief? Hanrahan's return - he was wild, but he also threw 95 mph and struck out two in his scoreless inning of work. Command has always been a problem for Hanrahan, so we can't solely chalk up his two walks and HBP to rustiness and his elbow injury, but there's a chance that he could emerge as a valuable commodity to own later this season, especially if the Bucs try to flip Octavio Dotel before the trade deadline.

- Quick promo note: Barry Melrose talks hockey with us on RotoWire Fantasy Sports Today on Tuesday's show, at noon ET. Sirius 125, XM 241.

- One year isn't enough to discern how a new ballpark will play, let alone one game. But at least for one game in April, Target Field wasn't too homer friendly. Two shots by Red Sox hitters fell short, one by David Ortizto left, the other by Mike Cameronto center. Cameron in particular seemed vexed. "That's all I got," Cameron said. "I don't know what else to say."

Notables:

- Scott Rolenhit two solo homers against Ricky Nolasco and later had the game-winning hit in extra innings.
- The Giants have some live arms in their bullpen. Brian Wilson isn't at risk of losing his job, by any stretch, but between Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romoand Dan Runzler (Friday's outing notwithstanding), there's a lot to like if you're a Giants fan. Romo allowed one inherited runner to score but otherwise was nasty in striking out the side, and Runzler looked similarly tough the following inning. The Giants and Padres have had a lot of success developing relievers - does the ballpark make the reliever, or is there something more to it?
- Andruw Joneshad a monster game against Brian Tallet, homering twice and knocking in four runs on three hits.
- Jorge Cantuhas driven in a run in all seven games this year. Hitting behind Hanley Ramirez has its privileges.
- After going 0-for-3 with a walk, Nick Markakisis hitting .143 but with 10 walks - he has walked at least once in every game.
- Justin Duchschererneeded only 96 pitches to get through his 7.1 shutout innings.
- The Padres stranded a small country of baserunners this weekend in Coors. They got that out of their system against the Braves on Monday night. It was pretty edgy of Norv Turner to call a timeout late in the fourth quarter so that Nate Kaeding could pile on an extra field goal, though....

Save Chances:

- Neftali Feliz, converted. Feliz hit 101 mph at least twice on the stadium radar gun and was overpowering. Frank Francisco's velocity was back up to 95 mph and while he allowed one hard-hit out, he finished with a swinging strikeout of Austin Kearns in a 2-2 game in the ninth. Feliz was dominant, but don't cut Francisco just yet.
- Jason Frasor, blown. Frasor gave up a game-tying shot to Mark Teahen to suffer his second blown save of the year. Prepare to see more of Kevin Gregg, much to my dismay. If there's a hole in my game, it's that I will invest too much on what I think |STAR|should|STAR| happen with players and their roles. So I have Frasor and Scott Downs(0.00 ERA, 0.30 WHIP) shares, and have Matt Thorntonall over the place (and yes, I enjoyed the four K's and the W), but don't have a piece of Gregg or Bobby Jenksanywhere.
- Speaking of which ... Bobby Jenks, converted. It wasn't the cleanest save for Jenks, who started the inning with a lineout and walked two batters, but he didn't allow a run and struck out Adam Lind to end the game.
- Francisco Cordero, converted, with a 1-2-3 inning.
- Ryan Madson, converted. 1-2-3 inning, one strikeout.
- Jon Rauch, converted. He's now 5-for-5 in save chances.

Other Closer Outings:

- Chris Perez- as on Sunday, there were extenuating circumstances, but Perez had another bad outing, this time in a 2-2 game to start the ninth. A dropped throw by Asdrubral Cabrera at third base on a bunt play cost Perez one out, but he was otherwise wild again and had to be bailed out by Tony Sipp and Jamey Wright.
- Leo Nunez- pitched a perfect ninth in a 5-5 game, striking out one.
- Carlos Marmol- pitched the ninth while protecting a four-run lead. He struggled with his control (not exactly a news flash), hitting one batter and walking another, throwing just four of his 10 pitches for strikes. But he escaped from the inning otherwise unscathed.
- Andrew Bailey- once again, Bailey pitched in a non-save situation, this time with a 4-0 lead. He threw a perfect inning, throwing nine of 10 pitches for strikes. The saves will come eventually. It's been somewhat flukish that the A's haven't provided the save chances for him, despite going 6-2 so far.

Job Battle Watch:

- Reds OF: Laynce Nix got his second start of the year in LF, going 1-for-2 with a walk before Jonny Gomes pinch-hit for him in the eighth.
- Rays 2B: So far, Sean Rodriguez has started thrice, Reid Brignac twice (including Monday night, when he went 2-for-3 with a homer) and Gabe Kapler twice in right field, with Ben Zobrist moving to second base. This is going to be one job battle that might not resolve until late in the season - the Rays theoretically still have Matt Joyce coming back to muddle up part of the right field picture, not to mention super-prospect Desmond Jennings.
- Rays C: So far, Dioner Navarro has 17 at-bats, Kelly Shoppach has 8. Sample Size Caveat definitely applies here.
- Cubs OF: Xavier Nady got the start against batting practice pitcher opposing starter Doug Davis and started the rout for the Cubs with a three-run homer. Look for him to get most of his starts against lefties, and to be used sparingly until the Cubs are confident that his elbow can hold up to daily play.

Lineup-ology:

- With Brian Roberts hitting the DL, possibly for an extended period of time, Felix Pieis batting leadoff against right-handed starters. The O's still can't find it in them to start both Pie and Nolan Reimold at the same time. [Hammering on a theme alert] Allowing for the caveat that Andy MacPhail has done quite a few things right in his tenure with the O's, this is wrong, dead wrong - it hurts the O's now and it hurts the O's for the long haul. [Stepping off soapbox, re-assume your normal blog-reading duties, if you haven't abandoned by now.]
- Casey Kotchmanis no longer your #3 hitter in the Mariners lineup, having dropped down to seventh despite a right-hander on the mound.
- Jacoby Ellsburysat out with sore ribs, so Jeremy Hermidastarted in his place, hitting ninth. Marco Scutaromoved up to the leadoff spot.
- With Ryan Zimmermanout, Adam Kennedy slid over to third, with Cristian Guzman playing second. Guzman batted third behind two other speed goofs (in fairness, Nyjer Morgan doesn't completely suck, but Willy Taveras ...). Kennedy is batting eighth.

Tough Days:

- Jair Jurrjensgave up eight runs, at Petco no less, over 3.1 innings, serving up eight hits and two walks. The Jurrjens vs. Zambrano bet that never happened between me and Liss is about even. I'm more worried about Jurrjens going forward, though - he's struck out three batters in 8.1 innings after dealing with shoulder problems at the start of spring training.
- After homering three times in his first five at-bats, Garrett Joneshas gone 2-for-22.
- Alexei Ramirezwent 0-for-4 to drop his line down to .154/.154/.192. He hasn't walked yet while striking out five times. The White Sox pinch-hit Mark Kotsay for him to begin their game-winning rally in the 11th inning. It sure is a good thing that the White Sox moved Gordon Beckham off his natural position to accommodate Ramirez, rather than the other way around.
- Edwin Encarnacionnow has three errors already - it was his defense that chased him out of Cincinnati as much as anything else.
- Ricky Nolascogave up three homers to the Reds on Monday and saw his ERA climb to 5.68. That's one ongoing issue for him - he's an extreme strikethrower that allows a lot of flyballs. Odds are that he's going to give up more than his share of home runs.
- Jeremy Guthriehas had the misfortune of drawing Matt Garzafor both of his starts so far.
- Brendan Ryanwent 0-for-4 with a strikeout to drop down to .091 (2-for-22) after Monday. Remember, his spring started late after undergoing a procedure on his wrist, and remember what hand/wrist/finger injuries do to hitters.

Late Injury Note:

Derek VanRiper's Lineup Card got all of the early injuries on Monday, and he does a good job setting the table for the next day in summarizing the big injuries. But I file later than him, and catch a few later injuries on occasion.

- Watch to see if Aaron Rowand's wrist injury forces him out on Tuesday. X-rays taken after the game were negative, but we often see wrist/hand/finger injuries worsen overnight.

Scorekeeper's Indifference:

- In the 11th inning with two outs, the Jays down one run, Jose Bautista walked and then took second. Originally the play was scored as fielder's indifference. Later he was credited with a stolen base, but how could it even be in question? It's not as if the Jays were trailing by six or some other prohibitive total. This was the tying run, moving into scoring position, taking away the force play. It's baffling that it wasn't automatically a stolen base. Once again, I love minutiae, bear with me.

Silver Lining Department:

- Mopping up a 17-2 loss, Jesse Chavez recorded all four of his outs via strikeout and has a 2.08 ERA and 6:1 K:BB in 4.1 innings to start the season.