Spring Training Position Battles: More Fantasy Headaches

Those butterflies in your stomach? That tingle in your nether-region? Your undeniable elation? That’s baseball, baby! Mother-lovin’ baseball. The rest of the world has little understanding as to what we’re all going through right now and that’s okay. We don’t need them getting in the way. With both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues opening today, those of us who can never seem to get enough of the National Past-time are fastening our seatbelts and preparing ourselves for a long and electrifying ride.

What we love so much about this time of year is the fight we are already seeing in guys whose regular season is still a month away. As we’ve covered in the first few articles of this series, there are a number of position battles yet to be determined and while you’d think we would have covered them all, there are still more to discuss. Some were questions heading into the start of spring training while others have suddenly developed due to early-spring injuries and the fickle minds of managers.

And so the discussions and the position battles continue…

Atlanta Braves Centerfield – Still having trouble referring to the disaster formerly known as B.J. as Melvin? Yeah, me too. For those who thought the name change would have some miraculous turnaround effect on him, well, you’ll just have to wait as inflammation in his foot will apparently sideline him for close to two months. He’ll be in a cast for two weeks and from there, he will transition to a walking boot for four-to-six weeks. As of now, the team is hoping for a May 1 return. That means we have a little battle brewing between Eury Perez and Todd Cunningham. Perez has just 23 plate appearances at the big league level and he really hasn’t done anything of any consequence with them. Cunningham has even less experience than that. Both rely on sound defense and good speed on the bases while neither has any real power of which to speak. Minor league totals show both with strong on-base percentages. Perez probably has a bit of an edge here, but regardless of who wins this battle, unless Upton is out for longer than expected, the winner will either fall into a bench role or head back to Triple-A after the first month of the season. You’d like to think there’s an outside chance that whoever wins this job could stave off Upton, but considering what the Braves are paying him, it seems doubtful.

Arizona Diamondbacks Catcher – This actually didn’t start off as much of a position battle, but as 24-year old Peter O’Brien continues to impress with his bat this spring, the Diamondbacks starting catcher job is now somewhat up for grabs. O’Brien’s defense is still a work in progress, but not enough of a question for the team to already rule him out. Tuffy Gosewisch, last season’s primary back-up, seems to be the leading candidate here while Gerald Laird and Oscar Hernandez also fight for a spot on the 25-man roster. O’Brien still has options, so the team does have some flexibility here and should they opt to stick with a veteran behind the plate, then he’ll head down to Triple-A while Gosewisch and, probably, Laird will hold down the fort. But of the three, O’Brien has the most upside to help fantasy owners and all eyes will be on him throughout the spring and first half of the season.

Red Sox Outfield…Again – “It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it? And it just keeps getting worse and worse.” Thanks you, Grady Seasons, for that little quote which perfectly sums up the Boston outfield this spring. When last we left it, manager John Farrell was sticking it to the Mookie Betts fluffers when he named Shane Victorino his starting right fielder. But perhaps the door for Betts to make an early-season impact has opened a little wider as Rusney Castillo felt a twinge in his side during Tuesday’s exhibition game and is now being considered day-to-day. Now sure, that may not sound like too big a deal, but if Betts is even half the player his fan base says he is, then he could easily work his way into a potential center field platoon. And to add even more uncertainty to an already tumultuous situation, there are still rumors that the Red Sox and Phillies are talking about a deal for Cole Hamels. That would almost certainly include someone from this overcrowded outfield. This discussion is far from over, so get ready to deal with it for the next month.

Pittsburgh Pirates First Base – The hope is that Pedro Alvarez not only starts to rake, but that he also does it against left-handed pitching. If he doesn’t…hit southpaws, that is…then look for Corey Hart to start poaching starts at first base. While the majority of Hart’s power comes against righties, he is a career .290 hitter against left-handed pitching and could prove to be a solid platoon partner. Of course, he needs to stay healthy and given the state of his knees, he’s got about as much shot at that as I do of winning the Miss America Pageant. The onus is on Alvarez though and if he doesn’t perform up to task immediately, then Hart will be put to use for as long as he can be used.

San Diego Padres Third Base – There’s no need to mince words here. This one is going to be ugly. Former Yankees utility-man Yangervis Solarte appeared to be headed towards a starting gig at the hot corner, but the team opted to also bring in former Red Sox prospect Will Middlebrooks. After a few years of some solid power promise in the minors, Middlebrooks simply wasn’t able to translate his skills to the majors. For one thing, he couldn’t seem to stay healthy and to make matters worse, when he was, he couldn’t keep from striking out. Boston gave up on him and now he’ll challenge for the starting role against a guy who was one of the hottest waiver pick-ups in the first half of the 2014 season. Solarte has displayed some strong plate discipline, an ability to get on base and his versatility on defense is always welcomed. But there’s not a whole lot of power there and the Padres are really looking for a bat in the infield to complement their potential outfield power. The Padres would prefer Middlebrooks win the job so that Solarte can be deployed as a utility man, but if he continues to whiff and/or get hurt, the team won’t have much of a choice.

Seattle Mariners Shortstop – Even with Nick Franklin gone, the Mariners still have themselves a surplus of mediocre-hitting middle-infielders. While Robinson Cano owns second base, the shortstop job is wide open with Brad Miller and Chris Taylor as the leading candidates. Miller has the power advantage and the stronger plate discipline. Taylor has the speed and the on-base skills. Both play a sound defensive game. The two are neck-and-neck in this competition and will continue to fight as hard as they can to win this as they both know that the loser will head to Triple-A Tacoma to open the year. With Rickie Weeks and Willie Bloomquist on the roster, there simply isn’t room for another back-up infielder.

Toronto Blue Jays Left Field – For those who have spent the month of February living it up with the Mock Draft Army, the news of Michael Saunders’ knee injury sent shockwaves through the draft community. His move to Toronto was heralded as the final step towards reaching that elusive 20-20 level we all expected him to reach while he was with the Mariners. Considering how hitter-friendly the Rogers Centre is, this was finally it. While the doctors have already gone in and removed 60-percent of his meniscus, many believe that he will only be lost for a short time and could actually be playing games during the month of April. Are the Jays really of that mindset? Maybe. But the recent signing of Dayan Viciedo says that the team wants some insurance. Obviously, they don’t believe that Kevin Pillar can hold down the gig on his own, especially if Dalton Pompey struggles and needs to be replaced. Viciedo offers them a decent power bat though the batting average will be a little on the weak side. All eyes will remain on Saunders’ recovery and once he does return, you can expect Pillar to be the odd-man out. Of course, if he doesn’t hit, so could Pompey which could leave Saunders in center and Viciedo in left. Lots of options here all of a sudden. Good thing there’s still more than a month to go in the spring.