Stock Up, Stock Down

A few quick updates on players who I've talked about in previous posts...

Octavio Dotel: 3IP, 4K, 0BB. Tiny sample size, but its looking like he's ok. Nice sleeper for most leagues.

Zack Greinke: 9IP, 11K, 0BB. Very nice. Too bad they're talking about having him start the year in AAA. Some other team should volunteer to take him off KC's hands, since they don't seem to recognize that he's a pretty good pitcher.

Brad Lidge: 5IP, 5K, 2BB. Not bad, but because of his 10.80 ERA there's a perception that something is 'still wrong' with him. I think he'll pitch fine but might downgrade him slightly just because of the risk that they could pull him from the closer role prematurely.

Mark Prior: 3.1IP, 0K, 5BB. Uh oh. Normally reports of low velocity and control issues in Spring Training aren't anything to be too concerned about. When the stats confirms those reports in a player with Prior's injury history, be concerned. Add to that the fact that he was moved back in the rotation, which may indicate that he's no longer being considered for the Cubs #5 rotation spot, and Prior is now AT MOST a $1 player.

Rich Hill: 5IP, 6K, 0BB. Nice.

Ted Lilly: 5IP, 2K, 0BB. Not so nice, but nothing to be concerned about at all.

Henry Owens: 7IP, 3K, 1BB. Not bad, but not too exciting. His 0.00 ERA certainly still has him in the race to be Florida's closer, although Gregg and Lindstrom also have low ERAs, and Florida is said to be considering trading for Benitez or Julio, so this is far from over.

Yusmeiro Petit: 7.2IP, 8K, 0BB. Nice. Too bad his 7.04 ERA is likely to scare them away from giving him a spot in the rotation.

Phillip Hughes: 4.2IP, 2K, 6BB. Along with a 7.71 ERA. If there was any chance of him making the team out of Spring Training, its gone now.

That's it for now. Note that Hill, Lilly, and Lidge do NOT qualify as the types of players who you should really be tracking Spring Training stats for...I just included them for anyone who is curious.