Hey Rex, you’re scaring us! – Roxpile
Spring training stats are meaningless. But it is worrisome when a player's poor performance looks exactly like a poor performance from the recent past. Brothers looked really good in his first four spring appearances, but has seemed to have lost his command over his last two outings. That was also his problem in 2014. Go ahead and say, "Oh, it’s spring training, who cares?" but it’s definitely something to be concerned about. There’s no denying Rex had a rough 2014, but to see command issues that ruined that season arising already, it’s possible 2015 is going to be another long year for Rex. It will definitely be interesting to see how the bullpen shapes up over these last few weeks.
Spring training at Salt River Fields – Rockies Zingers
The head honcho over at Rockies Zingers, Richard Bergstrom, made a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona and was able to get full media credentials to the Rockies vs Royals game on March 15th. This was exactly one week before I received the same privilege for the Rockies vs Diamondbacks game. Reading this article brought back a lot of the excitement and thrill that I experienced in my time at Salt River Fields, being able to meet all of the writers I’ve been following for years in Thomas Harding and Nick Groke. Bergstrom spent time talking with pitcher Tyler Matzek and new Rockies Director of Communications, Warren Miller. He even got to congratulate Corey Dickerson on his new baby. This is a great read and really gives you a feel for what it was like to be a part of the press.
Shortstop tiers – Fangraphs
Brett Talley from Fangraphs breaks down today's Major League shortstops, fantasy wise, into seven different tiers. Unsurprisingly, Troy Tulowitzki is in the top tier along with Hanley Ramirez and Ian Desmond. Talley points out that the options range from, "aging, top options," to "young guys with value potential but low floors." This is good stuff to read if you’re preparing for fantasy baseball, and I know I’ll be keeping an eye out as this is my first year participating.
De La Rosa progressing slowly – Denver Post
Jorge De La Rosa, who has been experiencing groin issues all spring, is not going to make his start for the home opener. What’s looking even more certain is he will miss a few starts after that. Patrick Saunders notes that De La Rosa played long toss on Friday and is hoping to throw a bullpen session this week. He also states that he'll have to pitch in two or three games before rejoining the team. Those games aren't on the horizon.