American League

Blue Jays

• Cavan Biggio will play half his games in the outfield.

Biggio knows right field well. He started 13 games there in 2021 and six last season, but John Schneider is expecting more of a 50-50 split for Biggio between the infield and outfield this season, adding that he’ll play “a ton” of outfield. That should tell you all you need to know about the Blue Jays’ plans for their fourth outfield spot, and this assignment is something he plans to grab with both hands.

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• Anyone with an Athletic subscription, read this entire article. Great stuff from the beat writers on fantasy-relevant topics for each team. I included a couple of them below.

American League

Angels

• Patrick Sandoval plans on throwing his change more.

Sandoval said he plans to use the changeup more this season, as he still believes it’s his best offering when he has a feel for it.

“It’s huge,” Sandoval said. “It’s my best pitch, and I need it every outing. It’s something that really works with the fastball and the slider.”

His change is one of the best in the game with a career 25% SwStr% and 48% GB%. Read the rest of this entry »

MLB

• Infielders aren’t able to play on the grass because of the new shift rules.

Crawford won’t be able to leverage that arm by playing on the cut of the outfield grass when slower runners are at the plate. The new rules limiting defensive shifts require that infielders have both feet on the dirt when the pitch is released. Crawford drew one warning from an umpire Saturday for having his heel on the edge of the grass. Because violations are reviewable, even the most minor infractions could nullify an out or an inning-ending play in the regular season.

Several infielders with cannon arms were able to play on the outfield grass against slow righties and still throw them out at first. Since the infielders have to play in, a few of those righties might see a few more balls get through this year. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Griffin Canning is fully healthy.

Right-hander Griffin Canning, meanwhile, was described by manager Phil Nevin as “full go,” notes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The Angels plan to be cautious with the former second-rounder and top prospect after he missed the 2022 season due to a back injury, but Nevin says he’ll throw live batting practice this week.

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American League

Angels

• The manager already has his desired top four in the lineup.

Manager Phil Nevin said he has seen a committed, centered Rendon this spring, with visions of a batting order starting with Taylor Ward, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Rendon.

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Note: Two items I’m NOT going to cover in these posts are fastball velocities and current injuries.

MLB

• There might be the possibility by the season’s end that several players will have 2B/SS/3B eligibility because of an infield shifting.

On the infield, there will be no more shifts. Teams must have at least two fielders stationed on each side of second base, standing on the dirt. But one overlooked rule: Infielders can actually switch positions between innings (though not during innings). So say an opposing team had two lefties due up. The Tigers could conceivably move Javier Báez to second base, move Jonathan Schoop from second to third and move Nick Maton from third to short. That would allow the rangy Báez to patrol the infield against lefty hitters.

“One thousand percent, I think one team will do that,” Hinch said. “I can think of one team in particular.”

Hinch was referring to the savvy Tampa Bay Rays, whom the Tigers will face in their opening series.

“I’m not sure we’ll do it,” Hinch said, “but that will be the next curiosity.”

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American League

Angels

• Max Stassi worked on simplifying his swing.

Max Stassi said he spent the offseason “simplifying things” after he struggled offensively in 2022. Specifically, he said he wanted his swing to stay on a consistent plane. He generally felt that his underlying batted balls numbers were good but that he needs to make more contact. Regarding the competition to win the starting job, Stassi said: “I just go out there and try to handle my business. … Whatever they think is the best team out there to win games, that’s what I care about.”

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American League

Blue Jays

• George Springer says he’s fine after having a bone spur removed that prevented him from straightening his arm last year.

“I’m in a good spot and I’m very, very happy about it,” Springer said. “It feels good to feel good.”

Following the end of last season, Springer said he stayed in Toronto longer than he normally would have to allow for his concussion symptoms to subside before returning home. Only a short time after, in late October, Springer travelled to see Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas and underwent surgery to remove the bone spur in his elbow that he’d been playing through since at least June.
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The bone spur was large enough that Springer explained he could feel it underneath his skin and, at its worst, he couldn’t hold his arm out straight.

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American League

Angels

• Anthony Rendon is fully healthy.

Rendon is fully healthy after dealing with a right wrist injury last year and is looking to finally put together a full, productive season with the Angels.

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American League

Mariners

• The health reports for Andrés Muñoz and Paul Sewald are encouraging.

The most important question in the pen will be whether Andrés Muñoz and Paul Sewald ready to go after offseason surgeries. Dipoto gave encouraging reports on both – Muñoz is out of a walking boot and started a throwing program two weeks ago, while Sewald has had multiple throwing sessions. He anticipates both “being ready to throw in games in Arizona.”

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