Three out of every four years, today would be March 1st, but today it isn’t.  Then again, it doesn’t really matter, in fact, there’s nothing else that matters because baseball is back on TV.  The Dodgers and the Braves are currently on ESPN and this is the first time I’ve seen live baseball since the Red Sox were crowned World Series champions.  Unfortunately, there is no one paying me to be at Spring Training (yet), so I’m going to have to settle for this.

There is a lot to be said about the beginning of Spring Training Games.  Here on Long Island the sky is clear blue, it is cold, but pleasant.  It is a nice break from the usual gloomy clouds of winter that turns this island into a ghost town for much of the winter months.

At this point in the day, there are no major breaking stories concerning Spring Training, so here are some notes of happenings around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues.  I will be at the New Jersey Devils – Washington Capitals game tonight, but I will update anything I can this evening while in the Devils press box.

The biggest story for today would have to be Johan Santana.  He will make his Grapefruit League debut for the New York Mets tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals.  First pitch will be 7:05 PM local time.  Santana said he’s excited to make his debut and his outing will be focused on getting his mechanics in order.

Also on the subject of the Mets the New York Post reports that Duaner Sanchez needed an extra day off yesterday because he felt some soreness in his shoulder.  Sanchez missed all of last year because of that shoulder, but Willie Randolph insists it is not a big deal.  Sanchez is expected to pitch tonight in Santana’s debut.

Jason Schmidt, who was limited to six starts last season will not be throwing today.  He said he was “a little achy, nothing serious”, however its certainly worth monitoring since Schmidt is 36 and coming off surgery for a torn labrum.

The Chicago Tribune reports that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has been tinkering with his lineup lately, including using newly-acquired Nick Swisher as his leadoff man.

Sergio Mitre’s spring debut was cut short.  After three batters and 15 pitches, he was lifted after feeling a “dull stiffness” according to The Miami Herald.  Mitre is projected as a top three rotation-man if he can be healthy for the start of the season in April.

1:48 PM – Javy Lopez just blasted an Esteban Loaiza offering over the left-field fence to put the Braves ahead 2-1.  Oh, baseball is back indeed, it has been far too long.

Before I get to the main topic of the post, I must sidebar for a moment. 

Without fail, there is a point in the baseball season every single year where I utter the phrase “wow, I’ve never seen that before” or “wow, I’ve never heard that before.”

Its still February and the latter can already apply to 2008. 

I just read that the Mets could be in trouble for bringing only one “regular” from last year to their road game in Lakeland, Florida against the Tigers.  It was Ryan Church who batted cleanup.  Ruben Gotay may make the opening day roster and he was also there.  There is a rule that you must bring a minimum of four players who were “regulars from last year” or “have a reasonable chance of making the roster” this year. 

I was actually unaware of that rule, I don’t follow Spring Training as closely as I’d like, but I thought I would already know a rule like that, but I’ve never heard it.  But, thats why we watch baseball, there’s always something new.

Probably the biggest story coming out of the Grapefruit League is Scott Kazmir going down for a couple of weeks with an elbow problem.  The Rays’ Executive VP said (paraphrasing) that “its good we’re talking about weeks, not months”, but I have to wave the red flag on this one.

Kazmir is 24 years old, a true staff ace and a strikeout king.  He led the American League in strikeouts last year with 239 while going 13-9 and compiling a 3.48 ERA.  That looks even better when you consider the team he plays for. 

At age 22, with only 33 career innings to his credit, Kazmir pitched 186 innings in 2004, then only pitched 144 in 2005 because he began having problems with his arm.  Then last year he stayed mostly healthy and threw 206 innings. 

However, that is an awful lot of innings to pile up in the majors at such as young age.  It is even more of a risk when you consider in his entire minor league career Kazmir only threw 228 innings.  He never pitched in AAA and only pitched 51 innings in AA. 

Kazmir is a rising talent with electric stuff, but he may not ever realize his full potential.  Once you hear the word “elbow” you really have to take your time coming back from an injury.  Tampa Bay management has said all the right things including keeping him from beginning the season if they need him to.  But, he’s already been pressed into duty a couple of times before he was physically ready to do so. 

Its a concept that few teams really seem to understand.  Its a “win-now” culture in the world of free agency where your window of opportunity is much smaller than it used to be.  Keeping your talent together is tough when they can go out on the market and make much more money.  But, time and time again we see teams push young pitchers into situations they aren’t ready for in hopes of grabbing that elusive World Series title. 

Even teams that win regularly do it.  Take Philip Hughes for example.  He was on a strict pitch-count for his entire minor league career.  He rarely went more than five innings in any start as a result.  Injuries decimated the Yankees rotation early on last year and the situation forced the Bronx Bombers to bring him up in early April.  The result? He was touched for seven hits and four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work.  In his second start, he was pitching a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers when he injured himself throwing a pitch.  Now, that wasn’t an arm injury, thankfully, but, he didn’t pitch again until August.  He made 26 starts in 2006 pitching mostly for Trenton in the Eastern League.  Thats just a shade under 5 2/3 innings per start.  That’s not ideal when you’re asking a young pitcher to come up to the majors and go six or seven innings. 

Then go ahead and ask Zach Duke, Zach Greinke, Francisco Liriano, Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher, and Felix Hernadndez among countless others, if they felt like they were rushed to the majors.

Wilson and Pulsipher are out of baseball, Duke had a great flash of promise a couple of years ago, but nothing much since, and Greinke wilted under the pressure of being the Royals ace.  Liriano blew his arm out last year, the jury is still out there, and Hernandez wasn’t allowed to throw his slider (his best out-pitch, by the way) up until the second of last year which resulted in numbers that are less than spectacular.

The bottom line is, no 19, 20, 21 or 22-year-old that didn’t pitch in college should be in a Major League rotation, no matter how prodigious they might be. 

I had an old blog that was dedicated to all things related to New York, but now I will cover all aspects of Major League Baseball as I see fit. There will still be a small concentration on New York, simply because that is who I cover and where I am located in this world. I hope you enjoy reading.

Mark Krulish

I’m sitting here in the office at New York Sportscene Magazine. I’m going over and proof-reading articles for the next issue and I have the radio on. I’m listening to the hearing of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee thats being broadcast over 1050 ESPN Radio. I am incensed.

Clemens is a liar, pure and simple. He’s been nothing but brash, arrogant and full of fire and brimstone since his name was listed in the Mitchell Report in December.

There was always a spectre of doubt that perhaps Clemens really was telling the truth after all. Until Andy Pettitte sunk him, that is. Pettitte is what you’d refer to lightly as a “holy roller”, basically meaning he’s not going to lie about anything to anyone. Clemens clearly states that his integrity and credibility is nothing short of impeccable.

Its so difficult to fit all of this in my head, so my thoughts are very disorganized at this point and this is evidenced by this entry. So, let me put it in this manner.

My hero would have to be Scott Niedermayer, former New Jersey Devil and now a member of the Anaheim Ducks. If I somehow came across the knowledge that Scott Niedermayer was using HGH or Steroids, I would not, for the life of me, be able to throw him under the bus, even in front of a grand jury. The only way I could ever do that is if I were a professional reporter in the business of sports, because that comes with my job. If I was just a regular person or a fellow athlete (like Pettitte), I could never do it.

But, it is so hard to believe Clemens. He’s said many things that contradict other things he has said. In his interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes he said quite a few things that contradict what he wrote in his affidavit to congress (again, specifics are escaping me because I’m having trouble absorbing this all at once). It was brought up during the interrogation that is going on right now, I was in the car at the time.

Damn, I just lost the feed for a minute, I hope that wasn’t important.

Anyway, one of the interrogaters just called McNamee a drug-dealer. Doesn’t that make the players who brought steroids and HGH drug-users?

Here’s another thing that really annoys me about Clemens. He essentially says that everything in the Mitchell Report is true, except for what is written about him. Why? Why would only the portion written about him be untrue? It seems incredibly unlikely and whenever he says something like that, it only damages his credibility further.

I’ll try to re-organize my thoughts later, I know this entry is a complete mess.

No worries, the blog about the Super Bowl will be coming shortly.