PEORIA, Ariz. — Take a spin around the Cactus League with “Three Up, Three Down,” an inside look at what is coming up and what went down on Thursday.
THREE UP
1. We are headed into the final week of spring training, and there are still decisions to be made with regard to roster and rotation and bullpen spots across the Cactus League.
A lot of the choices are likely to be made by the end of this month, as teams would like a few days to play their planned Opening Day lineups in non-counting games before the regular season starts.
That is the case with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as manager Chip Hale said he would prefer to have his starting middle infield in place by the time the team leaves its spring training home, Salt River Fields, to play exhibition games at its home stadium, Chase Field, on April 1 and 2.
Other teams will be leaving Arizona to head to their home cities, namely the Bay Area teams and Southern California teams, so fans can expect roster decisions to be made for those clubs within a week.
Hale said he might decide to rotate Jean Segura, Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings, who all are having good springs, between second base and shortstop in a three-for-two-spots situation.
2. The Diamondbacks made headlines off the field as well Thursday. Reports surfaced that the club expressed a written interest to the county and stadium authority in talking to other parties about $187 million needed for repairs to Chase Field. This led to speculation that the D-backs would consider moving to another part of the Valley of the Sun if Chase Field isn’t kept in tip-top shape, but nothing can happen until at least 2024, four years before the club’s lease with the county is up.
The county agreed to a four-year span of time to allow the team to seek a move if it so desired, but it did not grant the D-backs the right to speak to other parties about the future per the agreement the county and the team signed in 1998, when Chase Field opened and the Diamondbacks began play.
The stadium looks fine on the surface, but at issue is which group is truly responsible for stadium repairs — the team or the county stadium authority. Both sides claim it is the other’s responsibility, and stated as such in news conferences Thursday. This comes a day after the club learned of the death of the revered Joe Garagiola, who was a D-backs broadcaster for 15 years.
3. Chicago Cubs ace and 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta left his start Thursday with a blister, lasting seven batters into the first inning before departing with discomfort.
Of course, this is huge news for Cubs fans who wholeheartedly believe this is the year, but indications are that it is a minor ailment. The reality will be known for sure if Arrieta makes his last Cactus League start as scheduled before Opening Day, April 4.
THREE DOWN
1. Late Wednesday night, the Oakland Athletics edged the Seattle Mariners 13-12. Sixteen runs were scored between the teams in the first 2 1/2 innings, but more important was the chance for the clubs to see how players performed.
For Oakland, Mark Canha played his first major league game in center field — he normally is a corner infielder and outfielder — and did fine.
For Seattle, Luis Sardinas hit a grand slam. He is considered as good a fielder, if not a better, than his competition for a utility spot, Chris Taylor. At this point, it would be surprising if Sardinas, whose 30 hits and 14 RBIs lead the Mariners in spring training, doesn’t win the major league job.
2. Rockies pitcher Jon Gray is set to miss the start of the regular season. Gray was expected to part of Colorado’s rotation, but he will be sidelined with an abdominal strain that will take a few weeks and probably a little longer to be treated and heal up.
The Rockies don’t have much in the way of top-quality starting pitching, and Gray, a young pitcher who got his first taste of the major leagues last season, is a kid with promise for whom the team has high hopes. This means David Hale, Chris Rusin or Christian Bergman will have to fill the void in April, or manager Walt Weiss could go with a four-man rotation with days off early in the season.
3. Wily Peralta, named the Milwaukee Brewers’ Opening Day starting pitcher earlier in the week, turned in a quality performance Thursday against the Kansas City Royals in Phoenix.
There was some skepticism about Peralta being tabbed by manager Craig Counsell, since Peralta has never been more than a back-end rotation pitcher in years past. Peralta also was tagged for 13 earned runs in his past 10 spring training innings, but he held the Royals to a run on four hits over five innings.
“Today I felt good. I located my pitches pretty good,” Peralta said on the Brewers’ TV broadcast. “I just go out there and try to execute the pitch like a regular-season game.”
Peralta was 5-10 with a 4.80 ERA in 20 starts last season, missing time due to oblique injuries.