FORT MYERS, Fla. — Take a spin around the Grapefruit League with “Three Up, Three Down,” an inside look at what is coming up and what went down on Monday.
THREE UP
1. Dan Johnson is back with the Tampa Bay Rays on a minor league deal as he tries to make his comeback as a knuckleball pitcher.
The former first baseman is best known for a pair of pinch-hit, ninth-inning home runs. The first was in September 2008 off then-Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon that tied the score in a game the Tampa Bay Rays won in extra innings to stay in first place. The other was in Game 162 in 2011 to complete the Rays’ comeback against the New York Yankees — after they were down 7-0 in the eighth inning — setting the stage for Evan Longoria’s 12th-inning, walk-off home run that clinched the AL wild card.
Johnson said he will spend as much time in the minors as it takes to develop the knuckleball.
The Rays have some knuckleball experience in the organization. Manager Kevin Cash caught knuckleballer Tim Wakefield while with the Red Sox for three seasons, and Charlie Haeger, who threw the flutterball pitch over five big league seasons with the White Sox, Padres and Dodgers, is the Rays’ minor league pitching coordinator.
2. Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with soreness in his right knee — on which he had surgery in July 2012 — and is expected to rest for a couple of days. Stanton did not go on the trip to Viera, Fla., to face the Washington Nationals on Monday.
“He came in (Sunday) with a little soreness in his knee,” manager Don Mattingly said. “At that point, we were like, ‘OK, I’m not taking him tomorrow.’”
Stanton is considered day-to-day for the time being, and no MRI is scheduled. He has appeared in two Grapefruit League games, going 1-for-3 with a double. The Marlins plan to be cautious with him.
“We’ve got time right now,” Mattingly said. “I’m not really worried about (him).”
3. Even though he has yet to appear in a Grapefruit League game and is more than a week away from doing so, New York Mets third baseman David Wright remains confident he will be ready for Opening Day.
Wright rested longer than usual this offseason to take as much strain off his back as possible, and he is about three to four weeks behind where he normally would be at this point in spring training. So, rather than rushing to get into spring exhibition games, he wants to be sure his body is conditioned to be ready for the regular season.
“I’m looking at it in the positive side where I’m a little late getting into games, but I’m getting some work in that I normally wouldn’t be able to get in,” Wright said.
Wright was diagnosed in May with stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that could threaten his career. He appeared in just 38 games last season, batting .289 with a .379 on-base percentage, .434 slugging percentage, five home runs, seven doubles and 17 RBIs.
THREE DOWN
1. Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who is entering the second year of a five-year, $95 million deal, caused quite a stir when he showed up to camp looking rather portly. Team brass said his weight was not a concern and principal owner John Henry said Sandoval’s body fat ratio was measured at 17 percent, down from 21 percent last season.
However, Sandoval is still looking for his first spring hit, going 0-for-8 in four games. His two errors — one fielding, one throwing — in the fourth inning Monday led to two unearned runs as the Rays beat the Red Sox 3-2.
He abandoned switch-hitting last season after going 2-for-41 (.049) against left-handers, preferring to stay with his natural left side, but he said he will return to it this year. In one at-bat against the Rays lefty Matt Moore on Monday, Sandoval flied out.
2. Outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, who joined the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason as a free agent from South Korea, is still looking for his first hit of the spring. He went 0-for-2 on Monday against the Minnesota Twins and is now 0-for-18 this spring in six games. Kim also has yet to draw a walk after walking 101 times in 141 games in South Korea last season.
Meanwhile, his countryman, Twins designated hitter Byung Ho Park, gave his new team a glimpse on Sunday of what he can do. Park crushed a grand slam in the first inning off Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi in the Twins’ 5-4 win. It was Park’s first home run of the spring. Park, who did not play against the Orioles on Monday, is 2-for-11 with a team-high five RBIs and three runs in Grapefruit League action.
3. It is practically a rite of spring. Just a matter of where, when and how wet. In the sixth inning of the Mets-St. Louis Cardinals game at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., on Monday, New York first baseman Marc Krauss was batting. With no warning, the sprinklers went off in the outfield. St. Louis left fielder Anthony Garcia was caught in the middle of the perfect sprinkler storm, surrounded by six sprinklers, causing him to tip-toe through the drops looking to stay dry.
Somewhere, Crash Davis and the rest of the Bulls are smiling.
The game resumed, and the Cardinals went on to beat the Mets 9-4. Cards ace Adam Wainwright gave up three walks and two hits with two strikeouts in two scoreless innings.