Sunday Bantering and Open Thread for Spring Game

There isn’t much for Blue Jays news this morning, but we do have a game on TV today. The Jays play a split squad Yankees team, but no Tulo. The best news is Lourdes Gurriel is back in the lineup.

We are about a week into Spring games. Generally, but this point, I pick a player that I’m pretty sure won’t make the team, and cheer for him to make the team. This year I had the pick coming into spring training. I’m hoping for Dalton Pompey and I’m reading everything he does as a reason he should make the team.

His batting line isn’t helping me out: .267/.267/.467 with a home run and a steal. He reached on error in yesterday’s game. And he’s made some good catches in the outfield.

The two guys he is in direct competition with:

• Teoscar Hernandez: 5 for 10, double, steal and 2 walks. .625/.700/.750.
• Billy McKinney: 2 for 9, double, 2 walks..222/.364/.333.

McKinney isn’t doing great, but Teoscar...Teoscar seems to always get off to great starts. I guess he has had a couple of misadventures in the outfield, but no errors.

Personally I’d be shopping Pillar,but I’d imagine that if there was a trade out there, it would have happened by now. The team might be looking for a trade involving Kendrys Morales or Justin Smoak.

Whatever happens, I’m cheering for Dalton, I think he would be the perfect fourth outfielder. But then, I think he would be a good center fielder.

Speaking of guys I’m cheering for, Devon Travis talked to the media today and, well, he’s not happy:

We tend to talk about players as if they are just products, not people. Devon’s has a really rough time of it. I don’t blame him for being down.

More:

Shi Davidi writes about Ryan Tepera’s efforts to improve over the summer. It sounds like he’s had an useful off season. It will be interesting to see how pitchers use all the information they get from these Rapsodo units. I wonder if this will push the pitcher/batter balance more towards the pitchers. I guess there is a lot of information for batters to use to improve as well.

In news from other teams:

• Salvador Perez is going to have Tommy John surgery and will miss the season. The good news is Buck and Pat will have to find someone else to talk about during Royals games.
• Luke Farrell was hit by a line drive in the face and has a fractured jaw. And I don’t want to see video.
• Bryce Harper is making me a fan. He’s switching for his former number of 34 to number 3, because he doesn’t think anyone should wear Roy Halladay’s number.
• And the Jays front office did consider the idea going after Harper. Of course, every team in the league should have considered it.

We get to see Vlad. And we get look at Shoemaker. No Dalton today.