Dark and threatening skies did not stop the Indians from doing their work outdoors this morning.
Thunderstorms and showers overnight dissipated into drizzle by 10 o’clock in the morning and then nothing. As Charles Nagy said, “”It only looks like it’s going to rain.”
Nagy, who will be the pitching coach at Columbus, is among several minor-league staffers helping in camp.
Whereas the Tribe was getting its work in, this is not a day that the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce will be bragging about. Temperatures are in the 50s, and more rain could be on the way through late afternoon.
I know people in Northeast Ohio don’t want to hear about weather woes in Phoenix, inasmuch as piles of snow are everywhere in Akron and Cleveland. But everything is relative, and the weather here has been far from normal (It rained for three days in a row little more than a week ago).
It already was reported that Grady Sizemore will be the Indians’ No. 2 batter and that Asdrubal Cabrera will take over the leadoff spot. But apparently, not all the news was conveyed to Cabrera, who told a reporter that he didn’t know he had been named to hit at the top of the lineup.
Bruce Drennan, host of STO’s All Bets are Off, arrived Saturday and will be here for about 10 days. He conducted 29 interviews in two hours early this morning, while players went station to station for picture day. He will also do his TV show from the ballpark this week.
The biggest change in the workout schedule: “”Tracking” season is over after two days. Players are permitted to swing during batting practice. We’ll have to wait and see if that produces a noticeable difference.
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“Players are permitted to swing during batting practice. We’ll have to wait and see if that produces a noticeable difference.”
Dude, that’s the quote of the YEAR.
While so many so-called “experts” casually remark that the Tribe has plenty of offense and no trouble scoring runs, I always scratch my head, “HUH?” I got so sick of the zero-run output last season, I compiled game-by-game stats and McNamanamanmn did an “expose” column. It’s a fallacy that’s been perpetuated and lulled Shapiro & Co. into doing nothing for years.
Now, Nick Camino is on the radio defending the Branyan signing, because “the Tribe needed another bat.” If we, indeed, are contenders this season, and Branyan is hitting more than whiffing, and if LaPorta was simply Mark’s latest misjudgment in talent evaluation, then okay. Maybe someone finally realizes that teams (especially THIS one) don’t score consistent runs without power in the lineup.