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The Red Sox didn't play Monday -- their game against the Cardinals was rained out -- yet I still found a way to talk about Mookie Betts.
Or rather, manager John Farrell did, delivering what may be my favorite quote of the spring thus far.
"Goddarn, man, he's on time from a hitting standpoint," Farrell told the Boston Herald. "He gets himself on time, he's able to handle multiple types of pitches in the strike zone, and he's facing some pretty [darn] good pitching in spring training here. Albeit spring training, but he's facing some good stuff and has handled them well."
Anything else, John?
"It's probably been more on how the reads and routes in center field would develop, and particularly balls over his head," Farrell continued. "We purposely positioned him more shallow in center field just to give him a chance to see some balls over his head better. So, the defensive side of center field has been where we've seen that progression."
Folks, that's a full-on man crush. I've never been more convinced that come opening day, Betts will be batting leadoff and manning center field. Stop being so scared and draft him already.
1. Yasmany Tomas answers his critics
Between the reports of him potentially opening the year in the minors and this piece by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, it's been a pretty bad week for Tomas, who was the first of two high-profile Cuban defectors to sign this offseason. So his best game of spring training couldn't have come at a better time. He went 3 for 3, raising his spring batting average to a respectable .267, and hit his second home run. Both have been to the opposite field.
Now, this latest one did come off Chin-hui Tsao, which doesn't necessarily prove anything, but you see the power potential. Don't drop Tomas off mixed-league radars just yet.
2. Jon Gray enters the fray
You may have heard the Rockies made the surprising move of releasing Jhoulys Chacin this week, but you may not have considered all the ramifications. They have an open rotation spot now, and they haven't sent Gray, their young pitching phenom, to their minor-league camp yet. The 23-year-old allowed no runs on two hits with no walks walks and two strikeouts over a four innings in his start Monday against the Brewers, hitting 97 mph with his fastball, and now has a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings this spring. Coors Field is a tough venue for a pitcher of any skill level, but Gray may be worth a late-round flier now that he's officially in the running.
3. Mat Latos not winning any believers
I don't like Latos this year. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder why I left him out of my Busts 2.0 column. Maybe because nobody else seems to be buying into him either, and that's not going to change after his performance Monday against the Mets in which he allowed nine earned runs in three innings. He did fine last year after returning from a forearm injury, compiling a 3.25 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, but his average fastball velocity dropped about 2 mph and his strikeout rate along with it, leading me to believe he was narrowly avoiding collapse. For at least one exhibition start, he couldn't.
4. Matt Shoemaker rights the ship
OK, I'll admit to growing disillusioned with Matt Shoemaker given his struggles early this spring. It didn't help that I seemed to be one of his only believers in the industry. Considering I was basing it all on a 10-start (and 11-appearance) stretch to end last year, I was beginning to think I was jumping the gun. But then he pitched six shutout innings against the Mariners Monday, allowing two hits and one walk. Of course, he had only two strikeouts, and given that much of what he had during that 10-start stretch last year came in two exceptional starts, I may still be overrating him in that regard.
5. Curtis Granderson may be onto something
I feel like it hasn't gotten enough attention in Fantasy Baseball circles, but Granderson is back working with Kevin Long, who the Mets hired as their hitting coach this offseason. Long, you'll remember, was responsible for Granderson's first resurgence, when he hit 40-plus homers in back-to-back seasons for the Yankees. Granderson went 3 for 4 Monday, raising his spring batting average to .452 (14 for 31). He has just four strikeouts to six walks. He may not have another 40-homer season in him, but he's spoken positively about the work he's done with Long already. Maybe he's worth a longer look in the Round 20 range.
