Shortstop Anthony Volpe deserves to be the starter after posting a 1.000 OPS and showing he can provide a spark.
Many Yankees types favor giving him a shot but there’s still a small bit of debate about Volpe vs. Oswald Peraza.
My thought: the only thing that would stop it from being Volpe is excess caution.
For a division favorite there are a lot of debates. Rafael Ortega and Willie Calhoun is an outfield debate.
Better still would be dealing an infielder for a left-handed-hitting outfielder, but there’s no evidence anything’s afoot.
Of course, Bryan Reynolds would be the best solution. Regarding any Reynolds talk, it’s quiet in Pirates camp. …
Yuli Gurriel (.301 OPS) is having a rough spring after a late start, and some believe that if he doesn’t make the Marlins, he could return to the Astros.
Houston has injury concerns with three stars — Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley — and Dusty Baker loves Gurriel.
Astros owner Jim Crane told Altuve he’d like to extend him, but to this point there’s been no negotiation.
The Astros never got close in contract talks on elite young players Framber Valdez (their World Series Game 1 starter the past two years) or Kyle Tucker.
The Astros guard against ultra-long deals, but their minors pipeline looks weak now. …
While the Marlins rank 30th in most offensive categories (hits, homers, walks, BP, SLG, OPS), they’re only 29th in batting average. …
Good for the Cardinals sending 17 players to various WBC teams, including Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and new Japan folk hero Lars Nootbar.
Good for the Angels sending the two most important players.
For those who didn’t see Shohei Ohtani’s batting practice, it was almost as exciting as his finish.
He was hitting balls near the back wall/window at loanDepot Park where no one ever hits it. …
Ronald Acuña Jr. had the second-most impressive BP at the WBC. But no one is in Ohtani’s league. …
Agent Scott Boras traveled to the WBC in Miami he said to make sure Julio Urias didn’t throw more than 60 pitches in his outing for Mexico. He threw 58. …
Japanese starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be a big-time free agent after the year.