Let’s see if I can come up with a post every day of the rest of the offseason. Today, there are 43 days left until Opening Day on April 6.
43 is the number of hits Eric Hosmer collected in Omaha before his callup. It is also the number of scoops he had at first base in the Majors. His scoop total (denoted as “scp” on FanGraphs) was third-most in the Majors, which is why pretty much every Hosmer highlight reel has at least one clip of him scooping up a bad throw.
(I have now typed the word “scoop” enough that it no longer looks like a word.)
Either Eric Hosmer is really good at scooping, or his fellow infielders are really bad at throwing.
-Elsewhere, it looks like blog favorite Manuel Piña needs surgery. He did actually hurt that knee back in August 2011, during the last of his four games in the Majors. He said his cleat caught in the dirt as he was standing up to throw back to the pitcher, and it was serious enough to warrant an MRI, but there was no damage. I don’t recall seeing this in the papers, nor can I find mention of it now. But it’s something to keep in mind as the spring progresses.
It looked like Piña and Cody Clark were going to be Omaha’s catchers, but clearly that will change, at least for a while.
Note to my (hypothetical) future sons: Please don’t play catcher. It’s really bad for your knees, and ankles, and back, and basically everything.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Please consider supporting my writing and photography by doing your Amazon shopping through my affiliate link. (Explanation here.)
Related posts: