Brandon Webb only made one start in 2009, sidelined with shoulder issues. But, he threw from a mound on Tuesday and the results seemed positive.
PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb threw off the mound today for the first time in his rehabilitation from right shoulder surgery at Chase Field. Statement by D-backs’ Manager A.J. Hinch: “It was good to get him into the next phase of his rehabilitation. He looked comfortable. This is a positive sign as we’re getting close to Spring Training. I thought he looked good.” Statement by D-backs’ right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb: “I felt good this morning. I’m right where I expected to be. Having not been on the mound in a year, I am pleased with how I felt.”
Webb’s current average draft position is 132.89, which makes him a ‘tweener from the 11th to the 12th round in fantasy drafts. Our consensus ranking over at FanHouse has him as the 22nd-ranked starting pitcher. I think that both his ADP and ranking will rise as Spring Training progresses and he proves that he’s healthy.
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In each of the last two seasons, Erik Bedard has made only 15 starts. In 2009, Bedard’s season was cut short by a torn labrum and inflamed bursa which required surgery. Prior to hitting the disabled list, the Mariners pitcher was 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA. Bedard still has talent, which is why they Mariners have signed him to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with incentives, says The Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Bedard’s numbers are not in question. He won 15 games in 2006, 13 in 2007 and hasn’t let his ERA rise above four since 2004. If he can with the battle this season against injury, he might surprise some people.
Bedard has an average draft position of 233.77, which places him in the 20th round of fantasy baseball drafts. If you’re a high risk/high reward fantasy GM, you might take a flier on him. But watch him closely in Spring Training.
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I’ve spent a good portion of the day thinking about the corner infield situation in Atlanta, now that the Braves have picked up Troy Glaus and announced that he would occupy first base — leaving Chipper Jones to play third base.
My first inclination was to scoff at this move by the Braves, hoping that the two aging infielders could combine to play 162 games in 2010. Once I’ve looked a little bit at their three-year trends, I’m not as worried now as I was at the beginning of the day.
It’s true that Glaus played in only 14 games last season. But, the two years prior he played in 115 games and 151 games, respectively. He also belted 20 home runs in 2007 and 27 in 2008. That’s power that the Braves could sorely use in 2010. All Glaus has to do is prove he can bounce back and play in 120-plus games.
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I wrote an article over at FanHouse this morning about the Cubs decision to announce Carlos Marmol as their closer heading into the 2010 season. I may have been a little hard on Marmol with this statement.
While this is good news for Marmol, it’s more a result of Gregg stinking in the closer’s role, more so then Marmol beating him out for the job.
Since taking over the closer role Marmol has a 2.93 ERA and an 1.80 strikeout to walk ratio (18:10 K:BB). Digging a little deeper I found that Marmol has a 1.93 ERA in save situations and a 5.74 ERA in non-save situations. It looks as if the really poor pitching came when Marmol was in a set-up role, not as a closer.
Could Marmol be a completely different pitcher as a closer versus a set-up guy?
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