Here we go, spring training games have begun, lines have been drawn, and battles have begun.
Jobs are at stake, careers hang in the balance, those early March impressions you can make are important. A bad few outings, and you find yourself pitching more in B games across town, with the regulars are at home with guys with numbers like 6, or 18, or 42. When you find yourself in B games, you might see guys with 105 and 88 playing short and 2nd base.
Errors made there lead to runs, earned, or unearned, they pile up , and you desperately wait another chance to redeem yourself. It seems to take ages before your rotation turn comes again, so you work on the side, trying to get that sinker to sink, that breaking ball to break away in the right way.
Plus, the amount of competitors seems to grow as your arm aches between starts, and the pressures mount.
We do not see a lot of what goes on in each major league camp, but these stories exist in all of them, even the Yankees have there battles, and boy, if you think it's important for the Pirates, the Rockies, and the Royals to sort things out, just imagine for the defending World Champs !
Making the New York team means not only a major league gig, but what excitement, to play in New York, for as storied franchise, the pressure to crack a team that won that won last year would be doubly difficult.
Down in Florida and Arizona you will find battles for roster spots, so let's take a look at a few.
In the LA Angels camp, witht he departure of Chone Figgins, Macier Izturis and Brandon Wood will battle for 3rd base, and if Wood loses, he goes back to Triple AAA, but if Wood wins, he may platoon or bump Erick Aybar out of an everyday gig at shortstop.
it's only Week # 1, but both Wood and Izturis are impressive, while Aybar has struggled, so the dominoes can fall in a variety of ways. Brandon Wood is out of options, so his chances improve, because he has hit so well in the minors the last 2 years, and would appear ready.
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