Report date was today...tomorrow starts our first day...I can't wait.. livin the dream!
— Adam Eaton (@AdamSpankyEaton) February 24, 2012
First full squad workout tomorrow!Bout to be #OnAndPopping!!!Gonna be good to officially get out there with my team! #Big2012
— Chris Young (@CY24_7) February 24, 2012
Everyone should now be out at Salt River Fields, with the position players formally reporting yesterday, and arriving for their first sessions today.
As J.RyanWalters noted in his fanpost, the Nats may be interested in Parra. Bill Ladson writing they are "still looking for help in the outfield and they have expressed interest." Left-hander John Lannan is mentioned as on the block, and also that Washington have "a surplus of starting pitching." See the fanpost for discussion, i.e. D-backs fans shooting that down. However, for a cheap laugh, read the MLB.com story comments: Parra is "Interchangeable with Rick Ankiel HR and RBI-wise, with a higher BA but without the cannon arm." Er... Another suggestion is Parra for a backup catcher. No. Just, no. Man, I knew Washington DC wasn't a state, but it apparently is a state of denial...
Here's a bunch of other stories, which we trust are grounded more firmly in reality:
- [AZCentral] Spring Training Festival launches baseball fever - "Fans behind protective screening can experience a 100-mph pitch whizzing by and see what it's like for umpires to call balls and strikes, said Marc Miller, Charros festival co-chairman."
- [Spring Training Information] Diamondbacks rituals: Pancakes and preparation - Ian Kennedy: "I don’t believe in having any superstitious stuff. I think a routine is more important because for me it’s on the schedule."
- [dbacks.com] Diamondbacks' position players seem to be set heading into workouts - Kevin Towers: "I've been in this game long enough to know that a lot of stuff happens in Spring Training. You end [up] looking at yourself on paper thinking this is the way it's going to work out, and come the first week in April, it isn't that way."
- [AZCentral] Kirk Gibson wants his pitchers better at the plate - "I don't really have an approach," Hudson said. "I just swing the bat." Well, seemed to work well enough for him last season. Keep doing what you're doing, Huddy...
- [dbacks.com] Drew looks 'outstanding' so far - Towers again: "He's been outstanding... he's probably ahead of the game, I think, when it comes to range. He's planting well, I thought that might be an issue, but it hasn't been. Release, transition, everything looks -- like the old Stephen Drew."
- [Yahoo!] GM: Goldschmidt repeat would be just fine - "I would be happy if he did what he did last year and nothing more than that. He was a major contributor to our club last year." Man, was Kevin Towers speaking to everyone today?
- [FoxSportsArizona[ Cahill being compared to former D-backs great - Phew, here's Willie Bloomquist insread: "Shortstops and third basemen better be ready when he faces a right-handed lineup. He’s a ground-ball machine, from what I remember."
Tweet of the Day is a communal award, given to all those D-backs who covered the day's rookie spring training hazing, which appeared to involve sending a bunch of the n00bs - Trevor Bauer, Charlie Brewer, Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin and, for some reason, Josh Collmenter - out to the RenFair dressed in appropriate garb... Daniel Hudson first broke the story, but those Tweeting in included Barry Enright, Rossmel Perez and Adam Eaton, as well as Brewer, Corbin and Bauer.. Why, yes - yes there were pictures, thank you for asking... Here's Barry's, showing the whole group, but I'm going with this one from Charlie B, of Collmenter "fueling up our Renaissance horse"
