Diamondbacks Spring Training Starts In Earnest!

Late arrivals

There were a couple of players who had to miss time, for one reason or another - though no longer for the time-honored reason of "visa issues" [remember the days of "Antonio Rosario", a.k.a. Tony Pena?] Nick Piecoro reports that Gerardo Parra had a flight canceled: he'll have his physical today, but won't take part in the first all-squad workouts today. John McDonald has also returned to camp, after having left for a couple of days to deal with a loss in the family. Our sympathies go out to him

East coast vs. West coast rap war

Trevor Bauer's apparent firing back at Miguel Montero's comments about him to KTAR, was indeed, as expected, the form of his song You Don't Know Me, including lines dissing (as I believe the kids say) those who "hid behind a mask to facilitate a task." Apparently, the song was recorded in December, so while it doesn't directly refer to Montero's latest comments, it does make the introduction...strangely appropriate, shall we say: "Your fifteen minutes, I guess I get that. With that, its time to get back to all these fans that I’ve been losing due in part to the rumors moving about that that I refuse to listen."

Bauer was called in for a chat with the Indians GM and Manager on Thursday morning, and told reporters afterward: "The song was done in early December about people on Twitter who say you're terrible, work on your ERA, stick to this, stick to that. It wasn't made about anyone in particular, certainly not about Miguel Montero." Bauer also said that friend Conner Garelick Tweeted the song Wednesday night, and Bauer reTweeted without thinking. That, however, is clearly BS, since as we noted at the time of Montero's comments, Bauer had already stated the song was going to be released...

Trevor also said "I hope this whole thing can just die and go into oblivion where it should be." It's not clear whether he was referring to the controversy, or his career as a rapper. The track has even generated a fake response by KTAR 620's Jarrett Carlen. Me, I'm waiting to hear what Tim Crispy has to say on the matter.

Best shape of their lives...

One of the cliches of spring training is seeing players show and proclaim the above. Of course, that may not necessarily mean the same thing for everyone. So, we have Trevor Cahill losing 15 lbs and winning a five-lap race run by the pitchers: "I was like 6-foot-4, 180 pounds when I was in high school and weak. I was always trying to eat and gain weight and then all of a sudden my metabolism slowed down." He offers this nutritional advice, though it should probably be filed in the box marked Obvious: "Eating Taco Bell five times a week is not good when your metabolism slows down."

Going in the other direction, weight-wise is fellow starter, Tyler Skaggs, who appears to have found all the weight Cahill lost, and them some. He put on 23 pounds over the off-season - we trust, without the need for any Florida clinics. He said, "I worked really hard during the offseason lifting weights, trying to get stronger. I came to camp ready to go. I'm not trying to get into the swing of things, I'm trying to win a spot. I wanted to come in here with my arm ready to go."

Link round-up

• [USA Today] A cold wake-up call for humbled Diamondbacks' Mark Grace "The guys in my tent are all nice guys," Grace said. "We sit around, and BS a little bit, tell stories, hang out. Guys start fading around 8 or 8:30, and there's only one thing on your mind once that happens: How am I going to stay warm? You can only wear so many layers. But it could've been worse. I could've hurt somebody. I could've killed somebody. It could've been a Dallas Cowboys situation."
• [AP] Arizona rookie Eaton ready to seize leadoff role - "I'm 5-8,'' Eaton said. ''I have to have an edge. You want to have that little chip, that small-man syndrome, that Napoleon syndrome. To play in this game at this level, you have to have that.''
• [dbacks.com] Ross ecstatic D-backs came calling for deal - "My smile was ear to ear," Ross said. "It was crazy how it all unfolded and how quickly it happened. It couldn't have happened any better." No doubt...
• [ArizonaSports.com] Hall: 'Uptown' put too much pressure on Justin Upton - "I have to say [Upton] handled all of this beautifully," Hall said. "He could have been upset. He could have pouted. He could have made comments the last couple of years and he never did and I credit him for that. But that's a lot of pressure to put on someone.... I think looking back ['Uptown'] was probably a mistake on our part," Hall said.
• [SBNation] A real world series: Inside the world championship of blind baseball - A profile of blind baseball, played by men for all the right reasons, who refuse to complain about bad calls, no money, no fame and no eyesight, and live for the one week, every year, when they can play the game against the best in the word...