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Diamondbacks Spring Training Round-Up: Blanco'd By Mexico

The D-backs suffered their first shut-out of the year, being four-hit by Mexico, though there were positives in some good pitching. Cody Ross won't be doing much for a couple of weeks, and Jose Canseco now considers himself an artist...

By Jim McLennan

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Adam Eaton bites the dust, in a collission from Monday's game against the Reds.
Adam Eaton bites the dust, in a collission from Monday's game against the Reds.
USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday's quotes

  • It's one of those things coming into this you don't know who you're going to face. I didn't know anyone on their roster or their team except Adrian Gonzalez and (Jorge) Cantu. It's a spring training game for me but it was different facing another country."
    --     Ian Kennedy
  • "That’s the way I get my double plays. I’m not like Ziegler; I don’t get them on ground balls. I get them on pickoffs."
    -- Ian Kennedy
  • "It's just a little minor setback. I'm just glad it's at this time and not later on in the spring or during the season. I figure give it a couple weeks of treatment and strengthening it. I'm just going by their plan. We've got a great group of trainers that are going to kind of coach me along and get me back out there as quick as I can without possible re-injury. Luckily we have time."
    -- Cody Ross

Cody Ross on the spring DL, caution with Hill

The MRI on Ross's calf has led to him being restricted in his baseball activities going forward, probably for the next two weeks - he can throw and hit, but he won't be able to run. Aaron Hill's quad is not felt to be as problematic, but the team intends to be cautious according to Kirk Gibson: "We don't want it to turn into something like [Ross]; I was surprised by that diagnosis. We're not going to try and make him push through something right now and then end up with somebody else that's got extended time that they're going to be off... Let's just hope everybody stays healthy because injuries they start to accumulate and your depth, you don't want to bite into your depth early on for sure."

Cactus League parks cost cities money

A study by the Republic shows "eight of the nine cities that host spring-training teams lost money on their stadiums and practice facilities, with combined deficits of more than $10million annually." Of course, there's more to it than that, because they lure in visitors who spend money - one estimate of the overall impact is $422 million. However, the report also notes, "A study of Florida’s economy after the 1990 Major League Baseball lockout that canceled most spring-training games showed the cities and towns with teams saw no discernible impact on retail sales or tax revenue that year."

Around baseball

  • Most of the other WBC teams played as well as Mexico, and most of them were close: Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Itally all lost by one, while the US team tied with the White Sox. However, Puerto Rico mauled the Phillies 15-2, and Canada also won, but Spain were blanked by the Pirates 10-0.
  • In regular pre-season action, Clayton Kershaw struggled again for the Dodgers, allowing four runs on seven hits in three-plus innings. That's now 17 hits allowed by Kershaw in eight innings, leading to nine runs. I think I speak for all D-backs fans when I say, "Long may this continue."
  • More instant replay on the way? Joe Torre, in his role as MLB executive vice president, seemed to indicate that was the case."We’re going to increase replay next year. We just don’t know how we’re going to go about it yet. I know we’re using a number of venues to see what makes sense, and it’s really making sense with the rhythm of the game as a priority." Trapped balls and fair/foul calls are most likely, but close plays on the basepaths are also possible.
  • What is this I don't even....

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