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Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers report today!

Finally. It's the biggest day of the year when absolutely nothing of importance happens.

By Jim McLennan

"Report" is such a vague term, especially considering that there have been players working out at Salt River Fields for quite some time:

and that's not including Yasmany Tomas, who has been getting his reps in there at third-base since January, despite being neither a pitcher nor a catcher.

Still, it's the official end of the off-season, and considering how dismal 2014 was, we've likely been more intent than usual on, in the words of Rogers Hornsby, staring out the window and waiting for spring. We need something to wash away the taste of posting the worst record in the major leagues. While only getting real, meaningful wins in the book will help that, for the moment, I'm quite happy to settle for fake wins in meaningless games. Or even, as today, a nominal reporting date whose criteria can be satisfied by a phone-call from the players concerned, letting the team know they are in town. It beats nothing at all, which we've had for the past five months.

Just do not expect anything of significance to happen [though we may hear the results of Mark Trumbo's arbitration case]. While the first workouts for pitchers and catchers do start tomorrow, it'll be more of a gentle easing back into the routine. The Cactus League doesn't get under way for another week and a half, the Diamondbacks breaking new ground with their first game on March 3, taking on the ASU Sun Devils for the first ever time. But after the longest, darkest winter in SnakePit history (enhanced by spring training starting two weeks later than last year, when we were prepping for the Sydney trip), I'm ready simply to see players milling around lackadaisically..

I'll update this post a little later, probably with enthralling images of players carrying bags into the locker room, chatting to each other, and maybe - if we're very lucky - doing a little gentle stretching. And it's going to be utterly awesome since, for the next month and a half, there will be no better place for any baseball fan, than here in Arizona. [Suck it, Grapefruit League!]

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