Opening Day Roster Updates

Opening Day is now just two days away, which means nearly all major league rosters are set. Clearly players like Matt Wieters and Mark Teixeira (on DL) made their teams’ rosters, but there were a few other former Yellow Jackets fighting to make their teams.

Charlie Blackmon had an excellent spring for the Rockies, hitting .367 with an OPS of 1.072. He only had 30 ABs, but played well when given the opportunity. He had a lot of competition for the 5th OF spot though, and ultimately lost to Tyler Colvin, who was impressive in the majors last year. This doesn’t mean that Blackmon should have an issue seeing time in the majors though because he may very well get called up if someone in the Rockies OF goes down with an injury (every team deals with injuries).

Mike Nickeas had a chance to crack the Blue Jays roster, but he was unable to impress during Spring Training. He was only able to hit .200 in his 40 ABs, which wasn’t enough to get a roster spot. He may get called up in September when the rosters expand to 40 players, but he needs to perform well in the minors since he hasn’t at the major league level so far.

Blake Wood was placed on the 60 day DL by the Indians a couple weeks back since he had Tommy John Surgery half way through last season. He won’t play for a while, but he should get some appearances late in the summer after he hopefully makes a full recovery.

Now that Teixeira is on the DL and out for quite a while, Matt Wieters is the only active major league player from Georgia Tech. That’s very surprising given the program’s success, but there are a few players in the minors with potential so it won’t be too long before that changes. I’ll also frequently be doing updates for Wieters and any other Tech players who make the majors, so come back to see how everyone is playing. Since Wieters is the only Tech player who will be opening up the season in the majors, does anyone have any predictions for his numbers this season?

2013 MLB Season Preview- Mark Teixeira

Since the site is new, I will be making additions in the next few weeks. I expect to add more baseball and golf information to the site, but until then I will post a few season previews of former Yellow Jackets. The second player up in this list is Mark Teixeira, a first basemen for the New York Yankees.

news.fanfeedr.com

Mark Teixeira was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2001 and played in parts of 4 seasons with them. In 2007, the Atlanta Braves made one of the biggest trades in recent MLB history (because of the talent they gave up to get him) to land Teixeira, who played in parts of 2 seasons with them. In 2008 he was shipped to the Angels and then signed with the Yankees the next offseason. Although he has changed teams three times in his ten seasons in the league, he has accumulated 2 All Star nominations, 5 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Slugger Awards, and a World Series ring. He has been one of the best power hitting first basemen of the last decade and has stayed surprisingly healthy.

This year will surely be different for Teixeira however, since he may not see a pitch. Apparently Mark Teixeira has a partially torn ligament in his right wrist (occurred during the WBC), which is worse than the Yankees originally thought. In the article it states that if he decides to undergo surgery on his wrist, then it will most likely end his season. He also has the choice to avoid surgery, but it will still cost him at least 2-3 months and his wrist may not heal properly. I’m sure the Yankees want him to return this season (especially given the rest of their injuries), but there is no need to rush him and risk re-injuring the wrist.

Teixeira won’t be seeing live pitches anytime soon, which is unfortunate for the Yankees this year. The AL East is incredibly difficult and the Yankees may potentially finish last. As a Tech and Mark Teixeira fan, I would love to see him come back in the summer and have a great finish, but wrist injuries are always tricky for baseball players. Hopefully he is able to see the field this season because the Yankees will surely miss him.

Stats were taken from Wikipedia.

2013 MLB Season Preview- Matt Wieters

Since the site is new, I will be making additions in the next few weeks. I expect to add more baseball and golf information to the site, but until then I will post a few season previews of former Yellow Jackets. The first player up in this list is Matt Wieters, a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Wieters was drafted fifth overall in the 2007 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Like most top prospects, he quickly worked his way through the minor leagues and made his debut in May of the 2009 season. Through his first three and a half seasons, he has turned into a two time All Star and a Gold Glove winner. He has shown impressive power as a catcher and helped lead the Orioles back to the playoffs last season.

With a little over a week left before Opening Day, Wieters is ready to go. He has been on fire through spring training, hitting over .400 and driving in runs. Spring training statistics should be taken with a grain of salt, but it is nice to see him making contact with the ball. The Orioles are going to need him to hit for average and power this year if they want to make the playoffs. Wieters also plays exceptional defense, which makes him incredibly valuable.

If Wieters is going to take the next step though, he needs to take control of the pitching staff. The Orioles have more depth in their rotation this year than they have had in a long time and it will be up to Wieters to call effective games. If he can work with his pitchers to improve their performance, I really see the Orioles making the playoffs as a wild card team.  The Yankees and Red Sox are down right now and they need to take advantage of the opportunity. Wieters has turned into an All Star catcher for the Orioles and they will need him to produce this year if they want to repeat their success from last season.

Information taken from Wikipedia and ESPN.