AL East Update

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Inside the Numbers: Vladimir Guerrero, Adam Jones and Jake Fox are tied for the team league in home runs with 3. Fox leads the team with 12 hits this spring, while Guerrero has a team high 7 runs batted in. Luke Scott has just 1 hit in 21 spring at bats and Nick Green is 2 for 23 with 12 strike outs.

Of Note: Zach Britton is making a strong case to be considered for the 5th spot in the Orioles rotation. The Orioles top pitching prospect, and the 19th ranked prospect in the league according to mlb.com, Britton has tossed 9 shutout innings over 3 appearances so far this spring. This on the heels of a minor league season where he was 10-7 with a 2.70 ERA between AA and AAA. Opposing hitters batted just .237 against him last season and he finished the year with 124 strikeouts. The 23 year old southpaw, who was originally drafted in the third round back in 2006, is an effective ground ball pitcher with a good sinker and this spring has gotten over 4 times as many ground ball outs as fly balls.


BOSTON RED SOX

Inside the Numbers: Jacoby Ellsbury leads the Sox with 11 hits this spring. Clay Buchholz has not allowed a run in 3 spring appearances spanning 9 innings. Jon Lester has also yet to be scored upon in his 6 innings of work. Josh Reddick is tied for the team lead in home runs this spring with 2, but is only batting .148 (4/27).

Of Note: Adrian Gonzalez finally took the field for the Sox this weekend and got a hit in his first at bat and delivered a sacrifice fly in his second one against the Florida Marlins. The Sox have high hopes for Gonzalez who hit 30+ home runs in each of the past 4 seasons playing in one of the least hitter friendly parks in the league in San Diego. A career .284 hitter, Gonzalez is coming off a season where he batted .298 with 31 home runs and 101 runs batted in. The Sox hope that the addition of Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford are what they need to propel them back to the World Series for the first time since 2007.


NEW YORK YANKEES

Inside the Numbers: Jorge Vazquez leads the Yankees with 12 hits and is batting .480 while tying for the team lead in home runs with Curtis Granderson with 3. Vazquez also has a team high 8 runs batted in. Alex Rodriguez is right behind Vazquez with 11 hits in 25 at bats including 4 doubles and a pair of home runs. Mark Teixeira leads the team with 5 doubles. Bartolo Colon has 12 strikeouts in his first 9 innings of work this spring.

Of Note: Mariano Rivera made his 2011 spring debut yesterday and is apparently already in top form. Rivera needed just 12 pitches to strike out Jason Kubel, Matt Brown and Luke Hughes. This is nothing new to Rivera though. Since 2009, Rivera has not allowed an earned run during spring training, a period of time that spans 14 innings over which he's now struck out 21 and only allowed 6 hits. Rivera, now 41, enters the 2011 season with 559 career saves, just 42 shy of Trevor Hoffman's all time record.


TAMPA BAY RAYS

Inside the Numbers: Casey Kotchman leads the Rays with 11 hits this spring. B.J. Upton has a team high 5 doubles. Catcher Robinson Chirinos is tied for the team lead in home runs with 2 and leads Tampa with 8 runs batted in. David Price has 10 strike outs in a team high 12 innings of work and a 4.50 ERA this spring.

Of Note: With Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford both gone from the Rays clubhouse, this really becomes Evan Longoria's team. Longoria, who has made the all star team in each of his three seasons with the Rays has seen has batting average increase every year. If B.J. Upton can keep his attitude in check an perform at the level he is capable of, and transplants Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez can add some stability to the lineup, there's no reason to think Longoria's production won't continue to increase despite the losses the Rays sustained this offseason.


TORONTO BLUEJAYS

Inside the Numbers: Jose Bautista and Yunel Escobar are tied for the team lead in hits with 11. Bautista is also tied for the team lead in doubles (3), home runs (2) and runs batted in (8). 2008 7th round pick Eric Thames also has a pair of homers and is tied with Bautista for the team lead in RBIs with 8. Thames hit .288 with 27 home runs in AA last season. 20 year old Anthony Gose leads the Jays with 7 stolen bases this spring.

Of Note: Kyle Drabek, son of former Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek, is making a push to make the Jays rotation out of camp this year. Drabek, 23, was 14-9 in 27 starts with AA New Hampshire last year and posted a 2.94 ERA over 162 innings with 132 strike outs. Currently ranked 12th among prospects by mlb.com, Drabek has an ERA of 3.00 in his first two spring starts and has struck out 7 in 6 innings of work. Doug Drabek was a 155 game winner over his 13 year career and was 22-6 for the NL East Champion Pirates in 1990 with a 2.76 ERA en route to winning the NL Cy Young Award.