Pedro Alvarez hit a homer Sunday. It was a grand slam. If he doesn’t sock 25 big flies it will be a big time letdown in his first season in Baltimore.

Nolan Arenado is batting .606 with a 1.600 OPS this spring. Not sure he can keep that up. In fact, I don’t think he’s worthy of a first round selection this season. See his Player Profile.

Now Sean Doolittle is dealing with a slight triceps strain. The guy is turning into Stephen Strasburg in front of our eyes. The Athletics think he will be fine, but if you ask me he’s a huge red flag this season. I don’t recommend handcuffing closers, but if you draft Doolittle you simply must also roster Ryan Madson. I have as much faith in Doolittle staying healthy this year as I do that I’ll be dating a Playmate by Halloween.

Jaime Garcia will miss his start Monday. Everyone is saying he’s fine. Do you buy that? Given his track record I have a very hard time believing it. Still, here’s the report so you can judge for yourself.

Ken Giles has a 10.80 ERA in five spring outings. Trying not to panic, too early for that, but his performance is starting to be a concern. The good news is that (A) he has dominating skills, (B) Luke Gregerson has been hurt (C) it’s five outings. Keep an eye on things though.

Don’t look now but Shane Greene might break camp as the Tigers 5th starter instead of Daniel Norris. Back to full health, Green tossed five innings of one run ball in his outing Sunday lowered his ERA to 2.63 this spring. As impressive, he has 14 strikeouts and only three walks. You know I like him… you might have heard that before, right?

Cesar Hernandez is a Philly so you likely don’t care. Not telling you to completely change your outlook, but the guy does have four steals while hitting .390 this spring. You could do a lot worse in NL-only leagues up the middle, and he might even fall into some mixed league value if he keeps running (hello Elvis Andrus?).

Scott Kazmir allowed two runs, one earned, in four innings Sunday. Looked better than he has in his uneven spring. Still not buying it.

Zach Lee might gain the final spot in the Dodgers rotation after Mike Bolsinger suffered an oblique issue. Lee apparently is in a battle with Carlos Frias as Joe Blanton will be in the bullpen. Sorry, no mention of Julio Urias by manager Dave Roberts.

I took on the experts in New York this weekend in Tout Wars. Check out the link to see how I did.

Daniel Nava seems likely to see a good portion of the at-bats in left field this season when a righty is on the hill against the Angels. He’s never figured out lefties but he’s always been very good against righties (.281/.377/.409). Check out that OBP again.

A.J. Pollock has that elbow issue, but he’s playing defense and tracking pitches (he did so in a minor league game Sunday). Pollock should be fine for Opening Day, at least the club keeps telling us, but we gotta see him get some game action soon to be comfortable with that statement.

The Rangers demoted Nomar Mazara, Joey Gallo and Jurickson Profar. All will see time in the big leagues this season but it’s unclear in all three instances when that might be. Have to think Gallo is up the earliest of that trio for those of you wondering.  

Gregory Polanco has gone 30 at-bats without an extra base hit this spring, and we still don’t know if he will hit in the two hole or be dropped down to the bottom third. I expressed my concern in his Player Profile piece.

Everyone is down on Hector Rondon because of his spring performance. I’m not overly concerned. Folks make too much out of five innings, they do it every year.

Schuster and Mans on the Fantasy Alarm show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (4 PM EDT, M-F), brought up an interesting comparison. Here it is based on 2015 numbers.

Alex Rodriguez: .250-33-86-83-4 with a .842 OPS
Todd Frazier: .255-35-89-82-13 with a .806 OPS

Frazier qualifies at third, ARod only at DH, so that is a huge difference. Still, does it explain the price difference we are seeing with the duo? Looking at Tout Wars Mixed Auction over the weekend I rostered ARod for $2 while Frazier went for $27. #JustSayin

Follow this link to check out the entire Player Profile Series.

Travis Shaw is batting .441 after three more hits Sunday. It sounds like the Red Sox are giving serious consideration to benching Pablo Sandoval to get Shaw’s bat in the lineup (first base is Hanley Ramirez and David Ortiz is the DH). I can’t see the Sox benching Sandoval in the second year of his $95 million deal, can you? Shaw is still not a player I’m recommending you draft in mixed leagues.

Troy Tulowitzki has a .355 OBP and .593 SLG this spring while looking healthy. We can only dream his health will hold up.

Yasmani Tomas is 5-for-7 the last couple of games after a brutal start, on the field and health wise, this spring. Still not a fan.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 6 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).