Mormon Baseball

As pundits wondered whether the Cubs would keep Darwin Barney at second this year, because of his poor performance at the plate last year, Barney’s bat woke up in a big way, as he was 4 for 9 last week (.444) and raised his spring training average to .308. Of course, Barney will need to keep up a high level at the plate for the final weeks of spring training to show that last year’s average was an aberration. We’ll keep an eye on him.

Barney wasn’t the only veteran to show his stripes last week. The Mariner’s John Buck also showed strength, going 3 for 7 (.429) with 2 rbis to approach .300 for the spring. And Elliot Johnson continued his hot streak, hitting 5 of 14 while scoring 3 runs and hitting a home run. Johnson, a utility infielder, is hitting .367 in 30 at bats so far this spring.

Among pitchers, the Padres’ Josh Johnson was best last week, giving up just 1 run in 4 innings (2.25 era), lowering his spring era to 4.00. And while the Angel’s reliever Brandon Lyon slipped and gave up a run last week, he still has the best cumulative era among Mormon pitchers in spring training so far, at 1.93 in 4.2 innings of work.

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• Darwin Barney — second base — Chicago Cubs
  4 for 9 (.444), 0 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 2 bb, 0 sb, 0 so
  YTD: .308, 1 runs, 2 rbi, 1 hr, 3 bb, 0 sb, 2 so in 26 at bats.
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• John Buck — backup catcher — Seattle Mariners
  3 for 7 (.429), 0 runs, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .294, 1 runs, 3 rbi, 0 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 2 so in 17 at bats.
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• Jacoby Ellsbury — centerfield — New York Yankees
  2 for 9 (.222), 2 runs, 1 rbi, 1 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 1 so
  YTD: .174, 5 runs, 1 rbi, 1 hr, 5 bb, 0 sb, 6 so in 23 at bats.
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• Kyle Farnsworth — relief pitcher — New York Mets
  1-0, 6.75 era, 4 hits, 2 er, 2 bb, and 2 k in 2.2 innings
  YTD: 1-0, era 4.05, 8 hits, 3 er, 3 bb and 3 k in 6.2 innings
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• Doug Fister — starting pitcher — Washington Nationals
  Did not pitch
  YTD: 0-0, era 4.50, 2 hits, 1 er, 1 bb and 2 k in 2.0 innings
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• Jeremy Guthrie — starting pitcher — Kansas City Royals
  0-0, 6.00 era, 5 hits, 2 er, 3 bb, and 5 k in 3.0 innings
  YTD: 0-0, era 9.00, 9 hits, 5 er, 3 bb and 6 k in 5.0 innings
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• Bryce Harper — starting centerfield — Washington Nationals
  2 for 13 (.154), 0 runs, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 2 bb, 0 sb, 4 so
  YTD: .208, 3 runs, 5 rbi, 1 hr, 5 bb, 1 sb, 5 so in 24 at bats.
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• Elliot Johnson — second base — Cleveland Indians
  5 for 14 (.358), 3 runs, 1 rbi, 1 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 3 so
  YTD: .367, 5 runs, 6 rbi, 2 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 8 so in 30 at bats.
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• Josh Johnson — starting pitcher — San Diego Padres
  0-1, 2.25 era, 2 hits, 1 er, 1 bb, and 3 k in 4.0 innings
  YTD: 0-1, era 4.00, 7 hits, 4 er, 2 bb and 8 k in 9.0 innings
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• Matt Lindstrom — Chicago White Sox, reliever and maybe closer
  Did not pitch
  YTD: 0-0, era n/a, 0 hits, 0 er, 0 bb and 0 k in 0.0 innings
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• Brandon Lyon — relief pitcher — Los Angeles Angels
  0-0, 5.40 era, 2 hits, 1 er, 0 bb, and 2 k in 1.2 innings
  YTD: 0-0, era 1.93, 3 hits, 1 er, 0 bb and 4 k in 4.2 innings
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• Clayton Mortensen — relief pitcher — Kansas City Royals
  Did not pitch
  YTD: 0-0, era n/a, 0 hits, 0 er, 0 bb and 0 k in 0.0 innings
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• Shane Peterson — Oakland As minor league affiliate, infield
  Did not play — reassigned
  YTD: .167, 0 runs, 1 rbi, 0 hr, 4 bb, 0 sb, 6 so in 12 at bats.
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• Adam Rosales — Texas Rangers, backup infielder
  1 for 8 (.125), 1 runs, 3 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 3 so
  YTD: .150, 3 runs, 6 rbi, 0 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 8 so in 20 at bats.
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• Eric Sogard — Oakland As, backup short stop
  3 for 11 (.273), 4 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 2 bb, 1 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .188, 4 runs, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 3 bb, 1 sb, 6 so in 32 at bats.
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