From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.Chicago Cubs
Sean Marshall is the favorite to win the job as the Cubs 5th starter in the rotation, but he's going to have to fight off a slew of others including Chad Gaudin, Ken Kadokura and Jeff Samardzija. Marshall went a long way towards proving he's the right choice on Tuesday as he threw three perfect innings. In five spring innings he's given up one run, four hits, struck out two and walked none. With the addition of Milton Bradley, Kosuke Fukudome only has one option in the outfield; center field. He'll be competing with Reed Johnson for that job. Johnson is the only one in camp as Fukudome is participating in the World Baseball Classic.
Cincinnati Reds
Manager Dusty Baker is building a lineup to focus on speed and defense instead of one featuring big bats. That's good news for fantasy owners who own Willy Taveras, Jerry Hairston, Jr. and Brandon Phillips as stolen base totals are likely to rise in this new regime. In left field the Reds are hoping that rookie Chris DIckerson can provide a much needed outburst at the plate. In nine at-bats he has four hits with two home runs.
Houston Astros
Brad Ausmus is no longer an Astro which opens the door for six (yes, I said six) combatants to show off their skills. Last year's disappointment J.R. Towles leads the group comprised of Humberto Quintero, Toby Hall, Jason Castro, Lou Santangelo and Lou Palmisano. The group is a combined 2 for 27 thus far and while manager Cecil Cooper praised a few in the group for their defensive work, that mean diddly squat for your fantasy team. Another not so glamorous position battle is at third base between Geoff Blum and Aaron Boone. Combined these two are 1 for 19 and buzz around camp is focused on prospect Chris Johnson who's 5 for 12 with a double and a home run. Johnson batted .299 with 13 home runs in combined Double-A and Triple-A action in 2008 and may not be ready for big league pitchers. But, the Astros might not have a choice.
Milwaukee Brewers
Yovani Gallardo struck out five of the nine batters he faced on Tuesday and for the spring has only given up two hits in four innings with zero runs scored against him. The Brewers would like to see their ace return in a big way from ACL surgery that cost him the majority of the season in 2008. Corey Hart has also been opening eyes so far in early spring action. Yes he was a 20/20 guy last season, but an embarassing .300 on-base percentage held him back from bigger things. In 13 at-bats this spring Hart has eight hits (two of which were home runs) and three stolen bases.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Only one of the rotation spots for the Pirates is completely locked down with Paul Maholm as their ace. That leaves a lot of decisions for the remaining four spots. Donnie Veal has been impressive in three games only giving up one hit in three innings of work and zero runs. Ross Ohlendorf is also making a play at a rotation spot with two perfect innings of work and three strikeouts. The other rotation candidates are Ian Snell, Zack Duke, Tom Gorzelanny and Jeff Karstens.
St. Louis Cardinals
The two names you hear the most buzz about, especially when it comes to uncertainty about playing time, are Chris Carpenter and Skip Schumaker. Schumaker is trying to make the jump from outfield to second base to see if the club can find him more at-bats. He's been cranking up pitching machines to 95 MPH to field ground balls to work on his defense, but more importantly he's got five hits in 14 at-bats with six runs scored.If Schumaker can field his way into the second baseman's role, his fantasy value rises dramatically. Carpenter pitched two scoreless innings, giving up no hits and only needing 19 pitches. The biggest item for him is the fact that he felt fine afterwards and will be ready for his next scheduled appearance.
