Some Spring Box Score Observations

Ah baseball. How we love you so. Every day there is something different and something new. Here are some fast thoughts after perusing the box scores from the tenth day of March:

• Greinke looks as good so far as he left off last year.
• Saw something in the Mets' box score that has never been seen before. The team's pitching line featured three pitchers whose last names started with "Nie." There was Niese, Nieve and Niesen. Jayson Stark might have a field day with that one. Oh, none of them pitched very well.
• Pedro Alvarez is really killing the ball for Pittsburgh. Will he head north with the team in April? Hope so.
• Brad Penny seems to be in line to be Dave Duncan's next miracle. He pitched four scoreless innings today.
• Joba Chamberlain got crushed. Hughes did better in his three innings. The Fan thinks Joba is a one inning pitcher.
• The Angels were held to three hits by the Reds' Lincoln, Rhodes, Leake, Wood and Kip Wells. Kip Wells? That doesn't look right. hmm...
• Mike Sweeney has been crushing the ball as Seattle's DH. Will his swan song eclipse Junior's?
• Granderson played center and Gardner played left. The Fan still thinks that's backwards.
• Sanchez smoked the Cubs for three innings with five strikeouts while Zambrano got kicked around. The Fan still isn't feeling the Cubs.
• Kyle Drabek pitched two scoreless innings for the Blue Jays. That's good news.
• Poor Pat Burrell hasn't had a hit all spring. Seems like he's lost it.
• David Price got hurt from a broken bat. If it was a maple one, those debates will come up again.
• Connor Jackson looks like he's going to have a great year.

Granted, none of these games count. They are truly meaningless. But a lot of fringe pitchers fighting for jobs are getting lit up. And there are a lot of interesting stories already developing.