Usually, there’s not a whole lot of news that takes place at Spring Training aside from updates and quotes on players; however, the return of Miguel Tejada made for some interesting reading this morning.
As most know, this is Miguel Tejada’s second tour of duty in Baltimore and today he reported to camp, much like everyone so far — happy to be in the Florida Sunshine and prepping for baseball.
Several of the news websites got some quotes from Tejada and so far he sounds like a new man. He sounds like he’s happy to be an Oriole and might be energized by the youth around him.
“They make me feel young,” he said. “They are going to be playing hard and I’m going to try to do the same thing. Everybody knows that I love this game, that I play this game hard, and I know these kids know that I’m really anxious to be a winner. I think they are going to try to give me the opportunity here.”
Over the years, Tejada has been through some hard times — much of it his own doing with the PED issues, the age, and having to go to trial. However, right now, we should all be more concerned how Tejada plays at third and if he’ll help the Orioles this season.
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The Orioles have been hit with a rash of minor injuries, but yesterday, the news of Brian Roberts’ herinated disc raised an alarm. This morning, ESPN’s Buster Olney shared his thoughts on Roberts’ back issues and compared him to a decorated former player — Don Mattingly.
“Turns out Brian Roberts has a herniated disk in his back, writes Jeff Zrebiec, after an initial diagnosis of a kidney stone. Everybody is saying all the right things now, and it could be that he’ll be OK. But keep in mind that he just starting a four-year, $40 million deal, and the fact that he is having back problem now, at age 32, is not exactly ideal, given the demands of his sport. Don Mattingly was one of the most dominant players in the majors at age 28, and then he started having back trouble and was a shell of himself the last six years of his career. Medicine has progressed a whole lot since then, and the O’s must hope for the best.”
Olney raises some important points about Roberts’ injury are salient. However, if Brian says he can manage it — he should be fine (for now). I would fathom the Orioles from here on out will be watching the second baseman closely.
