Generally, it's wise not to read too much into a single Spring Training result but today is an exception. How Josh Outman fares today will likely determine whether the lefty sneaks into the rotation, lands in the bullpen, or is sent to AAA. This is because Outman's performance to date has been consistently inconsistent, just bad enough to put him 6th on the SP depth chart at the moment and just good enough to keep him in the overall conversation. Watch closely, as Outman gets the start against the Royals while Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey try to figure out what to root for.
The A's have won 2 in a row, following 10 losses in a row that followed 4 wins in a row. The Cactus League wraps up tomorrow; then the Bay Bridge Series and then Opening Day, suddenly just 6 days from now. It is looking more and more as if Chavez and Ellis will be in the Opening Day lineup while Devine and Duchscherer begin the year on the DL. As for Travis Buck, he just has too many body parts and too many vital organs for anyone to hazard a guess at this point.
Send happy thoughts Duchscherer's way, as he goes under the Yokum knife today. Let's hope Yokum and Outman are both on their game!
