Jaret Wright pitched his best ball so far this spring going four innings and allowing no runs on three hits and four strikeouts. Florida is little more than a AAA team, but Jaret showed nice velocity and excellent control. Is this a prelude of the pitcher we thought we had when we signed him? Who knows at this point, but I'll take it none the less. He'll probably come out of the bullpen to start the year, but with the age of our pitching staff he could be a valuable man to have. If only he can duplicate his season at Atlanta two years ago. I know-I'm a dreamer.
Hideki Matsui blasted his second home run of the spring - a three runs shot and rookie infielder Kevin Howard (who replaced Robinson Cano) drove in four runs with a three run triple in in the fourth. Robinson left the game after he was hit in the head while he was beating out an infield hit in the second inning. He looked fine and I'm sure he'll be right back in there tomorrow.
J.Brent Cox pitched an inning-striking out two-although he gave up three hits-none of them hard. I like what I see from this youngster. He doesn't over power hitters, but has great movement on his pitches and I think will be a valuable reliever in a pretty short time. Billy Beane's success is to draft college players rather than high school kids and Cox was an excellent closer at Texas.