Spring training is different for every player. For some it takes the entire time to get into peak form, but for others they are set to go right out of the gate. While he of course needs time to build his arm strength, Clayton Kershaw had his best stuff in what was his Cactus League debut on Monday.
His final line may not do it justice, but as far as the Dodgers are concerned their young lefty ace opened the spring on a very high note. For two other hurlers, there was definitely more work to be done in terms of building up their stuff for the regular season.
But with the surprise re-signing of Bengie Molina over the winter, Posey doesn't have a clear path to a big-league job on Opening Day.
FanHouse's national baseball analyst Frankie Piliere looks at Posey's predicament and wonders if switching positions could get the backstop regular playing time in the major leagues sooner.
Twenty-year-old lefthanded pitcher Madison Bumgarner was 12-2 with a 1.85 ERA in the Giants minor league system last season.
His ERA was 1.80 in a four-game stint in the majors, but his lack of velocity has some questioning his status as an elite prospect. Now, it looks like Bumgarner is on track for the fifth spot in the Giants rotation.
FanHouse pro baseball scout Frankie Piliere is getting a good look at Bumgarner in Arizona and reports on why he is an important prospect to watch going into the season. .
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants wasted no time in sending Prince Fielder a message they have wanted to send since last September. On Barry Zito's first pitch to the Brewers first baseman in the team's first meeting of the spring on Thursday, Zito stuck a fastball in Fielder's back.
Fielder, who seemed to be expecting it, picked up the baseball, flipped it back to Zito, and trotted to first base. Umpire Ted Barrett stepped in between Fielder and Zito, but there didn't seem to be any more words going back and forth.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Closers are baseball's high-wire perfomers.
Their professional careers are played in a spotlight, one that grows even brighter when they fail. No wonder, then, that the men who succeed as closers often have somewhat eccentric personalities.
Which is one of the reasons -- that and his electric fastball -- that Brian Wilson seemed destined to slide into a closer role, and to succeed.
Spring training is different for every player. For some it takes the entire time to get into peak form, but for others they are set to go right out of the gate. While he of course needs time to build his arm strength, 
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- 
Twenty-year-old lefthanded pitcher 
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Closers are baseball's high-wire perfomers.
