As spring training neared its conclusion, a reporter mentioned to Washington Nationals mana

WEST PALM BEACH http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , Fla. (AP) —ger Dave Martinez that Max Scherzer was not precisely on schedule to start on opening day.“He’s going to be lined up,” Martinez said with a laugh. “Come Thursday at 1:05, he’ll be on the mound.”Of course he will. Scherzer is, after all, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and runner-up last season. So it makes perfect sense that when Washington hosts the NL East rival New York Mets this week, Scherzer will take on the pitcher who topped him in the NL voting, Jacob deGrom.“It definitely has its prestige,” Scherzer said. “It’s symbolic. It’s an honor to get the ball in that situation.”That’s because even in this data-driven age in baseball, when analytics and analysis are supposed to be replacing “gut feel” and sentiment when it comes to making any and all decisions, granting an opening day start to a particular pitcher because of his status rather than his statistics is something of a remnant of a bygone era. So what if your team, say, is facing an all-righty lineup? If a right-hander seems like the proper guy to send out there for Game 1, managers tend to do it.“There’s still a hierarchy on your pitching staff. And certainly when you have established, veteran guys, it still matters to them,” said Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who will use Justin Verlander on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays and 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. “It also matters to your team. People want to name guys ‘aces.'”The choice is often an obvious one, such as for Mets-Nationals and Astros-Rays.Other times Austin Hedges Jersey , though, it can get complicated, and this year is no exception.Take the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their natural pick would Clayton Kershaw, but the lefty is beginning the season on the injured list. Walker Buehler and Rich Hill were ruled out, too. So the World Series runners-up the past two years are going with Hyun-Jin Ryu against Zach Greinke, an easier pick for the Arizona Diamondbacks.Sometimes, there’s not a bevy of optimal options. Coming off a 115-loss season, the Baltimore Orioles planned to go with Alex Cobb to face the New York Yankees on Thursday, before the righty had groin soreness in his final exhibition tuneup Sunday. Cobb was 5-15 with a 4.90 ERA in 2018.Fact is, Baltimore’s top two other starters — “top” being relative, of course — also each took at least 15 Ls a year ago. Yankees manager Aaron Boone counters with Masahiro Tanaka, because Luis Severino is sidelined with right shoulder inflammation.It’ll be Tanaka’s fourth start in the past five opening days for New York, which went 0-3 in his others.“Obviously, if you’re given the opportunity to pitch on that day, you want to go out and do your best,” Tanaka said through a translator. “If you look back, I don’t think I’ve necessarily been good on opening days.”Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais went away from tradition for his team’s opener against the Oakland Athletics in Japan last week, bypassing Felix Hernandez, who had made 10 consecutive Game 1 starts, the longest active streak in the majors and surpassed by only four pitchers in history (Hall of Famer Jack Morris holds the record of 14 in a row).Hernandez Carlos Asuaje Jersey , the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner, boasts a 1.53 ERA in opening day appearances but struggled this spring, to the tune of a 15.95 ERA.“We try to take as much of the emotion out of it as you can,” Servais said, “and do what’s best for our ballclub.”Still, King Felix did not hide his displeasure at giving up a slot he’d held for a full decade. Instead, Marco Gonzalez and Yusei Kikuchi started for Seattle in the two overseas games that officially got the season going.As much as getting that initial pitching assignment clearly counts for something to many, Houston’s Hinch knows the next 161 games are equally valuable in the standings.“We should continue to make it a big deal to start on opening day,” Hinch said. “And we should make it a bigger deal to take your 33, 34 starts and go wire-to-wire.” NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees view Troy Tulowitzki as their starting shortstop until Didi Gregorius returns from Tommy John surgery this summer.Still, general manager Brian Cashman won’t rule out trying to sign Manny Machado, one of the top free agents on the market.And, in his first question-and-answer session of the year, Cashman revealed he has dragged talks to trade Sonny Gray until the Yankees know CC Sabathia will be ready to pitch following surgery to implant a stent in an artery from his heart.Tulowitzki, a five-time All-Star absent from the major leagues since July 2017, finalized his one-year contract for the major league minimum $555,000 on Friday after passing a physical.“It doesn’t mean we’re going to get vintage Troy Tulowitzki from the Colorado Rockie years when he was there,” Cashman said, “but it’s exciting to dream on what he might be capable of when his health is there on a consistent basis because he was quite the player for quite a long time.”Tulowitzki missed last season because of bone spurs in his right and left heels. Gregorius had right elbow surgery on Oct. 17 and Cashman expects him back in June, July or August. New York will evaluate then what role Tulowitzki could play after Gregorius reclaims the position.Yankees scout JT Stotts attended a workout by Tulowitzki at Long Beach State http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , and scout Jay Darnell and director of pro scouting Dan Giese attended a second workout. They forwarded video to others in the front office.“Scouts that I highly respect were very pleased with what they saw and very excited by the workouts that he put himself through in front of them on multiple occasions,” Cashman said. “He really looked athletic. It looked like he had got that bounce back in his step.”Tulowitzki, who wore No. 2 previously in honor of retired Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, is expected to discuss his decision publicly early next week. He is owed $20 million for next year by the Blue Jays, $14 million for 2020 and a $4 million buyout of a 2021 team option. Toronto pays all but the big league minimum in the Yankees deal, which is offset against his 2019 salary.He joins an infield that has Gleyber Torres at second, Miguel Andujar at third and Luke Voit at first — unless Greg Bird beats Voit out during spring training, Cashman said.Machado could replace Andujar at third if he signs with New York. Machado visited Yankee Stadium last month and had dinner with team officials.“I thought it was a real positive experience from our perspective,” Cashman said.New York’s other news was an update on the health of Sabathia, the 38-year-old left-hander who had a stent inserted on Dec. 11.“I think we are optimistic that the pending medical evaluations that he’ll have here in January are going to be fruitful and beneficial and positive, which would green light a full return to play as early as when he reports for spring training as you prepares for the season,” Cashman said. “If those follow-up appointments go well, I think we’ll know we’ll be in a much better position to give you an honest answer on opening-day expectations.”Sabathia is part of a projected rotation that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ. Cashman said at the outset of the offseason he planned to trade Sonny Gray, who struggled and was booed by Yankees fans.“The CC thing, certainly when it developed it slowed down my conversations with intent because we have to see how this played out first,” Cashman said. “And so once he has these follow-up appointments, I’ll be in a much better position to either fully engage moving forward the Sonny Gray conversations that we’ve had or continue to slow walk it while we make sure that CC is taken care of healthwise first and foremost.”Notes: RHP A.J. Cole was designated for assignment to open a roster spot. … Cashman said RHP Luis Cessa is out of options but RHP Domingo German has one option remaining.