Sunday update

Skipped an entry yesterday with the long drive back from Fort Myers. Hopefully we’ll be back on a daily track until I get a couple days off next weekend.

It was hard to evaluate anything hittingwise from Sunday’s loss considering how Roy Halladay was pitching. He probably could’ve tossed a shutout if he didn’t have a pitch count. His stuff is that good already. Jim Leyland was willing to accept that, but he wants to see his hitters trying to battle pitchers like that when they come along, the idea being that if the Tigers hold up their end pitchingwise, one hit will probably make the difference.

Pitchingwise, Roman Colon put together his strongest performance of the spring. He allowed just one fly ball in play; everything else was on the ground. That’s the design of his approach this spring, keeping the ball low in the strike zone. It’s an odd transition for someone who was seen as a power pitcher when he came over in the Kyle Farnsworth trade, but we’ll see if it works. It would seem to make more sense as a starter than a reliever.

Nook Logan’s rough day Saturday seemed to carry into Sunday. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a double play, though Halladay didn’t give him anything in two at-bats. In the field, he made a diving attempt at a Sergio Santos liner into the gap and missed. It would’ve been a great grab if he caught the ball. If he hadn’t dived, it probably would’ve gotten by him anyway. Later, former Jays first-rounder Miguel Negron stretched a line drive to right-center from a single to a double, beating Logan’s throw into second. That was probably the stranger play, as Negron didn’t hesitate rounding first.

It’s been a rough spring for Logan, who has worked on situational hitting but is 2-for-22 so far, and it shows in his face. He was shaking his head as he walked into the dugout after one of his at-bats, and that’s not normal for him. If everybody who had bad games in spring training was cut, Leyland said earlier in the day, they wouldn’t have enough players to field a team. Still, it was noticed, and outfield coach Andy Van Slyke met with him afterwards regarding the game.

The trick about Logan is that he’s an incredibly streaky player. A year ago at this point, he was tearing up spring training, but he went 20 at-bats or so without a hit after that and was nearly beaten out by Alexis Gomez. Then he hit again in April and May. The point is that his camp could flip in a week, so I’m not making any predictions. Curtis Granderson has obviously had the stronger spring and would seemingly have the center-field job, yet he’s still the one starting in a corner spot when they’re in the lineup together.

I also wrote today that Leyland has a meeting planned Friday and could make cuts Saturday, but nothing before that other than a procedural move. He basically said that nobody’s leaving camp until Saturday at the earliest. If you read into it, that means Carlos Pena will not be cut on March 16 to save money.

By the way, just finished watching Fernando Rodney mop up a scoreless ninth inning for the Dominican Republic against Puerto Rico. His fastball topped out around 94 mph, and his changeup around 81-82. His cap was pretty well tilted on his head, but that’s fine.