Patience or Panic on 10 Early Spring Training Concerns

We remind ourselves every year not to worry about what happens during spring training. It's Major League Baseball's practice season, so it's typically a good idea to heed the wisdom of Allen Iverson.

But who are we kidding? A lot of the time we just can't help ourselves. Though patience is advised, sometimes spring training makes us PANIC.

Look around the spring training landscape right now, and you can find plenty of stories that might get you feeling all panicky. What we're going to do is take 10 of the more notable stories—apart from individual injuries, which are obviously worth worrying about—and apply our better judgment. Are they actually worth panicking over, or is patience the way to go?

The bigger the story, the higher it will be. Step into the box whenever you're ready.

10. Matt Garza's Early Funk

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Though they're not being talked about, yours truly actually likes the Milwaukee Brewers as a possible playoff contender in 2015. Part of that has to do with how their starting rotation is quietly solid.

That perception is being challenged by Matt Garza's spring thus far, however. He's given up seven runs in two starts, allowing nine hits and three walks in only five innings. He's been fooling nobody, and it's not a great look on a 31-year-old pitcher who the Brewers truly need to be good in 2015.

Then again, what Garza is doing isn't new. His spring training ERA between 2011 and 2014 was 8.47, and that didn't stop him from being an above-average pitcher afterward. 

That's not the only reason to be patient. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Garza is more worried about ironing out new mechanics than he is about getting results. That would be worth worrying about if his new mechanics were leading to flat stuff, but his stuff looked fine in his televised start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His issues stemmed more from his location, which can be fixed with more reps.

Because he stands out as an important part of Milwaukee's contention chances in 2015, Garza is worth keeping an eye on. But for now, nobody should be freaking out.

Verdict: Patience

9. Yasmany Tomas' Not-so-Good Defense

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When the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Yasmany Tomas, most everyone agreed they were getting some huge power potential. Also, most everyone agreed they were getting a corner outfielder.

Instead, the Diamondbacks are trying to make a third baseman out of Tomas. And where there was once optimism about his ability to play the hot corner, there is now pessimism.

"I think he needs to be better than what we've seen," Arizona manager Chip Hale told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. "Mostly just the focus. I think the plays he's not making is because maybe he loses focus. He needs to know that every play at third base, every pitch he's got to be ready. So if we see that, I think the physical part of it—catching the ball and moving to the ball—I think he can do it."

It's not just Hale who's concerned. ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick spoke to a couple of scouts who voiced doubts, including one who said, "I don't think you're going to get Gold Glove-caliber third base play from him regardless of how much time you give him."

The thing to keep in mind, however, is that Tomas is rustier than most players. He didn't play in Cuba in 2014, so it could take him a bit longer to shape up.

And if he doesn't, oh well. It's not like the D-Backs are going to be contending in 2015. They can afford to give Tomas a whole year to find himself at third base. If he doesn't, they can easily move him to left or right field next year.

Verdict: Patience

8. Zack Wheeler's Terrible Debut

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Zack Wheeler's first full season in the big leagues in 2014 wasn't quite a star-making turn, but it definitely ended well. He posted an ERA barely over 3.00 in the second half.

Here's guessing the New York Mets were hoping Wheeler would pick up where he left off. Instead, he regressed to Bad Ol' Wheeler in his spring debut. In an inning and two-thirds against the Miami Marlins, he gave up two hits, walked two and hit two batsmen, and was charged with six earned runs.

Obviously, it's only one start. It's also worth noting that Wheeler's secondary pitches were fine. Like this curveball to Derek Dietrich, for the most part they had good movement and were located well.

It was Wheeler's fastball command that was the problem. He couldn't find the plate in his second inning of work, and the problem didn't get any better from the stretch.

To his credit, this wasn't lost on the 24-year-old right-hander. According to The Associated Press, Wheeler chalked it up to it being "still early," and how his effort to pitch in on batters just didn't pan out.

These are reasonable excuses...but they only ease the mind so much. Anyone who's followed Wheeler's journey will know that fastball command has often been cited as a weakness. To see it continuing to plague him in his first step out of the gate in 2015 is not encouraging, and it doesn't bode well for a rotation that needs him to fit into a power trio with Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom.

Verdict: PANIC

7. Matt Wieters' Hitless Streak

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With Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis having departed as free agents, the Baltimore Orioles have two big offensive holes to fill in 2015. One guy who could potentially help is Matt Wieters, who is returning from Tommy John surgery.

To this end, the veteran catcher isn't off to a promising start. Through his first 20 spring at-bats, he's collected zero hits. That leaves his one walk as the only thing separating him from a .000 OBP.

One thing that's concerning is that this is out of character for Wieters. In the three springs before this one, he didn't do worse than a .728 OPS. He was also pretty good when we last saw him in regular-season action, hitting .309 with an .839 OPS in 26 games at the start of 2014.

The bright side is that Wieters hasn't been overmatched. As Orioles skipper Buck Showalter told Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun: "The game speed, you think about how long it's been since he was in game speed...It will click at some point. It's not like he's swinging and missing a lot. He's just not squaring up balls like he will."

Granted, because Wieters' 2014 season ended May 10, he may need more than just spring training to get his bat on track. But the Orioles need not be anxious for him to start hitting. Per ESPN.com's Buster Olney, their early-season schedule is the easiest in the American League. They'll need Wieters' bat to come alive later rather than sooner.

Verdict: Patience

6. Jered Weaver's Zito-Esque Velocity

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To be sure, Jered Weaver not throwing hard doesn't sound like news. According to FanGraphs, he's been getting by with an average fastball in the 86-87 mph range in the last two seasons.

Even by Weaver's standards, however, the velocity he's shown this spring has been a bit too slow. Per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, Weaver was sitting in the 82-84 mph range in his most recent start. That's Barry Zito territory, which is not a good place to be.

Not that Weaver wants to hear it, of course.

"How many velocity questions are we going to have?" he asked. "I don't pay attention to velocity. It's more about getting location down and being able to get on pitches when you need to."

In Weaver's defense, the location point is one he's been proving for years. His fastball has gotten slower, but his ability to locate and change speeds has allowed him to remain successful.

But 82-84 mph? There's no getting around that that's a dangerously slow fastball, and it may not be getting any faster. In 2011, now-Houston Astros analyst Mike Fast found at Baseball Prospectus that spring training velocity can be predictive. At 32 years old and with nearly 1,700 innings on his arm, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if Weaver's spring velocity ends up following suit.

Which should scare the Angels. If Weaver joins C.J. Wilson in the "over-the-hill club," their rotation is going to be awfully thin behind Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker.

Verdict: PANIC

5. Madison Bumgarner's 180-Degree Turn

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Madison Bumgarner could not be stopped last October. In seven postseason appearances, he racked up a 1.03 ERA in 52.2 innings and pretty much single-handedly won the World Series.

Thus far in March, he's done a complete 180. The 25-year-old left-hander owns a 9.95 ERA through three starts and has given up 12 hits in only 6.1 innings.

Because Bumgarner is coming off a year in which he threw a total of 270 innings, this isn't a good look. It's an even worse look in the context of what he means to the San Francisco Giants rotation, as it's sorely lacking in stability after him.

Physically, however, Bumgarner appears to be fine. He was sitting in the 90-92 mph range and touched 93 mph in his second (also televised) start against the San Diego Padres, which is about normal for him. That indicates his arm isn't wrecked by last year's heavy workload.

And though he hasn't recaptured his October dominance just yet, there's some comfort to be taken in how Bumgarner is making progress every time out. As his innings have counted up, his hits and runs allowed have been counting down.

Even if Bumgarner isn't quite himself by the time spring training is over, the Giants need not worry. Per Olney, the difficulty of their early-season schedule only ranks 13th out of 15 National League clubs. They don't need Bumgarner to be at his best right away.

Verdict: Patience

4. The Cubs Are Still Losing

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The Chicago Cubs have long been known as the "Lovable Losers," but you never would have known it from listening to the buzz heading into spring training. After a promising second-half run in 2014 and a winter that included the acquisitions of Joe Maddon and Jon Lester, the Cubs had the look of a winner.

But so far this spring, the Cubs have taken their expectations and gone "pluh." They've won only one of their first nine games, giving them the exhibition season's worst record.

One guy who's not happy about this? The skipper, and for good reason.

"We're not doing the fundamentals of the game. We're making too many mental mistakes," Maddon said this week to a group of reporters, including Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. "If you're going to change the culture here, you can't worry about surviving. It's about winning."

There is good news, though. With Chicago's season likely to be made or broken by its young offense, it's a good sign the Cubs have one of the six best OPS' among National League clubs. That has a lot to do with the excellence of top prospects Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler, which is further good news.

Oh, and there's also the reality that spring records don't matter. Lewie Pollis of Beyond the Box Score found that only about 11 percent of a team's talent is reflected in its spring record. Also, I found that a bottom-10 spring record is predictive of a bottom-10 regular season record less than half the time.

So, this is more or less a classic spring training non-story.

Verdict: Patience

3. The Giants Lineup Without Hunter Pence

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When we started this thing, we said that we weren't going to talk about specific injuries. That means we're not going to talk about how Hunter Pence is going to come back from his broken arm, which is obviously an area of concern for the Giants.

How the Giants are going to fill in for Pence, however, is fair game. And given that it'll be six to eight weeks until he's ready to play again, that's not an insignificant matter.

Pence's absence means the Giants lineup will have to make do with only two quality power hitters, Buster Posey and Brandon Belt. That'll make them dependent on cashing in with runners in scoring position, which is more in the hands of the baseball gods than their own.

And even if the Giants' inability to score runs early in the season only costs them a couple of games, that could be good enough to keep them out of October in the end. The rise of the San Diego Padres means it's not just the Los Angeles Dodgers they have to worry about in the NL West, and there's no shortage of potential wild-card contenders elsewhere in the National League.

But remember that note about the Giants having an easy early-season schedule? That applies here, too. Of their first 23 games, 13 are against the lowly Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. By the time the Giants are done with those, Pence should already be back or nearing his return.

The Giants offense will be tested without Pence. But if there's a silver lining to his injury, it's that it couldn't have happened at a better time.

Verdict: Patience

2. The Blue Jays Rotation Without Marcus Stroman

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Earlier this week, we found out that young Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman had torn his left ACL during pitchers fielding practice. He's going to miss the entire 2015 season.

Like with Pence and the Giants, the question here is not so much how Stroman's injury is going to affect him. It's about how his injury is going to affect the Blue Jays rotation.

Stroman only had a modest 3.65 ERA in 2014, but everything pointed to him breaking out and emerging as Toronto's best starting pitcher in 2015. Had he done so, he would have combined with Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey and Drew Hutchison to create one of the better rotation foursomes in the American League.

That foursome is now down to a trio, and what's behind it isn't great. Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris are top prospects but obviously inexperienced. To boot, Sanchez's command issues point to a career in relief work. And while Marco Estrada has experience, he also has a tendency to give up dingers.

Fortunately, the trade market is always open. Unfortunately, Stroman's injury hurts general manager Alex Anthopoulos' leverage, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post says he also has limited funds.

In all, it's not good. With Stroman, the Blue Jays had a team capable of competing for the AL East title. That's no longer the case with him out of the picture, and replacing him is not going to be easy.

Verdict: PANIC

1. Cole Hamels' Post-Cliff Lee-Injury Trade Value

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The Philadelphia Phillies entered spring training with two tradable aces in left-handers Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. For a rebuilding team, that's a good position to be in.

But now the list is down to one. The elbow injury that ended Lee's 2014 season resurfaced and could be what ends not only his 2015 season but his career.

Hypothetically, this doesn't mean the Phillies have to trade Hamels now. That's the stance that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is taking, telling ESPN's Jayson Stark that Lee's injury is "no reason" to rush to trade Hamels.

That can be taken to mean the Phillies aren't more desperate to get something for Hamels now than they were before, which may indeed be true. But what's also true regardless is that it now figures to be a lot harder for the Phillies to get what they want for Hamels, whether they trade him sooner or later.

Without a Lee trade as a Plan B, trading Hamels is basically the only outlet the Phillies have to aid their rebuild. Other teams know this and thus have more leverage than they did before.

Amaro can wait for the tables to turn, sure, but he'll be risking an injury to Hamels. And even if he stays healthy, this summer's trade market and next winter's free-agent market figure to be too jam-packed with other starting pitching options for Amaro to leverage other teams into giving him the return he desires.

So no. Not good.

Verdict: PANIC

Note: Spring stats are courtesy of MLB.com and are current through March 12. All other stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.