Brandon McCarthy got knocked around early in yesterday's game, and T.R. Sullivan says that that has hurt McCarthy's chances of making the rotation, with C.J. Wilson and Matt Harrison, according to Sullivan, the leading candidates for the last two spots now.
Ron Washington is quoted in the piece as saying that McCarthy was leaving pitches up early on, when he gave up four runs in the first before recording a single out, and then made some adjustments to get things back on track. The thing about taller pitchers is that, while their height gives them more leverage and allows them to pitch on a steeper plane, there seems to be a sense that they are also more prone to getting their mechanics out of whack, which seems to be a not-infrequent stumbling block for McCarthy.
Anthony Andro notes that Luis Mendoza and Pedro Strop didn't do anything to help their cause, either, yesterday.
Andro also writes about the battle for the last two spots in the rotation, with Ron Washington saying that there's no guarantee that Tommy Hunter, who had the #4 spot pretty well locked up before suffering a strained oblique, will get his rotation spot back when he is healthy.
Matt Harrison says he hasn't been striking out hitters like he has this spring since he was in high school.
Richard Durrett has a brief Q&A with Michael Young up at ESPN Dallas.
Durrett also has some notes from camp yesterday. So does T.R. Sullivan. So does the S-T. So does Evan Grant.
Sullivan has a story about Elvis Andrus doing an impromptu concert using a dugout bench as an instrument during batting practice yesterday.