Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher Matt Garza was placed on the 15 day disabled list today with radial nerve irritation in his right arm. Garza came out of the Rays game against Seattle last night in the third inning with two outs. After walking Jose Vidro in 5 pitches Garza motioned to the dugout for a trainer and then came out of the game. Garza threw 70 pitches in his 2 plus innings with 6 hits, 3 eared runs, 3 base on balls and 2 strikeouts.

Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com wrote:

While Rays manager Joe Maddon said he had no prior knowledge of the injury, Garza told the media following the game that the problem surfaced late last year. "It’s been gradually hurting, but I’ve fought it off," Garza said.

An AP story appearing on CBS Sports quoted Matt Garza as saying:

"We’re going to take our time," Garza said. "It’s something I’ve dealt with over time, but I was able to fight through it. (It started) more towards late last year. It got to the point where, I’ve got to get looked at and see what’s going on. It was like somebody was pressing down on my arm."

So did the Twins get away one here and unload an injured Matt Garza to the Rays? It sure seems like Garza knew he had problems. Who knows what the Twins knew but my guess is this Twins didn’t know about this. Young pitchers often don’t say anything about soreness they are experiencing because they are unsure of what are feeling and don’t want to be complain about something they can maybe work through when fighting for a job.

Only time will tell of this is something serious for Garza or if he will bounce back with no effects of it. Last spring Garza complained of headaches and neck pain but only missed 5 or 6 days and then was available all season.

In other notes Joe Christensen reported on Francisco Liriano’s shaky start for Rochester yesterday. Liriano threw 88 pitches in four innings and gave up three runs with 6 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. People are speculating on whether Liriano will take Slowey’s spot in the rotation if Slowey is unable to go because of a sore bicep. With this recent outing of Francisco’s, it appears he is better off staying in Rochester for a few more starts. Maybe Brian Bass can make the start for the Twins if need be.

Johan Santana gave up 3 earned runs in 2.0 innings pitched in his first grapefruit league appearance for the New York Mets. His line included 10 batters faced, 4 hits, 0 base on balls, 1 strikeout and 1 homerun surrendered to Juan Gonzalez.. That line gives Johan a meaningless grapefruit ERA of 13.50 so far this spring. Take from that outing what you want. Twist it and say "Johan is washed up and will never match what he did for the Twins" or maybe say "Johan’s best is yet to come, he will dominate the National League, these spring numbers mean nothing".

But if this is so meaningless you may ask why bother writing this at all. My answer to that is because people want to know what Johan did today, and I like writing and talking about baseball. We all want to speculate on what will be, what was lost, what was gained, and who will do what this year. That is the fun of baseball. None of it really matters for us observers, it’s just a release, hmmm…..a pastime one might say. Johan’s box score

Since a lot of us Twins fans are going to be watching what Torii and Johan do this year here’s the scoop on what Torii did in his first spring training game with the California Angels, oops.. I mean Anaheim Angels, shucks,…. I mean the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim….how lame is that name? Torri went 2 for 2 with a double and a single and a 2 out rbi. I’ll let you know what Johan does in his first appearance and give updates from time to time throughout the season.

I just saw on the MLB Transaction list that the A’s have signed former Twin Matt LeCroy to a minor league contract. This comes as a result of A’s minor league catcher Jeremy Brown retiring for personal reasons and the A’s would like another catcher in spring training. Chances are slim that Matt will get a season long gig out of the deal.