GRANDPA HENDRICKSON PASSES FIRST TEST WITH ORIOLES

One can only imagine the taunts Mark Hendrickson is going to hear this season if he makes the Baltimore Orioles bullpen since the 6-foot-9 lefty has a six-month old granddaughter. Where he stands on the comeback trail likely won’t be known for a few weeks, but the onetime NBA player passed his first test during a six-inning intra-squad game that ended in a 0-0 tie.

Pitching in the third inning, Manager Buck Showalter had Hendrickson extend an extra batter so he would face power-hitting Chris Davis. Showalter even left the dugout to get a closer look, and the 40-year-old, who last season was in the York (PA) Revolution bullpen in the Atlantic League, did not disappoint. He got Davis to watch a called third strike.

“It’s an opportunity,” Hendrickson, who last pitched in the majors in 2011, told CSNBaltimore.com earlier this spring. “I think, if anything, the way I progressed the past couple years that’s all I’m looking for.”

Colabello to Get a Look in Left Field

Start looking for former Can-Am Leaguer Chris Colabello in left field during Toronto’s spring training games. That seems to be the seven-year Worcester, MA star’s best opportunity with his new team although he primarily played first, right field and designated hitter when he was with Minnesota the last two seasons.

Sportsnet.ca reports Toronto Manager John Gibbons has hinted Danny Valencia and Colabello, who is in camp as a non-roster invitee, will see time in left as the Blue Jays fill the void created when the expected starter, Michael Saunders, suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee that is expected to keep him out of action until July.

Holdzkom Will Get an Early Look

With 20 of its former players in major league camps, it was easy to predict the American Association would be in the news frequently. Sure enough, that is true as teams head into the exhibition season.

For starters, John Holdzkom, one of the darlings of last season when he started out in the American Association (Amarillo, TX) and ended up in Pittsburgh’s playoff game after a whirlwind climb, has been tabbed to work an inning in one of the Pirates’ first two Grapefruit League games, both against Toronto as he zeroes in on trying to nail down a fulltime bullpen spot.

“He’s got an opportunity,” a home country blog in New Zealand (stuff.co.nz) quoted Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle. “It’s real. He knows it’s real. I don’t think he’s putting any pressure on himself. Still, in his mind, he’s got nothing to lose. He got a taste of it (major leagues), he likes it, and he wants more of it.”

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