Austin to Miss Most of Spring Training

Zachary Levine is reporting that Jay Austin suffered a broken hand and will miss about four weeks while it heals.  Since minor league camp opens this weekend and opening games for full season teams are set for April 5th, he will miss most if not all of minor league spring training and hence opening day.

This is a set back for Austin who showed promise in 11 games during the Arizona Fall League.  He hit .311 with an OPS of .829.  I was expecting to see him on the roster for Corpus Christi but it looks like he will now be starting the season rehabbing during extended spring training.

Velasquez Has Tommy John Surgery

I was at the game on 8/24 when he had the scar tissue break loose. Apparently, they decided it was a problem that needed to be fixed on the inside. According to Baseball America, he had surgery on 9/22/10 and is expected to miss all or part of the 2011 season. I wonder if BA will redo their top 20 for the league based on the fact they had him rated as #11 prior to TJ surgery.