On Monday, all eyes were on Bryce Harper as he made his Spring Training debut off the bench for the Nationals.  The 18-year-old, who served as the team’s DH, received two at-bats, striking out in both of them.  I was just happy to see him get his hacks in, and could care less that he struck out twice.

Elsewhere, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas both went yard in a 12-11 loss to the Rangers; a game that featured 25 hits, 12 of which went for extra-bases.  Danny Duffy managed to surrender a run without giving up a hit, and fellow left-hander Chris Dwyer was tagged with the loss after allowing a three-run seventh.

But at the end of the day it was Brandon Belt who turned in the day’s best performance, which included an RBI single in the second, and a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning that broke the game open.

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[Photo courtesy of Jason Getz/AJC]

With Spring Training now officially under way, and rampant speculation firmly in place, I thought that it might be interesting to track the performances of Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects.  Some of these players have the potential to crack the opening day roster; some are years away.  Regardless, they are the faces of the future and ridiculously fun to follow.

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Today on The Baseball Show Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers and I usher in Spring Training the best way we know how. Today we talked about the following:

• The beginning of Spring Training baseball games
• The Adam Wainwright injury
• Was Jonny Gomes really singing a song in The Karate Kid? Or celebrating not having to face Waino?
• What is Chris Carpenter’s value on the open market if the Cardinals fall out of the race?
• Was the Jose Bautista’s contract a poor move for the Blue Jays?
• Thoughts on Miguel Cabrera’s DUI
• Can Bryce Harper play at the big league level for the Washington Nationals this season?

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The Chicago White Sox have offered arbitration to 1B Paul Konerko and RHP J.J. Putz…..the team ultimately chose not to offer arbitration to OF/DH Manny Ramirez, as well as catcher A.J. Pierzynski…..we will have more information as soon as it is made available. [@InsideTheSox]

On Monday, the White Sox claimed RHP Waldis Joaquin off waivers from the San Francisco Giants….. Joaquin, 23, broke camp with the Giants in 2010 but was demoted to Triple-A in early May…..posted a 9.64 ERA out of the Giants bullpen…..White Sox see something in the kid, considering in 2009 he registered a 2.25 ERA in 44 appearances while splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A. [MLBTR]

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