Willie Davis, a speedy center fielder who collected two World Series rings, three Gold Gloves and was a two-time All-Star during his 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died. He was 69. "He was beloved by generations of Dodger fans and remains one of the most talented players ever to wear the Dodger uniform.

One day after Josh Bell announced his presence with authority by slugging two homers in his spring debut, Brian Matusz declared himself an early season favorite for Rookie of the Year honors.

While the first outing of spring is only a small sample to pull from, the left-hander’s command and dominance was eye-opening.

Matusz threw 28 of 36 pitches for strikes and retired the side in the first inning with three strikeouts.

He capped the opening inning with an impressive, 13-pitch battle with Rays all-star third baseman Evan Longoria.

“It was fun,” Matusz told reporters. “It was a good battle. I know my pitch count got up today, but I threw a lot of strikes … and I was able to do what I wanted to do.”

Matusz, 23, is a cerebral pitcher.

Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts was feeling ill Tuesday, hampering his rehabilitation for a back injury. Roberts, who led the American League with 56 doubles last season, has yet to play this spring. To speed his recuperation from the back injury, Orioles medical personnel gave him some medication on Sunday.

Acquired in the deal that sent George Sherrill to Los Angeles, Josh Bell appeared on the precipice of a Major League job heading into 2010 before the Orioles signed both Garrett Atkins and Miguel Tejada.  Now, just an injury away of getting an opportunity, Bell should certainly still be on the radars of fantasy baseball owners.

2009 Statistics (Split between Two Double-A Teams)

448 At Bats
.295 Batting Average (132 Hits)
20 Home Runs
76 RBI
65 Runs
3 Stolen Bases
.376 On Base Percentage
.516 Slugging Percentage
.339 Batting Average on Balls in Play

What You Need To Know:

• His power was good all year, but he really turned things up after the trade, hitting nine home runs in 114 AB for the Orioles’ Double-A team.
• In 2009 he was the MVP of the Southern League All-Star Game after he went 2-4 with a home run and two RBI.
• Baseball America ranked him as the team’s second best prospect (and 37th overall) heading into 2010, ahead of the highly touted Jake Arrieta.  They said that he “has above-average power and a good approach, showing the ability to work counts to get on base”. 
• He was selected in the fourth round (136th overall) of the 2005 draft.
• One of the biggest knocks against him is his ability to hit lefties.  Despite being a switch hitter, he hit .340 against right-handers in 2009 and .198 against left-handers.  He’s always had similar struggles, posting averages of .240 (Rookie League), .246 (two levels of Single-A) and .262 (Single-A) from 2006-2008 against southpaws.
• He does strikeout a fair share, at 25.5 percent over his minor league career.  He was below that at both levels of Double-A he played in (24.6 percent for the Dodgers, 21.0 percent for the Orioles), but it still needs to be monitored.  The more he strikes out, the tougher it’ll be for him to post a usable average in the Major Leagues.  How he performs against the upper-levels in 2010 will certainly help tell us the full story.
• His success in 2009 comes after missing most of 2008 due to preventative knee surgery.  According to mlb.com, “The surgery was for a small divot that was found in the cartilage near his kneecap. It was the kind of thing that wasn’t bothering the 21-year-old in the slightest. The problem was that, if left untreated, it would get bigger and could be career-threatening down the road.”

Final Thoughts

He has plenty of power and given the opportunity, could prove usable in all formats, especially given how shallow 3B is in 2010.   He’s likely ticketed for Triple-A to open the season, but all it will take is an injury to one of their new corner infielders, or potentially Luke Scott, to give Bell his opportunity to shine.

Monitor him closely because once he makes an impact he could be a name you need to know for many years to come.

What are your thoughts on Bell?  Could he be usable in 2010?  What type of production do you expect from him?

If you would like to see a free preview of the Rotoprofessor 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide (available for just $5) now including a Top 50 Prospects for 2010 List, click here.

For more looks at prospects, you can check out the following articles:

• J.P. Arencibia
• Jake Arrieta
• Phillippe Aumont
• Jason Castro
• Allen Craig
• Aaron Crow
• Kyle Drabek
• Todd Frazier
• Christian Friedrich
• Jeremy Hellickson
• Daniel Hudson
• Jay Jackson
• Desmond Jennings
• Martin Perez
• Gaby Sanchez
• Carlos Santana
• Michael Saunders
• Brett Wallace

THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

Read more Baltimore Orioles news on BleacherReport.com

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had just one complaint, and it had nothing to do with Minnesota's performance in a 5-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Gardenhire's problem had to do with the postgame meal for the 70-mile trip back to the Twins' training complex in Fort Myers. "Two pieces of chicken on the bus.

Jeremy Guthrie pitched into the third inning in his second spring start, but the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 Sunday. Guthrie threw 51 pitches and gave up a run and three hits in 2 1-3 innings. He walked two and struck out two — Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz. A year ago, the Orioles' right-hander had only one start in spring training before leaving for the World Baseball…

As the wind whipped around TigerTown and the Detroit Tigers continued to pile up runs for the second straight game, Justin Verlander had only one request. "Please save some of these for the season," he said after the Tigers routed the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5, on Saturday. The Tigers have scored 26 runs in their past two games and Verlander was concerned that his arm would tighten before…

The Pittsburgh Pirates threw one sure member of their starting rotation at Baltimore and another who is auditioning for a spot. Both pitched well, and Pittsburgh beat the Orioles 5-3 on Friday night for its first win of the spring. Zach Duke tossed two solid innings in his first outing of the year. An All-Star last season, Duke is likely to start for the Pirates on opening day.

Today Detroit defeated Houston 17 to 7. No, folks, it’s not preseason football that I am referring to. That was, in fact, todays spring training final score. Besides, we all know that the Lions’ defense can’t hold an opposing team to just seven points.

Prior to that pitcher’s duel (note sarcasm), I had a chance to watch last season’s draft picks Jacob Turner and Andy Oliver in a scrimmage game on a practice field.

More about that and my usual daily dose of useless random observations down below.

• Eddie Bonine and Phil Coke did wonderful impressions of each other. Both Bonine and Coke decided to put up identical numbers today. In two innings of work, three hits, zero walks, one strikeout, and one earned run were turned in by the duo. It is also worth mentioning that they both have a 4.50 ERA on the early season. GOOD JOB fellas!
• After Joel Zumaya breezed through the fifth inning on just nine pitches, he struggled in the sixth. Zoom Zoom allowed three runs on three hits, a walk, and yet another hit batter. Hey skip, how ’bout taking him out after one inning? Perhaps that would have boosted his confidence a bit.
• Non-Roster Invitees Dumatrait and Gonzalez also logged an inning a piece. Neither impressed me very much. While they both avoided runs on the day, their performances were mediocre at best.
• Jacob Turner looked very impressive today. He turned in two scoreless innings with one strikeout and one walk. I hope that he begins the regular season in Lakeland so I have the opportunity to watch him pitch again soon.
• The Tigers drew 11 walks today. Sure, it is Spring Training, and pitchers are working on new pitches, but it was nice to see. Ryan Raburn and Austin Jackson have been doing a good job of this so far this spring. Let’s pray that this becomes a trend that catches on and continues into the regular season.
• Carlos Guillen went 2-for-3 today with a RBI. Again, I know it’s early, but it is encouraging that Guillen understands that a designated hitter is responsible for umm… hitting the ball. His defense in left field today made me very happy that we forked out cash for Damon. At one point he threw his hands up in the air almost as if he was saying… I have no idea where the ball is. He didn’t either.
• Don Kelly crushed a mammoth home run to right field by the palm trees. If you have ever been to Joker Marchant Stadium, then you know that is a pretty nice knock. He was 2-for-2 on the day, and he remains an interesting candidate for the final bench spot.
• Brennan Boesch returned to action today late in the game. He went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored. It was just nice to see him back in action after the incident on Tuesday.
• Diek Scram was also 1-for-1 with an RBI. Okay, he isn’t a serious prospect, but damn it’s fun yelling SCRAM!!
• Former Detroit Tigers Chris Shelton , Tim Byrdak , Shane Loux ,  and Yorman Bazardo all made an appearance today. It had me wondering if they wanted any more of our trash.

Justin Verlander will make his first game appearance tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles. Brad Thomas , Ryan Perry , and Jay Sborz are scheduled to pitch in relief. Just curious: is Jose Valverde planning on pitching this spring?

Full report tomorrow evening.

*Stay Classy Tiger Nation

Read more Baltimore Orioles news on BleacherReport.com

Brandon Erbe has come a long way.

Five years ago the scrawny 17-year old was struggling to keep his head above water (not to mention his ERA under 4.00) over three different levels.

Five years later, Erbe found himself spending the last two weeks of February in Major League camp, a spring training invitee.

And it’s no fluke. Erbe has gotten very smart, very quick. He’s come a long way from his raw potential, and has now emerged as one of the more polished pitching prospects in the system, and only a step or two away from the big leagues.

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