Good weekend morning to you. Truth be told, during spring training every day seems to run together, Saturday no different than Tuesday.  One person who may beg to differ with that sentiment is Felipe Lopez. He woke up this morning with a job, finally landing with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards have Brendan Ryan at shortstop, Skip Schumaker at second and, possibly, David Freese at third base. But Lopez is a deluxe hedge against any of the aforementioned falling short or getting hurt. St. Louis is loading up, at least on the position-player end of things.  One of the few bare-knuckle brawls of the spring involves the Yankees fifth-starter job between Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and a handful of guys who neither have their own blog nor a set of rules named after them.  They commenced their battle (OK, it's actually quite friendly) Friday by throwing live batting practice to Yankee hitters. Is there a leader in the race?  Hughes acknowledged Friday that he's been fussing with the grip on his changeup, and that every outing, for him, will be key. But will the Yankees feel comfortable taking the wraps off Chamberlain so soon in the season? Fodder for March, to be sure, but Jorge Posada, who stood in against both of them, sounds fired up for the battle.  Across Florida, Mike Rizzo, beginning his first full year as Washington Nationals GM, had a terse message for his club: We expect to win.  In Arizona, Dodgers first baseman James Loney -- he of the mere 13 homers last year -- showed up lighter, but more muscular, he says, in hopes of fueling a power surge.  And the Oakland A's newest Hall of Famer is in camp, ready to talk stolen bases with the club  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
Quick pitch: Felipe Lopez lands a job while Joba, Hughes commence Round 1 - Daily Pitch: MLB News, Standings, Schedules & More - USATODAY.com