On Friday, at last, Angels manager Mike Scioscia will begin trotting out his starting rotation for Cactus League contests, starting with Jered Weaver against the Dodgers at Tempe Diablo Stadium, then followed respectively with starts by C.J. Wilson, Joe Blanton, Jason Vargas and Tommy Hanson.

Ryan Howard started his sixth consecutive Grapefruit League game Thursday in a 10-5 victory over the Braves. He went 2-for-3 with a double, homer and two RBIs. Overall, he is hitting .533 (8-for-15) with three doubles, one homer, five RBIs.

Korea made it to the final of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and they’ll be looking for a strong start Saturday vs. a Dutch team that features several current and former big leaguers.

With Interleague Play a constant presence from start to finish for the first time this coming season, the designated hitter’s starring role in portraying baseball’s split personality could draw more attention than ever before.

Two-time defending World Baseball Classic champion Japan is back for a run at a third title. Joining Japan and Cuba in Pool A is Classic newcomer Brazil, managed by Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, and China, which is competing in the tournament for the third time.

In a short career in which A.J. Griffin made his Major League debut in the Bay Bridge Series, won his first six decisions and pitched in the American League Division Series, the A’s right-hander took part in a first more typical for that of a 25-year-old ballplayer: his Cactus League debut.

A decade after working with Sandy Koufax as a young phenom, Josh Beckett is trying to recapture some of the magic that followed those sessions, and he credited Koufax after throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts against the Giants on Tuesday in his first Dodgers spring game.

For exactly two weeks, dating back to the very first day he arrived in camp, Josh Hamilton has been getting used to life with the Angels. But something about Tuesday — site of his first game, uneventful as it may have turned out to be — still felt different.

For White Sox left-hander John Danks, Monday’s start at Camelback Ranch against the Giants quite possibly could be his biggest trip to the mound in the last two years.

Ben Revere and Delmon Young have different personalities, but both have adjusted well to their new Phillies teammates — which each other’s help.

Making his third start in four Cactus League games, Carlos Gonzalez finally found his first hit, driving a single to left in his first at bat against the Cubs on Tuesday.

For the second time since the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, the Phoenix area will be home to one of the first four pools, beginning next Thursday when Italy plays Mexico in a 1 p.m. MT game at Salt River Fields. Team USA and Team Canada compete the bracket in which four of the six games will be played at Chase Field.

The last time Brewers pitching coach Rick Kranitz sat in the stands for a baseball game, it was March of 2009. He was the Orioles’ pitching coach and one of his guys, Jeremy Guthrie, was on the mound for Team USA in a second-round World Baseball Classic game against Venezuela. Kranitz is hoping for better results this time around for the Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo, who is on a tentative path to make his Classic debut on March 8 against Team USA at Chase Field.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday that he doesn’t view left-hander Jaime Garcia as a variable or a question, but simply as one of the team’s five starters. Garcia’s performance in that afternoon’s game lent a little weight to that assessment.

The Angels, who slipped into third place in the AL West in 2012 after making some splashy offseason signings, hope that luring Josh Hamilton from their division rivals this winter is the imapct move they needed to make to come out on top.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy was gratified to hear that his St. Louis counterpart, Mike Matheny, has thrown his support behind banning home-plate collisions.

Top free-agent pitcher Kyle Lohse remains available, but the Rangers believe they have a strong enough stable of candidates in camp to form a solid starting rotation by Opening Day.