PORT ST. LUCIE — So much of spring training is a con job.
The weather is generally beautiful in Florida and Arizona. Everyone has shown up in — let’s say it all together — the best shape of their lives. All the injured guys are way ahead of schedule to full health. The pitchers are all perfecting a new pitch, the hitters are all removing the defect from their swings. No team has a loss. All possibilities lay ahead.
This is the recipe for hope and optimism. If not now, when?