The Oakland Athletics had their Cactus League matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers rained out today. Brett Anderson was scheduled to start today’s game but will now apparently be bumped to tomorrow and pitch on six days rest. This is noteworthy because if the schedule continues as is, Anderson would be set to start the A’s opening night matchup with the Seattle Mariners on April 1. Gio Gonzalez originally appeared set to get that honor, but the push back would require him to pitch on short rest to make that start.
According to Susan Slusser (linked above), Dallas Braden could also fit in to the Opening Night plans. Jane Lee (linked above Slusser) indicated that the team’s rotation into this weekend could also give us a good idea as to who will be the fifth starter. Brandon McCarthy appears to be the front-runner, but given the role of the fifth starter anything is possible in the coming days.