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Matt Cain throwing for the first time in spring training isn't exactly news, but him throwing without pain is. It should be in this Giants-themed website, just in case you come here for news. That's it, though. That's the news. There's no analysis needed. All of the information is right there. Matt Cain threw baseballs, and his elbow didn't hurt afterward.
There are other things to include, if you're a completionist. For example, Buster Posey has retroactively disconcerting news:
Buster caught Cain today. Said last year Cain "grimaced" after pitches. Not today. Thought Cain looked "effortless." #sfgiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) February 20, 2015
I wish we would have know that Cain grimaced after pitches last year. Boy, that would have been a good freakout. Cain threw all of his pitches, and Posey described it as much more effortless. It's, like, how much more effortless could he be? And the answer is more. Much more effortless.
Moving pictures, from Alex Pavlovic:
ANSWER THE PHONE, ALEX. At least, I hope that's a phone and not Cain's elbow. But it couldn't be Cain's elbow because he's just fine! Look at Posey's quote. Everything's looking up.
If you're optimistic about the 2015 San Francisco Giants, it probably has to do with Matt Cain coming back and pitching like Matt Cain. We won't know what that's really like until April, and even then we'll give ourselves two months of sample-size-related bleating before offering still-uninformed opinions. Here, though, is the first good news of the spring. Like all first news of the spring, it's almost entirely useless. Almost. But the headline could have been "Cain throws, calls surgeon to see if there was a stethoscope accidently left in his elbow." This headline is much more preferable.
Keep the good news coming, Giants. And keep up the pain-free chucking, Matt.
Update: Words from the man himself:
Matt Cain: "There's nothing that I can't do. This is probably the best my arm strength has felt."
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) February 20, 2015