WINTER HAVEN—Joe Maddon’s postgame take on the Upton and Iwamura injuries was optimistic.

On Upton: “I don’t think it’s anything serious – it just hit him in a bad spot where it’s going to swell up quickly, which it did. He just couldn’t get a good feel or grip or close his fist.”

As for Iwamura, apparently his back felt tight during warmups but didn’t say anything until the third inning and they immediately took him out.

“As of right now I’m planning on using him tomorrow night unless I find out otherwise,” Maddon said.

More interesting was Jason Hammel’s self-assessment of his performance, which saw him labor through 86 pitches to complete 4 1/3 innings. Asked if he felt he had stated his case, he responded:

“Not as good as some of the other guys, that’s for sure. I haven’t performed as well as I’ve wanted to and I know there’s plenty of other good arms here. I’m giving it my best and we’re making adjustments, we’re improving. We’ll see how it all falls into place.”

Maddon appreciated Hammel’s honesty when told after the game his pitcher was upset with himself. Maddon did say he was pleased with the way Hammel bounced back after he started throwing more offspeed stuff a couple innings in.

“We’re talking about guys being accountable and I kind of like the fact that he’s not pleased with that,” said Maddon. “I’m pointing out the better things he had done today but he knows there’s some things he could do better and I like that. This guy’s not afraid, he’s got great makeup, great poise – he just has to be able to make more quality pitches when he wants to. He knows that, and that’s why his good self-evaluation’s going to permit him to get better.”

Maddon, by the way, was very pleased with Niemann’s work and said he remains an option for the rotation. I just don’t see that myself, barring a trade to free up a spot, but the big man does have a 1.50 spring ERA.