Tim Hudson behind schedule in rehab from ankle surgery - MLB

Giants manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged to MLB.com’s Chris Haft on Wednesday that Tim Hudson is behind schedule in his recovery from January ankle surgery, putting the veteran’s status in doubt for the beginning of the regular season.

San Francisco has reliable rotation depth between Yusmeiro Petit and Ryan Vogelsong, so a late start for Hudson wouldn’t be all that crushing. But this is the same ankle that Hudson fractured in late 2013 and he’s set to turn 40 years old this July, so there’s probably reason for concern about how his entire 2015 will go.

Hudson has already suggested that this will be his final major league season.

The right-hander posted a 3.57 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 189 1/3 innings (31 starts) in 2014.

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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.