Spring Training Thread

[BigRapidsJackass]

Hey, there's real baseball being played in Arizona! 2 games so far.

I propose using this thread for real game observations. I'm particularly interested in what folks actually at the game have to say. There's no substitute for sitting up close and actually getting a read on a pitcher's stuff, etc. I went to Florida a few years in a row in the 90s, but I've never been to Cactus League games. So I'd like to hear the real story on some of these players.

I Tivo'd yesterday's game and speed-watched it in an hour. Here's what I saw on TV (again, not the same thing):

Jeff Francis: smooth as silk

Ubaldo Jimenez: still lacks command. Can look like a future stud against one hitter, then completely lose it to the next. Needs work. I really think a move to the pen (where he can simplify things) would help him right now.

Oscar Rivera: now I see the downside of letting Vinny sell you on players. Rivera is the kind of guy who could eat up a dead fastball hitter like Vinny. He is a true junkballer of the Bill "Spaceman" Lee variety. He made a few hitters look bad, but even the AA/AAA crew the White Sox threw at him yesterday caught up with Rivera's junk too many times. I can't think of the last successful non-knuckleballer who maxed out at 83 mph.

EDIT: the Bill James annual covering the '03 season had Jamie Moyer's average fastball at 82.9 mph; Kenny Rogers at 85.3. By the way, it also had Brian Lawrence as the slowest righty (83.6). So some tossers as soft as Rivera have had a fair amount of success, I'd say. But the chances Rivera is the next Jamie Moyer are probably pretty slim. I see a limited future for him; kind of an emergency starter/swingman type who might bounce between AAA and MLB for a while. I hope I'm wrong, but ...

Steve Finley: you know I don't like the signing. But he played hard. He knows he's fighting for a job. His value off the bench? At least he can put the bat on the ball in a pinch hitting role. Cory Sullivan very often can't.

Iannetta: this guy is ready. A double and took a walk to drive in a run. Annoint him the starter already.

Tulo: not so sure of the range yet, but the arm will allow him to have a greater effective range than we realize. His throws are so strong that he can play back an extra step or two and still get the out. Strikes me as perfect for the high Coors infield grass; the ball will take longer to get to him, but he can still get the out.

Helton: bulked up. On an unrelated topic: I hope he picks up his prescriptions at Walgreens instead of through FedEx delivery.

Ramon Ramirez: everything low in the zone. A very nice beginning.

[RMF]

I realize it's ST but why on earth is Matt Holliday trying to steal 3rd? Not only does it cost our team a run, but you'd hate to see Holliday get hurt.

I just don't think Hurdle can be trusted.

Our C also attempted a SB.

[hiaspire]

Originally Posted by RMF

Not only does it cost our team a run, but you'd hate to see Holliday get hurt.

Just bench everybody then til April. Of all the places a player can get hurt, running the bags is probably lowest in terms of odds I would think.

What is the issue with trust associated with that? I'm not getting that. Was Whitey Herzog untrustworthy for his similar gameplans?

[RockieRooter]

I remember a player breaking his leg on a slide. Of course he was known for poor baserunning and took razzing for his running prior to the accident - but probably should have known his own limitations and stayed up. IMHO all players should know their own abilities and act accordingly.

In this case, I think the complaint is not so much Holliday running, but the situation. Trying to steal 3rd was a mental mistake for him - ST or regular season.

[BigRapidsJackass]

Good thing Holliday got caught. Should discourage him from doing that in the regular season.

Night game tonite if I'm not mistaken. Cook goes again.

I felt like it was just warm enough today to sit at Coors watching baseball again.

I'm ready ...

[RMF]

Yesterday was the first day I've been able to see Greg Reynolds pitch. I really liked what I saw. I loved his delivery and his mechanics. They looked very clean. The Velocity appeared to be pretty good.

1 Inning isn't usually enough for me to do a 180 on my position but I'm actually considering it.

I look forward to seeing him pitch again. I think he might be able to crack our rotation as early as 08. I expect to see him as a September call-up. We'll see what happens with the K rate. His control appeared to be pretty good. He wasn't having any trouble keeping the ball down.

His breaking ball looked much better than I'd anticipated. I'm very pleased. We'll see if he can take a step forward with his strike-out rate. He's very aggressive with his pitches in the zone. I look forward to watching him pitch again.

[BigRapidsJackass]

A few more random thoughts after speed-watching today's spring training game:

Ryan Speier: looks sharp. Could be very effective right now as long as Hurdle is able to avoid having him face many lefties. Quirky delivery and height seems to have all RHH off balance.

Darren Clarke: a stiff/upright motion seems to make pitches sail. Not very fluid. Fastball was all over the place in terms of location and velocity (from 88 to 96 mph). Then he pulled a groin. I don't see a whole lot to like here.

Zach McClellan: emergency groin pull replacement pitcher. That's quite a job description. But he actually looks pretty polished. Seems to have a slightly below average fastball but with a nice change and mixes it up well. He may have a future.

Jeff Baker: when did he become a butcher in the field? Cause that's what he's been in every position this spring. Let a relatively easy chopper to 3rd eat him alive today. But yes, he can hit.

Steve Finley: well, I've got to say it. He's looked better than I thought he could so far. Actually nailed a 90+ fastball today (although it was right at the SS). Bat looks quicker than it appeared to be last year. I still think it's a mirage. But some time at AAA wouldn't kill Sullivan, who still needs to shorten up that swing. To Sully's credit: he had a nice at bat against a leftyreliever, knocking in the Geronimo "Speedy" Gil. And KazMat is definitely headed for platoon duty with Carroll; Kaz looked very bad against that same generic lefty.

Helton: as I expected, no power so far, but he's spraying line drives all over the place. A good sign. By the way, it takes an absolute monster shot to get out of Hi Corbett, at least this spring.

Nice to see Lopez gone, if only because that means Iannetta's all but nailed down a job. And they wouldn't be keeping Iannetta if he wasn't going to catch at least half time. He's looked ready for it this spring.

Tulo: back pinch hitting already. A shot right back to the pitcher that unfortunately ended the inning. Nice to see. I think the Rox are clearly tending toward letting him take over at SS. I think Barmes still has options; time at AAA wouldn't be such a bad thing for him either (if he's not traded).

Denny Bautista and Jeremy Affeldt: the Good Denny and the Good Jeremy both made appearances today. The ones that make you think the Rockies really have something. 98 mph on the gun, which seemed like a pretty fair reading (based on what others were throwing). 90 mph slider. And yet he gave up the winning run. Just doesn't seem to have the second pitch he needs to get the strikeout. It'll come someday. By then, he'll be pitching for somebody else.

Geronimo Gil: why? I mean, he's the standard issue backup journeyman catcher. But what was so bad about Miguel Ojeda (who hurt the Rockies bad in the Rangers visit last week)? Why do clubs continuously do this "other man's grass is always greener" backup catcher musical chairs? Just wondering.

Erick Almonte: he filled in for Jeter a few years ago and held his own. He was in the Rockies organization a couple years ago and held his own. He went to Japan because no one wanted him. He's back now, he's made a couple nice plays in the field (including a very very nice barehand pickup and bullet to the plate to throw out a runner), and he ripped a line drive hit today. Am I missing something here? Why does everyone give up on this guy? He's nothing special, but c'mon, isn't he at least the equal of a handfull of other utility infielders who always seem to have a MLB job? Just wondering.

[BigRapidsJackass]

Matt Herges ascending:

DenverPost.com - Halfway to opener, Herges makes move

I have no problem with this. However, I think the roster spot he should be fighting for is the one "held" by Tom Martin. More likely is that Martin and Herges break camp with the Rox, and Corpas or Ramirez (I'm guessing the latter) starts off at AAA. Right now Corpas looks to me to be the 2nd best reliever on this roster. I'd say Danny Graves is officially toast. Dave Veres is a nice story, and will probably get an invite to extended spring training or some such thing if he wants it.

And the reason Darren Clarke or Zach McClellan or Bobby Keppel wasn't given the "enforcer" duty is???

DenverPost.com - Francis the Enforcer? Hardly

Look, I watched that game on replay. Doug Brocail had no business going high/inside against Holliday. I know he didn't want to hit him, but (as Ringolsby noted) Brocail's control simply isn't sharp enough this early to be playing around like this. Not after he nearly ruined Tulo's season. So retribution was in order. But bonehead Hurdle exposes his best pitcher to a possible suspension by having him play tit-for-tat? When it's Francis' last inning anyway? And Francis makes a joke of it anyway by actually missing Kouzmanoff with an eephus pitch? Get that red face out of the sun, Clint, rehydrate, and use your brain, such as it is.

Also the latest from today's Renck column: looks like Tulo is gaining some separation on Barmes. That's all good. I'm waiting for someone else's SS or CFer to go down to increase Sullivan's/Barmes' trade value ...

[HoyaRoxFan]

I know spring training stats don't matter for x, y, z... but why is it that no one seems to spend any time practicing plate discipline??? Wouldn't that seem to be something easy you'd want to work on in spring training so your season ABs aren't wasted? Certainly something you would believe getting in the habit of now would help later on...

But would it kill these guys to draw a walk? Of the 13 guys looking to break camp, they've a combined BB:K ratio of 23:68 and one of the worst offenders is Atkins (1:8) who seemed to be getting smarter at the plate last year. If Helton can do it, even in spring training, why can't anyone else on this team??? Grumble grumble...

[Heltonfan]

Agreed, HoyaRoxFan. It's frustrating.

I'm not at all worried about Atkins, though; he's shown very good plate discipline throughout his career. It's the younger guys for whom it's a real concern, guys who need to improve their plate discipline in order to have good careers and are showing no signs of doing so. Tulo is striking out once every 4.7 at-bats, which is no real improvement over what he did in his big league stint last year (after considering that, in spring training, one isn't exactly facing MLB competition). Jeff Baker had a 14/1 K/BB in the majors last year, and is at 9/1 in the spring... that's a real problem. There's no way he can maintain power numbers good enough to offset such horrendous plate discipline. Koshansky struck out 9 times in 20 AB... unlike some people, I've never considered him much of a prospect, but this isn't helping matters.

[HoyaRoxFan]

Seriously. I hope Jamey Carroll gets it going before April rolls around or John Mabry might be the only super-sub off the bench doing anything come May... yikes.

Moreover, you'd think if your newfound goal is to strike fear into opposing pitchers, an efficent strategy would be a lineup of focused, patient hitting 1-8, making those pitchers really work for their money. And it's something a hitting coach can work on!!! Certainly more effective than telling your guys to go steal bases until the cows come home or having your co-ace throw retaliatory pitches at guys and missing...

[BigRapidsJackass]

My hope for the Francis-Hurdle Affair is this:

-- Francis has filed his appeal of the 5-game suspension.

-- Francis (through the union) to MLB: "We'll drop our appeal and Jeff will agree to serve his suspension from Games 3 through 7 of the season."

-- MLB: "Deal."

I don't think this is how it's supposed to work. MLB has plenty of time to actually decide the appeal before the regular season starts, in which case Francis would probably miss his scheduled Game 2 start.

But I suspect that in the real world this kind of negotiation happens all the time ... if that's the case here, the impact of the suspension will be minimal.

[BigRapidsJackass]

Mariners-Rox, 3/22:

-- Josh Fogg: lots of pitches up in the zone but he he escapes with the lead. Looking like he'll be the 5th starter. I expect BK to be moved very soon for whatever they can get (mostly a salary dump).

The bullpen cast-offs are showing their true colors. Time to pull the plug on all of 'em:

-- Tom Martin: "left-handed specialist" gives up a big, big blast to lefty Ibanez. He has been atrocious this spring. He is why you don't give guaranteed money to journeyman 36 year old relievers. But since he is guaranteed serious bucks, expect him to make the club.

-- Matt Herges: almost as lousy, but cheaper, and probably going home in a couple weeks until the phone rings again in May.

-- Mike Gallo: almost as lousy too ... I can see him taking a AAA assignment and hanging around as an emergency call-up if a lefty reliever gets hurt.

Thankfully Danny Graves -- who is running neck and neck with Martin in the "who has looked worst this spring" derby -- didn't throw today.

The position players:

Barmes can pick it but has not shown any "new discipline" at the plate. He's utility man bound, starting in two weeks, probably with some other club. O'Dowd's best-case scenario: somebody else's starting SS suffers a major injury in the next few weeks and Barmes' trade value goes up.

Iannetta: looking very solid at the plate and behind the plate.

KazMat: I learned he is a horrible interview (FSN used a translator). But he looked good at the plate, putting on his best Ichiro imitation, poking 3 singles through the infield.

Dexter Fowler: first time I've seen him play. Batting righthanded. Very skinny, looks very young. Lines a base hit. Let's hope he's the true CFer we've been waiting for for so long ...

[Roxpert]

Jackass, you are reflecting what I said earlier on, namely that our bullpen is our sore spot. Other than Fuentes, there isn't one reliever in that 'pen that I truly trust night in and night out. Oh, Corpas is a talent, and should be close to as good as he was last year. Ramirez? I'm not so sure last year wasn't a little bit of a fluke.

So who do we have coming out of the 'pen besides that? Hawkins is the primary guy, but he is just a younger version of Jose Mesa. Ughh. Martin is total junk. Affledt has never put it together. Bautista won't make the team, and Speier is ticketed to AAA too, it appears.

I dunno, but this seems like as shaky a bullpen as we started the 2005 season with. Yes, many teams have the same bullpen issues, and I'd take ours over, say, the Giants in a heartbeat (for Fuentes alone). Then again, once Lincecum is ready, look out.

[HoyaRoxFan]

I don't know if I'm ready to be worried about the bullpen just yet, thanks to the presence of Barmes, Kim, Sullivan(?). Yes, it looks weak now, but if these three are soon headed out the door in trades, what else would you expect DO'D to be getting back other than relievers? (Certainly not blue-chip prospects)

Assuming Fuentes, Hawkins, Corpas, and Buchholz are all serviceable, and if Ramirez can prove he's not a fluke, what you're looking for is a pair of lefties, right? Surely... surely, this can be found in exchange for those folks listed above.