Baseball Chatter 03/08

Of the 109 players in the Grapefruit League and Cactus League with at least 18 at-bats, the only two were Braves, Ender Inciarte and Micah Johnson.

So far, good,Just two outings, five innings. Overall, I tried to pound the strike zone and got a lot of ground ball outs. Any time you get that, it’s usually a sign things are going the right way.”Kevin Gausman

The future first baseman of the Red Sox, Sam Travis, is batting .333 with two home runs so far this spring.

White Sox pitching coach, Don Cooper, says that the drop in velocity on Chris Sale’s fastball was by design. He felt that throwing with max effort would be the quickest way for his arm to break down, so some fastballs are going to be 92, and some are going to be 97.

Center field options for the Tigers include:

  • Jacoby Jones has an AVG/OBP of .333/.375 in 15 at bats this spring
  • Mikie Mahtook has an AVG/OBP of .056/.150 in 18 at bats this spring
  • Tyler Collins is sidelined defensively. 

The Tigers walked nine batters yesterday, giving them 63 total walks so far this spring, the most in the Grapefruit league.

Anthony Fenech and George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press talk about the battle for Center In the Talking Tigers Podcast

The Blue Jays aren’t sure when Devon Travis will be ready to return to game action,

To be honest I don’t know when he’s going to be back and ready to go, It’s one of those things where if it costs him a couple of weeks, or whatever it might be, at the beginning of the season, so be it. As long as we get him back and he can still get a full year in. I expected him, to be honest, to be a little further along than he is, but we’re going to be cautious with him,” Gibbons added.Manager John Gibbons on Travis injury

You should stay clear of Travis on draft day as he could be out three to four months based on nthe injury he has, watch:

At this point, the competition for the fifth spot in the Giants rotation isn’t a competition at all.  Matt Cain has pitched crappy and Ty Blach has pitched well. Manager Bruce Bochy says nothing has been decided, but he did call on Blach to relieve Cain in the middle of the fourth inning in his most recent outing.

Bochy said he would rather use Blach than a non-roster pitcher to get through the fourth, but without any real long relief candidates in camp, Blach could find himself in that role to start the season.

That’s a good situation for Ty to come into, It could be his role. I’m not saying it will be, but it could be. We’ll keep our options open on the pitching side and the position side to get as much flexibility as we can. Ty can start, he can be a long guy, a sixth or seventh inning guy, or use him against a left-hander late. Manager Bruce Bochy on the use of Ty Blach

Aaron Nola wrestled with his command in his second start yesterday, but looked healthy overall:

  • 5 Hits
  • 2 ER
  • 1 BB
  • 2 K
  • 2 IP
  • 40 Pitches – 27 strikes
  • Hit 92 mph

Corey Dickerson hit home run number two and batted leadoff yesterday against the Yankees. Dickerson had an AVG/OBP of .245/.293 last season so it is hard to believe that the Rays would consider him to head the lineup this season. Dickerson is hitting .333/.364 in 21 at bats so far, and did show up to camp 25 pounds lighter this spring.

Adam Wainwright has always showcased his changeup in the spring, but appears intent on utilizing it with regularity in the coming season despite only throwing it 2.3 percent of the time in 2016.

Whenever you’re seeing the hitters up there taking the swings that they’re taking, it’s just a great sign, A lot of the times it’s hard to even tell from the side because it has a lot of characteristics as far as depth and speed as his cutter when he throws it in the mid-80s. But definitely some great results against those left-handed hitters. That cutter will speed them up and the changeup, obviously, will slow him down.MIke Matheny on Wainwright

Share this Post

Leave a Reply