Spring Breakout

[fish]

I saw Phillychuck posted a comment about the game- but i was really looking forward to the game so I have decreed it needs it's own thread.

First takeaway- Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller have allstar bodies. Crawford did his usual thing beating the ball into the ground, hitting the other way, and running like the wind. Two more years to develop his game and he should be ready to be something special.

Miller hammered the ball his first two ABs He's remarkably strong looking his his hips already.

I liked the hitability I saw in Caba and Tjay Waldon, both shot the ball the other way for base hits.

I was really looking forward to seeing Tait, but he was up against at 25 year old lefty and swung through every slider he saw. Understandable.

There were opportunities for the game to break another way, but it was what it was.

The pitching was disappointing- Abel, Mercado, and McGarry all looked like similar versions of each other- great stuff with spotty control.

[andyb]

I kind of liked what I saw from Aldegheri even though he was charged for a couple of runs in his second inning. Velocity touched 95 though sits in the 92-93 range. Looks like a pretty good 4-pitch mix. As with a Ranger Suarez, whether he can command it against better hitters is the question. Cabrera had really good movement on his sinke/2-seamer. Just not great command and he'll need pitches that move in both directions.

It did seem like Abel and Mercado and McGarry blended together a bit. Abel has better offspeed pitches but needs to work on his command. Mercado and McGarry could turn into Hoffmans in the bullpen I guess. Better to have more guys in the upper 90s than to not have them.

My overmatched comment on the other thread was more about our 17-20 year old hitters going up against older pitchers. Tait has not seen that slider before and if he gets out of FCL this year it will be a mild surprise (though the earlier FCL season will probably give some kids a postseason chance at Clearwater).

Caba does look very athletic and had a nice play at 2B. Rincon did misplay one key ball at SS (and Walton airmailed the throw to the plate). Saltiban almost hit one out though it died in the wind at the warning track.

It was an intriguing set of young hitters on display with a little less on the pitching side especially with Painter out.