Reporting from Sarasota

[weams]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

How much info gets leaked under Dan?

From other teams? Quite a bit actually. 

 

[weams]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Buck's had a tough task this spring, because he's trying to evaluate a ton of outfielders.    Still, I'm surprised Kim hasn't had more chances vs. LHP.

I'm pretty sure he decided not to. 

[Frobby]

March 14 vs. Tampa

The defense was really uninspiring today.

1.    In the first, Trey Mancini in RF looked very Trumboesque, getting tentative on a catchable liner and then letting the short-hop bounce off his glove, allowing the hitter to advance to 2B.

2.    Chris Johnson made a nice diving stop and throw while Miley was in, and the ball took a wicked hop to his backhand side.    Best play of the day.

3.   Britton induced a chopper over the mound that looked playable for Andino, who didn't pursue it and it was too far for Hardy to reach.   The next hitter hit a soft chopper to a Johnson's left that at first I thought was a DP ball, but Johnson chose to throw to first.   Not sure it would have been a DP, but I'm pretty sure they could have cut down the lead runner.   Later in the inning, a grounder deflected off Johnson's glove for a single; a play Manny makes 4 times out of 5.    Zach allowed two runs but the entire inning was ground balls and strikeouts.

4.    Aneury Tavarez came in to play LF and chased down a long fly in the gap but then couldn't make the catch.

5.    Logan Schafer came in to play CF and misjudged a line drive hit in front of him, got a late jump and had the ball tick off his glove trying to make a shoestring catch. Then he picked the ball up and threw a bullet to 1B and nearly nailed the runner as he rounded the bag.

6.     Chris Dickerson badly misjudged a ball that sailed over his head in the RCF gap.

7.    Joey Rickard, who started in LF, threw to 3B when he had no chance to get the runner and allowed the batter to advance to 2B.

8.   Garabez Rosa, playing 3B late in the game, made a nice stop to his backhand side and then nearly threw away his throw to 2B, but Giovatella stabbed it on a hop to get the force.    

Some other notes:

1.    Rickard hit a HR that cleared the 366 foot marker in the LF gap by a wide margin.   Dickerson hit one to dead center.   Janish also hit a nice one to left.

2.    Gentry stole 2B pretty easily, beating an accurate throw.    

3.    Hardy had an infield single, seemed to be moving freely.

4.   Tavarez is very fast.    He beat out a high chopper in the 1B hole, beat out a DP relay throw on a tailor-made DP grounder he hit, and made a force play at 2B very close.

5.   Santander had two line singles, one from each side of the plate     His stance from the LH side looks a bit like Eddie Murray's.

6.    Miley wasn't very good, but his defense didn't help him and he had a bloop hit fall in too.

7.   O'Day allowed a couple of hits but got a key strikeout with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, then got out of the inning.

8.    Wilson looked bad today.   Almost every ball was hit hard.   There were a couple of hits that might have been caught, but they were smashed.     

Overall, it was a sloppy game.    

[scOtt]

Frobby with his eyes on take! Better seats than yesterday I'll bet.

 

 

[wildcard]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

March 14 vs. Tampa

The defense was really uninspiring today.

1.    In the first, Trey Mancini in RF looked very Trumboesque, getting tentative on a catchable liner and then letting the short-hop bounce off his glove, allowing the hitter to advance to 2B.

2.    Chris Johnson made a nice diving stop and throw while Miley was in, and the ball took a wicked hop to his backhand side.    Best play of the day.

3.   Britton induced a chopper over the mound that looked playable for Andino, who didn't pursue it and it was too far for Hardy to reach.   The next hitter hit a soft chopper to a Johnson's left that at first I thought was a DP ball, but Johnson chose to throw to first.   Not sure it would have been a DP, but I'm pretty sure they could have cut down the lead runner.   Later in the inning, a grounder deflected off Johnson's glove for a single; a play Manny makes 4 times out of 5.    Zach allowed two runs but the entire inning was ground balls and strikeouts.

4.    Aneury Tavarez came in to play LF and chased down a long fly in the gap but then couldn't make the catch.

5.    Logan Schafer came in to play CF and misjudged a line drive hit in front of him, got a late jump and had the ball tick off his glove trying to make a shoestring catch. Then he picked the ball up and threw a bullet to 1B and nearly nailed the runner as he rounded the bag.

6.     Chris Dickerson badly misjudged a ball that sailed over his head in the RCF gap.

7.    Joey Rickard, who started in LF, threw to 3B when he had no chance to get the runner and allowed the batter to advance to 2B.

8.   Garabez Rosa, playing 3B late in the game, made a nice stop to his backhand side and then nearly threw away his throw to 2B, but Giovatella stabbed it on a hop to get the force.    

Some other notes:

1.    Rickard hit a HR that cleared the 366 foot marker in the LF gap by a wide margin.   Dickerson hit one to dead center.   Janish also hit a nice one to left.

2.    Gentry stole 2B pretty easily, beating an accurate throw.    

3.    Hardy had an infield single, seemed to be moving freely.

4.   Tavarez is very fast.    He beat out a high chopper in the 1B hole, beat out a DP relay throw on a tailor-made DP grounder he hit, and made a force play at 2B very close.

5.   Santander had two line singles, one from each side of the plate     His stance from the LH side looks a bit like Eddie Murray's.

6.    Miley wasn't very good, but his defense didn't help him and he had a bloop hit fall in too.

7.   O'Day allowed a couple of hits but got a key strikeout with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, then got out of the inning.

8.    Wilson looked bad today.   Almost every ball was hit hard.   There were a couple of hits that might have been caught, but they were smashed.     

Overall, it was a sloppy game.    

Frobby,  if there is one spot for either Gentry or Tavarez, who do you pick for the 25 man roster?  Sounds like both are fast.

[El Gordo]

I'm not Frobby nor do I play him on TV, but Gentrey hands down. He's a much better glove and he can hit a bit.

[bobmc]

11 hours ago, Frobby said:

March 14 vs. Tampa

The defense was really uninspiring today.

1.    In the first, Trey Mancini in RF looked very Trumboesque, getting tentative on a catchable liner and then letting the short-hop bounce off his glove, allowing the hitter to advance to 2B.

2.    Chris Johnson made a nice diving stop and throw while Miley was in, and the ball took a wicked hop to his backhand side.    Best play of the day.

3.   Britton induced a chopper over the mound that looked playable for Andino, who didn't pursue it and it was too far for Hardy to reach.   The next hitter hit a soft chopper to a Johnson's left that at first I thought was a DP ball, but Johnson chose to throw to first.   Not sure it would have been a DP, but I'm pretty sure they could have cut down the lead runner.   Later in the inning, a grounder deflected off Johnson's glove for a single; a play Manny makes 4 times out of 5.    Zach allowed two runs but the entire inning was ground balls and strikeouts.

4.    Aneury Tavarez came in to play LF and chased down a long fly in the gap but then couldn't make the catch.

5.    Logan Schafer came in to play CF and misjudged a line drive hit in front of him, got a late jump and had the ball tick off his glove trying to make a shoestring catch. Then he picked the ball up and threw a bullet to 1B and nearly nailed the runner as he rounded the bag.

6.     Chris Dickerson badly misjudged a ball that sailed over his head in the RCF gap.

7.    Joey Rickard, who started in LF, threw to 3B when he had no chance to get the runner and allowed the batter to advance to 2B.

8.   Garabez Rosa, playing 3B late in the game, made a nice stop to his backhand side and then nearly threw away his throw to 2B, but Giovatella stabbed it on a hop to get the force.    

Some other notes:

1.    Rickard hit a HR that cleared the 366 foot marker in the LF gap by a wide margin.   Dickerson hit one to dead center.   Janish also hit a nice one to left.

2.    Gentry stole 2B pretty easily, beating an accurate throw.    

3.    Hardy had an infield single, seemed to be moving freely.

4.   Tavarez is very fast.    He beat out a high chopper in the 1B hole, beat out a DP relay throw on a tailor-made DP grounder he hit, and made a force play at 2B very close.

5.   Santander had two line singles, one from each side of the plate     His stance from the LH side looks a bit like Eddie Murray's.

6.    Miley wasn't very good, but his defense didn't help him and he had a bloop hit fall in too.

7.   O'Day allowed a couple of hits but got a key strikeout with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, then got out of the inning.

8.    Wilson looked bad today.   Almost every ball was hit hard.   There were a couple of hits that might have been caught, but they were smashed.     

Overall, it was a sloppy game.    

The man, the myth, the legend - thanks for this!  What is your take on Santander?  I'm thinking he works out in the OF, has a slight "weakness" develop and is DL'd at ST end.  The bat plays, however.  Gentry over Aneury, as Gordon says.

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, wildcard said:

Frobby,  if there is one spot for either Gentry or Tavarez, who do you pick for the 25 man roster?  Sounds like both are fast.

Needless to say, I wouldn't want to judge anyone based on two games.    However, in two games I've twice seen Tavarez use his speed to go a long way after a fly ball, only to miss the catch.    If he's healthy, I'd go with Gentry.    

[scOtt]

On 3/14/2017 at 9:00 AM, Can_of_corn said:

Folks need to stop paying attention to what Buck and Dan say.

Lot more chaff than wheat.

[Frobby]

This is my belated report on Thursday night's 2-2 tie.

1.   Chris Lee was not that impressive.   He didn't allow any runs, but he walked a couple of guys, went to 3-2 counts on a bunch of hitters, and allowed a lot of hard hit balls.    He does induce a lot of grounders, but didn't miss many bats.     

2.    Meisinger has some potential, but isn't ready.   

3.   Drake's delivery should be very deceptive; you really never see the ball until his hand passes his shoulder.   But somehow, the batters aren't fooled.    I don't think his fastball has much movement    

4.  Liranzo was very impressive.   His fastball has late life and he struck out two (one of whom reached base when Pena booted it) and induced two weak pop-ups to 3B from LH batters.    He sat 95, topped out at 97 and had good action on his slider too.

5.    There were five scouts sitting one section to my left, one of whom was wearing an Orioles shirt.    As soon as Liranzo wrapped up the top of the 8th, he left.

6.   Crichton pitched the 9th, and while his fastball was only 91 or so, he broke off one hellacious curve ball.

7.   The first hit of the game was smashed into the gap for what looked like a sure double, but Gentry raced over and stabbed it on a bounce while sliding.    

8.   The second play of the game was a rocket to Hardy on one bounce, that he shockingly flubbed.     Hit super-hard, but Hardy turns it into a DP 999 times out of 1000.   Fortunately, the next ball was also hit straight to Hardy and this time he converted the DP.

9.    Pena failed to block Liranzo's slider for strike three on the first batter he faced.   It was a great pitch, right where it should have been, and should have been smothered.  

10.    Coyle's game tying homer was a no doubter.   He's a small guy, but he got all of it.   

11.   Chris Davis struck out all three times he was up and looked awful doing it.    The first came with runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, and was followed by a Trumbo strikeout.     I hope that won't be a recurring theme this summer.

12.   Rickard, playing CF, tried to throw a runner out at home, and his throw was accurate but not that strong.     His arm is nothing to write home about.    

That's it for me - heading home tomorrow.  

[JayThomas]

Thanks for the update Frobby.

[OFFNY]

On 3/13/2017 at 6:03 PM, Frobby said:

 

I went to today's game and will be there Wednesday and Thursday.   Here's a few impressions:

1.   I was sitting down the LF line and Aneury Tavarez was playing LF.    He dropped a foul fly about 10 feet from where we were sitting.   He had to run a long way, but he got there just by the railing and the ball clanked off his glove.    Later, he did a nice job charging a line single and made a pretty good throw to the plate, but the runner beat it pretty easily.    At the plate, he looked overmatched his first two at bats, but then walked, had an uncontested steal of 2B (Phils pitched out but catcher dropped the ball) and easily scored on a single.   

2.   Flash made a great play at 3B, diving stop to his backhand side and throwing from his knees for the out.   

3.   Mancini played RF.    Very first play of the game was a ground double down the line that he played cleanly.    Later there was a line drive off the wall where he hit the cutoff man who relayed it to 2B but too late to get the runner.    Later he fielded a ground single and hit the cutoff man playing inside the skin of the infield on a short hop.    Overall my impression was his arm is pretty accurate but not that strong.    He didn't have a chance to get any balls on the fly.     At bat, he got badly fooled on a few offspeed pitches, but also smacked a hard-hit single to left.    

4.    Giovatella had a diving stop of a grounder in the 1B hole.    He also bobbled a DP grounder but got the ball to Hardy who made a lightning fast pivot and still turned the DP.

5.   Hardy did not seem hobbled at all.    He scored from 2B on a single and looked like his usual slow self doing it.    

6.    In the first inning, the Phils scored from 3B on a grounder when Caleb dropped the relay throw.    I didn't have a great view, but the throw looked good to me.    The play at the plate was close before Caleb dropped it.   

7.    The O's hit two homers.   Caleb's was blasted, Rickard's was more of a liner that the wind carried over the fence.    

8.   Logan Schafer did a nice job tracking down two balls over his head.

9.   Mullins, who took over in LF for Tavarez had a hard time tracking a high fly off Liranzo.    He went to the wall too far towards CF, then at the last second had to run 2-3 strides towards the LF corner, jumped and the ball just got over for his glove.   If he'd been in the right spot maybe he could have nabbed it, but I'm not sure.   

10.    First hit of the game was a grounder down the line that Trumbo couldn't reach.   I couldn't tell from my angle whether a quicker 1B might have made the play.   

11.   Gausman struggled with his command today, repeatedly pitching behind in the count.    He got three strikeouts, all on change-ups.

12.   Brach was totally dominant in his inning of work, striking out all three batters he faced and looking great doing it.     

13.   Verrett was hit pretty hard in his first inning, looked better in his second.    

Overall, I had a great time but look forward to having a better view the next two times.  

 

o

 

I hope that you're having a good time down there ........ but you're still a bastard.

 

o

[Frobby]

30 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

I hope that you're having a good time down there ........ but you're still a bastard.

 

o

At this point, I've been home for a week.   Am I still a bastard?

[OFFNY]

35 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

I hope that you're having a good time down there ........ but you're still a bastard.

 

o

 

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

At this point, I've been home for a week. Am I still a bastard?

 

o

 

Oh in that case, no.

Now, you're a really swell guy again.

 

o

[Frobby]

I'd rather still be there, and be a bastard.