A few little things I've noticed this spring

[interloper]

1. Adam Jones' stance is different, at least for the time being. He's standing slightly more open (think Machado but not as extreme) with his hands much lower (think Markakis, but not as extreme). Curious why he made the change, but it certainly hasn't hurt his productivity in limited spring ABs. 
2. Asher had a weird outing versus the Phillies the other day. The Philly broadcasters mentioned how he was throwing mostly cutters and, having seen him a bunch as a former Philly, they described him as normally being a sinker guy. That checks out with what I recall from him last season. But he was throwing almost exclusively cutters in the 88 MPH range as opposed to his usual low 90s fastball. And it was all over the place; he could barely command it. That said, he allowed no runs. Wonder if he's transitioning to using it exclusively as perhaps a reliever or simply working to add it to his repertoire. Either way, struck me as odd for a guy who should be competing for the 5th spot.
3. Someone needs to help Rickard figure himself out at the plate. I would describe him right now as "former line drive hitter Joey Rickard", because he seems to have lost the best part of his game. He's underneath everything, a lot of pop-ups. To my untrained eye it looks like a lot of head movement and he gets too low when he swings. I enjoyed the first half of his rookie season where he was spraying line drives all over the place (gosh... remember the "Joey" chants? Seems like forever ago...), but he's starting to fade into oblivion pretty quickly.

[Beef Supreme]

Is Machado far more open in his stance?

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Beef Supreme said:

Is Machado far more open in his stance?

Than he normally is? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. Than Jones is right now? I think so, anyway. 

Manny does looks much trimmer.

[NedFromYork]

Rickard likely on the increase 'launch angle trend.'. For better or worse.

[interloper]

Also, Trumbo looks every bit as lost as he did last season. Even Bordick couldn't hold back from saying he looks "in between". 

[clapdiddy]

I've never really been impressed with Rickard's approach at the plate.   Decent right-handed pitching gives him fits.   He's pretty good against lefties, but he's not good enough defensively (in my eyes) to keep as a 5th outfielder/platoon guy.

[interloper]

Also noticed yesterday that Brach was 89-90, but there may have been something funky with the gun because I also saw a few 68 MPHers from one of the Sox pitchers.

[Horsepower]

Manny did say he worked on his diet a lot this winter.  On the MLB show I believe he said he hired a chef, that "I cannot eat McDonalds every day anymore as I get older".  I agree he looks very fit

[scOtt]

2 hours ago, interloper said:

1. Someone needs to help Rickard figure himself out at the plate. I would describe him right now as "former line drive hitter Joey Rickard", because he seems to have lost the best part of his game. He's underneath everything, a lot of pop-ups. To my untrained eye it looks like a lot of head movement and he gets too low when he swings. I enjoyed the first half of his rookie season where he was spraying line drives all over the place (gosh... remember the "Joey" chants? Seems like forever ago...), but he's starting to fade into oblivion pretty quickly.

Trey said in his interview yesterday that was a "flaw" from last year he was really focusing on, keeping his head still.

[SteveA]

2 hours ago, interloper said:

Also, Trumbo looks every bit as lost as he did last season. Even Bordick couldn't hold back from saying he looks "in between". 

Yep, that was my take from watching yesterday's telecast.   The entire lineup looked locked in and good at the plate... except Trumbo.

Glad it's just March 5.

[Aristotelian]

Buck should order Rickard to drop and give him 50 push ups every time he hits a pop up, like they did with Willie Mays Hayes in Major League.

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Buck should order Rickard to drop and give him 50 push ups every time he hits a pop up, like they did with Willie Mays Hayes in Major League.

And if this was a movie that would work.

[Il BuonO]

7 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Buck should order Rickard to drop and give him 50 push ups every time he hits a pop up, like they did with Willie Mays Hayes in Major League.

Front foot Joey