2021 Spring Training Tracker

[Philip]

Zimmermann doing very well! Give that man a spot!

[bobmc]

10 hours ago, Philip said:

Zimmermann doing very well! Give that man a spot!

 

[Tony-OH]

12 hours ago, Philip said:

Zimmermann doing very well! Give that man a spot!

My hope was that Zimmermann would get a rotation spot along with Akin and Kremer and Means. His velocity is back up to where it was last spring and the slider has been pretty good. The change was a little firm yesterday, but he's not giving up a ton of hard contact. Kremer gave up harder contact for sure yesterday. All I can say is that Zimmermann is well in this picture for a rotation spot.

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, Philip said:

Zimmermann doing very well! Give that man a spot!

I assume he will pitch at least three more times, so no need to make decisions based on two outings.  But he certainly seems to be off to an impressive start.  

[Oriole1940]

Yesterday was the first time I got to see him pitch.  I thought to myself, where have they been hiding him?  If it were me, he would have to pitch his way out of the rotation.  I know, super SSS, but I really liked what I saw yesterday.  

[Tony-OH]

Updated through 3/10

[Philip]

Felix had a lousy line today: 55 pitches in 2.2 innings, a WP, a home run, though MC had an error so I don’t know how much that hurt him. Does anyone know how hard he was throwing, and was there anything positive worth noting?

I want the best five on the mound, and despite Connolly’s yammering about “veteran presence” I don’t see any reason to give a spot to Felix.

 

[Philip]

PS. Watched  a double to LF and saw Tyler Nevin running after it, and man did he look slow.

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, Philip said:

Felix had a lousy line today: 55 pitches in 2.2 innings, a WP, a home run, though MC had an error so I don’t know how much that hurt him. Does anyone know how hard he was throwing, and was there anything positive worth noting?

I want the best five on the mound, and despite Connolly’s yammering about “veteran presence” I don’t see any reason to give a spot to Felix.

 

I’d say the odds are roughly 90% that Félix has nothing left.   That said, I don’t expect the O’s to write him off after two appearances.    I think they’ll keep handing him the ball and make that judgment at the end of spring training.   

[Tony-OH]

10 hours ago, Philip said:

Felix had a lousy line today: 55 pitches in 2.2 innings, a WP, a home run, though MC had an error so I don’t know how much that hurt him. Does anyone know how hard he was throwing, and was there anything positive worth noting?

I want the best five on the mound, and despite Connolly’s yammering about “veteran presence” I don’t see any reason to give a spot to Felix.

 

He was averaging 85 MPH in his "sinker" and was throwing so slow early on that statcast had trouble deciding whether he was throwing changeups or sinkers? They may not even be sinkers but fastballs that ran out of steam and sank due to gravity.

Velocity is not everything, but right now he looks like Eshleman without Esh's improved slider.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I’d say the odds are roughly 90% that Félix has nothing left.   That said, I don’t expect the O’s to write him off after two appearances.    I think they’ll keep handing him the ball and make that judgment at the end of spring training.   

I agree to an extent. They need to treat him with the respect he deserves, but if he continues to throw in the mid-80s I don't see how it helps either of them to continue right up into camp is about to break. Harvey has much more arm strength so if he puts a couple of good outings together, the writing could be on the wall for Hernandez and he may make the call and retire.

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I agree to an extent. They need to treat him with the respect he deserves, but if he continues to throw in the mid-80s I don't see how it helps either of them to continue right up into camp is about to break. Harvey has much more arm strength so if he puts a couple of good outings together, the writing could be on the wall for Hernandez and he may make the call and retire.

I can see why you feel that way.   I agree Félix has to produce more velocity to be a viable major leaguer.   I don’t know if he’ll pick up more velocity as the spring progresses or not.     I think they’ll give him the chance, though.   

I assume he wouldn’t elect to stay with the organization if he doesn’t make the OD roster, but who knows.   He could keep working at the alternate site if he and the team think he’s making progress.     But that seems unlikely.  
 

[Tony-OH]

Felix Hernandez note after his appearance yesterday.

(3/11) Averaging just 85 MPH on his sinker, it took him 54 pitches before being pulled with two outs in his third inning of work. Allowed four runs, three earned on four hits but wasn't fooling anyone. Gave him five hard hits. With no fastball velocity left, all of his pitches are within about 7 MPH from each other (Sinker-85, changeup-81, curveball-78). It does not appear King Felix has anything left in the tank. 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Fry hasn’t been doing much but letting other teams have extended BP off him. Hyde says things are good though. Hopefully he is just working on some stuff.

[olddogger]

Per MLB.com:  Bauman, Lowther, Wells and Mattson all optioned to Norfolk today