My firsthand spring training observations, 2024

[Frobby]

Today was the first of four spring training games I’ll be attending in the next two weeks.  I’ll also be at the games on March 8, 10 and 13.  I understand a few folks saw the game on the Phillies broadcast today, so they probably had a better view of the action than I did, but here are my thoughts from today.  

The lineup was good news/bad news.  The good news was that 6 of the 9 hitters in the lineup were legit prospects (Holliday, Cowser, Kjerstad, Mayo, Stowers and Norby), plus Westburg who’s only got a half-season under his belt.  So, great day for prospect-watching.  The bad news was that I’d expected Corbin Burnes to be the starting pitcher, based on the previous schedule.  Instead I saw Albert Suarez, and boy did he open some eyes!

Here’s a rundown on various players:

- Holliday roped a double to RCF (off Zach Wheeler), a triple that short-hopped the CF wall, struck out looking on what looked like a borderline inside pitch, and laced a line single to RCF.  All three hits were hit hard and on pretty swings.  The triple probably should have been caught, as the CF seemed to think it would ricochet off the wall and pulled up short, only to see the ball land about 2 feet short of the wall.   Defensively, Holliday played most of the game at SS and then played 2B for a couple of innings.  He handled all his chances cleanly, with nothing really notable in terms of difficulty.   

- Cowser had an impressive game, bouncing a hard hit RBI chopper through the 5/6 hole, flying out to the LCF warning track, and laying down a beautiful bunt down the 3B line that resulted in an infield hit and a runner moving from 2B to 3B.  He struck out once but generally looked really good at the plate.  On his ground single, the LF initially looked towards home plate and Cowser tried to stretch his hit into a double.  He was called out at 2B, but from my vantage point just beyond 1B, he might have been safe.  Defensively, he looked good on some relatively routine chances, and handled a ricochet off the top of the wall well.  

- Kjerstad looked a little off balance at the plate, striking out once, hitting a bloop single to CF and hitting an infield nubber to the right side that scored a run.  No hard contact from him.  

- Mayo (who DH’d) had one very hard single to left in 4 AB.   He generally looked comfortable at the plate and had a fly out to deep RCF in another at bat.   

- Stowers struck out twice in 3 AB and hit a sharp liner down the LF line that was run down in the corner by the Phillies LF on a nice play.  Defensively, he had a chance to nail a runner at the plate but the throw was a little off line and was not played well by the catcher Perez.  

- Norby batted twice and hit two hard grounders to the left side on the only two pitches he saw, both of which resulted in outs.  Defensively, he made a nice place ranging behind the 2B bag and making a strong throw to get the better.   

- Westburg didn’t look good at the plate today.  He also was a bit slow getting a possible 5-4-3 DP out of his glove at 3B, and the runner at 1B beat Norby’s relay.  

-Castillo relieved Holliday at SS and made a nice catch in no man’s land in LCF.  Later he moved to 2B and Errol Robinson made a similar nice play out there. Robinson also made a nice grab of a poor TT Bowens throw on a 3-6 play at 2B in the 9th, on a throw that was both too low and too far to the SS side of the bag.  Robinson snagged it and somehow kept a toe on the bag.

- With two outs in the 9th, O’s leading 3-1 with runners on 1st and 3rd, the batter hit what should have been a game-ending high chopper to P Tucker Davidson, who calmly gloved it, wheeled to throw, and found nobody covering 1B.  Total mental error by Bowens, who had taken a step or two in towards the high chopper and then became a spectator.  That made the game 3-2 and put the tying run into scoring position.  As I told my brother-in-law, “if this game counted, I’d be having an aneurism right now!”

- Fabian got a late at bat and looked badly overmatched on a couple of breaking balls, swinging through one and taking another for strike three.  

That’s what I’ve got on the position players, and hopefully those who were watching on TV or who were at the game ( @justD?) can chime in.  I’ll post my thoughts on Albert Suarez and the other pitchers later tonight.  Dinner beckons!

[Gurgi]

Jackson Holliday looked good.  I think we have a keeper.  

Maybe Norby can make the team as a backup infielder and get some at bats from Jackson when there is a tough lefty on the mound?

Edited March 6 by Gurgi

[LTO's]

Westburg had the hardest hit ball of any Oriole today. The fly out to right center went 409 feet and would’ve been a homer in 25 ballparks.

[DirtyBird]

You didn’t get to stroll the bases yesterday?

 

[Frobby]

On the pitching side, obviously the story was Albert Suarez.  Honestly, I wasn’t that impressed for the first 5 batters.  Trea Turner came within three feet of hitting a homer the second batter of the game, then Realmuto hit a sharp grounder up the middle but Norby made the play.  The leadoff hitter in the second inning hit a single up the middle.  To that point, Suarez had faced five batters, striking out two, allowing two hits and a ground out.  He’d been behind in the count a few times.  It was a meh outing to that point.  But from there, Suarez struck out 5 of the last 6 batters he faced, with the other batter nearly grounding into a 5-4-3 DP.   He was sitting 95/96 in the 2nd inning, but in the 3rd inning was regularly hitting 97 and showing a biting slider to boot.  My seats weren’t the best for seeing location or break, but one thing was clear: the batters weren’t making contact.  All seven strikeouts came on swings: six whiffs and one foul tip.  Quite a dominating performance from Suarez, and he got stronger as the outing progressed.   

I’m not gonna lie, none of the other pitchers made a huge impression on me.  I missed some of Chayce McDermott’s first inning of work.  The second inning was pretty good, FB sitting 95-96 and he threw a couple of big breaking 77-79 mph curves, including one that landed for swinging strike three to end his outing.  It’s a nice pitch when he locates it.   

I don’t think anyone else who pitched today has much chance to help us in 2024.   

 

[interloper]

Robinson also walked (again) and stole 2nd and 3rd in quick succession. He's really had a nice camp and I'm totally comfortable with him as our emergency SS at AAA. 

[justD]

My comments were in the game thread throughout the game. A lot of video highlights as well as the full game video can be seen on mlb.com, so I saved myself the trouble of recording.

So perhaps I’ll chime in here with ballpark observations for those considering coming to Clearwater (currently called Baycare Ballpark) for a game in future years.

— Free sunscreen dispensed throughout the stadium, nice not having to bring your own

— No lines at concessions bc they have multiple cashiers at each kiosk rather than a snaking line ending with just one or two cashiers. Also a much greater number of choices, so many kiosks! Cheesesteak was delicious  

— WiFi/cellular coverage was excellent

— Ability to watch standing throughout the stadium without being shooed away by overzealous ushers. I had an excellent bar position that I took advantage of for 5+ innings before moving out to the berm.

— Berm seating was great for the 3+ innings I was out there. Brought a blanket and sat up against the wall. Great view.

— At least one misting station out in the uncovered areas. Delightful.

— Allowed a 16 x 16 bag and one unopened bottle of water (Ed Smith limits you to a clear gallon-size bag and a 5 x 7 bag, whatever food or water you can fit in that)

— Scoreboards are equivalent to big league parks; I could see photos of each player, detailed stats, pitching velocity and type of pitch, either on the main CF display or along the second level seats  

— Along those lines, all players were noted right up til the end of the game. At Ed Smith, they punt when the players with 90-something start playing in the later innings, which is when one really needs to have that info displayed since they’re not regulars. Obviously possible, seeing as how the Phillies could do it.

— Parking is $18 (prepaid $15) for a much longer walk than at Ed Smith for $12, and getting out of the stadium was nightmarish. 

Really enjoyable and well worth the hour drive north from Sarasota, IMO.  

 

[Frobby]

Great report on the ballpark, @justD!  I’ll add that you need to get to the park well before game time.   Traffic getting into to parking lot gets very bad the closer it gets to game time.  This year it took me about 20 minutes to cover the short distance from the freeway exit to the parking lot, and that was arriving at the exit ramp an hour before game time.  Last year I arrived at the ramp 40 minutes before the game and it took 35 minutes to get to the lot.  

I don’t know that the scoreboard is quite major league size, but it’s way bigger and clearer than the one in Sarasota.  

The concourses are more crowded for walking around than in Sarasota, but good lines aren’t bad at all. 

There were quite a few O’s fans there and the Phillies fans were not at all rude.  
 

 

 

[justD]

18 minutes ago, Frobby said:

@justDTraffic getting into to parking lot gets very bad the closer it gets to game time.  

 

 

I used the directions coming north provided on the stadium website rather than GPS, (taking 19 to Hwy 60 to Old Coachman Rd to the prepaid lot at the corner of Drew) and got in really quickly, at about 12:30. Not sure if my better luck was being prepaid or coming north, but I did see the GPS wanted to take me on a much more circuitous route.

[Tony-OH]

Interesting eyes on comments by @Frobby and @justD. Thanks.

[Frobby]

I went to yesterday’s 4-3 win over the Pirates.  A few thoughts:

1.  Grayson Rodriguez is not yet in top form, though he’s ahead of where he was at this time last year.  He didn’t have his best velocity, topping out at 97 and frequently hitting only 94 in his 3rd/4th inning of work.  I do not believe he generated a single swing and miss with his fastball (and only a couple overall). He had a tough time commanding his breaking stuff at first, but threw a number of really good curves, sliders and changeups in the 2nd and 3rd innings.   He was visibly tired in the 4th inning, allowing a long homer on a hanging slider and two hard-hit singles before Hyde pulled him.  C+ outing but he still has work to do.  

2.  Kimbrel pitched the 5th and was having a lot of trouble commanding the breaking pitches, though they were very tough when he landed them.  He walked the first hitter he faced and fell behind 3-1 to the second one before eventually getting the out.  The next hitter hit one on the screws but more or less directly at Kjerstad in LF.  His fastball was only at 92 and he didn’t throw it much.   He got through the inning unscathed but definitely looked like he’s not sharp yet.

3.  Cano, on the other hand, looked terrific.  He was throwing strikes, getting ahead, hitting 95 consistently on the fastball and seemed to have all his breaking stuff working.   He looked 100% ready for the season.  

4.  Jacob Webb looked okay.  He was hitting 97 at times and some of the breaking stuff looked good.  He did allow a ground rule double on a hanger and command was so-so.  

5.  Cionel Perez had bad results but I can’t say he looked that bad for most of his outing.  His fastball was sitting 96-97 and he threw some really nice breaking pitches.  However, his fastball was getting hit.  He gave up a long homer and a sharply hit ground double down the 3B line, then the next hitter hit a grounder up the middle that many pitchers would have gloved, but went untouched by Perez and that seemed to rattle him.  He walked the next guy and got pulled.  

6.  Bryan Baker was the final pitcher of the day, and he was a mixed bag.  He hit 97 on the radar but mostly threw breaking stuff and changeups.  He got a strikeout to escape Perez’s jam and stayed out for the 9th.  After getting the first hitter, he got ahead 0-2 on the next one and then walked him on four straight pitches, then walked the next batter as well.   The next hitter absolutely tattooed a ball, but it hooked and landed about a foot foul, or it would have been a double that would have turned a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit.  But then Baker settled down and struck that batter out, and also struck out the final batter of the game.  Overall, it was not a consistent outing but he showed good stuff at times.  

Bottom line, Cano was far and away the most impressive pitcher today.  Everyone else has work to do.   

More on the position players later.  




 

 

[scarey1999]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I went to yesterday’s 4-3 win over the Pirates.  A few thoughts:

1.  Grayson Rodriguez is not yet in top form, though he’s ahead of where he was at this time last year.  He didn’t have his best velocity, topping out at 97 and frequently hitting only 94 in his 3rd/4th inning of work.  I do not believe he generated a single swing and miss with his fastball (and only a couple overall). He had a tough time commanding his breaking stuff at first, but threw a number of really good curves, sliders and changeups in the 2nd and 3rd innings.   He was visibly tired in the 4th inning, allowing a long homer on a hanging slider and two hard-hit singles before Hyde pulled him.  C+ outing but he still has work to do.  



 

 

I don’t recall where (maybe mlb.com?) but I read a report on GRod that he’s holding back a bit on his FB in ST games and also working on a new breaking ball, or at least a new version of one he throws now.  So that could explain the slight velo dip and lack of command on breaking stuff. 

[Frobby]

I’m not going to give too many notes on the position players, but here’s a few.  

1.  Kjerstad started in LF.  The first batter of the game hit a solid single to LCF that Kjerstad played on a hop.  He made a rather lazy throw to Gunnar out on the outfield grass, and the batter took advantage and stretched the hit into a double.   Not a strong play by Kjerstad at all.  At bat, he went 2 for 3, with the first hit being a chopper that hit the first base bag and bounded into the outfield for a lucky double.  

2.  Kolten Wong started at 3B for the first time since college.  He got challenged in the first inning when a runner tried to score from 3B on a grounder, but Wong threw a perfect strike to McCann, who didn’t even need to move his glove to apply the tag.  Later, Wong came up with a runner on 2B and the SS was playing behind the runner, leaving a gaping hole on the left side.  I was waiting for Wong to chop one through there, but instead he rifled a hard ground shot through the 4-3 hole for an RBI single.  

3.  2B Jackson Holliday made a nice over the shoulder catch in short RF on a play where Santander probably should have called him off.   Holliday didn’t do much at the plate, lining out to CF, striking out and popping out to foul territory in short LF.  One thing I noticed is he stands very close to home plate. 

4.  Gunnar had a classic Gunnar hustle double where he laced on to the right of the RF, who fielded the bounce cleanly with his momentum heading towards the line and Gunnar just charged towards second and forced an off balance throw that was off line.  Typical Gunnar.  

5.  Santander looked way off at the plate, striking out twice and flying out.  

6.  Dylan Beavers got a 9th inning at bat against a lefty junkballer who threw 87 mph fastballs and high 70’s breaking stuff, and got totally embarrassed, striking out on 3-4 pitches.   

7.  Coby Mayo pinch ran and was credited with a stolen base, but what really happened is he got caught off 2B, took off for 3B and the second baseman airmailed the throw.   Not good baserunning, but it worked out.  
 

[Frobby]

I was at the Sarasota split-squad game against Toronto yesterday, which ended in a 6-6 tie.  I’ll post a few thoughts before I head out for a non-baseball excursion today, then circle back later.  

1.  Corbin Burnes didn’t look very good.  His fastball was 94-95, very effective when he kept it down in the zone but very hittable up.   He wasn’t commanding his breaking stuff well, including his vaunted cutter.   

2.  Dillon Tate was only throwing 91-92 mph.   He got decent results but the stuff was pretty underwhelming.   I think he was throwing harder earlier in the spring, so this gave me a little concern.  

3.  Adley crushed a homer that was far over the fence in RF, then roped a single to RF that the outfield dove for laterally and trapped.  He looked really good in both at bats.  

4.  Cowser’s HR was to RCF and traveled maybe 400 feet.  He looked smooth in CF including on a catch near the wall.   

5.  Late in the game, Cowser walked and Bradfield Jr. came into pinch run.  He stole 2B and took 3B when the throw sailed into the OF.  Then Bradfield took off for home on a hard smash directly at the 3B.   It was fielded cleanly and the throw home was on the money but Bradfield beat it anyway with a headfirst slide.   He’s one of a handful of players who could have scored on that play; it reminded me of a similar play late last year where Mateo scored.   Later, in CF, some hitter blooped a ball into short RCF and Bradfield cut off Stowers to catch it.  He got a great jump and showed great speed on that play, though I think Stowers could have caught it if Bradfield hadn’t been there.  For most teams, that’s probably the RF’s ball, but Bradfield got to it rather easily even though it didn’t hang up long.  

More later.  
 

 

[interloper]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I was at the Sarasota split-squad game against Toronto yesterday, which ended in a 6-6 tie.  I’ll post a few thoughts before I head out for a non-baseball excursion today, then circle back later.  

1.  Corbin Burnes didn’t look very good.  His fastball was 94-95, very effective when he kept it down in the zone but very hittable up.   He wasn’t commanding his breaking stuff well, including his vaunted cutter.   

2.  Dillon Tate was only throwing 91-92 mph.   He got decent results but the stuff was pretty underwhelming.   I think he was throwing harder earlier in the spring, so this gave me a little concern.  

3.  Adley crushed a homer that was far over the fence in RF, then roped a single to RF that the outfield dove for laterally and trapped.  He looked really good in both at bats.  

4.  Cowser’s HR was to RCF and traveled maybe 400 feet.  He looked smooth in CF including on a catch near the wall.   

5.  Late in the game, Cowser walked and Bradfield Jr. came into pinch run.  He stole 2B and took 3B when the throw sailed into the OF.  Then Bradfield took off for home on a hard smash directly at the 3B.   It was fielded cleanly and the throw home was on the money but Bradfield beat it anyway with a headfirst slide.   He’s one of a handful of players who could have scored on that play; it reminded me of a similar play late last year where Mateo scored.   Later, in CF, some hitter blooped a ball into short RCF and Bradfield cut off Stowers to catch it.  He got a great jump and showed great speed on that play, though I think Stowers could have caught it if Bradfield hadn’t been there.  For most teams, that’s probably the RF’s ball, but Bradfield got to it rather easily even though it didn’t hang up long.  

More later.  
 

In Roch's blog after the game, Burnes basically said he was like only throwing his cutter exclusively at one point to work on it. Hopefully he's just one of those weird spring training guys that doesn't try to get results, he just tinkers. I certainly hope that's the case or we are boned. Overall, I'm not too worried about it.