MLB Spring Breakout game tonight at 7 on MLB Network

[scarey1999]

4 hours ago, Fiver6565 said:

Yes Valdez pinch ran. Ironically the announcer actually managed to announce that LOL. Must be a special DH rule in ST games I guess. 

This was technically an exhibition game, so not a real game that counts for anything, stats or standings. Like an all star game. Just bragging rights.  That’s also why it only went 7 innings. 

[scarey1999]

I posted this in the Minors forum but thought I’d share here in case anyone wanted to read, was at the game and gave my thoughts on the experience and several players:

Was at the game. Hope Willems is OK. Sat fairly far down the 3rd base line and it was pretty loud when the pitch hit him. Other things I took away:

-Tavera replaced EBJ in CF. Looked good in the field defensively. Took a tough called 3rd strike after working the count nicely to full in his only AB. He seems to be filing out physically (in a good way)  

-Trace Bright was throwing A LOT of strikes and got plenty of swing and misses from the Pirates batters

-Povich was up and down. Very inconsistent. Typical for him I guess you could say. You can see the talent and ability to pitch. He’s got to improve his command/control if he wants to take it to the next level  

-OFer Thomas Sosa is a physical specimen. Will be following him closely this year. Assuming he starts at Delmarva. His internet pages list him at 6’ 1” and 160lbs. I’d estimate it’s more like 6’ 2 or 3” 200-210ish. Just turned 19 years old. 

-Billy Cook is a guy that’s really easy to root for. Was able to talk with him for a couple minutes post game. He could not be any nicer. Asked him about his 20-30 season last year and he said let’s go for 30-30. 

-Our bats were silenced today. Skenes was filthy. EBJ was strike 1, 2 and 3…and go have a seat on the pine leading off the game. Pirates pitcher Hunter Barco (teammates with Fabian at FL) stood out to me too. I saw 98 from the lefty. Also, for those who care about such things, pretty sure I saw Skenes girlfriend Livvy Dunne there. 

Overall it was a great experience. I hope MLB keeps doing it and expands/enhances it. There was an autograph area setup for an hour pre game where 6 players at a time from each prospect team signed (3 groups of 6 for each team, so a total of 18 players/team). The wait line for the Orioles as twice as long as the Pirates - and this game was in Bradenton at Pirate City. I did enjoy the ballpark. First time visiting it. The boardwalk that goes around the outfield is cool as is the plaza area that wraps from home plate all the way down the RF line out to the PIT clubhouse. Parking and traffic is kind’ve a cluster but this is a park you should visit if you’re going to see the Os in Sarasota. 

[emmett16]

Y’all got a mute button on your remotes? 

[Hank Scorpio]

23 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Y’all got a mute button on your remotes? 

It’s funny… that was what stood out to me the most. I even thought that during the Pirates radio broadcast the first game of the day. WOW these guys are horrid

That said they’re totally justified raving about Skenes. Absolutely ridiculous. I also liked what I saw from Fabian, Bright and EBJ. Basallo is a big man. 

[Sports Guy]

The way this was promoted, I assumed it was going to be MLB network broadcasters doing the game.

[RZNJ]

Every player had names on the backs of the uniform.  GameDay would tell you who was in the game and where.  I watched the first inning last night and skipped around to catch some other AB's later.  The broadcast didn't bother me one bit.  A lot of hitters over eager and were not patient.   Basallo walked once bitewing at one up by his neck his 2nd AB.  Looked like Holliday struck out on one a couple inches outside.

Tavera looked good going back on a couple in CF.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Trace Bright’s Statcast numbers were very impressive. Full arsenal, great spin rates and tons of whiffs. I’m excited to see what he does this year, definitely a breakout candidate. 

[Fiver6565]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

The way this was promoted, I assumed it was going to be MLB network broadcasters doing the game.

Yeah this was my issue, I had assumed the same thing.  The Pirates announcers did what they always do for every ST game (interviews and what not) and really didn't act at all like this was any kind of special event - as has been noted, most of the guys barely got their names mentioned, if at all.  Just another ST game. The way MLB has promoted the hell out of this series, I was expecting a lot more.

Put another way, after that experience, I'm not going to bother watching the rest of these games the next few days, and I had planned to check most of them out.  Hopefully MLB gets the broadcasting part of this together in the future, because the idea overall is a really good and fun one.

[interloper]

Wet fart of a game, huh? 1 hit, lol. 

[LookinUp]

31 minutes ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Trace Bright’s Statcast numbers were very impressive. Full arsenal, great spin rates and tons of whiffs. I’m excited to see what he does this year, definitely a breakout candidate. 

I haven't given any thought on where he would actually rank on my personal rankings, but it would be pretty high. I wonder how he compares to Chayce McDermott stuff wise. Seems like a similar type of profile to me.

[EDIT: I see @Tony-OH has him at #21 (before the Ortiz trade). I was surprised he was that high. That's actually pretty aggressive and appropriately so, IMO. I definitely wouldn't have him lower, but our top 20 is ridiculous right now so I think he fits right where Tony put him.]

Edited March 15 by LookinUp

[justD]

12 hours ago, scarey1999 said:

I posted this in the Minors forum but thought I’d share here in case anyone wanted to read, was at the game and gave my thoughts on the experience and several players:

 

Was at the game. Hope Willems is OK. Sat fairly far down the 3rd base line and it was pretty loud when the pitch hit him. Other things I took away:

-Tavera replaced EBJ in CF. Looked good in the field defensively. Took a tough called 3rd strike after working the count nicely to full in his only AB. He seems to be filing out physically (in a good way)  

-Trace Bright was throwing A LOT of strikes and got plenty of swing and misses from the Pirates batters

-Povich was up and down. Very inconsistent. Typical for him I guess you could say. You can see the talent and ability to pitch. He’s got to improve his command/control if he wants to take it to the next level  

-OFer Thomas Sosa is a physical specimen. Will be following him closely this year. Assuming he starts at Delmarva. His internet pages list him at 6’ 1” and 160lbs. I’d estimate it’s more like 6’ 2 or 3” 200-210ish. Just turned 19 years old. 

-Billy Cook is a guy that’s really easy to root for. Was able to talk with him for a couple minutes post game. He could not be any nicer. Asked him about his 20-30 season last year and he said let’s go for 30-30. 

-Our bats were silenced today. Skenes was filthy. EBJ was strike 1, 2 and 3…and go have a seat on the pine leading off the game. Pirates pitcher Hunter Barco (teammates with Fabian at FL) stood out to me too. I saw 98 from the lefty. Also, for those who care about such things, pretty sure I saw Skenes girlfriend Livvy Dunne there. 

Overall it was a great experience. I hope MLB keeps doing it and expands/enhances it. There was an autograph area setup for an hour pre game where 6 players at a time from each prospect team signed (3 groups of 6 for each team, so a total of 18 players/team). The wait line for the Orioles as twice as long as the Pirates - and this game was in Bradenton at Pirate City. I did enjoy the ballpark. First time visiting it. The boardwalk that goes around the outfield is cool as is the plaza area that wraps from home plate all the way down the RF line out to the PIT clubhouse. Parking and traffic is kind’ve a cluster but this is a park you should visit if you’re going to see the Os in Sarasota. 

Thank you so much for this report!  I'm going to go back on an off day and watch the broadcast with these notes in mind, to have a better idea of what I'm watching.  I really appreciate it more than you know. 

I'm also now going to look back through video I got of the guys at Twin Lakes.  I think I got several clips of Arias doing live BP, and also perhaps Sosa?  If so, will post them in that Minors Forum Spring Training thread. 

Thanks again. 

[scarey1999]

Creed is back in the lineup at Twin Lakes today against the Pirates A/AA guys

[Billy F-Face3]

8 hours ago, scarey1999 said:

Creed is back in the lineup at Twin Lakes today against the Pirates A/AA guys

Creed the band, or Creed the boxer?

(Just kidding.)