AC Observations After Three ST Games

The Spring is three games in, and to draw any conclusions would be foolhardy.  But I still have some observations from what I have seen thus far.  For the first three games, the pitching has been outstanding.  Albeit, without Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, Oakland’s offense is just north of woeful, as is Colorado without Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon.  The Giants did not play but a couple of regulars.

One of the reasons I really like Spring Training is that it give the players hope.  After Mike Kickham’s two innings, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk, he has hope that he will get another chance.    He has less than zero chance of playing with LAD this year, but he might get noticed by “somebody” in AAA.  As long as he is playing, he still has a chance.  For some, that is all they have left to hope for.

Admittedly, I am not as high on Garrett Cleavinger as some on this site, and while he may have been pinched by plate umpire Ted Barrett, his previous problem of command was very prominent in his one inning of work.  Two walks and one HBP does not inspire  a lot of confidence.  For him to get a chance to break camp as one of the LHRP on the 26 man, he is going to need to manage his command.  Relief pitchers cannot stay at the ML level with too many walks. 

While Cleavinger’s command was missing, the most impressive part of Michael Grove’s one inning was his command.  This was the one area he needed improvement.  When on a pitch count, Grove quite often could not get through two innings.  He is a strike out pitcher who averaged more than 3 walks per 9 innings, so he is going to throw a lot of pitches.  He is going to need to get his swing and miss pitches to be consistent to keep his pitch count down.  Doc has said the plan is for Grove to continue to start.  That is what pitchers want to hear as that is where the money is.  But if his command continues to improve and is consistent, he and Ryan Pepiot could form an outstanding back end high leverage relief duo.  They are just going to have to be talked out of starting.

Kenley Jansen was dominating.  He faced three batters that figure to be on the opening day roster (Josh Fuentes, Greg Bird, and Elias Diaz).  Tony Gonsolin was efficient as was Victor Gonzalez.  I am very much looking forward to seeing VGon get some late inning opportunities. 

My favorite performance (not the most dominant) over the first two games was Trevor Bauer.  He was over-throwing his fastball to Garrett Hampson.  No matter who you are, if you are making $40MM for one year, you have a lot to prove.  Hampson worked him to a 3-2 count, and he barreled up a fastball for single between 3B and SS.  We are not getting any exit velocity information yet, but it was hit hard.  The most important batter for Trevor was the next batter, Josh Fuentes who popped up on the first pitch on a fastball up in the zone.  Thank you very much.  His second inning, Bauer threw more breaking balls, and they were outstanding, which led to a dominating inning of pitching. 

Game 3’s starting pitcher was Walker Buehler.  Buehler is a notorious slow starter, who is rarely ready this early in ST.  He did not dominate in his two innings, but his breaking ball was outstanding the few times he did throw it.  He had only one K, but it was on a nasty curve to Darrin Ruf.

Dustin May had a great 1^st inning in relief, but struggled with his command in the 2^nd inning.  He did throw a very nasty breaking ball to strike out Marco Luciano.

Nick Robertson relieved May and pitched an outstanding perfect inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.  The ball jumps out of Robertson’s hand and gets good elevation on his fastball up in the zone.  He is not far away.

I was looking forward to seeing Alex Vesia.  Unfortunately he did not have a good first outing, but should have gotten out of the inning except for a lazy error by Andy Pages to allow LaMonte Wade to take second base after his single. Wade moved to third on a bloop single by Jason Krizan and scored on a Logan Wyatt Sac Fly.  They called it an earned run, but I do not see how as Wade would not have been on 3B to score on the sac fly without Pages’ error.  It is only ST.

James Pazos looked like his Seattle days with 2 K’s and a BB.  He did not back down against RH batters, especially on his strikeout pitch to Alcantara on a pitch dropping in on his back foot.  Doc wanted to get Enny Romero some work, and brought him in to finish the game. He proceeded to strike out the one batter he faced.

I think most eyes are on Gavin Lux this Spring.  The team is so much better if Lux takes the 2B job.  Lux’s first opportunity was a defensive play in the first inning.  It was a much more confident 2B player that fielded the ground ball and made a sharp throw to 1B for the out.  No hesitation.  No he is not a GG candidate, but he needs to make these plays for pitchers to be comfortable pitching for groundballs.

The first pitch Gavin saw was lined into left-center for a single.  Lux aggressively rounded 1B and would have stretched the hit into a double if Hampson had hesitated at all in CF.  His second hit was a hard hit ground ball into RF that scored Zach McKinstry.  When the throw missed the cutoff, Lux took the extra base.  The one negative that I observed was his inability to read the wild pitch to take 3B as DJ Peters scored.  But overall, for one game, Gavin Lux looked every bit the top prospect we have been led to believe in.

A second position player that has been quite impressive in two games has been DJ Peters.  It was not the towering HR that was impressive (although it was).  He has that ability.  In 4 MiLB, DJ has struck out 31% of his PA, and has a reputation of chasing.  But in his first game, he drew two walks and did not chase pitches he has done in the past.  One was on a 3-2 pitch landing low in the LH batter’s box, he has gone fishing for in the past.  DJ also made an excellent catch in CF.  DJ is a superb athlete who can play all three OF positions.  I think he is definitely in the discussion as a 4^th OF option for the OD roster. Great start for DJ. 

Matt Beaty and Zach McKinstry both got hits against LHP.  Andy Pages showed that he was not intimidated by appearing in a ML game as a 20 year old, and promptly singled on the first pitch he saw on Monday, and came back to show good plate discipline in a walk against the Giants.   Unfortunately he made a lackadaisical error in LF after a single off Alex Vesia to open the 6^th against the Giants.  That led to a run on a sac fly.

One player looking to raise some eyebrows is CF James Outman.  James got some good press about his alternate site and Arizona Development League play last summer, and is now making a name for himself.  He has made at least four good defensive plays in CF, and got a game tying double in the 7^th against the Giants.  Who did he knock in?  The player that looks as if he is getting a good long look this Spring, Michael Busch.  Busch hit a double on the first pitch he saw Tuesday night.  His swing is in control and stays in the zone a long time.  He looks like he is going to be a very good hitter at the ML level.  Now if they can only find him a position.

The pitching is down right dominant.  However, they are still going to have to find another LHRP to go with VGon.  Scott Alexander has not got into a game yet.  Neither Cleavinger or Vesia were opportunistic, and while Pazos and Romero looked good, neither are on the 40 man.  There are 26 more ST games, so all still have a chance to shine.

Offensively, DJ Peters, Matt Beaty, Zach McKinstry, Gavin Lux, and Will Smith have produced. 

I have my thoughts and hopes for roster additions; however, it is waaaaaay too early in the Spring to make any such predictions. But thus far, neither Lux or Peters, have disappointed.☺☺