Aaron Nola threw an early morning bullpen session on the mound by Bowa Field. Before he began we saw JT Realmuto practicing receiving pitches from the pitching machine.
After Nola had completed his bullpen Didi Gregorius made his first on field appearance as he came out to practice bunting off the machine. Coach Bobby Meacham led the drill with Roman Quinn and Adam Haseley following Gregorius in participation.
We then took the long walk on the Ream Wilson Trail to our perch behind Roberts Field ... we are getting our steps in big time 🥴.
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Live BP sessions :
Roberts Field :
Zach Eflin started the session and threw two simulated innings with a pause in between to replicate an actual game. His throwing partner was Adonis Medina who also threw two simulated frames. Eflin continues to excel from what we saw thru the binoculars, the full repertoire was used, location and command was there and his pitches had movement and pop 👍.
Medina seemed to battle his command ... deliveries were pulling glove side to right handers however we do note he primarily was throwing off speed stuff so could have been working intentionally on placement 🤷♂️. He ended on a strong note though with a swing and miss fastball strike. I’ve always felt the talent is there, confidence and command are the key elements to build on.
Damon Jones finished the session on Roberts Field, also throwing a sit down in between two simulated innings. Damon snapped off a few nasty sliders in his second frame, swing and miss variety. 💪 The fastball velocity also seemed evident, big arm. We believe we saw a change up out of his hand in the first inning against hitter Andrew Knapp that definitely fooled Andrew. With Damon’s top two pitches which we see as plus ( FB/Slider ) developing a good change up would make him even more of a weapon. We like the possibilities 🤔.
Hitters today on Roberts that we saw included Roman Quinn, Jean Segura, Matt Joyce, Didi Gregorius, Andrew Knapp, Jeff Mathis, Rafael Marchan and Rodolfo Duran.
Carlton Field :
Our vantage point disallowed us from seeing anything other than who was pitching. Bailey Falter and Christopher Sanchez each threw two simulated innings in an up and down session akin to what was happening on Roberts Field.
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There will be four buses traveling to Lakeland tomorrow ... in a non Covid world that would normally be two buses. Just a tidbit 🤓.
Tomorrow’s starting lineup will include : Adam Haseley, Mickey Moniak, Travis Jankowski , Darick Hall, Scott Kingery, CJ Chatham, Alec Bohm and Jeff Mathis ... Ivan Nova will start on the hill.
Aaron Nola will start the home opener on Monday at BayCare BallPark
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Today’s Zoom Conference Notes :
Jean Segura :
Is happy to have Didi back, feels that together they can cover a lot of ground in the middle of the field and it’s fun to play with him.
feels that he can play second base well but is willing to play any position the team needs him at.
said he made a conscious effort last season as a hitter to be more selective and take pitches, was the reason his walks increased. It was part of an effort to strengthen his on base percentage.
Spent the offseason in Miami, didn’t travel back to the Dominican.
he thinks this year’s team is the most complete team he’s been on since coming to Philadelphia ... thinks they can compete very well.
is very anxious to play on a playoff team as he’s never had the experience before.
Joe Girardi :
said Jean Segura looks great and has everyone loose and laughing, is enjoying himself. With Didi now in camp the fun the two generate together will grow and get louder. 👍🤓
Said the talent in the division is great, should create really good baseball and will be fun for the fans to watch.
Said he’s looking forward to first game and having fans in the stand ... said the strawberry shortcake is excellent in Lakeland ... hmmm 😋 ... may have to make a road trip 🤩.
Gonna take a day off tomorrow I think from the Complex 😎 ... game is on radio only, will be listening.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️