Practice times shifted to the afternoon as morning organizational meetings were held today. It was a heavy workload day for pitchers as nine hurlers threw bullpens ( LH Sam Aldegheri, RH Hans Crouse, RH Cam Wynne, RH Nate Karrafa, RH Brett Schulze, RH Eduar Segovia, LH Spencer Van Scoyoc, RH Jose Pena & RH Enrique Segura ) - Karaffa threw a simulated two inning up-down session with the others throwing regular pens.
Eleven pitchers threw live bullpen sessions in groups of three ( one grouping of two ) concurrently on three fields - Ashburn, Carlton and Roberts - got my exercise in fast stepping from field to field 🤓. On Ashburn RH Chase Antle, RH Orion Kerkering, RH Tyler McKay & RH Braden Zarbnisky threw. On Carlton LH Tristan Garnett, RH Tommy McCollum & RH Tyler Phillips threw and on Roberts RH Andrew Baker, LH Keylan Killgore, RH McKinley Moore & LH Danny Wilkinson threw.
Catchers were Gus Sosa, Arturo DeFreitas, Cody Roberts, Kliubert Avila & Leonardo Rondon. Hitters were Kendall Simmons, Bryan Rincon, Marcus Lee Sang, Cade Fergus, Gabriel Rincones, Jordan Viars, Simon Muzziotti & Yhoswar Garcia.
My Observations :
Outfielder Cade Fergus ( 22 year old - 2022 13th round draft choice - George Washington University ) had a good day in live BP - he went yard twice, once on a cutter and secondly on a fast ball against two different hurlers. We’ve been impressed with his all out hustle approach during previous high performance camps and he’s shown pop ( hit 4 dingers in his first 95 AB’s as a pro with Clearwater last summer ). Shortstop Bryan Rincon ( 19 years old - 2022 14th round draft selection - Shaler HS, Pittsburgh, PA ) went deep over the right field fence on Ashburn on a slider - the young switch hitter has shown quick hands and the ability to drive the ball in his short pro career to date - he’s also very smooth defensively. Outfielder Yhoswar Garcia ( 21 years old - signed 3/14/20 from Venezuela as an international free agent ) stroked a line single up the middle which is truly his game - has blazing speed - singles turn into doubles with his base stealing capabilities.
On the pitching side RH Tyler Phillips ( 25 yrs old - signed 11/6/21 as a minor league free agent - working back from TJ surgery ) impressed - threw almost exclusively sinkers - hovers in the middle 90’s and is seemingly hard to square up as balls that were hit against him got beaten into the ground. RH Chase Antle ( 25 yrs old - signed as an un-drafted free agent 6/16/20 - Coastal Carolina ) worked his second live BP of the year - velocity and command were both sharper - predominantly threw fastballs but showed a couple breakers as well. RH Tyler McKay ( 25 years old - 2018 16th round draft choice - Howard JC ) had batters fishing on his change-up - has really good sink and is difficult to differentiate from the fastball out of his hand.
LH Tristan Garnett ( 24 years old - signed as un-drafted free agent 7/20/21 - Cal State Dominguez Hills ), RH Tommy McCollum ( 23 years old - signed as un-drafted free agent 7/20/21 - Wingate University, NC ) & RH Andrew Baker ( 22 years old - 2021 11th round draft choice - Chipola JC, Florida ) continued to throw well - McCollum battled command a bit today with the secondaries but the stuff is really good - smooth and jumps with late life arrival - ties batters up. Garnett has a wipe out change-up coupling with a mid nineties heater and Baker is just Baker - upper nineties into triple digits fastballs, nasty slider and again threw cutters today which is something new for him albeit as mentioned above Cade got one of em - that happens every now & again to all pitchers 🤓.
RH Braden Zarbnisky ( 26 years old - signed as un-drafted free agent 7/21/20 - University of West Virginia ) broke off a couple sharp sliders in his session - one of which locked the hitter facing him to end his outing. I didn’t get to see the other fellas throw as didn’t get around in time - when they throw concurrently on different fields this fat old man has trouble seeing em all 🤦♂️.
Big League Sightings :
1B Rhys Hoskins, C JT Realmuto, OF Kyle Schwarber & 3B Alec Bohm put on a home run launch show on Ashburn Field in the AM - the balls were flying consistently into the parking lot areas behind right and right center fields - Mr Schwarber was jeopardizing car windshields with his long drives 💪🤓.
That’s a wrap - back at em tomorrow - Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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