Minor League Mini- Camp :
Infield/Outfield/Catching Drills :
Center fielder Justin Crawford ( 19 years old ) stood out in throwing drills today - hose worthy throws to the bases and the plate. Told him afterwards as much - nice young man with a bright smile. Jordan Dissin, Gustavo Sosa & Herbert Iser impressed in catcher’s throws to the bases. I really liked the actions of Bryan Rincon ( 19 years old ) and Pedro Martinez ( 22 years old ) at shortstop in today’s drills. Coach Shawn Williams runs a crisp and fast paced infield/outfield practice - non stop action that gets guys energized - good stuff 👍.
Side Bullpens :
Ten pitchers threw side bullpen sessions on the seven mounds in front of the David Montgomery Training Center - Nate Karaffa, Jean Cabrera, Jose Pena, Mavis Graves, Nicoly Pina, Enrique Segura, Danny Wilkinson, Blake Brown, Jason Ruffcorn, JP Woodward
Live Bullpens :
Four pitchers threw afternoon live bullpen sessions on Roberts and Ashburn fields - Jakob Hernandez, Trey Cobb, Noah Skirrow & Jesus Cruz
My Observations :
RH Trey Cobb ( 28 years old - taken in minor league rule 5 draft from Mets ) is a sidearmer who throws a very effective change up - has the actions of a knuckleball - that’s in addition to a couple high spin breaking balls and decent pop on the sinker. He told me that he tries to kill as much spin on his change up as possible so that it’ll sink more than the sinker. Jose Peña ( 19 years old ) had, in my opinion, his best bullpen of the year thus far ( High Performance & Mini Camp ) - command/control was on point and movement on his fastball and splitter was good, he also has a big breaking hook that has a lot of vertical movement - still working on harnessing that in the strike zone consistently. RH Nicoly Pina ( 23 years old ) had a good session, ball pops the mitt. Another broken record message from me but every time I see RH Enrique Segura ( 18 years old ) throw it’s just impressive - location, mix ( Nola like break on his curve ) and movement are really strong. Was great to see RH Blake Brown ( 24 years old ) return to the mound - he’s coming back from a long stint on the IL ( achilles injury ) - today was his first bullpen ( short box session - catcher up on the plate ) - Blake, when healthy, gives the organization another reliever who can pop upper nineties at will. Encouraging session today. Same goes for lefty JP Woodward ( 24 years old ) in regards to working his way back from injury - he threw a regular pen session. LH Mavis Graves ( 19 years old ) has the “natural” lefty tail on his fastball - coupled with big breaking secondaries we’ve seen in times past he’s certainly on the radar.
Major League Camp :
Aaron Nola threw a morning bullpen on the half field mound. Big league camp practice for those not making the trip to Fort Myers began with a 9 AM report time, first on field activities began at 9:45 with general on field practice & weight room training winding down at 11
Buses for Fort Myers left at 7:45 AM - some players will stay overnight - others will return after the game to be replaced by another group for tomorrow’s game against the Red Sox.
Grapefruit League Action :
Phillies 4 ( 4-1-1 ) Twins 4 ( 2-3 -1 )
Summary :
Jake Cave hit a two run home run in the second inning scoring Scott Kingery ( singled ). The Twins scored a run in their half of the second on a couple singles and a sac fly. Ryan Jeffers hit a 4th inning home run for Minnesota to knot the game at two apiece.
Darick Hall absolutely crushed a home run high off the center field batting eye ( - went 435 feet with an exit velo of 108 mph 😳 - almost cleared the wall ) scoring Brandon Marsh ( reached on an error ) ahead of him.
The Twins loaded the bases in the ninth inning on a single and two walks - two runs then scored on a wild pitch and an error. The game ended in a tie on a strikeout.
At the Plate : 7 H, 2 BB, 11 K’s
Jake Cave was 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs. Scott Kingery was 2 for 2 with a walk and scored a run. Darick Hall walked and homered with two RBIs in three plate appearances.
Defensive Gems :
Left fielder Simon Muzziotti made a nice running catch on a fly ball in the first inning to short left center that both shortstop Edmundo Sosa & center fielder Brandon Marsh had lost in the sun. He threw out a base runner at second base in the second inning who was attempting to tag and advance from first base on a fly ball.
Pitching Data :
RH Andrew Painter - 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K - 29 pitches - 18 strikes - threw 19 FB ( 95-99 mph ), 6 Cutter ( 87-91 mph ), 4 Slider ( 82-87 mph )
LH Michael Plassmeyer - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K’s - 9 pitches - 7 strikes - threw 6 FB ( 89-90 mph ), 1 Cutter ( 86 mph ), 1 Slider ( 75 mph ), 1. CH ( 83 mph )
LH Matt Strahm - 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K’s - 11 pitches - 8 strikes - threw 3 FB ( 94-95 mph ), 3 Curve ( 82-85 mph ), 3 Sinker ( 93-95 mph ), 2 Slider ( 89-90 mph )
RH Connor Brogdon - 1 perfect IP - 2 K’s - 14 pitches - 9 strikes - threw 8 FB ( 93-95 mph ), 4 Cutter ( 85-89 mph ), 2 CH ( 83 mph )
RH Andrew Bellatti - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K - 22 pitches - 11 strikes - threw 12 FB ( 91-94 mph ), 8 Slider ( 84-87 mph ), 2 CH ( 89 mph )
LH Andrew Vasquez - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K’s - 15 pitches - 12 strikes - threw 10 Sinker ( 87-90 mph ), 5 Curve ( 78-79 mph )
RH Jake Jewell - 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K’s - 23 pitches - 14 strikes - threw 11 Sinker ( 92-94 mph ), 5 CH ( 86-87 mph ), 3 FB ( 92-93 mph ), 3 Curve ( 78-79 mph ), 1 Slider ( 81 mph )
RH Francisco Morales - 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 0 K’s - 21 pitches - 7 strikes - threw 12 Sinker ( 94-98 mph ), 8 Cutter ( 87-92 mph ) 1 Slider ( 86 mph )
RH Braden Zarbnisky - 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K - 8 pitches - 4 strikes - 2 inherited runners scored - threw 4 Curve ( 79-81 mph ), 3 FB ( 91-92 mph ) 1 Slider ( 82 mph )
Back at em tomorrow - Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Photos from today
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