Minor League Camp :
Side Bullpens : Zach Haake, Sam Aldegheri, Cam Brown, Andrew Walling, Robinson Pina, Wesley Moore, Estibenzon Jimenez, Jonathan Petit, Mason Ronan
Live BP’s : Starlyn Castillo, Eiberson Castellano, Matt Russell, Chase Hopewell, Jack Dallas, Hunter Loyd, Nate Karaffa, Braydon Tucker, Danny Wilkinson, Ezequiel Ventura, Jayson Ruffcorn, Drew Garrett, Jose Peña Jr, Eduar Segovia
I attempted to watch as many of the sessions as I could by scuttling back and forth from field to field. Started with Eiberson Castellano on Roberts Field who’s noticeably slimmed down and looks to be in terrific condition. In his session he was consistently on the hands of hitters - sawed off and broke a couple bats - forced soft contact. He showed his trademark breaking pitch (curve ball) and a quicker fastball than I saw last season.
Jack Dallas was really sharp in his session, got after the hitters with a mix of pitches, very smart in his approach. Lefty Danny Wilkinson is sneaky quick with his fastball and gets big spin and break on both his slider and curve, he produced quite a few swings and misses on all three pitches. He pumped the zone today, just gets batters out - good stuff. Jose Peña Jr has always had a plus curve ball, it was still there in his session today and velocity on the fastball seemed up a notch as well, when he’s throwing strikes the young right hander is very effective, he’s also grown into his body more - just 20 years old and entering his fourth season (drafted in 2021) in the organization.
Hitters in Live BP :
Keaton Anthony hit the baseball hard in the AB’s I saw - one a liner to right field and the other a no doubt home run down the left field line on Ashburn. I saw Marcus Lee Sang go yard on a couple pitches to his pull side in right field and also smoke a rocket double to the gap. Rixon Wingrove showed us his ability to drive outside pitches the other way as the lefty hitter hit a hard liner down the third base line in one AB but also showed pull prowess with a line drive hit to right field, the big fella looks slimmer than years past as well. Dakota Kotowski crushed a long drive off the center field wall, he can drive them a very long way. Diego Gonzalez seems to have picked back up where he left off last season, he hit a couple hard liners today for hits, Diego finished the FCL season last year posting .385/.407/.538 slash line in 27 plate appearances in August.
Four Inning Intrasquad Scrimmage :
Emaarion Boyd led off the bottom of the first inning with a lined double to right field (he’s driven the baseball with authority this spring) and advanced to third on a ground out. Boyd scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Eduardo Tait.
Right-hander Jean Cabrera was outstanding in his two scoreless inning outing - he showed good velocity and movement on his fastball and a sharp slider - struck out four of the eight batters he faced.
The visitors scored two runs in the third inning as Nikau Pouaka-Grego walked and advanced on a single by Cole Moore. Devin Saltiban singled to score Pouaka-Grego. A walk to Aidan Miller loaded the bases and a wild pitch allowed a run to score.
The at-bat of the scrimmage came in the bottom of the third inning - two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases bringing seventeen year old Eduardo Tait to the dish to face a very good power pitcher who pitched at the AA level last summer, Tommy McCollum. It was an intriguing matchup as Tommy has legit stuff and albeit he struggled today with command the situation set up a test for the young hitter Tait. After working himself into a favorable count Eduardo drove a pitch deep to right center field off the wall for a bases clearing triple. 👀. The buzz amongst the crowd was elevated - this young man can flat out swing the bat, it’s gonna be fun watching him develop - good stuff!
In the top of the fourth inning Gabriel Rincones Jr drove a long drive over the right field fence for a solo home run. In the bottom of the frame Raylin Heredia crushed a long ball over the left field fence for a matching solo home run. Both fellas have big power potential and are coming off of very good seasons.
At the Plate :
Visitors :
Devin Saltiban was 1 for 2 with an RBI single and stolen base. Aidan Miller was 1 for 1 (single) with a walk in two plate appearances. Gabriel Rincones was 1 for 2 with a home run. Starlyn Caba smoked the ball twice - one was a lined single to left center field, the other was a liner up the middle caught in self defense by the pitcher that turned into a double play. Nikau Pouaka-Grego doubled in his only AB and Cole Moore singled in his only AB.
Home Team :
Emaarion Boyd doubled and was hit by a pitch in two plate appearances. Tjayy Walton walked twice and stole a base. Eduardo Tait hit a sacrifice fly and then tripled with the bases loaded in two plate appearances - he had four RBIs. Raylin Heredia was 1 for 2 with a home run and an outstanding bat flip 🤓. William Bergolla was 1 for 2 with a single. Jordan Dissin walked in his only plate appearance.
Pitching Notes :
Visitors :
Gunner Mayer - 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB
Micah Ottenbreit - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB - threw well
Tommy McCollum - struggled today - no doubt he will bounce back - 1/3 IP, 3 R, 1 H, 1 HB, 2 BB - inning rolled
Cam Wynne - 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 K
Home Team :
Jean Cabrera - 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K’s - really good performance
Jaydenn Estanista - 2/3 IP - 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K - inning rolled - live fastball - showed decent slider
Paxton Thompson - 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB
Grapefruit League Game Sixteen :
Phillies 9 Pirates 7
Bradenton, Florida
Pittsburgh scored twice in the first inning on home runs by Brian Reynolds and O’Neil Cruz. They scored three in the second inning on a walk, RBI single and two run home run by O’Neil Cruz.
The Phillies scored one in the third inning on singles by Garrett Stubbs and Carlos De La Cruz and an RBI ground out by Johan Rojas. In the fourth inning Darick Hall and Jake Cave singled, Edmundo Sosa was hit by a pitch. Kody Clemens hit a grand slam home run.
In the sixth inning Edmundo Sosa reached an error and Rodolfo Castro doubled. Garrett Stubbs doubled to score them both. In the bottom of the inning the Pirates scored twice on a walk, single, double and fielders choice.
In the top of the ninth Carlos De La Cruz and Erick Brito singled, Cal Stevenson walked. A two base error on a grounder to second base scored two runs.
At the Plate : 9 R, 11 H, 2 BB, 13 K’s
Garrett Stubbs and Carlos De La Cruz each had two hits. Rodolfo Castro, Weston Wilson and Cody Roberts each doubled. Kody Clemens hit a grand slam home run.
Pitching Notes :
Max Castillo - 3 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 1 BB
Michael Mercado - 1 perfect IP - 2 K’s
Jose Ruiz - 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Austin Brice - 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K
Griff McGarry - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K
Ricardo Pinto - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Max Lazar - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K’s
Minor League Camp Call-Ups for the game :
Pitchers : Andrew Baker, Brandon Beckel, Chuck King, Max Lazar
Catchers : Andrick Nava
Infielders : Erick Brito, Pedro Martinez, Esteban Quiroz, Carson Taylor
Outfielders : AJ Shaver, Ethan Wilson
Max Lazar pitched the 9th inning, Ethan Wilson played LF, Carson Taylor (1B), Esteban Quiroz (2B) and Erick Brito (SS)
Grapefruit League record is now 6-7-3
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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