LHP Kent Emmanuel threw a live BP session in the morning - didn’t get a chance to go see it - the 29 year old reliever continues his rehab progression from UCL surgery in June of 2021. We’ve heard good things about him.
The fellas scrimmaged this afternoon in a five inning contest.
On The Hill :
RH Kyle Glogoski - pitched an inning - 0 R, 1 H, 2 K’s - showed a quick breaking slider and velo was decent. Continues to work his way back to form from inactivity.
RH DJ Jefferson - 1 perfect IP - 2 fly outs and a ground out. DJ’s always shown decent velo - just a matter of consistency and accumulating innings for the 21 year old. Today had a good mound presence and was in the zone.
LH Maikel Garrido - 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 1 K - the 22 year old has a big arm - mid to upper nineties capabilities but has always battled command when we’ve seen him. Today walked three - release point varied on fastball and slider - is a “slinger” on the heater but more over the top with the secondary. If he can harness consistent release point and align it to command the stuff plays - gets good movement arm side - almost a screwball like break.
RH Daniel Mejia - 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K’s - the slender 20 year old has good secondaries, we’ve seen a nice hook that has gotten batters off balance and is swing and miss capable. Fastball has some glove side fade. Command and repeatable delivery are action items.
RH Wilson Valdez - struggled today over two frames - is a work In progress as he just converted to pitching from infielder in spring camp. Yielded five hits including two doubles and two home runs, walked two and struck out one. Short arm delivery and there’s some run to his pitches - with better command in the zone could possibly do well - today just got too much of the plate and paid for it.
LH Jose Acuna - first time we’ve seen him in game like action - 2 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Has some pop for a 19 year old and showed a decent curve/slider. Very young and still learning - today left too many up in the zone middle in and was tagged for three doubles. Live and learn - that’s the name of the game on the backfields - ability is there - just needs to continue to refine.
At Bat :
Randy Vasquez & Rixon Wingrove each homered.
Doubles : Herbert Iser ( 2 ), Chris Burke, Edward Barboza, Albert Jerez & Yemal Flores
Singles : Jackie Pertuz, Oscar Gonzalez, Uziel Viloria & Erick Brito
Viloria continues to sting the baseball consistently.
Notes :
IF Albert Jerez ( 20 yrs old ) has a canon for an arm, he played both 3B and 2B today - impressed especially with his ability to throw howitzers across the diamond from the corner. C Edward Barboza impressed with both his blocking abilities and arm strength - the 21 year old also has above average wheels for a backstop as he swiped a couple bags today - reminds me a lot of fellow catcher Rafael Marchan. OF Gavin Tonkel can flat out fly - he gets down the line very quickly and makes routine ground balls hit to shortstop close plays - can’t reach speed like he has.
Coaching Moments - after Randy Vasquez hit his home run he took a very long time to circle the bases. The coaches immediately let him know about proper baseball etiquette - especially in a scrimmage against teammates. Even after the contest the lessoning was continued. It’s good to see things like that addressed early so as they are hopefully not repeated going forward. The 19 year old infielder has a quick bat and ability to drive the ball but showing up a pitcher, especially a teammate can get ya plucked in a hurry. It’s all part of the backfields learning experiences 😎.
photos below by Barbara Potter
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️