8/19/25 : Today at the Complex
- Steve Potter
- Aug 19
- 3 min read
A very warm and humid day as I ventured over to the complex to watch some side bullpen sessions. I’m in Clearwater for the week.
Luis Gonzalez, Brad Pacheco, Gage Wood, Keegan Batka, Wilmer Blanco, Gabe Craig, Aaron Combs, Tegan Cain, Cole Gilley, Tyler Bowen, Alexander De Los Santos, Peyton Havard and Marcus Morgan threw side bullpens. Maxwell Hernandez, Raymon Rosario and Matt Manning threw live BP sessions.
I watched Wood, Batka, Craig, Combs and Cain throw from behind the screen in back of the catchers. Here are my initial impressions on Wood, Batka and Craig :
RH Gage Wood - 1st round draft choice - University of Arkansas - has a bit of a cross fire delivery - ball jumps out of his hand with lots of movement - compact, easy motion, nothing forced - breaking ball had late vertical break - last pitch was a crackling four seamer - made catcher Angel Mata’s glove pop!
RH Keegan Batka (ND; Davenport University) - late life on heater - also showed a sweeping slider - downward plain - three quarters arm slot.
RHP Gabe Craig (5th; Baylor University) - lower slot - tall and lanky - releases ball well out front - lots of upper body in delivery - short arms a bit - plenty of giddy up on fastball - ball darts - hard slider - great bite - sweeping action side to side - really late break - a ton of movement - it’s easy to see it as a swing and miss delivery.
There are ten position players here continuing their workouts including five catchers. Got to see middle infielders Jose Familia and Logan Dawson get some infield work on Ashburn Field under the tutelage of Shawn Williams. Both young men are teenagers and are considered primarily as shortstops - there were some interesting drills today, one where they practiced gathering themselves from a prone position in the hole after a presumed diving stop, getting up and then making the throw to first base. Outfielders Jack Barker, Victor Cardoza and Jaeden Calderon practiced fly balls and grounders with Roly de Armas in left field concurrently. Over on Carlton Field pitchers not scheduled to throw sides or live BP were doing PFP’s and also working on their pickoffs with coach Gustavo Armas.
I was only there for about an hour and a half and there were plenty of other drills and practices in the hours I wasn’t there. It’s a full scale training effort to keep the players developing akin to spring and extended spring training camps, a bit like Fall Instructs used to be only earlier. Rehab players also come and go according to their schedules - I got to chat with a few of the fellas including two of my favorites OF Marcus Lee Sang who told me he went thru his first running drill today (is coming back from a significant ankle/lower leg surgery after twisting and breaking it on a great catch in Somerset earlier this year playing for Reading where he hit the outfield wall flush) and LHP Braeden Fausnaught (had season ending TJ surgery and is still in the recovery brace). Both young men were upbeat and looking forward to getting back into game action hopefully at some point next season. Also chatted a bit (with my friend Santiago from Security serving as an interpreter) with RHP Moises Chace - he’s hoping for a July of ‘26 return to action after having TJ surgery this May.
Will go back tomorrow for some more - till then Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Keegan Batka on the left and Gage Wood on the right
Pickoff drills on Carlton Field
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