2023 Spring training game thread

Just to backtrack, what I was driving at concerning Donovan featuring 4 HR’s in only 28 PA’s in ST’ing is that there’s an outside chance for a scenario not unlike the pitfalls associated with that of falling victim to the seduction of an evil femme fatale for both the talented young player and his inexperienced field manager. I can only speak for myself, but not only am I entirely sure I can never again endure seeing him placed in the 5 slot, I’m reasonably certain that if he strays from his sound approach of simply reaching base and spraying the baseball to all areas of the field, he’ll suffer in the batter’s box. Hopefully, he’s aware of the deceptive allure of a booby trap.

My opinion is he’s just trying to position himself to get paid when the time comes. A homer a week trumps all the singles you can hit.

Exactly. That is the point I was trying to make a few days ago in regards to why players don’t try to go to the other way to beat the shift. The front offices share a big portion of the blame for how the game has changed. This obsession over launch angle and power has driven more players to emphasize that part of the game because that is what is rewarded when it comes to contract time.

I see Pinder took over in LF and got an RBI. I remember in Blake’s report on Pinder for the prospect ranking series he was totally absorbed by discussing the power aspect of Pinder’s game. That even though Pinder did a great job offensively at AA without power really being a factor (.400+ OBP). Similar to Donovan last year. They will have to fix him too.

Yes exactly. Something like 4 homers up to 10 homers makes all the difference. Never mind that neither 4 nor 10 was a significant part of his overall offensive contribution. To put it another way, if you took away 6 or 7 homers and replaced them with 6 or 7 singles and doubles over the course of the whole season, his overall offensive contribution would not be significantly different. It is similar to the case of Donovan. His ability to carry a top of the order position by hitting for high average and getting on base at a .400 clip is extremely valuable. That value will not be significantly greater if he hits 10 or 15 homers instead of 5, so long as he maintains the .400 OBP ahead of the middle of the order hitters.

Usually a team’s best hitter bats 3rd. But if you had ample middle of the order RBI types, Goldy’s high OBP plays best ahead of them. I hope you aren’t thinking Donny is turning into another Goldy.

1. Masyn Winn (R) SS
2. Alec Burleson (L) DH
3. Taylor Motter (R) 1B
4. Moises Gomez (R) LF
5. Andrew Knizner (R) C
6. Juniel Querecuto (S) 3B
7. Errol Robinson (R) 2B
8. Justin Toerner (L) RF
9. Nathan Church (L) CF
Matz

Really?

Something going in the first. Burleson reminded me of a dump truck on the interstate rounding third. But he crossed the plate. 2-0, as he had previously driven in Wynn.

Motter with a headfirst slide stealing 2B. No more boo boos please. Now 3rd on a passed ball. But that’s it. 2-0 after 1. I think he’s sort of an OF capable IF UT. Looks like an OK depth guy.

Before I knew who he was, I tuned into a ST game and the first thing I saw was Motter making a nice play for an out on a little weak flare hit into foul territory beyond 3B. At first glance I thought it was Donovan.

If a WS ends on a make believe K, is it to be considered a make believe WS? It’s not unlike Alice through the looking glass and into a wilderness of mirrors.

I got to watch some of it and finally got to see Hence. He’s got one of those live arms that some youngsters have. Its going to be about whether he can harness it and learn how to do something besides throw it past guys who swing at anything. He wasn’t able to close out the 9th before running out of pitch count. It will be interesting to see how he develops. I wouldn’t have new stationary printed just yet though, we’ve seen these kind of guys before and they all don’t put it together.

Seeing Helsley and later on Hence after watching Matz pitch for a few innings really points out the contrast between three types: a hard thrower usually with very good accuracy, a live arm and lively stuff that is hard to locate, and a work-a-day arm throwing strikes with just enough movement (hopefully) but not too much to keep it mostly on the black.

The live arm and certain lankiness had me thinking of a young Carlos Martinez to an extent. But Hence’s arm is not that electric, and he doesn’t really sling it like Carlos did early on, and his follow through doesn’t have him facing the wrong direction when the batter rips one back at him. That used to make me nervous as I was pretty sure he’d get killed out there. So maybe he shouldn’t have me thinking of Martinez, but he did.