Tag: Spring Training

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Spring Training

Cactus Fever

Friday, March 13
Cincinnati 6 at San Francisco 1
Scottsdale Stadium
Temp: 88 at 4:05 first pitch

Bleday Bleeder Scores 2 in Reds Romp

The Cincinnati Reds bookended two-run innings in the first and eighth on their way to a 6-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. The Reds, who outhit the Giants 13-7, broke out the bats early against San Fran starter Landon Roupp. After a TJ Friedl strike out to open the game, Matt McLain ripped a triple to left and Will Benson and Nathaniel Lowe drew walks to pack the sacks. Roupp got JJ Bleday to hit a squibber up the middle to the right of second. Giants second baseman Buddy Kennedy did his best impersonation of diving on a hand grenade, but it rolled past his belly. McLain and Benson scored and a very charitable scorekeeper gave Bleday a single on the play.

Cincinnati tacked on singletons in the fifth — Lowe doubled home Benson after the Reds right fielder drew a one-out walk — and in the sixth when a Kennedy error at second allowed Garrett Hampson to reach first safely. Tyson Lewis promptly banked the run with a double to left. The hit made up for the baserunning gaff Lewis made in the second after singling and stealing second. Lewis looked to be waiting for a bus between second and third as McLain’s one-out fly ball settled into the glove of Jerar Encarnacion. The Giants right fielder made a strong throw to second to double-up Lewis and end the inning. The Reds led 4-0 through six.

The Giants finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when Will Brennan smacked a two-out single. Encarnacion, who went 2-for-4 on the game, doubled to center, driving him home the Giants’ only run.

Cincinnati completed the game’s scoring in the top of the eighth when Carlos Sanchez singled to open the inning and scored on a Rafhlmil Torres triple to right. Hansel Jimenez pinch-hit for Lewis and was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. Torres scored on the play to make the final 6-1.

Ballpark Buzz … McLain’s triple in the first was three feet short of being a home run, banging off the Rose Paving sign in left. … Benson showed off his blazing speed in the fifth when he scored from first on Lowe’s line drive double to center. A positive for the Giants was the pitching staff’s 13 K’s on the day. Roupp had 4 in 3 innings, Erik Miller and Blade Tidwell each logged 3 in an inning each and Nick Margevicius recorded 3 in 4 innings of work. In the other dugout, Reds pitchers logged 9 K’s with Hagen Danner the sharpest, striking out all three batters he faced. … Roupp’s fastball hit 93.5 mph. … Scottsdale Stadium’s scoreboard is so busy, the text gets smaller and I may need to bring some binocs next time. … Attendance: 8,649. … My drink of choice today: Estrella and Sprite shanty.

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Spring Training

Cactus Fever

Wednesday, March 11
Kansas City 8 at Chicago 9
Sloan Park
Temp: 80 at 1:10 first pitch

Cubs Clip Royals in Sloan Park Slugfest

Rare are the days when you clout five home runs and wind up second best on the scoreboard. Factor in that it’s a split-squad game with half of KC’s players in Surprise hosting the Giants … AND Italy snatching Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglinone for the World Baseball Classic. But that’s what Kansas City did, outhomering the Cubbies 5-to-2 in an exciting see-saw game where the lead changed hand five times and the Cubs finally prevailed 9-8.

The game’s second batter Lane Thomas led off the Royals scoring when he smoked a triple into right center and scooted home when Nico Hoerner’s errant throw wound up in the Cubs dugout. The Cubs roared back against KC starter Mitch Spence with a 5-spot in the second. Spence thought he was home free after getting Dansby Swanson to fly out to second and Michael Conforto on a line-out to right. But Carson Kelly and Dylan Carlson singled before Spence plunked Matt Shaw to load the bases. Number nine hitter Pedro Ramirez promptly parked Spence’s 0-1 pitch into the right field Blankets-on-the-Berm for a Grand Salami. Next up, Hoerner with the back-to-back jack, taking Spence over the fence in center to put the Cubs up 5-2 through two.

KC wasted no time getting back on the board in the third. Peyton Wilson led off with a walk and Brett Squires squared up a Chris Rea offering and launched it 30 feet beyond the center field fence, whittling the Cubs lead to 5-3. Next inning, the Royals bats were still battle royale. Elias Diaz led off with a blast to left and, following a Tyler Tolbert groundout, Luca Tresh trashed a pitch 30 feet to the right of where Diaz’ dinger landed. With no pals aboard, the two solo shots made it a 5-5 game through four.

The two clubs’ pitchers escaped any damage in the fifth and sixth innings but KC took a 6-5 lead in the seventh when Wilson led off with a bomb to left. The bottom of the seventh began in bizarre fashion. The top of the order was due up. Jefferson Rojas had replaced Hoerner. But the number two batter Moised Ballesteros stepped to the plate out of order and singled to left, causing this scorekeeper to wonder … did I missed something? Not at all. The ump had Ballesteros immediately replaced by pinch runner Joan Delgado and Rojas batted next, striking out. Delgado stole second and, after a Justin Dean fly out, Brett Bateman singled home Delgado. Bateman swiped second and came home on a Scott Kingery single for a 7-6 Cubs lead.

In the top of the eighth, John Rave reached first when Cubs third baseman Matt Halbach tracked Rave’s mile-high pop-up from third towards short before reaching out … and dropping it. Yandel Ricardo moved him along with a single to center. Luke Pelzer came in to run for Rave. A Tyriq Kemp fielder’s choice scored Pelzer to tie the game, 7-7.

The Cubs failed to score in the bottom of the eighth and the game moved to the ninth. Following a Jose Cerice groundout, a Blake Mitchell homer put KC back on top, 8-7. Blake’s blast went over the SLOAN sign at the top of the bullpen in right. I pegged it at 390 feet. … There were several challenges with the ABS system during the game. Several calls were overturned. None were more poetic than the called third strike to Cubs lead-off batter Justin Dean in the ninth. He challenged, won the challenge and then drilled the next pitch to left center. He took off like a shot and simply outran the throw in to second. Bateman grounded out, but Kingery singled home Dean, tying the game yet again, 8-8. Halbach was next up and he ripped a pitch down the right field line. The ball took a big careening bound off the side wall and the (geriatric) ball “boy” swished when he should’ve swooshed. It was a dance step gone wrong. The ball nailed him in the waist and Kingery never stopped, sailing all the way home from first. They gave Halbach a double, the Cubs ran onto the field to celebrate and I think the umps figured that since the grey-haired ball boy still had his teeth and pride, “Cubs Win!” seemed the safe play. 9-8, Chicago, thank you very much.

Ballpark Buzz … Conforto’s double to left center off Mason Black in the fifth is today’s pic … One might argue that Royals players hit 8 home runs today as Pasquantino went deep thrice in Italy’s 9-1 mauling of Mexico, setting up a USA vs. Canada quarterfinal match on Friday. … The Royals acquired Spence from the A’s a month ago on Feb. 12. He allowed 5 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk in 2 innings of work. … Rea’s pitching line wasn’t much better. Same damage, though it took twice as long: 5 runs, 4 earned on 5 hits and 1 walk in four innings. He struck out 1. … The fan beside me asked me if Luca Tresh is related to Tom Tresh, who was a three-time all-star for the Yankees from 1961-69. Yes, indeed. They are cousins. … Attendance: 11,944. … My drink of choice today: Four Peaks WOW Wheat.

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Spring Training

Cactus Fever

Monday, March 9
Seattle 1 at Arizona 2
Salt River Field at Talking Stick
Temp: 75 at 1:10 first pitch

DBacks Walk-Off with Texas Leaguer

One look at the starting line-ups screamed pitching duel. Starters Zac Gallen and Brian Woo took it from there. Gallen went nine-up, nine-down, striking out three along the way. Woo went an extra inning, pitching four complete while giving up three hits and the game’s first run when clean-up hitter Pavin Smith singled home Jorge Barrosa, who opened the bottom of the fourth with a long double into the right field corner. Woo struck out four.

The Mariners got that run back in a busy top of the fifth when Andrew Hoffman relieved Juan Morillo on the mound. Victor Robles sent Barrosa to the warning track in center for the first out. Connor Joe then rapped a single up the middle. Ryan Bliss drew a walk and Rhylan Thomas singled to left, driving in Joe to tie the game at one.

The two teams traded zeros for the next four innings until the bottom of the ninth when the DBack subs came to the fore. Jean Walters grounded out but Alexander Benua followed with a ringing single to right. Seattle submariner Tyler Cleveland replaced Blas Cantano on the hill. The righthanded Cleveland falls off the mound so violently, he looks to be slinging the ball home from the shortstop position. He struck out Danny Serretti but walked Pedro Catuy, sending Benua to second. Adrian Rodriguez stepped to the plate with two outs and lofted a Texas leaguer to center that barely eluded the glove of the sprinting second baseman Leo Rivas for the walk-off win.

Ballpark Buzz … Gallen looked sharp, hitting 95 mph. Juan Morillo looked impressive in an inning of work, allowing one hit, striking out two and topping out at 98. Connor Joe is heating up. It was his third 2-for-3 game in the past four. He’s 6-for-11 in that stretch … The weather was superbly comfortable, sunshine and the odd cloud with the mercury inching from 75 to 79 over the course of the game. Attendance: 11,944. … My drink of choice today: a Papago Orange Blossom-Mountain Dew DYI shanty.

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Spring Training

CACTUS FEVER

Saturday, April 2
Cleveland 1 at Texas 3
Surprise Stadium, Surprise
Temp: 85 at 6:07 first pitch

Garcia Bomb Beats Bieber

Cleveland starter Shane Bieber, he of lofty, top ten fantasy baseball pitcher status, ranking somewhere between Shohei Ohtani and Julio Urias, fairly cruised through the first three innings of Ranger batsmen, notching six strikeouts along the way. In the second, he gave up a loud two-out double to left by Kole Calhoun and walked Andy Ibanez before fanning Nick Solak to end the inning. Bieber wasn’t so lucky in the fourth. Mitch Garver singled to third and Ernie Clement’s throw in the dirt enabled Garver to gallop to second. Nathaniel Lowe cashed him in with a base hit to left. Up came Adolis Garcia, who teed up a Bieber offering, golfing a towering drive to left over the Boulevard Beer sign for a 3-0 Texas lead. Bieber stayed in for one more batter, striking out Calhoun before being replaced by Bryan Shaw.

The Guardians got a run back in the fifth when diminutive number 67 Steven Kwan, who a fan in front of me assured me had “made the team,” drew a one-out walk. After Oscar Mercado popped out to shallow center, Clement doubled to right, putting runners at second and third. A wild ball four pitch from Zak Kent saw Kwan scamper home to make the final score, 3-1.

Ballpark Buzz … Attendance of 5,005 seemed a generous number. … The JUGS Gun radar rap sheet: Bush–97, White–95, Kent–96, Richards–94, Bieber–91, Morgan–93 … Both clubs played the shift ad nauseum, perhaps 75% of the time. When lefty Calhoun came up in the sixth, Cleveland played him as a dead pull hitter. No fielder could be found on the left side of the infield. Kole might want to work on his bunting. … After Garcia’s two-run poke, Kwan had the most impressive at bat in the sixth. The lefty — who crowds the plate like a slugger — inside-outed a Joe Barlow pitch, mashing an opposite field clothesline rope that careened into the left field corner for a double. … Looking for a deep fantasy dark horse reliever? Say no more. The Guardians’ Eli Morgan dazzled with his deceptive, sneaky-fast 93-mph heater that seems to come out of his armpit. He struck out Corey Seager, Lowe, Solak and Cameron Cauley in three innings of work. Morgan only allowed a Marcus Semien single in the seventh, Semien’s only hit in a 1-for-4 night. In two spring appearances totaling five innings, Morgan has struck out six, walked none and allowed three hits to land in the Guardians bullpen. Stash ‘im if ya need ‘im. … It’s been a great, abbreviated-but-welcomed spring in the Cactus League. Opening Day draws near with everybody chomping at the first place bit. See you next year. Same bat time. Same bat website.

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Spring Training

CACTUS FEVER

Sunday, March 27
Arizona 0 at Texas 13
Surprise Stadium, Surprise
Temp: 86 at 1:06 first pitch

Baker’s Dozen Does In D’backs

Reality bites. Like a diamondback. Only it was Arizona who bit themselves in the foot Sunday. The ball club went with split squads, keeping big boys Carson Kelly, Ketel Marte, Josh Rojas, Nick Ahmed and David Peralta home at Salt River Field at Talking Stick to dispose of their facility-mates, the Colorado Rockies, 5-2. That left Jack McCarthy, Cooper Hummel, Pavin Smith & Co. on this side of Phoenix to ward off the Rangers Half-Billion-Dollar Duo, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, with Adolis Garcia on deck to drive them in. It didn’t go well. Texas’ “A” team led Arizona’s “B” team, 6-0, after six innings. Cue the wholesale changes resulting in Texas’ “B” team going against Arizona’s “C” team and, well … the Rangers racked up seven runs in the eighth inning, aided largely by Julio Frias walking four straight batters to force in two runs.

A.J. Alexy looked sharp in the win, setting down all nine batters he faced, striking out two in three innings of work. Indeed the D’Backs didn’t collect a hit until Braden Bishop led off the sixth with a single to right. After Jake Hager flied out to right, Jose Herrera singled to left but McCarthy struck out and Hummel flied out to deep left center. Arizona only managed two more hits — a Smith single in the seventh and a triple off the big bat of Matt Davidson in the ninth. The hulking first baseman hit a towering drive that gravity eventually convinced to return to Earth. The ball hit the top of the center field wall with so much force it rebounded halfway to the infield, I swear on a stack of World Series scorecards. It was by far the loudest hit of the four the D’Backs managed against the Rangers’ 13.

Ballpark Buzz … Rangers catcher Jose Trevino had a 3-for-3 day that warrants explicit second guessing. In his first at bat in the third, Trevino hit a rocket to third baseman Drew Ellis. Bent low in his crouch, Ellis pivoted 23 degrees counterclockwise and dropped his glove four inches, all in two nanoseconds. He froze, waiting for the smack of ball hitting leather. Didn’t happen. The ball sped past underneath his glove. A tough scorekeeper might have given Ellis an error because the ball almost hit him. He does after all have a glove, besides being paid $570,000 per year to make said play or at least knock it down where he then — a perk of the hot corner — has three full seconds to pick it up and throw to first. There was an error on the play but it went to the left fielder Jake Hager for failing to corral the ball, then falling down minus the banana peel, allowing Trevino to reach second. It was pretty much a “wait for the ball to stop rolling” kind of play. In the fifth, Trevino got almost all of a Caleb Baragar offering, sending the ball to deep center where Jake McCarthy had enough time to pitch a tent, gather firewood and adjust the Coleman stove … before dropping the ball. Trevino’s third at bat was a legitimate line drive double down the left field line. After watching the Brewers’ Pedro Severino mash last week, I’m convinced line-drive doubles are in the DNA of barrel-chested catchers. … Stowers’ home run was a blast down the left field line that topped the pole by 3-to-4 feet and went about 385. It’s 350 down the line. … Adolis Garcia didn’t disappoint. He went 2-for-3 including a first-inning double hit on a rope to the gap in left. In the fourth, he hit a sharp one-hopper up the middle for a single. … Texas Leaguers R Us. Chalk up two for the Rangers today. In the fifth, Nick Solak dunked one to right that scored two and an inning later, Matt Carpenter turned the trick again, dropping one into center for a ribbie. … In the eighth inning, I thought the D’Backs’ batboy was fooling around with a bat next to the on-deck circle. Ryan BlissHe started swinging it and I did a double take as he approached the plate. The public address announcer said, “Number 6, David Peralta.” The scoreboard immediately went to the Oops!-Default Arizona Logo. The batter wore number 6 but it wasn’t Peralta. Nope, meet Ryan Bliss. MLB lists him at 5-foot-9, 165 pounds. Please. Knock off three inches and 20 pounds. But the 22-year-old can indeed play. He worked a walk and made a snappy throw from short for an out in the bottom of the frame. As I write this, the D’Backs just inked Marte to a 5-year, $76M extension. Perhaps watching Bliss today was a wake-up call for Arizona brass to get Marte’s name on the dotted line? Sign him. Now.

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Spring Training

CACTUS FEVER

Saturday, March 26
Los Angeles 10 at Kansas City 5
Surprise Stadium, Surprise
Temp: 91 at 6:05 first pitch

Four Dodger Dingers Rock Royals

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals had twice as many hits as the Dodgers — 10 to 5 — but trailed by twice as many runs, 9-4. Such is the succinct shock and awe of watching three-run home runs disappear into the night. Justin Turner turned the trick after Brady Singer walked Chris Taylor and Max Muncy in the first. Tomas Telis did the deed in the eighth after Brad Peacock hit Zach McKinstry and walked Andy Burns. Telis’ clothes-line blast to right left the yard faster than a Telus text. Toss in Kevin Pillar’s two-run bomb in the sixth and Jake Lamb’s solo shot in the ninth and it was bombs away for the Dodgers after the Royals had regrouped from Turner’s opening salvo to tie the game 3-3 after three. They got there with Carlos Santana smashing a two-out double to left to cash in Bobby Witt Jr. and Andrew Benitendi. Witt had singled and stole second before Benitendi drew a walk. Whit Merrifield opened the scoring in the first with a triple to the right corner. Fantasy baseballers take note, Merrifield was cool and dried at third before the throw reached the infield. Another 40-SB year seems like a cinch. He came home on a wild pitch.

Ballpark Buzz … The white elephant in the winning L.A clubhouse was, “What is wrong with Cody?” He sported the golden sombrero tonight with four strikeouts. Since his third-inning single March 24 against Colorado, Bellinger has struck out. Eight. Consecutive. At. Bats. Dodger hitting coaches Brant Brown and Robert Van Scoyoc won’t sleep a wink tonight. … Evidently Banner Medical Center didn’t get the memo, a.k.a. last week’s column. Tonight their non-baseball trivia question asked how many mammograms they’ve performed the past year. 9000-plus, if you’re keeping score at home. I’m sure the mothers in attendance just loved responding to their children asking, “Mommy, what’s a mammogram?” …

My Fantasy Baseball strategy … If ya need it, as spring training is already winding down. From the six spot, I’ve been pretty consistent — after 50+ mock drafts from multiple spots — of drafting the following 22 starters when (sigh) Ohtani doesn’t fall into my lap. Round-by-Round: 1–Bichette (SS) / 2–Scherzer (SP) / 3–Urias (SP) / 4–O’Neil (OF) / 5–Peralta (SP) / 6–Bryant (1B) / 7–Chisholm (2B) / 8–Manoah (SP) / 9–Jansen (RP) / 10–Romano (RP) / 11–Av. Garcia (OF) / 12–Ad. Garcia (OF) / 13–Donaldson (3B) / 14–McGee (RP) / 15–Voit (CI) / 16–Baddoo (OF) / 17–Desclafani (SP) / 18–Bader (OF) / 19–O. Cruz (MI) / 20–Kiner-Falefa (UT)

Note the emphasis on team power and speed with an unabashed prayer for batting average. There’s little or no speed with corner infielders so I targeted Bryant because he can swipe a few and now has HR-friendly Coors Field. Others I have targeted are Albies, O’Neil and Chisholm. The rest will arrive on your doorstep. How? Pick 4 starting pitchers and 4 hitters in the first 8 Rounds, targeting the above. Use the dead space between hitter to drop down and grab The Starting Pitcher You Really, Truly Love. Forget the waiver wire, this is a six-month commitment. Use the 9th and 10th Round to take two relievers. Your 11th, 12th and 13th Rounds go to collecting Av. Garcia, Ad. Garcia and Donaldson respectively. Rounds 11-thru-13 run like clockwork. McGee is listed as the Giants’ closer but for some reason he’s ranked 300+ at Fantrax. Dig him up. If he’s scooped, Rogers or Bednar should be available. Rounds 15-to-19 can be a bit of a white knuckler, because some joker may take a flyer on Oneil Cruz out of the blue. I’m drafting him 30 or 40 spots higher because when at the 200+ ADP, be safe, not sorry. Also, I drafted catcher Luis Torrens in the 30th round (last) to clear up space for other picks. Catchers don’t run but he did poke 15 over the fence last year. The above road map has the necessary built-in deviations so you can breathe easy during the 45-seconds between picks. Good luck, managers!

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Spring Training

CACTUS FEVER / Sun-Feb-23

San Francisco at Oakland … Hohokam Stadium, Mesa … Temp: 60, Mostly sunny

Brantly Brings Home Winner

An 8th-inning single by Rob Brantly snapped a 3-3 tie, bringing home Brice Johnson with the winning run as the Giants topped the Athletics 5-3. Jacob Gonzalez would score an insurance run for the Giants in the top of the 9th when he scored on a Parker Dunshee wild pitch. Dunshee would take the loss (0-1) while Sam Wolff recorded the win (1-0). The Giants improve to 1-1 while the A’s remain winless at 0-3. They lost their other split squad game Sunday 7-3 to the DBacks.

The Giants got on the board first in the 3rd when Abiatal Avelino touched them all with his first cactus dinger, a solo shot laced down the left field line inside the 340-ft foul pole. The next batter Jamie Westbrook walked and came around to score when A’s third baseman Matt Chapman missed second base with a missile throw, trying to nab Westbrook at second after Chapman fielded a Jacob Gonzalez ground ball.

The A’s tied it up in their half of the 3rd when DH Mark Canha hit a sharp, clutch, two-out single up the middle to score Austin Allen and Chapman. 

Giants CF Joey Rickard, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a double, singled home Westbrook who’d doubled earlier to go up 3-2 in the top of the 5th. But the A’s answered right back in the bottom half when, after Tony Kemp fouled off 5 pitches, he launched a long bomb to right-center into the bullpen. Unfortunately Nate Orf was caught stealing a couple of pitches before Kemp’s blow, negating an A’s lead. 

Bunts, Bits & Bites … Mike Fiers started for the A’s. He of course exposed the Houston Astro sign-stealing scandal. The fans were receptive to him as he retired all six Giants he faced, striking out Wilmer Flores. … The Giants fans didn’t travel that well. San Fran is typically a tough cactus ticket to get your hands on but there were a lot of empty seats down either line. … A’s RF Luis Barrera got a long look today, the only player in the game not to be replaced. He didn’t disappoint, banging out 3 singles in 4 at bats. Kemp added a single with his homer to go 2-for-3 on the day. … Airline flights overhead averaged 5-6 per inning. Drink of choice: Blue Gatorade. My better half and I sat in Section 200 — great seats behind home plate. Nice views of, from left-to-right, McDowell, Red and Usery Mountains. On the menu: one huge jumbo dog, a beyond-the-bun deal at $7.50.