Spring Training: As a reward for completing my 5 finals, I was ever-so-lucky to spend my Spring Break down in Arizona with my parents and two of my best friends and their parents. My parents and I were there between Saturday-Tuesday, March 21st-24th. We saw 5 games in 4 days, 4 of them were A's games and the additional game was a Reds vs. Rangers game. We saw 2 games at the A's brand new stadium, HoHoKam ballpark in Mesa, and two away games at Goodyear ballpark, home of the Reds and Indians. The A's recorded 2 wins (both at home) and 2 losses (both on the road) while we were there. I was very impressed with what I saw from the A's, both offensively and defensively.
Reds Vs. A's - 3/21/15:
Coco - looked a little rusty, still recovering from injury, I expect that he'll be fine, looked fine in LF, went 0-3 with 2 k's
Zobrist - impressive with his plate discipline and pitch selection, went 1-4 with a run scored
Lawrie - impressive on the defensive end, made about 3 really nice plays at third, even more impressive on the offensive end, crushed a 3-run bomb to left, went 1-3 HR 3 rbis and a k
Canha - impressive with his 2 strike approach, although he has tons of strikeouts this Spring, both of his hits came with two-strikes on him, one to the opposite field, went 2-2, 2 doubles with 2 runs scored
Semien - extremely impressive on the defensive end at short, he is our guy, went 1-3 2B with a run and rbi
Phegley - impressive with his power, blasted a two-run bomb off of Aroldis Chapman and I believe he had two strikes on him, went 2-3 HR 2 rbis
Sogard - as always in the Spring... impressed with his hitting, went 2-3 with 2 doubles
Hahn - used lots of pitches to get good results, impressive curveball, velocity looked good (no speed gun at HoHoKam), Stat Line: 5.0 IP 4 H 0 ER 2 BB 2 SO
No one looked impressive on the Reds side... other than Marlon Byrd maybe, but the A's did batter Aroldis Chapman around for 3 hits and 3 earned runs in 2 innings, including a homer by Phegley.
A's Vs. Reds - 3/22/15:
Semien - impressive again on the offensive end, and even more on the defensive end, made a nice back-handed play on a ground ball in the 6-hole - strong arm (much stronger than Lowrie), another nice pick on a lined shot, and a great fundamental play - routine ball to his left, stayed down on it but the ball came up, hit him in the chest, Semien stayed with it and threw the runner out at first, also went 2-3 with a double and a run.
Ladendorf - impressive with his bat and versatility in the field, played both LF and 3B, went 2-3 with an RBI double (I thought he could have made it to third, but ya know, it's only Spring Training)
Graveman - similar to Hahn, used a lot of pitches to get good results, also the umpire had a pretty tight strike-zone, gave up no Air-Outs, allowed one base hit which was a seeing-eye single up the middle by Joey Votto, gave up an intentional walk to Jay Bruce which I thought was a really smart move. Votto was on third with one out... walked Bruce intentionally to set up a possible double play ball, sure enough, the next guy, Cozart grounded into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play. Oh and he had 5 SO's too. Stat Line:
5.1 IP 1 H 0 ER 1 BB 5 SO.
Clippard - impressive with his poise on the mound, good velocity on his fastball, I like how he comes straight over the top, it's a sneaky fast fastball. His change-up is also deceiving, batters can't tell when he throws it.
The A's had this one in the bag, until the put in Brett Huntzinger. They were up 3-0 til the 8th when SATIN BEAT THE A'S! Josh Satin that is. He went 2-2 off the bench and drove in all 4 of the Reds runs, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. Meh, no need for bitterness. Huntzinger won't make the team, and the loss doesn't matter. Oh and Cingrani looked sharp, 2 IP 3 SO (he should be the Reds #5 starter)
A's Vs. Indians - 3/23/15:
Coco - had some struggles again at the plate, but made all the routine plays in LF, went 0-3
Zobrist - this man can swing the bat, went 1-3 with a K
Butler - very low crouch in his batting stance... scored on an error by Lonnie Chisenhall, went 1-3
Davis - impressive at his approach at the plate, got a base hit against 'XYZ' left-handed pitcher, went 1-2 with 2 BB and a K
Canha - good battles at the plate, but had nothing to show for it 1-4, 2 K's
Sportman (who?) - hit a 2 run bomb in the 9th! I got his autograph earlier that day, went 1-1 with a HR
Bassitt - cannot get left handers out for his life... but right handers can't hit him for their lives! Needs to figure out a way to get leftys out. Via Twitter, Bassitt was very frustrated with his outing, he left a lot of his fastballs right over the middle of the plate to leftys, needs to throw at the front knee of leftys because there's a natural tail on his fastball, so it'll break back over the inner half of the plate, but he's 'afraid' to throw it too far inside to leftys. He'll improve in AAA. He hasn't always had trouble pitching to leftys, but once he figures it out, he'll be a solid asset to the rotation or the pen.
Stat Line: 4.1 IP 7 H 5 ER 1 BB 3 SO
Cook - thank goodness that man is in Triple-A...
Venditte - impressive, did well on the mound, got three weak pop outs, fun to talk about his switch-pitching with other fans in the stands.
Brantley - that guy is legit, he's a hitter, no fluke, went 2-3 with 2 runs scored
Moss - it was fun/sad seeing Mossy in a different uniform, went 0-2 with a BB and a K
Santana - hit a long bomb off of Bassitt (Left), went 1-2 with a HR and 3 RBIs
Chisenhall - this guy can hit too, but he cannot play the field for his life... led the league in errors last year, went 3-3 with a double and 2 RBIs
Reds Vs. Rangers - 3/23/15 (Night Game!):
Hamilton - got to see him steal a base (easily), went 0-2 2 BB
Byrd - did well, went 2-5 with a triple (he flew around the bases) 2 runs scored and an RBI
Mesoraco - hit a bomb to left, went 1-3 HR 2 RBIs
Dominguez - also hit a bomb to left that my friend and I almost caught! He went 1-5 HR 2 RBIs
Negron - went 2-3 with a double and a run
DeShields - can fly down the line, but needs some work on the base paths 2 CS 1 SB went 2-6 with a 2B
Rua - very impressive, went 2-5 with a double, triple and 4 RBIs
Alberto - impressive on the defensive end, also went 1-2 with an RBI
Cubs Vs. A's - 3/24/15 (Last game):
Burns - every time I've seen this guy... he hasn't impressed me too much, I know he's hitting .400+, but I think he can utilize his speed much more than he is doing now, he went 2-6 with 2 runs
Zobrist - the man can flat out swing it, went 2-4, run, double, 2 RBIs
Butler - Country Breakfast hit a wall scraping homer to the opposite field - impressive, went 1-3 2 runs 2 rbis HR and a BB
Sportman - continues his perfect spring going 1-1 with a double
Davis - very impressive, patient at the plate, good swings, went 3-4 with a run and a double
Semien - continues to impress, went 1-4 with a double
Vogt - do you believe? Kuz, I believe in Stephen Vogt, hasn't had that great of a Spring hitting-wise, but he sure swung it well, went 3-3 with a double, a Bomb, 2 runs and 3 RBIs (MVP)
Ladendorf - also very impressive, starting to look like a Major League Ball player, played 2B, went 2-4 with 2 runs, a double and an RBI
Sogard - (again) did really well... 2-4 with 2 runs a double and an RBI
Pomz - looked ugly in the 1st inning, used a lot of pitches, walked a ton of people, and gave up a massive blast to who other than the MVP of Cactus League, Kris Bryant. Stat Line: 2.2 IP 3 H 2 ER 4 BB 4 SO
Zito - impressive, although he walked 3... I thought he had pretty good control, Cubs had decent ABs against him, but not a lot of hard contact. He was able to shut down the Cub's heart of the order. Stat Line: 4.0 IP 1 H 3 BB 2 SO
Alvarez - that dude can throw hard... and fast... and hard, might make the team if Zito gets traded. Stat Line: 1 IP 1 H 1 BB 0 ER
Bryant - hit a yak... a monster yak...
Wrap-Up: Throughout Spring Training, and the games that I saw in person, I don't have many concerns about the guys who are going to make the roster, and the guys who might make the roster. Overall, I left Arizona feeling impressed by our hitters, starters, relievers, everything. We are a much more balanced team up and down in terms of having power threats. We've got guys that will give long, quality ABs every game. Guys who aren't afraid to work a walk, or strikeout by being aggressive at the plate. I like Phegley's power, Canha's and Davis's approach at the plate. Semien overall. Butler, Lawrie, Zobrist. It's sorta hard not to have a strong bias towards 'our' guys, but in all honesty, they all looked good, and they've all had good Springs. Hahn, Graveman, Pomeranz and Zito all impressed me as well. Venditte was effective, as well as Alvarez. It's gonna be tough for Melvin and Beane and the rest of the staff to put together a 25-Man roster, because there are so many guys that deserve to be on. That's not a bad problem to have.
Reds Vs. A's - 3/21/15:
Coco - looked a little rusty, still recovering from injury, I expect that he'll be fine, looked fine in LF, went 0-3 with 2 k's
Zobrist - impressive with his plate discipline and pitch selection, went 1-4 with a run scored
Lawrie - impressive on the defensive end, made about 3 really nice plays at third, even more impressive on the offensive end, crushed a 3-run bomb to left, went 1-3 HR 3 rbis and a k
Canha - impressive with his 2 strike approach, although he has tons of strikeouts this Spring, both of his hits came with two-strikes on him, one to the opposite field, went 2-2, 2 doubles with 2 runs scored
Semien - extremely impressive on the defensive end at short, he is our guy, went 1-3 2B with a run and rbi
Phegley - impressive with his power, blasted a two-run bomb off of Aroldis Chapman and I believe he had two strikes on him, went 2-3 HR 2 rbis
Sogard - as always in the Spring... impressed with his hitting, went 2-3 with 2 doubles
Hahn - used lots of pitches to get good results, impressive curveball, velocity looked good (no speed gun at HoHoKam), Stat Line: 5.0 IP 4 H 0 ER 2 BB 2 SO
No one looked impressive on the Reds side... other than Marlon Byrd maybe, but the A's did batter Aroldis Chapman around for 3 hits and 3 earned runs in 2 innings, including a homer by Phegley.
A's Vs. Reds - 3/22/15:
Semien - impressive again on the offensive end, and even more on the defensive end, made a nice back-handed play on a ground ball in the 6-hole - strong arm (much stronger than Lowrie), another nice pick on a lined shot, and a great fundamental play - routine ball to his left, stayed down on it but the ball came up, hit him in the chest, Semien stayed with it and threw the runner out at first, also went 2-3 with a double and a run.
Ladendorf - impressive with his bat and versatility in the field, played both LF and 3B, went 2-3 with an RBI double (I thought he could have made it to third, but ya know, it's only Spring Training)
Graveman - similar to Hahn, used a lot of pitches to get good results, also the umpire had a pretty tight strike-zone, gave up no Air-Outs, allowed one base hit which was a seeing-eye single up the middle by Joey Votto, gave up an intentional walk to Jay Bruce which I thought was a really smart move. Votto was on third with one out... walked Bruce intentionally to set up a possible double play ball, sure enough, the next guy, Cozart grounded into a 6-4-3 inning ending double play. Oh and he had 5 SO's too. Stat Line:
5.1 IP 1 H 0 ER 1 BB 5 SO.
Clippard - impressive with his poise on the mound, good velocity on his fastball, I like how he comes straight over the top, it's a sneaky fast fastball. His change-up is also deceiving, batters can't tell when he throws it.
The A's had this one in the bag, until the put in Brett Huntzinger. They were up 3-0 til the 8th when SATIN BEAT THE A'S! Josh Satin that is. He went 2-2 off the bench and drove in all 4 of the Reds runs, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. Meh, no need for bitterness. Huntzinger won't make the team, and the loss doesn't matter. Oh and Cingrani looked sharp, 2 IP 3 SO (he should be the Reds #5 starter)
A's Vs. Indians - 3/23/15:
Coco - had some struggles again at the plate, but made all the routine plays in LF, went 0-3
Zobrist - this man can swing the bat, went 1-3 with a K
Butler - very low crouch in his batting stance... scored on an error by Lonnie Chisenhall, went 1-3
Davis - impressive at his approach at the plate, got a base hit against 'XYZ' left-handed pitcher, went 1-2 with 2 BB and a K
Canha - good battles at the plate, but had nothing to show for it 1-4, 2 K's
Sportman (who?) - hit a 2 run bomb in the 9th! I got his autograph earlier that day, went 1-1 with a HR
Bassitt - cannot get left handers out for his life... but right handers can't hit him for their lives! Needs to figure out a way to get leftys out. Via Twitter, Bassitt was very frustrated with his outing, he left a lot of his fastballs right over the middle of the plate to leftys, needs to throw at the front knee of leftys because there's a natural tail on his fastball, so it'll break back over the inner half of the plate, but he's 'afraid' to throw it too far inside to leftys. He'll improve in AAA. He hasn't always had trouble pitching to leftys, but once he figures it out, he'll be a solid asset to the rotation or the pen.
Stat Line: 4.1 IP 7 H 5 ER 1 BB 3 SO
Cook - thank goodness that man is in Triple-A...
Venditte - impressive, did well on the mound, got three weak pop outs, fun to talk about his switch-pitching with other fans in the stands.
Brantley - that guy is legit, he's a hitter, no fluke, went 2-3 with 2 runs scored
Moss - it was fun/sad seeing Mossy in a different uniform, went 0-2 with a BB and a K
Santana - hit a long bomb off of Bassitt (Left), went 1-2 with a HR and 3 RBIs
Chisenhall - this guy can hit too, but he cannot play the field for his life... led the league in errors last year, went 3-3 with a double and 2 RBIs
Reds Vs. Rangers - 3/23/15 (Night Game!):
Hamilton - got to see him steal a base (easily), went 0-2 2 BB
Byrd - did well, went 2-5 with a triple (he flew around the bases) 2 runs scored and an RBI
Mesoraco - hit a bomb to left, went 1-3 HR 2 RBIs
Dominguez - also hit a bomb to left that my friend and I almost caught! He went 1-5 HR 2 RBIs
Negron - went 2-3 with a double and a run
DeShields - can fly down the line, but needs some work on the base paths 2 CS 1 SB went 2-6 with a 2B
Rua - very impressive, went 2-5 with a double, triple and 4 RBIs
Alberto - impressive on the defensive end, also went 1-2 with an RBI
Cubs Vs. A's - 3/24/15 (Last game):
Burns - every time I've seen this guy... he hasn't impressed me too much, I know he's hitting .400+, but I think he can utilize his speed much more than he is doing now, he went 2-6 with 2 runs
Zobrist - the man can flat out swing it, went 2-4, run, double, 2 RBIs
Butler - Country Breakfast hit a wall scraping homer to the opposite field - impressive, went 1-3 2 runs 2 rbis HR and a BB
Sportman - continues his perfect spring going 1-1 with a double
Davis - very impressive, patient at the plate, good swings, went 3-4 with a run and a double
Semien - continues to impress, went 1-4 with a double
Vogt - do you believe? Kuz, I believe in Stephen Vogt, hasn't had that great of a Spring hitting-wise, but he sure swung it well, went 3-3 with a double, a Bomb, 2 runs and 3 RBIs (MVP)
Ladendorf - also very impressive, starting to look like a Major League Ball player, played 2B, went 2-4 with 2 runs, a double and an RBI
Sogard - (again) did really well... 2-4 with 2 runs a double and an RBI
Pomz - looked ugly in the 1st inning, used a lot of pitches, walked a ton of people, and gave up a massive blast to who other than the MVP of Cactus League, Kris Bryant. Stat Line: 2.2 IP 3 H 2 ER 4 BB 4 SO
Zito - impressive, although he walked 3... I thought he had pretty good control, Cubs had decent ABs against him, but not a lot of hard contact. He was able to shut down the Cub's heart of the order. Stat Line: 4.0 IP 1 H 3 BB 2 SO
Alvarez - that dude can throw hard... and fast... and hard, might make the team if Zito gets traded. Stat Line: 1 IP 1 H 1 BB 0 ER
Bryant - hit a yak... a monster yak...
Wrap-Up: Throughout Spring Training, and the games that I saw in person, I don't have many concerns about the guys who are going to make the roster, and the guys who might make the roster. Overall, I left Arizona feeling impressed by our hitters, starters, relievers, everything. We are a much more balanced team up and down in terms of having power threats. We've got guys that will give long, quality ABs every game. Guys who aren't afraid to work a walk, or strikeout by being aggressive at the plate. I like Phegley's power, Canha's and Davis's approach at the plate. Semien overall. Butler, Lawrie, Zobrist. It's sorta hard not to have a strong bias towards 'our' guys, but in all honesty, they all looked good, and they've all had good Springs. Hahn, Graveman, Pomeranz and Zito all impressed me as well. Venditte was effective, as well as Alvarez. It's gonna be tough for Melvin and Beane and the rest of the staff to put together a 25-Man roster, because there are so many guys that deserve to be on. That's not a bad problem to have.