Spring Breakout
Notes
- Moises Chace’s velocity was down again, sitting 91-93. His slider did not look particularly sharp, but his changeup did look good. You hope he is still just behind and getting stretched out. His final pitch, for his second strikeout, was a very good looking cutter in on a lefty.
- Dante Nori did not look overmatched against Bubba Chandler, one of the best arms in the game, and was able to catch up to the velocity and foul off some tough pitches. He struck out in his second at bat on a full count and then grounded out after 10 pitches in his third pitch. Overall he saw 24 pitches in 3 trips to the plate.
- The rest of lineup struggled vs Chandler who was sitting 98-100 with good ride.
- Jean Cabrera continues to throw R-R changeups and that will probably need to be a signature. His control wavered after two batters in his first inning of work. He should have had a double play in the second, but his own error led to no outs. He later wisely took an out before trying to force another double play. His sweeper lives in the zone a lot, but that will work if he crisscrosses it with the sinker and changeup.
- Aroon Escobar made a fielding mistake at third, but showed a very strong arm. He then made an error in the 4th when he went to show off the arm and sailed a throw. He made a nice throw home a fielder’s choice in the 5th.
- Escobar pulled a 110.5 mph double down the left field line. He is on fire this spring.
- Alex McFarlane in his first game back touching 99.4 mph. He threw a four seam and sinker shape and then a 2 plane slider. If they just put him in the bullpen he could move very quickly through the system.
- It wasn’t a great game at the plate for Eduardo Tait, but he looked capable behind the plate, especially since some of the pitchers were not locating well.
- Mavis Graves’ command was not great in his inning of work. He found it, and some velocity, as the inning went on.
- It has been a really bad spring for Griff McGarry, who just has no command.
- Micah Ottenbreit came in with bases loaded and no outs and went 1-2-3. He has a new upper 80s cutter to go with the slider and curveball, and it will help given his fastball quality. It was an impressive outing.
- There were reports that Casey Steward’s velocity was up this spring, and he average 98.0 mph today. His sweeper and cutter also were up in velocity. If he can hold it in longer outings he will be a real breakout.
- Carson DeMartini showed much better contact after the draft, but the question was whether he could do power and contact. He hit a home run in a big league game earlier in the year, and he had an opposite field shot today. He is probably a third baseman, but the fact they trust him at second is impressive.
- Daniel Harper was 98-99 and had 3 swing and misses on 8 pitches. He needs to work on his command, and his stuff isn’t always dominant, but he could be a guy who suddenly finds himself in the big league mix.
- Justin Crawford had an opposite field triple on a high pitch and beat out an infield hit. It wasn’t a breakout game, but he was clearly one of the better players on the field. The broadcast talked about the focus on hitting the ball on a line.
- A quiet day for Aidan Miller at the plate. He played third base which was notable given he has yet to play somewhere other than shortstop.
- Devin Saltiban hit two balls fairly squarely, one fell for a double and another was snagged on a great play by the pitcher.
- It was the first game in a Phillies uniform for Aaron Combs. I can see why they want to try him as a starting pitcher, but also his command got quite scary as his appearance went on.
- Overall there was a real drop off in pitching quality after McFarlane until Steward came in. Harper was also impressive, but he is a pure reliever.
- I would have liked to have seen Brad Pacheco get into the game.
Pitcher Velocity
- Moises Chace: FA 91-93, FC 87, CH 83-84, SL 80-82
- Jean Cabrera: FA 93-95, SI 94-96, CH 85-87, ST 78-79
- Alex McFarlane: SI 99, FA 97-98, SL 86
- Mavis Graves: SI 89-93, FA 91-94, CH 84, FC 82-84, SL 77-81
- Griff McGarry: FA 94-96, SI 95-96, FC 86-87
- Micah Ottenbreit: SI 91-92, FC 88-89, CH 82, SL
- Casey Steward: FA 97-98, SI 97-98, FC 87-89, ST 84-85
- Daniel Harper: FA 98-99, FC 90
- Aaron Combs: FA 93-94, CH 87-88, FC 87, CU 77-78
Exit Velocity
- Otto Kemp: 99.0
- Keaton Anthony: 88.5
- Justin Crawford: 81.6, 94.9, 96.5
- Hendry Mendez: 88.0
- Gabriel Rincones Jr.: 83.8, 88.7, 97.4
- Eduardo Tait: 66.3, 100.8
- Devin Saltiban: 88.4, 98.1
- Dante Nori: 79.9, 95.1
- Carson DeMartini: 70.7, 101.0
- Aroon Escobar: 77.7, 110.5
- Alirio Ferrebus: 102.3
- Aidan Miller: 70.2, 87.8
Other Notes
- Aroon Escobar had himself a nice game on Sunday with a great defensive play and a laser home run.
- It wasn’t a great season debut for Mick Abel. He had a relatively clean first inning, but things spiraled with a bunch of hits and defensive miscues. His velocity was down slightly, but at 94-96 T97 was not that far down for March.
- Luis Avila is throwing a bit harder in the early going, sitting 96-99 prior to the breakout.