Surprise: 5-3, 1st-tied
- Daryl Jones went deep in his only at bat. He also walked 3 times.
- Tyler Henley was 2-for-4 with a double a HR and a pair of walks. Henley has a .935 OPS in limited playing time.
- Bryan Anderson was 2-for-4 with a triple.
- Scott Gorgen pitched 1 inning allowing 1 run on 2 hits. He struck out 2.
- Adam Reifer got tagged for 3 ER including a 2-run HR. He allowed 3 hits, struck out 1 and walked 1 before finishing off the 9th.
Entries (RSS)
DJ also stole 2 bases off of Jason Castro – who (from my memory of the Future’s Game) has an absolute cannon. 6 SB for him in 7 games played.
Also, should we put any stock in him playing CF? Any chance he has the arm to play there?
I never thought his arm was as bad as it’s been reported. He made at least one very, very good through from the base of the corner LF wall at Quad Cities to 2nd that I saw in person. I think you get Carl Crawford style defense by playing him in left though (+10 defender)
Our offense is doing great in fall ball.
Our pitching, not so much.
a triple. from a catcher. whodathunkit….
I know Reifer has only been at Palm Beach and he is facing triple-A players and such, but damn like people say, with his stuff he shouldn’t be getting hit this hard.
I think some of the SBs can be attributed to pitchers working on mechanics and certain pitches and not paying as much attention to runners. IIRC, SB numbers always seem to be high in the AFL. Might be wrong though.
I’m really starting to lose faith in Adam Reifer. I’ve seen him pitch, and he has outstanding stuff, but the results just aren’t there at all. I fear he may just be one of those enigmatic guys who never puts it together despite having a golden arm. Sad.
And it’s very, very exciting to see DJ Tools flashing the speed. Not necessarily because of the stolen bases themselves, but because of what it says about the health of his legs. If he’s running like this, he’s obviously healthier than he was this past year. I think it’s only a matter of time before that translates into him putting up big numbers again.
mlbtraderumors.com reported that the Cards are one of the main suitors for Aroldis Chapman; although, they don’t give a link to the information.
I’d be shocked if they really were seriously after him, especially with the contract he’ll supposedly command.
Un-Fun Reifer fact. So far he’s walked the lead off batter in all three appearances…
Well they can use the money they recouped from voiding Wagner Mateo’s contract as a signing bonus for Chapman.
Seriously – does Riefer yell his next pitch to the hitter or something so that he knows what’s coming next? How can a guy this talented get rocked so hard on a consistent basis?
The money recouped from the Mateo ordeal is peanuts compared to what it would take to sign Chapman. It’s likely that he’ll sign something like a $40-60 million, 4 to 6 year contract or something in that range. Considering the questions surrounding him that would be quite a risk, although if you can get him for $6 million per or something and he turns out well then you have a steal. The Cardinals ARE a bit weak in left-handed starting pitching… although some even say Chapman is a reliever considering his only great tool at the moment is that high 90s fastball.
Anyway, a more on-topic note. Keith Law had this to say about Daryl Jones in his blog ( http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=law_keith ) yesterday; you need ESPN Insider to read the full thing:
“Daryl Jones is a strong, athletic outfielder with excellent bat speed and strong hands and wrists. His set-up is pretty wide at the plate, and he might be better off starting his legs closer together and striding forward, instead of his current no-stride/tap approach. He’s an above-average runner who should have the range to play anywhere in the outfield. My one concern is power: He didn’t hit for much this season (his regular season was derailed by a quad strain), and he’s already pretty strong, showing good power in BP but not as much in games.”
@ Swirls. So far in the AFL he’s throwing 77% fastballs, so he is to some degree.
One thing regarding pitchers to keep in mind; the AFL is a heavy hitter’s league. The current batting line for the league so far is a whopping .302/.382/.484. That said, Reifer certainly is struggling…
Sure he’s struggling in the hitter friendly AFL against much better competition. I can understand that. But he had just as terrible of numbers in the extremely pitcher friendly FSL this year during A+ ball.