Shelby Miller sighting! Jon Jay continues a torrid start and Blake King shows some improved command.
- Jon Jay was 3-for-5 with a double and a walk.
- Daniel Descalso had a monster afternoon going 4-for-5 with a double.
- Tyler Henley was 3-for-5 with a double.
- Kevin Howard, a minor league free agent signing playing first base, was 2-for-4 with a HR and a walk.
- Ruben Gotay and Mark Shorey both had 2 hits in 4 ABs and 5 ABs respectively.
- Tyler Greene is off to a shaky defensive start with his 4th error in 4 games.
- Adam Ottavino came through with a very good performance. He struck out 8 while walking just 1 in 5 IP. He was touched up for 7 hits and 3 runs (including a 2 run HR). That’s a great start to the year for Ottavino. At just 84 pitches, he could have gone another inning if needed.
- Oneli Perez struck out 3 and allowed 2 hits in 4 scoreless frames.
- The losing pitcher was Omaha starter . . . Brad Thompson.
- Curt Smith was 2-for-4.
- Daryl Jones was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Aaron Luna, playing RF, was 2-for-3.
- Scott Gorgen, the changeup artist, threw a strong 5 innings striking out 4. He allowed 1 run on 5 hits.
- Blake King retired 5 (1 via K) and allowed a hit. He did not walk a batter. King threw 17 of his 22 pitches for strikes.
- Eduardo Sanchez walked 1 in a hitless 9th.
Palm Beach’s game was suspended in the 2nd inning.
- Niko Vasquez was 0-for-4.
- Robert Stock was 1-for-1 walking twice and doubling.
- Matt Adams was 2-for-4 with a HR.
- Shelby Miller got the start and was very impressive by all accounts. In 4 innings, he struck out 7 while allowing 2 hits and 3 walks.
- Chris Notti pitched 4 innings allowing 6 hits and walking 3 for 1 unearned run. He struck out 3.
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Nice to see a solid opening start for Miller. Be curious to see if he has a strong few months if they decide to keep him in A Ball or move him up. I guess first things first…lets get him a few solid starts before thinking too much into the future :)
Lots of good days: Miller, Adams, King, Ottavino, Descalso, Henley, Jay.
Glad to be rid of Brad.
What is wrong with David Freese? You mentioned over at vb that everyone hates him and I am wondering what the reason(s) could be.
freese had a rough spring training on defense – kind of like tyler greene – which he has followed up with 3 errors so far, including 2 tonight. i think there’s some general suspicion of him – whether its the DUI or the defensive ineptitude, i don’t know.
like i said @ veb, these seem to be mental errors by a rookie – rushing throws, overthinking a grounder. freese has not been prone to errors in the field in the minors, so i’m guessing it’s just a process of adapting to the majors. if he still is bollocksing plays up in june, i’ll worry a little.
even if he doesn’t succeed, between craig, mather, lopez, and gotay, we won’t need to worry too much about third.
@tnek5: In retrospect, hate was the wrong choice of word. I’m just surprised by how quickly some of the new players develop a reputation after limited time in the bigs.
I am not worried about Freese. He is just fighting to keep his head above water currently. He will play it out of his system.
BTW I think two walks and a double is a big day for Stock.
I watched Springfield play this weekend and they are very strong in the pitching area….they have only given up 7 or 8 runs in 4 games…and only 2 of those by relievers. The last two games the offense has come alive as well. Still a couple of players not playing up to their “billing”, but maybe they will step it up down the road.
The word on Freese was that he was a legit third baseman and a major defensive upgrade over last year’s suspects. He’s looked clueless there to me though. I’m sure he’s playing tight what with having a tough winter and trying to win the job but he hasn’t shown me the reflexes that a good third baseman needs to have. Like you all say he may play his way out of it and we do have other possibilities to try there if he doesn’t.
Easy, that’s exactly how Freese strikes me. He was supposed to be a very good defensive third baseman and he doesn’t appear to get in good position or, as you say, have good reflexes. I don’t think he’s made a play yet on a hard-hit ball to third. Here’s hoping we’re both wrong.
And, does it seem that Blake King is maybe having fewer games with high walk totals, based on the end of last year, spring training, and the start of t his year. Hope he’s turned a corner.
I agree with CRay, Blake King seems to have better control of his pitches. I watched him this week in Frisco and he is throwing a 2 seam fastball, a slider and a change-up that have major movement….luckily the ball is moving for strikes…I too hope that he can keep it up because when he throws strikes, he is non-hittable.
What was Shelby throwing? What kinds of pitches, how high did he get on the gun? This all sounds … intriguing.
Who else is on the Matt Adams bandwagon with me! Thanks to his ridiculous college stats I will always be a fan.
From what I hear, Adams can probably pull a pretty big wagon so I’m on board! :)
So do we have a consensious that Blake King and Gary Daley have big league stuff and just need control?
I’m not sure on Daley yet. He needs to dominate (high K rate, low hits p/9) at some level which he hasn’t yet. He hasn’t faced enough batters that he hasn’t walked yet to know :)
No one should have been thinking that freese would be the second coming of scott rolen…but when the season is over with, he will be looked at as a slightly above average third baseman with a slightly above average bat….and for a rookie, on this team, that is all that should be expected or asked of him
Just give Freese a little time. Although I wanted to throw the remote at my TV over the 2 errors in one inning, I was happy to see that he came up and roped a single in his at bat the next inning. He has a certain toughness that can’t be quantified. Once he settles in and realizes that very little pressure is placed upon him in this lineup, I think we are all going to see a nice 3B at a nice price for years to come.