Let the Games Begin
While not the worst offseason in this site’s existence (don’t make me write it), it’s probably the closest to the normality of the last decade (2010-2019), with neither a pandemic nor a coup d’état or a lockout to mess with us.
It’s been amusing to watch the national media gnash its teeth over the new rules, which for us are old hat*. Almost as if they didn’t pay attention to what was going on in the minors for the past two seasons or that MLB told us that many of these experimental rules could come to fruition.
* Old hat? Maybe it’s appropriate you chose to use a pic of Boomer
So for a little while, we’ll have to deal with the two-spacers complaining about the new rules until they suddenly notice games moving along at the pace that they used to, back when there was a reason to use two spaces.
Or perhaps it’ll be a resurgence in basestealing. Maybe not to where it was in the 70s and 80s, but certainly it’ll look more like 1983 than 1953.
But I digress. For the next three weeks or so, we’ll pretend that it’s not specious for a minors site to write about spring training. When it becomes apparent that most of “our guys” have been relegated to the backfields, we’ll shift gears and wait for the start of the Red Wings season five weeks from today.
I laugh when writers across the media-sphere show angst about the pitch clock, they obviously didn’t watch any minor league games last year as the games were far more enjoyable to watch than the big league games.
and of course Alu comes up and rips a double
I agree. Many nights I would watch the Sens in person and then turn the Nats on MASN. The MLB pace was so hard to watch.
Hey, leave the two-spacers alone! It’s not like the extra space makes the text hard to read or creates a file storage problem. Let ’em be.
#FreedomforTwoSpacers
I tease. There are worse transgressions, like using “impact” as a verb. Makes me want to slap ’em across the face with my “Elements of Style” paperback. 😉
Interesting that Jeremy de la Rosa is getting the start in the first Spring Training game today, although it is a lineup heavy on scrubs, and they may just be giving JDLR a couple of quick looks before sending him on to minor-league camp.
As with Antuna and others over the years, there was no earthly reason to add JDLR to the 40-man, as a guy who hit .195 in limited action a A+ wasn’t going to be picked in Rule 5. How much of a real “prospect” is he? We still don’t know. After buzz about him at the alt site in 2020, he came out and completely laid an egg at the A level in 2021, albeit at only 19. Repeating the level, he got off to a great start in 2022, aided considerably by a very inflated .408 BABIP. Promoted to A+, he fell apart, although he’s now saying that he was injured in his very first game at Wilmington. So we still don’t know . . .
The best case is what we saw at A last year: .315/.394/.505, with 10 homers, 19 doubles, and 26 stolen bases in 69 games, 147 wRC+, nice 11.4% BB, borderline 24.8% K, which has been higher for him at every other stop. There seems to be a good bit of skepticism that he can stay in CF, which probably is promised to Hassell anyway, so JDLR’s power will have to truly fill in for him to be a real MLB possibility.
One would think that de la Rosa will start 2023 back in Wilmington, in a crowded OF with Wood, White, Young, and McKenzie. With so many OFs in the conga line, there might be a temptation to kick JDLR on up to AA if he has a strong spring.
good 7th inning for Ferrer. two Ks with the second vs Uber prospect J Walker
And Alu scores the tying run after being singled home after his double. Join the hype train, everyone!
clean 8th for Cronin. notable for me was his FB at 89 vs the slider from Ferrer that K’d Walker at 88