Sun. 4/6 - Afternoon Delights (Hopefully)

[Joseph Zarr]

8 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Honestly I don't think I could be any more impressed with Payne and Pena through 3 games. They both just look like they belong in the box. Honestly my only gripe with Payne at this point is that his defense in CF appears to be very raw. He's kind of the inverse Yophery out there in that he's super tooled up but raw whereas Yophery is more of a fringe average CF athlete with really solid instincts. Pena's defense is really smooth. He had an error today but honestly I put that way more on Walling who frankly looked like he was wearing oven mitts on any throw that was in the dirt.

Yeah he made that charging throw on a weak grounder to try to end the inning. AND, Walling is very much not smooth with the glove over there. He's very much an unnatural work in progress. Those weren't easy plays by any stretch - the scoops - but he also didn't make it appear as though he even had a remote chance to catch them with his approach.

[biedergb]

6 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Yeah, I saw him there too. AND, nothing was mentioned on the broadcast. Hopefully it is minor whatever it is. Good eye, Cap'n!

I didn't hear any mention in today's broadcast, but yesterdar Chris mentioned his day off, and he was in the dugout during yesterday's game if I saw correctly. So hopefully just minor

10 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Pena's defense is really smooth. He had an error today but honestly I put that way more on Walling who frankly looked like he was wearing oven mitts on any throw that was in the dirt.

I agree. On one of those plays, Pena had to rush it (looked like he was playing deep and maybe didn't charge as quickly, but the throw wasn't bad and I think Bitonti would have made it if he was 1B based upon what I have seen, but Walling did struggle with throws.

[biedergb]

Finally finished the whole Mudcats game. I had a lot of high expectations for Travis Smith, and while his profile with a mid90s fastball and 3-4 pitch mix, and all I heard was at least one fastball at 95. But he didn't look as smooth, looked like his release was not as consistent, and he did fine but had some hard contact. OK but was hoping for more given the draft profile.

Garcia looked better, but really struggled with command I think - 47 pitches but only 26 strikes. His fastball looked good - draft profile had it low 90s but with that angle it looked faster. When he got his offspeed over it looked good. Hard hit ball off his throwing arm, so hopefully he will be OK and ready to go soon.

Bjorn Johnson really stood out. The stat line was good, but he looked like he was ready to pitch. From Spencer's write up in 2023: "Johnson has a fastball in the low-90s that he has held deep into his outings. He also mixes in a slider and a changeup; the changeup is probably the better of the two offerings at this moment". Don't know the velo today, but tall lefty with at least low 90s who is young and projectable.  His stat line today is in very sharp contrast to his nearly 9.00 ERA from last year in the ACL Very pleasantly surprised by him.

I am also impressed with Pena's approach. For an 18 year old he seems comfortable at the plate and has quick hands. Payne also impressed as he has more strength than advertised in that swing.  And Joseph's call on Adamczewski is on - he definitely is locked in at the moment. His 'strikeout' today was a ball at least 4-6 inches outside, should have been ball 4.

Hopefully Made can return, and let's see if DiTuri gains some strength in his swing as evidenced by his HR today (which was batting right-handed against a LHP), and then you have a pretty solid core of hitters. On the bad end - Bitonti is chasing pitches and not connecting on some in the zone. Nadal seems over-matched at the moment which is to be expected given his young age (still only 20 yo) and the fact he missed last season with injury.

 

OK that was longer than I expected - ha! just like the Muddies/FredNats game today lol

[Joseph Zarr]

If Yerlin can get comfortable throwing this type of pitch to lefties? 

Whewwww. That is straight nasty. I'm bullish again. I'm scared. Will I get hurt? Will I have trust issues? Tune in for the Joseph/Yerlin Mega Drama!

[Ro Mueller]

It’s a good thing that Le Mis and CF-Rod got to pitch Saturday, rather than being rained out today and waiting until Tuesday.

[Joseph Zarr]

I am amazed looking at the Wisconsin Box Score and seeing they are credited with a mere single error. Garcia and Rodriguez both misplayed two fly balls. Generous scoring today. They credited Eduardo Garcia with the sole error - also an error, indeed.

[Joseph Zarr]

He just has that IT that we so rarely see. Confident. Not cocky. It is time the pundits start talking and get aboard the train I've been revving since last summer's call up. You could see it in his first Low-A AB last summer. He had the same contact as Payne when he came aboard. Sadly, that season ended with two uber-freakish leg injuries. Then he impressed in very limited MLB ST time. The Breakout Game snub (I'm calling it a snub, dang it😁). I am just so dang pumped for this young man to be healthy and seizing early opportunity in a major way. The defense has been very sound in year 2 as well - not that it was bad by any stretch in 2024. Everything is high functioning right now. Hard to contain my excitement, folks. The only ask? Stay healthy.