{"id":6019,"date":"2013-02-27T10:03:05","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T15:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=6019"},"modified":"2013-02-27T10:03:05","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T15:03:05","slug":"observations-of-nats-from-early-televised-st-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=6019","title":{"rendered":"Observations of Nats from early televised ST games"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_6027\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/RiveroCarlos-Brad-Barr-US-Presswire-via-bleacherreport.com_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6027\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-6027\" title=\"RiveroCarlos Brad Barr US Presswire via bleacherreport.com\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/RiveroCarlos-Brad-Barr-US-Presswire-via-bleacherreport.com_-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6027\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Rivero looks like a valuable utility guy so far this spring.  Photo Brad Barr\/US Presswire via bleacherreport.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I have to admit, I&#8217;ve thoroughly enjoyed the two Nats spring training games that managed to find their way to MLB Network TV thus far (NatsJournal live blogs for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/nationals-journal\/wp\/2013\/02\/23\/nationals-vs-mets-updates-and-discussion-thread-game-1\/\">2\/23 game here<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/nationals-journal\/wp\/2013\/02\/25\/nationals-at-mets-live-updates-and-discussion-thread-game-3\/\">2\/25 game here<\/a>). \u00a0Not so much because we got to see <strong>Harper<\/strong>, <strong>Strasburg<\/strong> and <strong>Gonzalez<\/strong> &#8230; we all know what these guys can do. \u00a0No; I&#8217;m interested in seeing the young guys, the guys who we rarely get to see play. \u00a0This year&#8217;s spring training is a week longer, meaning that there&#8217;s going to be an awful lot of playing time devoted to these AA and AAA guys who got spring training invites, and that&#8217;s many more looks at the likes of <strong>Matt Skole<\/strong>, <strong>Chris Marrero<\/strong>, and <strong>Carlos Rivero<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>It is also good to see some of these arm prospects that we&#8217;ve been hearing so much about, and it has been instructive to see some of the minor league veterans invited to spring training. \u00a0Some observations on our guys (arms then bats):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Stephen Strasburg<\/strong>&#8216;s first 7 pitches on 2\/23\/13; all fastballs, all 96-97. \u00a0Clearly he was working on his spots. \u00a0I&#8217;m not sure he threw a change-up the entire outing. \u00a0As is always the case in spring training, guys work on pitches, work on location, and stats are meaningless. \u00a0He gave up a wind-aided homer to a guy who&#8217;s hit like 1 his entire career; no cause for concern.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gio Gonzalez<\/strong> was amped up; he over threw his fastball in the first and (if you believe the broadcast) reached 97 in the second. \u00a0He struggled with his release point clearly. \u00a0However, his curve looked in mid-season form, breaking sharply and serving as a nice out pitch against the few regulars that the Mets did bat on 2\/25\/13.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bill Bray<\/strong> looked, well, awful. \u00a0His mechanics were always odd-looking, but he got hit hard by the Mets lineup of rag-tag regulars. \u00a0Not a good start for Bray&#8217;s spring.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cole Kimball<\/strong> back on the hill &#8230;. where was his fastball? \u00a0It generally was coming in 90-91. \u00a0That&#8217;s clearly a step back from 2011, when he was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fangraphs.com\/pitchfx.aspx?playerid=9480&amp;position=P\">averaging 93 and peaking at 95.8<\/a>. \u00a0Lets hope this is Kimball working himself in slowly and not a permament velocity loss from his shoulder surgery. \u00a0Either way, he&#8217;s not going to displace his RHP competitors for the bullpen spots unless he can hump it up a bit more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pat McCoy<\/strong> was scheduled to throw 2\/23, and I would really have liked to see him, but the Mets were ahead in the 9th and didn&#8217;t need to bat. \u00a0I&#8217;m convinced that McCoy could be a sleeper candidate for a left-handed specialist in this organization, if the cattle-call of guys we&#8217;ve signed to ML deals falls through.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ross Ohlendorf<\/strong> put in two clean innings, but I don&#8217;t like what I see from him necessarily. \u00a0 Not a lot of velocity (90-91) but a big guy (6&#8217;4&#8243;) who gets downward plane on his fastball. \u00a0But he just seems very &#8220;hittable.&#8221; \u00a0His numbers from the last two years in the majors show it; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/ohlenro01.shtml\">ERAs of 8.15 and 7.77 in 18 starts<\/a>. \u00a0Not good.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nathan Karns<\/strong>: the beat reporters raved about his performance overall; 2 innings, 3 Ks against a MLB-heavy part of the Mets order. \u00a0It was great to finally see Karns throw; he has easy arm action, runs the ball in 94-95, and spotted the ball on the corners well. \u00a0What I didn&#8217;t see was anything resembling a quality second pitch. \u00a0He attempted a number of sliders (I&#8217;m guessing sliders; they were generally 84-86, which would be a very hard curve) and he couldn&#8217;t get over-top of them at all. \u00a0He did throw one particular breaking pitch that was sharp and nasty. \u00a0I didn&#8217;t see anything resembling a 3rd or 4th pitch though. \u00a0Is he destined for the bullpen? \u00a0That&#8217;s not the worst thing in the world; to be the next <strong>Ryan Mattheus<\/strong>, a hard-throwing 7th inning right hander.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now for thoughts on our minor league hitters:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Eury Perez<\/strong> is, well, really fast. \u00a0If he turns out to be anything close to a servicable hitter, he&#8217;s got leadoff\/center fielder written all over him. \u00a0The question could become; which speedy CF prospect do we hope for more; Perez or <strong>Brian Goodwin<\/strong>? \u00a0<strong>Denard Span<\/strong>&#8216;s contract has a convenient option for 2015, just about the time that Goodwin is likely ready for the majors on a full-time basis. \u00a0Of course, that being said Perez is further along than Goodwin (who likely starts 2013 at AA). \u00a0Goodwin has power to go with his speed, while Perez seems to have very little power. \u00a0Which would you prefer to be the longer-term CF solution?<\/li>\n<li>I like <strong>Matt Skole<\/strong>; sweet swing, not overpowered by facing MLB pitching. \u00a0It makes you wonder about scouting sometimes; how come guys like Skole and <strong>Tyler Moore<\/strong> get no love from scouts? \u00a0Its like a 30-home run minor league guy is somehow a liability. \u00a0Of course, Skole&#8217;s problem is the same as <strong>Anthony Rendon<\/strong>&#8216;s; positional blockage at 3B. \u00a0Yes Skole was playing low-A as a college junior when he hit 27 homers &#8230; but if you&#8217;ve seen Hagertown&#8217;s stadium, you know its a monster park to hit balls out of. \u00a027 homers is no mean feat down there. \u00a0 I&#8217;ll be curious to see if Skole can hit with that kind of power at High-A or AA (wherever he starts 2013).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chris Marrero<\/strong> has looked pretty good, making good solid contact a number of times. \u00a0I don&#8217;t like his haircut though :-).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Carlos Rivero<\/strong> is impressing me; he&#8217;s playing the outfield (after having played first SS and then 3B in the minors). \u00a0He has good hands, is a big guy, and seems like he can be a servicable backup utility guy who can fill in at any corner. \u00a0He&#8217;d be more flexible Moore\u00a0or <strong>Chad Tracy<\/strong> in this respect (when judging our projected utility guys) but of course needs to show he can hit at the same levels. \u00a0Still, he is likely to be a numbers game victim unless someone like <strong>Bernadina <\/strong>gets hurt this spring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have to admit, I&#8217;ve thoroughly enjoyed the two Nats spring training games that managed to find their way to MLB Network TV thus far (NatsJournal live blogs for the 2\/23 game here and 2\/25 game here). \u00a0Not so much because we got to see Harper, Strasburg and Gonzalez &#8230; we all know what these [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[185,820,257,164,884,835,124,100,482,462,385,733,196,85,167,1554,86,38,235],"class_list":["post-6019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","category-minorspitching","category-natsgeneral","tag-anthony-rendon","tag-bill-bray","tag-brian-goodwin","tag-bryce-harper","tag-carlos-rivero","tag-chad-tracy","tag-chris-marrero","tag-cole-kimball","tag-denard-span","tag-eury-perez","tag-gio-gonzalez","tag-matt-skole","tag-nathan-karns","tag-pat-mccoy","tag-roger-bernadina","tag-ross-ohlendorf","tag-ryan-mattheus","tag-stephen-strasburg","tag-tyler-moore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6019"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6028,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6019\/revisions\/6028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}