Loaisiga is dominating. German has been dominant. Barraclough and Luetke have been lights out. Good problems to have, but ST stats are always taken with a mine's worth of salt. Reports on all 4 have been very positive with their stuff and command.
Loaisiga is dominating. German has been dominant. Barraclough and Luetke have been lights out. Good problems to have, but ST stats are always taken with a mine's worth of salt. Reports on all 4 have been very positive with their stuff and command.
Hal sucks
Luetge has apparently worked over the past year to add to his spin rate. His FB spin rate is up 200 rpm while the breaking balls are up 600 rpm on previous. He’s got a leg up to start the year in the bigs.
At this point, these are my projected pitchers, assuming 13 make the roster
1. Cole
2. Taillon
3. Kluber
4. Montgomery
5. German
6. Chapman
7. Green
8. Cessa
9. Loaisiga
10. O’Day
11. Wilson
12. Luetge
13. Barraclough
The rest have options, so King, Nelson, Kriske, Garcia, Schmidt (when or if healthy) can all work on their craft in AAA. If Luetge or Barraclough fade, they can easily be replaced. If they truly have found something then they stick until Britton comes back.
Personally, I think positives in ST mean a lot, certainly to the individuals working on improvement and progress. Martin Perez has looked great, too... so far. Anyone who doesn't think early success can build the confidence needed for a career year isn't an athlete.Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch
This is a tough one. I would say for a pitcher, being healthy and having good velocity in spring games would certainly bode better for their season than vice versa.
As for hitters, I don't think a hot or cold spring has much correlation with regular season performance, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong - by good old historical numbers.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
I wasn't talking about numbers -- otherwise, based on the standings, the Sox will be fighting the Yanks and the Jays for the best MLB record this year... and Tampa is doomed.
Ask any player if he feels better about his season if he gets off to a hot start. There are plenty of slow starters that insist they'll heat up. But there's a reason guys who start on fire think they'll never cool off.
It's just that I seem to recall a few springs where JBJ's bat was on fire, and then when the season started his bat was ice cold.
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
Ya, there's no doubt hitters in ST get at bats against minor league hopefuls and major leaguers working on new pitches. Then again, there's always the old adage that pitchers are ahead of batters in the beginning. But of course, Bradley was notorious for his streaks, anyway...
Great quote from Earl Weaver on that, said with a smirk of course: "The pitchers are ahead of the hitters this time of year...or is it the other way around?"
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
I don't believe that's a Weaver quote unless you edited out all the colorful elaboration and typed in a censored version.
One spring, Enrique Wilson hit .450 and everyone was like, wow, he is gonna snag the starting job. He lost the job in a month once he returned to being Enrique Wilson. Hitters can be ready for a season from report date to opening day in 2-4 weeks (younger guys 2, older guys 4). They dont need all 6 weeks of the spring. Spring is for the starting pitchers. Relievers need about 4 weeks to build up arm strength from report to games, starters need the whole 7 weeks.
I think a good spring for a young pitcher is important. If their stuff pops and they are making batters look silly, that is more translatable, IMO, than much of anything else in the spring. We are nearing the 2 week mark before opening day. That is when performance needs a little less salt as the detritus has been demoted and guys are really in the final phases of readiness. If these guys vying for spots are still blowing people away these last couple weeks, then we are in for a treat
Hal sucks
Now, to counter that. When guys who have success have a bad season, it’s great to see them exploding in ST. Sanchez looks amazing right now. He was in between last year and clearly seemed to be in his own head. Never lacked the talent. If he can hit to his capability, this lineup is dirty
I disagree when it’s made as a sweeping generalization.
Players - especially pitchers - don’t always seem to go all out or be in games during ST. And I’m sure they have to know the bulk of the hitters they face won’t be in the same uniform come April.
Back on that other board, every spring I awarded a player the Jeff Bailey Award, which was given to the player who had an outstanding spring but we all knew or should have known was not going to last, even in Pawtucket, something Bailey did every year. And even after him, there was some Pedro Ciriaco/Chris Carter/Jon Van Every type who just lit it up for March, and that was their season’s highlight. Once April rolled around, it was back to Eastern League Obscurity..
There’s also the story from March, 1986 when George Steinbrenner was watching Dennis Rasmussen get lit up in a spring training game. Reportedly he turned to GM Clyde King and told him that Rasmussen should be cut and King better start looking for a new pitcher.
Rasmussen went 18-6 3.88 that year...
German's stuff has been looking really good. Has not allowed a run yet over a few appearances and has 13Ks over 9 innings.
Do they give comeback player of the year awards after returning from domestic violence suspension??
I’d assume they wouldn’t.
German has always had lightning stuff. His issues have been with the longball, which is interesting since he’s a sinker baller. His best pitch is a mid 90s two seamer, but he’s been guilty of leaving it up in the zone at times. If he’s worked on keeping the sinker down, utilizing a 4 seamer up and tightening his command of the slider and change, he’ll be dynamite. He’s got front of the rotation stuff
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