Thought I'd start a thread for all results, observations and insights from the baseball intrasquads which kickoff today, with the season-opener vs. Arizona just 3 short weeks away.

The pitching rotation for the weekend intrasquads are as follows...

Today: Otto, Duplantier, Salinas, Pettitte
Saturday: Solecitto, Esaquivel, Orewiler, Amador and Jefferies
Sunday: Fox, Myers, Parthasarathy, Kraverz and Schwarz

Good to see everyone in the mix, including Willy Amador, who had an outstanding Summer in California, but who missed all of Fall Ball with a pulled hammy.

(01-29-2016 09:17 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Thought I'd start a thread for all results, observations and insights from the baseball intrasquads which kickoff today, with the season-opener vs. Arizona just 3 short weeks away.

The pitching rotation for the weekend intrasquads are as follows...

Today: Otto, Duplantier, Salinas, Pettitte
Saturday: Solecitto, Esaquivel, Orewiler, Amador and Jefferies
Sunday: Fox, Myers, Parthasarathy, Kraverz and Schwarz

Good to see everyone in the mix, including Willy Amador, who had an outstanding Summer in California, but who missed all of Fall Ball with a pulled hammy.

Walt, you heard anything about Khevin Brewer? Is he going to be in the mix for playing time in the outfield this year? He was pretty highly touted coming in, and we could desparately use some power in our lineup.

(01-29-2016 09:31 AM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  

(01-29-2016 09:17 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Thought I'd start a thread for all results, observations and insights from the baseball intrasquads which kickoff today, with the season-opener vs. Arizona just 3 short weeks away.

The pitching rotation for the weekend intrasquads are as follows...

Today: Otto, Duplantier, Salinas, Pettitte
Saturday: Solecitto, Esaquivel, Orewiler, Amador and Jefferies
Sunday: Fox, Myers, Parthasarathy, Kraverz and Schwarz

Good to see everyone in the mix, including Willy Amador, who had an outstanding Summer in California, but who missed all of Fall Ball with a pulled hammy.

Walt, you heard anything about Khevin Brewer? Is he going to be in the mix for playing time in the outfield this year? He was pretty highly touted coming in, and we could desparately use some power in our lineup.

Nada. He (along with Chandler, Gray and Salinas) missed Fall Ball, and he has struggled mightily in previous intrasquads. I'm sure he'll be given a chance, but IMO the open LF spot is going to be between Wunderlich (great speed and defense, and finally showed encouraging signs at the plate during Fall Ball) and the loser at SS between Gray and Proctor. I'm looking at Gray and Myers to be our power threats this year.

Day 1 goes to the pitchers-- no big surprise there. 1-1 tie over 5 1/2 innings. Neither Dup nor Otto gave up a hit, while Salinas gave up a lone infield single (to Chandler) while striking out 4 and walking none. Pettitte was solid, as well. Lone unearned run scored on a Brewer double. Only issue was the control of everyone but Salinas, but that's to be expected during one's first outing of the Spring.

Today's probables: Solecitto, Esquivel, Orewiler, Amador and Jefferies. I'm most anxious to see what Esquivel and Amador can provide, as we'll need both to contribute this year. We also need Austin Solecitto to step up and pitch the way he did in JUCO before hurting his arm. He's our lefty out of the pen.

Duplantier's first pitch was 95. His second was 96. His slowest fastball in the first inning was 92. He also got a strikeout on a beautiful spiked curve.. Very impressive first outing, but he did get a little long arm motion a few times leading to walks.

(01-30-2016 10:17 AM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  Duplantier's first pitch was 95. His second was 96. His slowest fastball in the first inning was 92. He also got a strikeout on a beautiful spiked curve.. Very impressive first outing, but he did get a little long arm motion a few times leading to walks.

The spiked curveball is a new pitch for Big Jon, no? I remember the fastball and hard, wipeout slider.

Wayne told me in the Fall that he thought Salinas and Amador were the most improved pitchers on the staff, coming back from the Summer. If Blake Fox is really now throwing his fastball in the low 90s (vs. the mid-to-upper 80s), he could be in for an exceptional Senior season, as this will make his bread and butter off-speed pitches that much more effective.

(01-30-2016 10:25 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  If Blake Fox is really now throwing his fastball in the low 90s (vs. the mid-to-upper 80s), he could be in for an exceptional Senior season, as this will make his bread and butter off-speed pitches that much more effective.

If a pitcher like Blake has trouble locating those off-speed pitches during a game and has to turn to his less-effective pitches, is that technically known as a bread and butter pickle?

Pitching continues to dominate (as expected), as the only pitcher who struggled of the 14 seeing action this weekend was true Freshman Evan Kravetz. Perhaps most encouraging was the strong outing yesterday by true Freshman RHP Jackson Parthasarathy, who retired all 9 batters he faced in his 3-inning stint.

For those who attended any of the weekend's intrasquads, how did the defense look? I gather Grayson Lewis made a couple web gem caliber plays at 2B.

I'm not sure whether I should be encouraged by the dominant pitching or concerned that the batters aren't getting many hits even in practice.

(02-01-2016 10:53 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  I'm not sure whether I should be encouraged by the dominant pitching or concerned that the batters aren't getting many hits even in practice.

For me it's a no-brainer. Our strength is our pitching. If that's not dominant this year, we're not going anywhere, regardless to how good our offense is. And, BTW, the Gray team did get 9 hits yesterday in 6 innings. Chandler, Warren, DiCaprio and Lewis all had solid weekends at the plate.

Dominant 3-inning stint by Big Jon Duplantier today...until he hit the wall in his 4th inning of work (4-ptich walk, HR, 3 balls on next batter before his outing was terminated). Importantly, Jon had good command before he started tiring. Otto was his usual self-- nobody can hit him and he strikes out a ton (6 Ks in 3 IP), but he gets into trouble with his walks (6 in 3 IP). I think the control issues is why The OG is looking to use him as a starter rather than a co-closer. Pettitte also looked good in his two innings of work....and Salinas was solid, though he did walk a couple and hit one batter.

First HRs of the Spring by Chandler (of Dup) and Dunlap (off RHP submariner Shragger). Double by Gray, and a couple hits by Myers.

(02-01-2016 10:44 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Pitching continues to dominate (as expected), as the only pitcher who struggled of the 14 seeing action this weekend was true Freshman Evan Kravetz. Perhaps most encouraging was the strong outing yesterday by true Freshman RHP Jackson Parthasarathy, who retired all 9 batters he faced in his 3-inning stint.

For those who attended any of the weekend's intrasquads, how did the defense look? I gather Grayson Lewis made a couple web gem caliber plays at 2B.

Parthasarathy continues to impress. Yesterday, in his second outing, he threw another 4 innings of shutout ball, giving up only a couple hits and walking just one. If he keeps pitching like this, he could be a viable mid-week starter, and allow The OG to use Otto in the jack-of-all-trades role previously filled by guys such as Abe Gonzales and Austin Orewiler. As with Big Jon the day before, Blake Fox was dominant for the first 3.1 innings, then hit the wall. With only a couple more outings until opening day (just 13 days away), I hope they can be stretched to at least 5 innings each before the season starts in earnest. Offense also starting to heat up the past couple days.

Really disappointing news..

]Josh Pettitte ‏tweeted that he has just learned that he has again torn his UCL ligament, along with his flexor tendon, and will undergo a second Tommy John Surgery on his elbow next week.

Here's wishing Josh all the best with a speedy recovery.

(02-17-2016 04:49 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Really disappointing news..

]Josh Pettitte ‏tweeted that he has just learned that he has again torn his UCL ligament, along with his flexor tendon, and will undergo a second Tommy John Surgery on his elbow next week.

Here's wishing Josh all the best with a speedy recovery.

Yes, best wishes Josh.