Spring Training

I don't do this much. Not near as much as I should. But instead of babbling about my opinions I figured I might just share my adventurous trip to Florida to catch some MLB Spring Training. This is pretty much an annual trip for me, but this is my first time doing it with someone else and also my first time making it a multiple day trip.

This past Monday I met John in Florida for 4 games. He had seen some the previous few days, but I joined him Monday-Wednesday. Two of the four games were Braves vs. Mets. We also squeezed in the Cardinals vs. Tigers on Monday and the Pirates vs. Yankees on Tuesday.



The weather was nearly perfect. The sun wasn't blasting on us, but spent the majority of the week behind the clouds. A slight breeze was the perfect touch.



I got Terry Pendleton's autograph.



Of course, I accomplished many things that I hoped I would. I saw Tommy Hanson pitch. And I saw Freeman and Heyward hit.

On Hanson:

Obviously I'm not a major league scout. But I saw pretty much what I expected to see. Hanson (along with Heyward) is an enourmous dude. He's listed at 6'6" but after seeing him in person with many other players on the field, I think they might need to remeasure. This heighth has its pros and cons. One of the main cons: Hanson has to work much harder to get the ball down (since he is so tall).

Throughout his outing the Mets were spanking Tommy Hanson pitches to the warning track. He, true to form, was up in the zone and the Mets were teeing off, especially in the first few innings. While only one of them was a homer, it certainly raises an eyebrow that batters frequently were hitting it very hard and very far (albeit many were outs.) I shared with John my concern about what might happen if Hanson were to start in Colorado, Houston, Philly, Texas, or any other HR friendly park.

I'm kind of ignoring the fact that Beltran and Delgado weren't in the lineup. That would only add to my worries.

Of course, I have just as many positive things to say about what I saw in Hanson. That Curveball....WOW!!!! It reminds me of that big, whooping Barry Zito curveball that we would see 5 years ago, only from the other side.

I have a picture of Hanson pitching...but haven't uploaded it yet. Just pretend it's here.

Now, onto Heyward. Heyward only got 3 at-bats (I think) in the 2 Braves games I saw. All 3 of those at-bats have something in common - he crushed the ball. He didn't always reach safely but everything he hit was hard and loud. If I were an infielder I would fear a Jason Heyward groundball. If I were a thirdbaseman (or first) then my knees would shake knowing that Heyward can get that ball to my teeth in less than half a second.

I'd certainly like to watch those kind of outs more than the patented "Frenchy popup" or the even more frustrating "swing-and-miss-at-a-helmet-high-fastball" Even if Heyward wasn't in the equation, Frenchy should still have to earn his at-bats. But if Heyward gets to Mississippi and puts up huge numbers while Frenchy hits a weak .230 with the big club then we'll have some drama.

Once again, I have a picture of Heyward batting, but its on my other camera. Pretend it is here...

This is just off the top of my head, so if I'm inaccurate then forgive me, but I really think the leader in hits amongst the games I saw was Schafer. I don't see us carrying all 3 of Anderson/Blanco/Schafer. All 3 have their ups and downs, it'll be interesting to see what Cox/Wren decide. I have my opinion, but I suppose another post would be more appropriate for that.

You guessed it...my picture of Schafer will go here.

Anyways, I had a glorious time at Spring Training this week. Special thanks to John Wright for coming with me.