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LEONYDAS KING OF SPALDING
Was going to say, his early-game lineout was the best swing I've seen from him this spring. 3-2 pitch, looked fastball, got fastball, stayed up the middle and scorched a 4-iron at the CF's mitt. Only 91 MPH and center-cut, but still. At least he didn't swing out of his shoes.
Then, that became his second-best swing, after the HR. ... really don't want to sound like I'm married to the anti-Leonydas position, but ... that one was also a 91 fastball, thigh high, slightly inside of center -- in other words the one pitch his oversized driver is forged to cold-clock. When a guy hits two 325-yard drives a round, and five O.B., the 325-yarders are almost the worst thing for him ...
Am really not rooting against him. Just saying. And saying specifically why we say. As soon as he puts a good AB together and gets on base against a pitcher's pitch, we'll be the first to bend the knee.
Do I sound like the Pencil with Erasmo? Don't answer that :- )
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KING FELIX
It's not that SSI is hoping for an UP year. It's that the indications are towards an UP year. We didn't write the script in February; Felix is writing it in March.
The last two outings, he'd been at 28% and 26% curves. Today it was 17-of-80, which used to be 22% but we don't know what OSU has it as nowadays. Kidding! But Felix is methodically sewing lineups into straitjackets, B game or not (his Arizona changeup wouldn't sink at all on Friday; +8" vertical). Smoother than 300-count Egyptian linen.
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DE FRATUS AND PARKER
A cubicle or two off to your right, Dr. D broke into a broad grin at the revelation of Donn Roach. A first look at De Fratus and Parker was granted no such luck. Relative to Dr. D's expectations, De Fratus was 4-on-a-scale-of-10 and Parker was 4.5.
:: shakes tricorder, bangs with palm, holds to ear :: Glad to know the Mainframe isn't out of whack.
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ADAM LIND
Is putting good swings on lefties.
And if THIS guy turns out to hit lefties this year, I'm converting to James' belief system on platoons. Which is that they're all illusions. Lind is THE most extreme platoon hitter of the last 20 years.
I doubt he will, though. Hit lefties. But it would be fun if Scott Servais was getting there ahead of us, on Adam Lind.
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PLAYERS OF THE MONTH AWARDS
Donn Roach and Luis Sardinas are the two guys we'd call "surprises" this spring, surprises in the sense that they could be positive contributors in like the #23 and #24 slots. And in the #23 slot, the difference between -0.8 WAR and +0.6 WAR is worth walking across the street for.
Shawn O'Malley has played great, and ... if you combine his September 2015 EYE ratio, he's got about 16 walks vs 16 strikeouts. Any self-respecting saberdweeb would give O'Malley a game jersey based on that alone. But O'Malley isn't a surprise, exactly; he was a journeyman who was probably going to be able to bat 80, 90 OPS+ in the bigs. Good for him that he's exceeding expectations a little bit.
It's a savory dilemma. If you win the Player of the Month in March and still don't make it, what were you doing in camp?
Well, that's not fair. Maybe you moved from #32 on the roster to #27 and will be up in May. If Sardinas and O'Malley both make Opening Day, as the Emperor Mo' Dawg hath forseen, who does that leave out? Dae-Ho Lee? Dr. D would not dream of it. Jerry DiPoto is most assuredly not Dr. D.
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BABVA,
Jeff
