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Never too early to do a postgame, amirite?
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SIZZLER: TONY ZYCH
Article at the TNT sez that it took him one major-league batter -- who struck out -- or at most the first inning before he realized "my stuff plays up here." Ergo, he doesn't have to be too fine, and doesn't have to trick people.
Dr. D encourages this attitude in a short reliever. Not to mention, there's a real shortage of right hand setup men who walk 1.7 men per game, and an even greater shortage of relievers who walk 1.7 men while striking out 11.8. Hey, relievers don't have to work miracles. If they keep their heads about them and throw Strike One, they're going to be okay.
Well, they'll be more okay if they have Tony Zych's arm than Evan Scribner's. Speaking of:
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SIZZLER: EVAN SCRIBNER
It sez in 16 different places that Scribner is the one lock for a bullpen spot. Behind the Big Three, of course. Those 16 different places are thinking of Scribner's lack of options and of his near-infinite CTL ratio.
His Achilles' heel is the hanging change curves that get swatted deep into the night gloaming. But it's been said that the Safeco left-center warning track lurks in that gloaming. Verdict: Sizzler.
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FIZZLER: CHRIS TAYLOR
Coupla beat writers opine that (1) Luis Sardinas is for choice here, because solid at 3B defensively, and (2) the M's are looking for another backup infielder, and (3) Taylor has yet to regain his rhythm from last year's broken wrist. Verdict: Fizzler. Well, y'know.
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SIZZLER: CHRIS IANNETTA
Jeff Sullivan follows on the Iannetta pitch-framing story. He gives +27 runs (per 7,000 pitches) as the improvement for 2015. Slap me silly and call me Sharpay. This was the biggest improvement made in the gloried 6,000 years since the pyramids were built. And/or the 6 years since framing has been a column on Fangraphs.
Jeffy also looks at catchers who made big jumps in from Year 1 to Year 2 and asks ... did they hold on to their gains in Year 3? Yes indeedy. They held on to ALL their gains.
Ok, so it's teachable. This, of course, means that Steve Clevenger will gain +27 runs THIS year.
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FIZZLER: JESUS MONTERO
Ryan Divish, in his chat yestidday, gave "20%" as Montero's chance to make the Opening Day roster. Not that Ryan gets a U.N. veto on the matter, but still. Word is that Dae Ho Lee is (1) in great shape, (2) has quite the pillow-soft hands at first which isn't exactly Montero's thang, and (3) capable of doing neat things with the wood in his hand.
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SIZZLER: NELSON CRUZ
Sez that he came into camp looking better than even last year, looking "superhero" as the beat writers put it. No, that was what they said. We presume they're thinking a Captain America type of superhero ... no, wait, better yet. Anybody here see the time Gohan played a game of baseball for his high school? Anybody?
The Inner Game at SSI loves that Cruz brought effervescence with him to camp. He explained that his 4-hour / 6-day winter routine was rooted in the fact that --- > he found that he gets off on hitting .302 with 44 homers. Cryptic, but intriguing.
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SIZZLER: LUIZ GOHARA
Prospect Insider granted a fastball "sitting" 92-95 MPH and touching 97 MPH, which is more than they would grant for James Paxton if K-Pax hadn't yet been on TV. Gohara is 18, turning 19, and couldn't fan less than 10 men in a game if he gave them the signals.
Big caboose, long arms, loose and jangly when he walks. If you can watch him pitch and not think of CC Sabathia, you're a better man than me. Better man than me or not, you can probably explain to me why Sabathia was always considered a franchise prospect, and Gohara is considered a ... Seattle Mariner. Anyway, Sabathia walked 5 men per game in the minors at 18-19 and then was allowed to walk the same 5 men in the majors at age 20. When he went 17-5, 4.39 for the Indians.
Enjoy,
Dr D
