2014 Spring Training, Day 5

Spring Training 2014

Tomorrow the full squad begins working out at the Carpenter Complex.  As of today, the only guy I haven’t seen in camp is Michael Martinez.  You don’t know how good it feels to finally be able to type that.

Okay, I watched 3 BP sessions  on Saturday, Sunday and today.  Here’s what I saw from the prospects.

Tyson Gillies – First, this guy shows boundless energy.  He seems to run everywhere.  He chases down a lot of fly balls during BP, and does it at full speed.  Saturday, he continued to make good contact, swinging well though the ball with lots of line drives as the result.  He reached the RF Berm on a couple swings.  He’s the only guy I’ve seen bunt after the two mandatory bunts each batter has to lay down at the start of his turn at bat.  I missed his BP on Sunday.  (He was part of a group that batted after shagging fly balls from Samuel).  Monday, he was still making good contact on most of his swings.

Leandro Castro – Saturday, he made better, more consistent contact with fewer topped balls.  He showed some power with a bomb to the top of the Berm in left-center.  Sunday and Monday, he remained consistent with good contact on nice, easy swings with a little bit of power – driving one ball into the bullpen.

Maikel Franco – Saturday, Maikel put on another impressive BP session, though not as sharp as Friday’s session.  On the last pitch, he drove a ball off the back fence, behind the walkway above the bullpens.  This is quite a long shot.  Last spring, Miguel Cabrera drove one over the fence off Papelbon in about the same spot.  Sunday, lots of hard hit line drives into the Tiki Terrace, Bullpen, and Berm.  Monday, Couple of bombs to left, but didn’t seem to have the same power he displayed the previous three days.   Hit a lot more  fly balls that had significant height but didn’t leave the park.

Also on Sunday, I had walked to the infield outside Bright House and watched Franco performing two drills at third base.   The first had him lying face down in the baseline between second and third with a ball in his glove.  The drill was to see that he got up properly and quickly and threw to first.  The second  saw him on his knees on the infield grass.  A ball was tossed to, his right requiring him to dive toward the baseline, get up, and throw to first.  He received instruction on how to perform both moves.  His throws to first were all very strong.  The interesting thing to me was that the instructor was newly promoted Infield Coordinator, Chris Truby, Clearwater’s manager last year.  It occurred to me that these drills should have been done when Franco was in Clearwater last year.  I hope they were.  If they weren’t, I find this ironic.  Franco didn’t look particulary comfortable on the first drill.  It seemed, from my vantage point 100 feet away, that they were correcting the placement of his hands as he rose from the prone position.

Kelly Dugan – Saturday, not as good as Friday.  Didn’t make as consistent contact as he had the day before.  He did continue to show opposite field power.  Sunday, I missed his BP.  I think he and Gillies were part of the group batting while I was watching Franco with Truby.  Monday, he was really on fire.  He made good contact, driving the ball well to all fields.  He continued to exhibit power to the opposite field as well as to right.

Andres Blanco – Saturday, I didn’t see him at all.  Sunday, nice, easy swing with decent contact.  A lot of ground balls with some line drives.  Not much power.  Monday, continued to make reasonable contact, a few more line drives than on Sunday.

Zach Collier – Sunday, he had a noticeable “hitch” in his step.  When he planted his front foot after his step into the pitch, I could see his front hip turn.  But it turned in a way that didn’t look right.  It was two distinct movements.  I almost expected to hear a click when I first saw it.  He struggled to make good contact, fouling balls inside the cage and grounding balls off the screen protecting the pitcher.  Monday, his step and hip turn was more fluid, like it was part of the same move.  Consequently, his contact was better.  He drove more balls into the outfield, hardly any balls fouled off the cage.  Big improvement over Sunday.

Cesar Hernandez – Today was the first time I’ve seen Cesar this spring.  He started out batting right-handed against a right-handed pitcher.  I immediately wondered if he was indeed a switch hitter.  After confirming he is, we began wondering if he was instructed to give up batting left-handed.  He did look good, hitting line drives to all fields.  After 2 sets, he switched to batting left-handed.  He continued making good contact.  In fact, the sound seemed better, louder.  But he hit fewer line drives and more fly balls from the left side.

Now, I realize this is a Phutures site, but let me briefly update you on the following:

  • – Utley looks good so far, a lot of line drives, some power
  • – Rollins looked good today, looked like he was trying to hit too many HRs on Sunday
  • – Asche looked better today, hitting a lot of line drives off a left-handed pitcher
  • – Brown looks strong, hitting a lot of line drives
  • – Revere, no protection for ankle, a lot of line drives, legitimate HR on Friday
  • – Byrd is showing more than enough power to “protect” Howard, in fact he has some of the most impressive HRs, towering shots, especially to left
  • – through 2 days of BP Bobby Abreu is hitting real well to all fields with power
  • – Mayberry is hitting extremely well so far
  • – Ruf is showing good power and consistent contact
  • – Howard is making a lot of good, solid contact.  He’s hitting the ball where it is pitched, taking the ball to all fields.  But he isn’t over-swinging, nor taking a step.  Almost flat-footed.  I don’t think he has hit more than one home run in 4 days.  But I don’t think he is really trying to hit them yet.  And, oddly, it’s not worrisome, yet.

Full squad Tuesday.  We’ll get to see where guys like Cesar Hernandez are designated to practice – infield or outfield.  And, maybe we’ll get to see some of the pitchers on the fields.  See you tomorrow.

25 thoughts on “2014 Spring Training, Day 5”

  1. Great recap, Jim. Thanks for keeping us up on what’s going on down there, especially with the prospects. Hope it’s nice and warm down there!

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  2. I want to add to Franco and hand placement. I have heard a lot of critique of his arm from evaluators. He has plus to plus plus arm strength, but he has a tendency to rush throws and release the ball from his hip in a bit of a sidearm motion. The consequence is the release is a little but faster, but it loses accuracy and and takes about a tick off of his arm strength. My guess is the Phillies want to instill in him to make sure he always has a good release.

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    1. Actually, that may explain the double-clutch they seemed to be looking for. After he stood up, he double clutched while taking a crow hop toward first. It seemed like a foreign move to him, and they were praising him after the release. Does that make any sense?

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  6. Great stuff. Tyson Gillies remains a frustrating enigma but when you see him on the field and even in games, you realize why they stick with him. He’s not only a tremendous physical specimen, he has eye-popping skills throughout his game, including surprising power. He’s one of these guys who could just “get it” one day and we would all marvel at how the team nearly released him. He really does have that much talent – but whether it will all come together – God only knows.

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    1. Since December 18th, I’ve been hoping that Tony Gwynn Jr. could contend/win the back up role to Revere. Gillies early performance gives me hope that one of the two could contend for the job. So far, Gillies looks like the better bat.

      You’re right about the enigma tag. Two years ago, I saw him running sprints on the left-field warning track during a Grapefruit League game. Last year, before he went to the WBC, he was kicking a rugby ball in the Schmidt outfield while the rest of the squad was over on Ashburn. Enigma may be kind. But I continue to root for him.

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  8. After reading this all i know is every single phillie hit a lot line drives…i like what you’re writing but you said the same thimg about every player.probably pitchers too

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    1. Yeah, I realized that as I was typing. But they are making good contact. Keep in mind that they are only batting off coaches who are lucky to top out at 60MPH. I would expect them to hit well now. As they begin to hit against real pitchers, things will change. I’ll try and give better descriptions of future BP sessions.

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      1. I do apologize and i mean no disrespect…I am happy and grateful 1 of my fave sites has a guy willing to spend his time and write for our fave teams…keep up the good work i just came away feelig like everyone hit good liners…please keep upthe good work and i apologize as coming off as attacking you i do appreciate your writing

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        1. Andy, no apology necessary. I took your comment as constructive feedback. Since moving down here, I have commented to friends that I seemed to have lost my Philly attitude. I am hardly ever critical of any Phillies personnel, and never critical of the prospects. Heck, my first summer down here, I rooted hardest for Harold Martinez, who really struggled. In order to properly describe what I am seeing, I have a responsibility to be critical when it is necessary. I thank you for calling attention to something I was on the verge of overlooking.

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  9. Great work, a fun read for me. The reality is that watching BP with these guys is lots of fun. It gets much harder when they start throwing other than fast balls though. I do love watching Gillies down there.

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  11. So this is an assessment of how hitters stroke soft tossed pitches. In these environs it means little…but what a dream it is to think of Gillies becoming the spectacular player we hoped we had from that trade.
    He’s had a series of unfortunate events since arriving in Philly’s farm system, mainly from injuries; the arrest record turned out to be a big nothing. Yet through it all we are treated to hints of what could be, only to find frustration in belief.
    Is it still possible that this extraordinary athlete can finally put it all together to fulfull the flashes into consistency?
    Hope so…but I’m not putting any bets on it.
    But what a possibility…………!! The guy’s a tease.

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  12. Nice info. I only wish I could get excited, Burnett needs to have an ” out-of-his-mine “3
    year and Hamel hopefully comes back strong (please no pitching in cold exhibition games)

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  13. Maikel Franco is a very interesting story. In fact 1B has many possible stories. Veteran and prospect should be happier with a manager with an open mind.

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  14. By the way, thank you very much for the write-ups. It’s much more meaningful and interesting than the pre-packaged ST stories we get from the news media (“Howard Vows to Hit Lefties” . . . blah, blah, blah).

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  15. Wait, Revere hit a Homer? Now I question everything. Maybe he’ll live up to his 2014 Steamer projection after all.

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  16. Jim: I really appreciate your rundown on Franco’s defensive drills. We don’t see information like that very often.

    Would you comment on Franco’s physique? Any improvement, or does he still look as though he needs better conditioning?

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    1. Well, he’s not the 6’1″, 180lbs that the Phillies MLB site lists him as. He looks a little stockier than Lou Marson, who is listed as 6’1″, 205lbs. Even if he is in the 200-210 range, he doesn’t look any heavier to me than he did in Clearwater last year. I met him at the All Star event in Dunedin last summer, he looks less stocky in regular clothes. But, if you felt he looke like he needed conditioning last year, then you will think so this year.

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