The Black team beat the Gold squad by an 8-7 score in the first game of the series. I was there and here are some thoughts.
When Tim Corbin mentioned Pedro Alvarez in talking about left-handed-hitting catcher Max Romero’s power in our Zoom conference this week, I sat up in my chair immediately because Tim basically never says things about that for freshmen who’ve never played college ball. (And yes, Romero redshirted last year and so it’s his second year on campus.)
But I saw what he meant tonight. Romero, in his first at-bat, took a pitch from right-hander Miles Garrett and hit it over the bleachers over the 375-foot mark to the alley in right-center. I’m guessing the ball went 400-405 feet.
In his second at-bat against Garrett, Romero hit it even further, this one, to straight-away right. I think they said this on the radio broadcast, but apparently it was 113 miles per hour off the bat.
I was really curious to see how Romeo fared against Nelson Berkwich in his only at-bat against lefties. Well, Romero ht a hard single to right on the first pitch he saw.
Those were Romero’s only at-bats. He hit fifth behind Dominic Keegan tonight.
Tate Kolwyck had the most impressive hit of the evening, a no-doubt home run to left-center off Garrett. I couldn’t tell if the ball landed on the patio in left but it easily cleared the bleachers in left center. Kolwyck grounded to third and lined softly to short in his other two at-bats.
I’m sure everyone’s wondering about Kumar Rocker’s start. Rocker went three innings, threw (by my count) 65 pitches, gave up a run and three hits, a hit batsman (first baseman Gavin Casas) and six strikeouts. Rocker working a little more on his off speed stuff, which he was having some issues commanding, but he wasn’t all over the place, either. I had him unofficially at 65 pitches.
The most interesting pitching performance IMO was Berkwich. He’s a lefty with something of a slingshot motion and lefties were having an awful time seeing him. He struck Parker Noland (a lefty) out swinging on a fastball that just looked like it was on top of Noland before he realized it. He did something similar to another lefty, Matt Hogan. He got ground-outs from lefties Troy LaNeve and Javier Vaz, and also struck out lefty Cooper Davis swinging. The Davis strikeout was also impressive because Davis is a high-contact guy, so that was telling.
Garrett had a tough night in terms of results, but I saw a lot to like there. He’s built a lot like Marcus Stroman (and they’re both right-handed) and I liked the way he mixed his fastball with his breaking pitches, changed eye levels and wasn’t afraid to challenge hitters.
Now… the downside of challenging hitters is that he gave up three balls that went about 1,300 combined feet, but, it shows he’s got some confidence his his stuff.
I didn’t see a velocity reading, but I’d guess he was sitting maybe 91-92. I’m guessing he’ll see some mid-week innings this fall.
Patrick Reilly threw tonight also. Reilly’s a bit of a dark horse to get some innings; I’d heard his fastball was terrific and his breaking stuff has been lacking; tonight, his fastball looked straight to me at times and at times, his curve was better than I’d expected; he’s a righty and he struck out righty Isaiah Thomas with three breaking balls that Thomas sat and watched. I’d like to get another look at him.
Ethan Smith picked up a save on (I think) an 11-pitch inning. He struck out Enrique Bradfield and Carter Young and got C.J. Rodriguez to pop harmlessly to center to end it. Again, there was no gun I saw and I thought Smith was sitting probably low-90s with his fastball.
The only other guy to pitch was Nick Maldonado. I think Maldonado was charged with five runs in a third of an inning and while he wasn’t hit that hard—I think he gave up four singles, and at least two of those were infield singles—he also didn’t seem to have an out pitch.
I thought Bradfield had a solid night. He struck out twice but also walked and had an infield single. One of the more impressive things was, with T.J. McKenzie at third and one out (and, I think, two strikes) is that he hit a sac fly the other way to deep left to easily get McKenzie home. It was good to see a young guy be able to execute the other way in a spot like that.
I really wanted to see Bradfield run and didn’t get as much a chance as I’d liked. On the infield single, my eyes were elsewhere. He also didn’t get a chance in center that I remember, nor a chance to steal a base.
Speaking of fast, McKenzie hammered a triple to right-center that got in the gap. He also flied out just short of the track in center and knocked in a run with a sac fly. Unfortunately, he also missed a fly ball in left that allowed two runs to score; that one was hit to the toughest part of the park where an outfielder not only has to be able to sense the wall but also size up where on the wall it’s going to hit and what direction it might bounce off the curve. It’s an easy mis-play to make but with Bradfield/Davis/Thomas as likely starters and a slew of upperclassmen outfielders also there, that’s the kind of play he’s got to make to see the field.
It was great to see third baseman Jayson Gonzalez back. He was 1-for-2 with a walk and all reached after getting hit by a pitch.
Was interested to see what Vaz could do. I didn’t see much with the bat—he grounded out three times, one of which was a double play. In the field, he did make a good turn on a 6-4-3 double play to get Jack O’Dowd at first.
As for O’Dowd, he singled, walked and field to center, and also picked up an error on a ground ball at second he should have made.
And on that note, as I was in line to get in to the park tonight, a stranger struck up a conversation with me. He was wearing a mask and so I didn’t recognize him, but it was Jack’s dad, former MLB executive Dan O’Dowd. Super nice guy.
Jack Bulger DH’ed and was 3 for 4 with three singles.
If you have any questions, or want me to watch anyone in particular tomorrow, just ask.
When Tim Corbin mentioned Pedro Alvarez in talking about left-handed-hitting catcher Max Romero’s power in our Zoom conference this week, I sat up in my chair immediately because Tim basically never says things about that for freshmen who’ve never played college ball. (And yes, Romero redshirted last year and so it’s his second year on campus.)
But I saw what he meant tonight. Romero, in his first at-bat, took a pitch from right-hander Miles Garrett and hit it over the bleachers over the 375-foot mark to the alley in right-center. I’m guessing the ball went 400-405 feet.
In his second at-bat against Garrett, Romero hit it even further, this one, to straight-away right. I think they said this on the radio broadcast, but apparently it was 113 miles per hour off the bat.
I was really curious to see how Romeo fared against Nelson Berkwich in his only at-bat against lefties. Well, Romero ht a hard single to right on the first pitch he saw.
Those were Romero’s only at-bats. He hit fifth behind Dominic Keegan tonight.
Tate Kolwyck had the most impressive hit of the evening, a no-doubt home run to left-center off Garrett. I couldn’t tell if the ball landed on the patio in left but it easily cleared the bleachers in left center. Kolwyck grounded to third and lined softly to short in his other two at-bats.
I’m sure everyone’s wondering about Kumar Rocker’s start. Rocker went three innings, threw (by my count) 65 pitches, gave up a run and three hits, a hit batsman (first baseman Gavin Casas) and six strikeouts. Rocker working a little more on his off speed stuff, which he was having some issues commanding, but he wasn’t all over the place, either. I had him unofficially at 65 pitches.
The most interesting pitching performance IMO was Berkwich. He’s a lefty with something of a slingshot motion and lefties were having an awful time seeing him. He struck Parker Noland (a lefty) out swinging on a fastball that just looked like it was on top of Noland before he realized it. He did something similar to another lefty, Matt Hogan. He got ground-outs from lefties Troy LaNeve and Javier Vaz, and also struck out lefty Cooper Davis swinging. The Davis strikeout was also impressive because Davis is a high-contact guy, so that was telling.
Garrett had a tough night in terms of results, but I saw a lot to like there. He’s built a lot like Marcus Stroman (and they’re both right-handed) and I liked the way he mixed his fastball with his breaking pitches, changed eye levels and wasn’t afraid to challenge hitters.
Now… the downside of challenging hitters is that he gave up three balls that went about 1,300 combined feet, but, it shows he’s got some confidence his his stuff.
I didn’t see a velocity reading, but I’d guess he was sitting maybe 91-92. I’m guessing he’ll see some mid-week innings this fall.
Patrick Reilly threw tonight also. Reilly’s a bit of a dark horse to get some innings; I’d heard his fastball was terrific and his breaking stuff has been lacking; tonight, his fastball looked straight to me at times and at times, his curve was better than I’d expected; he’s a righty and he struck out righty Isaiah Thomas with three breaking balls that Thomas sat and watched. I’d like to get another look at him.
Ethan Smith picked up a save on (I think) an 11-pitch inning. He struck out Enrique Bradfield and Carter Young and got C.J. Rodriguez to pop harmlessly to center to end it. Again, there was no gun I saw and I thought Smith was sitting probably low-90s with his fastball.
The only other guy to pitch was Nick Maldonado. I think Maldonado was charged with five runs in a third of an inning and while he wasn’t hit that hard—I think he gave up four singles, and at least two of those were infield singles—he also didn’t seem to have an out pitch.
I thought Bradfield had a solid night. He struck out twice but also walked and had an infield single. One of the more impressive things was, with T.J. McKenzie at third and one out (and, I think, two strikes) is that he hit a sac fly the other way to deep left to easily get McKenzie home. It was good to see a young guy be able to execute the other way in a spot like that.
I really wanted to see Bradfield run and didn’t get as much a chance as I’d liked. On the infield single, my eyes were elsewhere. He also didn’t get a chance in center that I remember, nor a chance to steal a base.
Speaking of fast, McKenzie hammered a triple to right-center that got in the gap. He also flied out just short of the track in center and knocked in a run with a sac fly. Unfortunately, he also missed a fly ball in left that allowed two runs to score; that one was hit to the toughest part of the park where an outfielder not only has to be able to sense the wall but also size up where on the wall it’s going to hit and what direction it might bounce off the curve. It’s an easy mis-play to make but with Bradfield/Davis/Thomas as likely starters and a slew of upperclassmen outfielders also there, that’s the kind of play he’s got to make to see the field.
It was great to see third baseman Jayson Gonzalez back. He was 1-for-2 with a walk and all reached after getting hit by a pitch.
Was interested to see what Vaz could do. I didn’t see much with the bat—he grounded out three times, one of which was a double play. In the field, he did make a good turn on a 6-4-3 double play to get Jack O’Dowd at first.
As for O’Dowd, he singled, walked and field to center, and also picked up an error on a ground ball at second he should have made.
And on that note, as I was in line to get in to the park tonight, a stranger struck up a conversation with me. He was wearing a mask and so I didn’t recognize him, but it was Jack’s dad, former MLB executive Dan O’Dowd. Super nice guy.
Jack Bulger DH’ed and was 3 for 4 with three singles.
If you have any questions, or want me to watch anyone in particular tomorrow, just ask.
