Sunday, March 21, 2010

3/21 Live from Arizona

Day two in Arizona and today I decided to go watch some minor league action. I planned on doing it at least one point this week and with Greinke on the mound I figured today would be a perfect time. So here are my thoughts on the minor league action that I saw.
  • The Royals complex is very fan friendly. I am not sure how it compares to other ballparks in the Cactus League but it was very enjoyable to catch some minor league action. The fields have about 100 feet in between them so it was very easy to stroll between them.
  • Greinke didn't pitch well. While he only gave up 2 runs in "5 innings" the damage could have been much worse, because there were a couple of jams that he got out of simply by reaching his pitch limit. He did pitch primarily fastballs but he didn't locate well and it turns out that he threw more balls than strikes.
  • Jarrod Dyson can fly. I'm starting to get legitimately excited about this guy. He has incredible speed and anything in the gap is going to be a sure triple for the speedster, just as it was in his second at bat. In his third at bat he also beat out a soft grounder to second.
  • Rene Oriental intrigues me. Oriental was signed early in the century as an international free agent, however after some legal troubles he was unable to obtain a visa into the United States. About eight years later he has obtained his visa and is now in Surprise. Oriental has a good baseball body with decent speed and a line drive swing, also part of me truly believes that if the Royals didn't feel as though potential is there then he wouldn't be in camp. I'm interested to see what kind of numbers Oriental can put up in pro ball this summer.
  • Blaine Hardy pitched well for the Naturals. Hardy three three scoreless innings and could be a darkhorse to rise quickly as a bullpen prospect.

After spending an hour or so on the minor league side, I decided to watch the remainder of the major league game.

  • Callaspo's defensive woes won't end at second. Today Callaspo made an error in the ninth and while he handles third better than second, because of his poor range becoming less than a factor I still expect him to make his fair share of errors in the hot corner.
  • Cruz had a big outing. There have been rumors this week that Colorado is interested in acquiring Juan Cruz, and I don't believe it was a coincidence that the Royals sent him out to the mound against the Rockies this afternoon. Cruz pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball.
  • I'm still no Betemit fan. Wilson Betemit may have hit a game tying two run bomb in the 9th but let's not forget he made a costly error earlier in the contest. As I have said all along if Betemit sniffs Kansas City this season it is not a good thing for Royals fans.

That's all I've got for tonight, I'll be back tomorrow evening with some more thoughts on the day's action.

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