Guest JimH Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Just got back from Tucson and Phoenix, wanted to share my impressions of what I observed ... Saw the Sox play Oakland 3/12, Sox vs. Colorado 3/13 at Hi Corbett, Sox vs. Milwaukee on 3/15, and unfortunately got rained out vs. the Giants in Scottsdale 3/16. Off the top of my head .... They're really giving Miles a good shot. He's getting lots of playing time, the thing I noticed most is he's able to work pitchers deep in the count. Always hustling, looks solid defensively. I didn't notice any major difference between his batting abilities righty vs. lefty. Harris on the other hand didn't look as impressive. He seems more comfortable in CF vs. 2B defensively. At the plate, he doesn't appear to drive the ball; rather, he just seems to push at it. Like Durham, he fakes a bunt just about every time at bat. Stewart looks pretty good but he throws alot of pitches. He changes speeds, works both sides of the plate, and appears to have a pretty good cutter. Definitely knows what he's doing. If his velocity ever topped 88 when I saw him vs. Oakland, I'd be surprised. Nonetheless, he had alot of guys guessing wrong. Borchard is still susceptible to the high heat. He appears to be catching up to more pitches and has a better recognition of the strike zone. He waited back nicely on a curve ball and drilled it hard during one AB. Crede and Graffanino look solid. Crede's wife is very nice ... my dad and I chatted with her for a few minutes. She's also from Missouri and is a very lovely young woman. Rauch is struggling. We saw him in the Colorado game, he was behind just about every hitter, but it wasn't a disaster, he worked out of some jams, but gave up three runs in one inning and appeared to lose his composure a bit. It'll be no surprise if he starts out at AAA ... which I agree with ... let him get on a roll before bringing him up. Rick White pitched better than his numbers seem to indicate ... he's got excellent movement on his pitches and there were a few hits against him but it wasn't hard hit balls. We were really impressed with Jamie Burke behind the plate. Saw him steal home vs. Colorado, and get a long triple too. He looks like a very capable depth player. Thomas had a couple of nice defensive plays Sat. vs. Milwaukee ... we were right behind the dugout, one guy calls out to him, "Frank ... you're dazzling us out here!!" ... everybody laughed ... including Frank, he was covering his face with his glove, and the Milwaukee 1st base coach was ribbing him a bit. Daubach looks like a lock, his swing is more compact than I remember, he's really mashing the ball. All Matt Ginter was doing was getting people out. Nice to see. The pickup in the Colon trade, Jorge Nunez, looks overmatched at the plate ... doesn't appear to have good strike zone judgement ... struck out quite a few times in the games we saw. Wunsch looks dominant. The lefties weren't getting good looks at him at all. Other thoughts ... Tucson is a wonderful, compact, friendly city. Both the ballparks are clean and comfortable. The weather was great ... until Sunday up in Scottsdale ... oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
method Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Wow. great report. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesox247 Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 What about Garland? Did you see his stuff? He's gonna be great this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Fainter Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 JimH Great report. Did you see any of the minor league guys? Any news on them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 great job jim..so you said they giving miles a real shot...if you had to make a guess right now would he make the 25 man roster??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPinStripes Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 great job jim..so you said they giving miles a real shot...if you had to make a guess right now would he make the 25 man roster??? nice sig baggs. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 great job jim..so you said they giving miles a real shot...if you had to make a guess right now would he make the 25 man roster??? nice sig baggs. lol when i saw you were posting directly under me that was exactly what i thought you were going to say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Thanks for taking the time to share all your observations with us, JimH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JimH Posted March 20, 2003 Share Posted March 20, 2003 Re: Miles ... I think the shot they're giving him is legit. He played all the games when we were there, and he's been playing alot since then. It wouldn't shock me at all if he made the 25 man. One of the minor leaguers who impressed us was Cliff Brumbaugh. Yes, he's just a depth player and will start at AAA, but we saw some outstanding at-bats by him and a couple of great picks at 1B. He's a big, strong right-handed hitter ... a guy who really takes pitches nicely. There was on AB against Colorado where he fouled off about 3 pitches, worked the count to 3-2, and then smoked a long double to left center. Obviously, he's got zero chance to make the team but it made me feel good that the Sox have a guy like him in AAA in case of injury. I didn't see Garland pitch, so I can't comment for sure. Oh ... Edwin Almonte. I did see him throw an inning. The changeup is exactly as advertised ... nasty. He knows what he's doing, too. Had good control and command too. The issue with him is it appears he can't get the fastball by the hitters, even with setting it up with that lethal changeup. I'd say the fastball tops out less than 90, but I obviously don't know for sure. It looked like the hitters were getting decent cuts at the fastball, but not getting it on the meat of the bat ... lots of foul balls, etc. All in all ... it's just as we suspected ... it appears they've got 13,14 guys who can legitimately pitch in the big leagues. One more thing ... Carlos Lee actually looked nimble out in left field. He's definitely lost some weight, and he made a few really nice plays out there. I think these guys are in shape, hungry, and ready to play. We sat right behind the dugout for 2 of the games, and there appears to be a nice blend of having a good time playing the game vs. the professionalism needed to get the job done. Loose ... but businesslike ... I don't know if that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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