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Post by soxin8 on May 13, 2021 10:21:30 GMT -5
I went to game two of the six game series with Hartford. Thanks to Red Sox Stats for the highlights and everyone posting them here so I don't need to describe those massive shots by Casas. I arrived in the second so I missed Roldoni's homerun, but others made up for it.
I sat behind home plate near a friendly scout I talked with during the game. John scouts AA, AAA and the majors for his team and has been doing so for 15 years. Winckowski threw mostly 4 seamers 94 to 96 touching 97 once, while mixing in a few sliders 84-87. I asked what the 91 and 92 pitches were and John asked another scout what he logged. That scout recorded 2 seamers. There was an 81 which looked like a curve to me but not in his profile. I asked him for his opinion of Winckowski early on and after 3 good innings he said he was concerned because he still hadn't seen a changeup. That was also true after 5 innings but he did throw an 89 which could have been one. His profile here says it lacks separation from the fastball and could still be the problem. I asked if he thought he could help the Sox bullpen now and he quickly said no, that he was only 23 (next month) and missed a year of development.
I asked him about German the previous night and his secondary pitches. He said he liked the slider and change but thought he needed to clean up his delivery, thinking he was throwing across his body. I mentioned Feltman's decreased velocity and he said his stuff has backed up.
I believe the Sea Dogs offensive explosion was a direct correlation to the quality of pitching they saw last night. Tuesday's game saw multiple Hartford pitchers throwing 95 which was not the case last night. After Casas second monster homerun, John turned to me and said," This is taking nothing away from him" but I interrupted finishing his thoughts with " that was off an 87 fastball and the first was off 90. He's not going to see that in the majors or even AAA". John nodded and said "He did what he need to do with those pitches.
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Post by chrisfromnc on May 13, 2021 10:27:20 GMT -5
Picking the brain of a scout at a minor league game is about as fun as it gets for a prospect watcher. How cool.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on May 13, 2021 11:13:49 GMT -5
Jordan Divalerio with a really nice start to the season. I know it's going to take a lot more than three good appearances to get excited about a UDFA, even as a future reliever, but the fact they had Chris Sale call him as part of their pitch must show they thought pretty highly of him, right? He was a priority UDFA. Like Van Belle, likely a guy they'd have targeted in rounds 6-10 had they happened.
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Post by soxin8 on May 13, 2021 11:19:41 GMT -5
I was going to make the same comment ematz made about the double Casas hit in the 7th. Casas ran the count to 3 and 0 again and I saw him look to the third base coach, likely hoping for the hit sign. The 3-0 was not close, missing outside by at least 6 inches. Triston dropped the bat and was halfway to first when the ump called a strike. He turned around without complaint seemingly happy for another chance to swing. Then he took low and outside 92 the other way in the gap that you see in the highlight.
John was doing pitcher's time to home with his stopwatch. He waited a while to do one for Josh. When he finally went into the stretch, John told me Josh was 1.35 to home. I asked what was an average time and he said 1.3. So I said Josh was just a little slow. John said he was also pitching to the score of the game. I mentioned that Josh was a little better than Ottovino to the plate and he laughed in agreement.
The homerun that Josh gave up was off a 95 4 seamer that Golden hit out the opposite way to right center. The other hit he gave was on a slow roller to first that Casas fielded and tagged the bag before the runner arrived but was ruled safe. The Portland manager came out to ask the ump to get help. After the three umpires conferred, they declined to change the call.
Meises and Meneses back to back homers were off Matson pitches 88 and 89. Following the second homer, Hartford finished with Fernandez and old friend Yoan Aybar. Fernandez threw 97-98 touching 100. Aybar was 96-97 with an 88 slider that he got in on Casas fist to roll to short for his last at-bat. There were no hits off those two.
I asked what John thought of Mata before the injury and he said he liked him. I asked if there was anyone else interesting in the field besides Casas. After a moment of thought, he said Castellanos (He said this was his first look at Hernandez catching). I mentioned the report of him having batting practice power that hasn't yet translated into games and he said he has watched his bp and his game power is progressing.
The Portland defense was better with Baldwin and Fitzgerald making nice plays in the field Wednesday. Fitzgerald's double was a fly to center that the centerfielder started back on then completely lost in the sky. It fell where he was originally standing. The Hartford infield defense struggled not just with errors but in turning double plays that should have been made. I mentioned to John a good test for Portland will be against their top pitching prospect Rolison, number 2 in their top thirty according to mlb.com. John said that will be the Saturday matchup.
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