Mike Kaffee, Community News Canes Baseball reporter.
Scout Day, but for some of the players it is Judgment Day. Today marks the end of the preseason. Soon the fate of whatever the magic number is to get to the required 34-man roster will shortly be determined. The listed roster has 44 names listed and we already know of one departure, Alex Kuenzie, Which leaves 43 names. Alex Stanyek,RHP, and Sebastian Font,OF, were a no-show for the entire preseason and all those I have asked outside of the players and coaches don’t have an explanation. The only person on the injury list is or I should say was Rob Evans. He was supposed to be out until the spring recovering from an injury but he showed up today to pitch an inning and did remarkably well for his first appearance. As I heard from a couple of scouts “Why, there is a whole season ahead to evaluate him as well as the others, today was unnecessary”? Being a LH pitcher, he was not endangered of being cut and I agree that letting him pitch one inning and the chance of returning too early is not worth reinjuring his arm. As for Nolan Johnson, catcher, he has been sidelined the bulk of the preseason but has been utilized to bat but not to field. That opened the door for bringing in Ethan Puig who might have taken over as the #2 catcher leaving the team with one extra catcher. With the majority of cuts coming from the OF and pitchers, Evan Taveras might be sitting on the bubble as the 4th catcher. As I have repeatedly written he can hit as shown by getting a pair of singles today but his throwing arm is his Achilles Heel. Whether it is psychological and can be fixed will be decided in the next week or so as the question of who’s in and who’s out. I will withhold my choices on who I feel will be cut until the final roster is determined. Being on the outside and not being able to see the “BIG PICTURE” I would hate to speculate and cause some readers to be disgruntled.
Today was a showcase of exhibiting one’s skills as being the fastest on the team, having the best throwing arm from our outfield, then shifting gears with the position players in the infield including the strength and accuracy from behind the plate and finishing with the bat. It was agreed by all the scouts who went onto the field to time the 60-yard dash that the “Fleetest of Foot” goes to Elijah Hurt with Michael Torres running second. Moving to the OF competition a bit of a surprise was thrown in, Todd Hudson. He played OF as well as pitched at Liberty before transferring here where he has been moved to first base due to the overabundance of players (12) competing. It was obvious to JD for him to make the move. It became clearly obvious during the competition that the best arm by far throwing to third and home was none other than Todd Hudson. His transition to first is a work in progress and defensively Renzo Gonzalez is the better choice at this time. As I wrote in the last report, height advantage, and stretch are no contest 6’6″ wins every time over 5’10”. Following Todd were Fabio Peralta and Michael Torres but not even a close second. Like last year, the opposition will challenge the throwing arms of our outfield and come out ahead.
From the OF we move to the IF. The IF is pretty much decided as to who will be playing second (Dorian) and third (Daniel) At first, I have spent endless type on who and why I feel should get the starting call, but it is unlikely happening. Todd would help the team in a better capacity as the DH and Renzo with the better glove would play first. The only position that is a total flip of the coin is at short. Two are likely candidates with Adrian Areizaga odd glove out. Between Jake Ogden and Brandon DeGoti, I am leaning towards Brandon having the better arm and field skills. Both will get plenty of time for I am sure JD doesn’t have a firm grip as to who is better for the position. Both can hit equally well and the only advantage Ogden has over DeGoti he is a junior with a lot more collegiate experience playing the position.
The final position is catcher. As of this time, there is no discussion as to who will start opening day. It is Tanner Smith to lose. At the start of preseason, this was the team’s Achilles Heel. I feel comfortable to say the Heel has been eliminated from the conversation. With the addition of Ethan Puig as well as the proficiency of Tanner Smith’s throwing arm to second we can put this to rest. Whether Nolan Johnson can push aside Ethan as #2 is yet to be seen come this spring. Should be interesting how this develops. That leaves Evan Taveras as to what JD does with him. Does he keep him on for his bat alone will be probably be determine on how many have already received their walking papers. Being on the bubble he will be the last to go again in my opinion if it reaches that point.
Last on the skill’s competition was the hitting. With the departure of Rafael with its gale-force winds in LF, the HR productivity during the hitting exhibition was high. Not so during the scrimmage. Headlining as expected was Daniel Cuvet and Todd Hudson who will be an awesome 1,2 punch in the lineup. Totally unexpected was a name that I was honestly considering cutting. Adrian Areizaga put on a display at the plate which might give JD second thoughts. With DeGoti and Ogden competing for shortstop, Adrian becomes the third-wheel in the selection.
The skills competition lasted 2 hours and most scouts felt that the players have an entire season to prove themselves and this day alone wasn’t going to give them “an up” in the draft process. For the players, a whole different story. It was Judgment Day.
We move from skills to actual playing time. 9 1/2 innings, 10 pitchers, two innings each to leave first impressions to many scouts seeing them for the first time. How important this day will mean will be determined if the interest in what came out of today follows through for the rest of the year. Rather than start with the pitchers most on the radars for the scouts, JD saved them to the last to provide the opportunity for the other pitchers to be seen with the full crowd of scouts in the stands. I have seen throughout the preseason that once the scouts see who they want, they quickly exit which is unfair for the pitcher that is not yet there on the radar. Alex Giroux and Reese Lumpkin had the honors for the opening two innings.
Not starting the way he wanted to impress the scouts, Alex opened the scrimmage with a double to Max Galvin who would end the day having the best day at the plate this preseason with a trio of doubles along with a single. What better way to not only impress the scouts but JD as well since Max is one of twelve outfielders that needs trimming plus he is draft-eligible. No outs man on second, Alex receives points striking out two (Gaby and Daniel) and having Hudson ground out. The second inning brought a bit of excitement coming with the final out. Jake Ogden opened with a single and ended the inning being thrown out at the plate 8-2. The throw was by Michael Torres who received an honorable mention on his throw during the skill competition.
Reese Lumpkin had a scoreless first highlighted by hitting Derek Williams which quickly went away striking out Jake Kulikowski for the 3rd out. The second inning he started great striking out DeGoti and Torres and then back-to-back-to-back singles by Max Galvin, Gaby Gutierrez, and Todd Hudson(RBI). The Final out with runners on the corner by Cuvet to shortstop
Carson Fisher and Jackson Cleveland next set of pitchers to face off for a pair of innings. Carson had an easy time in his first inning with a 3up/3down outing. His second inning wasn’t as smooth opening with a HR to Brandon DeGoti. Max Galvin continued his hot bat with his third hit and second double of the day after Michael Torres struck out. He was left on second after Carson followed striking out Gaby and Todd.
Jackson Cleveland found out that an error can ruin one’s entire inning. Adrian Areizaga hits a grounder to DeGoti who mishandles it setting the wheels in motion. Evan Taveras singles putting runners on the corners, Hurt strikes out, with RISP Jake Ogden coming through with an RBI single. Runners on 1st and 2nd a PB advances both runners one base. Bobby Marsh ground out 4-3 brings home the 2nd run. Jackson completes the inning striking out Tanner Smith. A two-out E8 (Hurt) placed Derek Williams on 3rd, but a strikeout to Jake Kulikowski prevented further damage.
Will Smith and Slaide Naturman took us through the halfway mark of today’s scrimmage. 5th inning went well for Will but not so with the 6th. Again the inning opens with an error and like before, errors just ruin your day. Nolan Johnson reaches 1st E6(Areizaga). Ethan also reaches base via an error (E4), E2(Taveras) on Johnson’s steal to third. A coach’s error for not sending Johnson home when the ball was thrown passed third into the OF. Ethan advances to second on the throw. All is forgiven with both Johnson and Ethan scoring with Dorian tripling off the tip of Todd’s glove. Might have been over Renzo’s head if playing the position, but Todd’s reflexes to the hit were a bit slow. Errors in abundance resulting in a defensive debacle.
Slaide giving up a couple of runs in the 5th might be an indicator that his teammates have seen enough of his submarine style of pitching that he became hittable. Throwing him against a team that sees nothing but regular pitching throughout the game is an entirely different story. That said, still like him as Closer. Daniel Cuvet opens with a single, DeGoti walks and with his 3rd double of the day Max Galvin brings home two. Slaide’s final inning he had to work to prevent more runs on the board. Again not a sterling start as the batters get more comfortable with his delivery. Back-to-back opening singles by Elijah Hurt and Jake Ogden. He hits Bobby Marsh to load the bases, with no outs. Strikes out Tanner Smith. Fabio Peralta hits a liner back to Slaide and goes home for the 2nd out. Base still loaded, Areizaga FO to center and Slaide walks off the mound breathing easier.
What the scouts have been waiting for all day: Brian Walters and Griffin Hugus. Brian didn’t disappoint them. One pitch, one out having Daniel ground out 6-3. DeGoti with 2 or 3 pitches 4-3. Michael Torres same fate 3 pitches 1-3. Threw a maximum of 7 pitches and did not even work up a sweat. Sweated a bit in his final, but still an easy-peasy day. Brian started where he left off striking out Elijah Hurt before Taveras singles advancing to second on a PB. Not letting Evan ruin his day, strikes out Jake Ogden and Bobby Marsh FO to center. This is what everyone expected from Brian and he did not disappoint.
Griffin had the same results with no runs on the board having an easy time in the 7th with a 3up/3down inning. The 8th ruined his day with a one-out double by Gaby being quickly rectified with Hudson and Cuvet flying out respectively to right and center Gaby did advance to 3rd on Hudson’s out to right.
A long day but finally making it to the last two pitchers scheduled to pitch: Jake Dorn and a surprise visitor to the mound: Rob Evans. Jake made quick work of the 3 batters faced and did likewise for his second inning of work but required an extra batter (Torres) who got caught stealing to second which concluded the scrimmage.
Rob Evans, as mentioned a surprise not expecting to see action until spring threw one inning. For the first time all season the remaining scouts took note: striking out three ( Peralta,Areizaga,Taveras) after walking Tanner Smith who got caught stealing on a perfect throw from Ethan.
A long day at the park first with the skills competition followed by 9.5 innings of ball. Hang in there, almost done, and then you have two months to rest your reading eyes until January when spring preseason begins leading to opening day I believe on Valentine’s Day.
Offensively, the bats were active today with 19 hits. Four for extra bases: Evan Traveras 2-2; Gaby Guiterrez 2-6(double); Jake Ogden 3-4 (RBI); and the most prolific hitter of the day Max Galvin 4-6(3doubles,2RBIs). Triple: Dorian Gonzalez(2RBIs); HR: Brandon DeGoti(RBI)
Overall, It was a good preseason where pitching took a positive turn from last season where we were dead before the season even began. If we stay healthy no telling how far we might progress up the food chain towards Omaha. We have the potential and the BP to take us to the next level. Will probably have to depend upon them as our HR productivity probably isn’t as great as last year. We will be looking to Hudson and Cuvet to be our 1,2 punch and somewhere in the pack a few hopefully will rise to the occasion. Strikeouts have to be down as we were at the top or near the top in the ACC last year. The biggest concern is RISP. We have to do much better in this category. Bunting and stealing need to play a bigger role in playing more aggressive ball. A lot to ask but if we don’t want to see another year like last JD and his staff must pound these points home. I am anticipating a good year ahead and hope you join me along for the ride.
Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season and hope to see you at the Light come January for preseason.
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