A bit of a pall over this game, with Dedniel Núñez coming out with what seemed to be an injury.  There’s been no update on him as of yet, but Im hoping he’s alright.

Other than that, it was an ugly game on the mound, with two big, bad innings.  No big offensive days, but that doesn’t mean a couple of guys didn’t get a chance to shine.  On to the Notes!

Impressions

Dedniel Núñez – 0.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB  – Got a line out to right field from his first batter.  He walked the next batter he faced.  After a wild pitch, he walked the next two batters to load the bases.  The trainers and Kapler came out to talk to him, and then removed him from the game.  Joe Ritzo noted his velocity was down to 90-91, after having been 96-97 earlier in the week.

We’ll start with the most concerning news.  Forget the stats  There hasn’t been any news since the end of the game about a possible injury.  On the radio, Ritzo was very clear that he was not throwing like normal, but also, there wasn’t any sign of an injury.  All the best to Núñez, hope he is all right.

Joe McCarthy – 1-1, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB – With runners on first and second, McCarthy hit a line drive to right that became a ground rule double when it appeared to slip through the fence and into the Giants bullpen, with a run scored.  In his second plate appearance, he drew a walk on five pitches.  He drew another walk in his third appearance.  In the fourth appearance, he drew another walk, this one with the bases loaded for an RBI.

This wasn’t a side of McCarthy I was expecting.  At least one walk was more about the pitcher’s wildness, but all the same, this showed a side that I’m sure Zaidi likes to see.  There’s no doubt that McCarthy is very low on the outfield totem pole at the moment, but doing this in Spring games when more brass are watching directly is probably more impactful than in a random Triple-A game.

Heliot Ramos – 2-2, 1 RBI, 1 CS – With a runner on third, hit a single to center field for an RBI.  In his second at-bat, he dinked a dribbler to third, and Ramos beat it out for a single.  Ramos was called out trying to steal, he beat the throw but over slid the bag.  Defensively, got hung up on a fly ball that got caught in the wind in the 8th, and it dropped for a double.

More good hitting, but Ramos showed off a bit of his speed today.  He beat out that hit, and on that attempted steal, he beat out the ball.  The overslide can likely be fixed, so that’s less of a worry.  Just more 

Sam Long – 1.0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 2 HR – The first batter he faced was Trevor Story, and he hit a long home run to center field.  He walked the next batter, Charlie Blackmon, on four pitches.  The next batter popped out on a 3-0 count.  He got a soft fly ball to right for the second out.  He walked the next batter.  With two on, the next batter hit a home run to left, over the Rockies bullpen.  The inning was ended at that point.

Sam’s been riding a lot of momentum, but he hit a starting MLB lineup today and hit it hard.  Rather, they hit his pitches hard.  That’s all okay, and maybe it’ll help to slow the fans who want him on the big league roster today in the bullpen, because he could be a very good starter with more time in the minors.

Kervin Castro – 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO – Came in suddenly to replace Núñez after he was lifted, with the bases loaded and one out.  The first batter he faced got a single that knocked a run in.  The next batter hit a deep fly ball to the warning track in left, which ended up as a sacrifice fly, scoring another run.  The next batter singled, and knocked in another run.  With runners on the corners, the Rockies successfully got a double-steal, allowing a run to score.  The next batter hit a ground ball to short, and he was unable to glove it cleanly, leading to an error.  Finally, the next matter swung and missed at a changeup to strike out.

I would expect a game like this from Castro here and there, with how raw he is, but he also gets a big pass because he came in unexpectedly to follow a teammate being injured, and also came in into almost the worst possible baseball situation.  It was an ugly inning.  I’m just going to forget this one, hopefully he does, too.

Top Prospects

Marco Luciano – 0-1, 1 SO – With his first plate appearance, he came up with the bases loaded, and struck out looking.  Defensively, in his first inning in, took a grounder at short, and bounced his throw to first, leading to an error.  In the nightmare 7th inning, he got a groundball he was unable to field cleanly, giving him his second error.

I want to see Luciano get every bit of experience he can, but…yeah.  I hope this entire spring is going on his mental bulletin board and it means he’ll come back next spring and tear things up.

Patrick Bailey – 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB – Entered in the 5th as a pinch runner for Slater, but did not go anywhere.  In his first plate appearance, he drew a walk.

Will Wilson – 0-2, 2 SO – Struck out swinging in his first at-bat, and it ended the same way in his second at-bat.

Others

Scott Kazmir – 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO – The first batter he faced lined a single up the middle to center, and so did the second.  Kazmir struck the next two batters out swinging, each one going down on three pitches.  He got out of the inning with a weak groundout to first.

Luis Gonzalez – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO – The first batter he faced hit a ball to shortstop which turned into an error.  The next batter hit a bunt single to first that could not be turned into an out.  With the two runners on, he struck out the next batter swinging.  He struck Trevor Story out for the second out.  He finished the inning getting a fly ball to center.

Austin Slater – 1-1 – In his first appearance since the first game of spring training, Slater singled to right.  He was immediately lifted for a pinch runner.

Logan Wyatt – 0-1, 1 R, 1 BB – In his first plate appearance, he drew a walk.  In his second at-bat, he hit a soft liner to short that was caught.  Defensively, was unable to handle a low throw in the dirt from shortstop in the 6th.

Chadwick Tromp – 1-1, 1 R – In his first at-bat, he hit a line drive single to left.  In the 8th, a wild pitch got away from him, but as the runner fell down, Tromp got him into a rundown to get the out.

Trevor Gott – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO – Gave up a flyball double to right to the first batter he faced.  He struck out the next batter he faced, swinging on the slider.  He struck out the next batter who swung so hard he lost his helmet.    Gott threw a wild pitch to the next batter after a long battle, the runner on second took third, but slipped on the wet grass and got into a rundown to end the inning.