Okay, no lies, Tuesday night’s televised game was unfortunate, since it was excruciating to watch.  Johnny Cueto struggled mightily, and the prospects generally had a poor hitting night.  Two of the biggest highlights didn’t have to do with the prospects:

  • Evan Longoria hit two home runs, as he hopefully continues to tease a return to his younger form.
  • Reyes Moronta came on with the bases loaded and nobody out, and struck out the side, without allowing any runners in, and his velocity was up to as high as 95 according to the stadium gun.

Otherwise, I’m ready for tomorrow.

But first, here’s today’s notes.

Impressions:

Scott Kazmir – 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 WP – Struck out the first batter he faced looking with a fastball on the outside corner.  He walked the next batter on five pitches.  The next batter went the other way and hit a triple down the line, scoring a run.  The next batter hit a high fastball into left-center for a single, scoring another run.  He got a groundout to third to the next batter, and then a strikeout swinging on a fastball down the middle of the plate to end the inning.

Kazmir stayed in for the second inning.  The first batter he faced hit a ball the other way against the shift for a single.  The next batter dinked a single to right near the line, putting runners on the corners.  He walked the next batter, including a wild pitch that let the runner on first advance.  He left with the bases loaded and nobody out.

Simply put, this wasn’t a great day for Kazmir.  He was getting squeezed, but he couldn’t stop hitters from making contact, and things got tougher as the batters came and went.

Rico Garcia – 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO – Garcia came into the third inning with one out and the bases loaded.  He struck out the first batter he faced swinging.  He followed that up with a strikeout swinging on a high fastball to get out of the inning.

As the game went on, Kruk and Kuip focused on Reyes Moronta’s strong outing coming in with the bases loaded, but Garca had one of those earlier in the game.  Garcia came in with one out, but he still mowed through the hitters he needed to and got out of the inning.

Top Prospects

Joey Bart – 0-3, 1 SO – In his first at-bat, he hit a high fly ball to shallow right.  In his second at-bat, he struck out looking on a full-count curveball on the inside corner.  His third time up, he hit a line drive to center, but it was caught for the out.  Defensively, all eyes were on Bart’s relationship with Cueto, as a late add to the starting lineup.  They seemed on the same page early, but they had some discussions in the third.  No frustrations, it seemed, though.  Cueto had a poor night, but it was probably unrelated.  Later, with Kazmir pitching and a runner on third, he got a wild pitch that was off to his side in the grass, and did a great job of getting up and blocking it, preventing the runner on third from scoring.

A lot of the focus in this game likely will be his relationship with Cueto.  Cueto struggled most of this game, giving up six hits and four walks, but that probably had little to do with Bart.  They did seem to have to get on the same page in the third inning with runners on.  There didn’t seem to be any friction, but it was noticeable.

Marco Luciano – 0-1, 1 SO – In his first at-bat, he struck out swinging at a slider.

Heliot Ramos – 0-1 – In his first at-bat, he topped a ball softly to short for an out.

Will Wilson – 0-1 – Wilson swung at the first pitch he saw, and bounced a double play ball to the second baseman.  Defensively, handled a high throw defending a stolen base and got the tag down for the out.

Patrick Bailey – 0-1 – In his only at-bat, he grounded out to second.  Defensively in the 8th, threw out a runner attempting to steal.

Others

Joe McCarthy – 1-3, 1 SO, 1 SB – In his first at-bat, lined a ground ball hard to second base with a runner on first, and got on base on the fielder’s choice.  His second time up, struck out swinging at a high fastball.  In his third at-bat, he line a single to left-center.

Ricardo Genovés – 0-2, 1 SO – In his first at-bat, he struck out looking at a fastball at the knees.  His second time up, he grounded out to shortstop.

José Álvarez – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO – The first batter he faced in the 7th flew out to left field.  The second batter struck out swinging at an outside slider.  The third batter he face struck out watching a high fastball go by.

Logan Wyatt – 0-1, 1 SO – In his first at bat, he struck out swinging at a high outside fastball.  Defensively, he saved an error leaping to catch a high throw, and coming down to tag the bag before the runner crossed.

Jaylin Davis – 0-0, 1 HBP – In his first plate appearance, he was hit by a pitch on the first pitch he faced.

Caleb Baragar – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO – The first batter he faced grounded out to shortstop.  Baragar walked the next batter he faced on four pitches.  He struck out the next batter looking on a fastball on a 1-2 count. 

Jason Krizan – He struck out looking at a changeup outside in his only at-bat.