Game Notes – Anaheim vs Minnesota
Posted by basebal5 on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Delmon Young hit two doubles and two home runs this Spring. He was
2-for-4 with a stolen base in the opener. (Bill Richardson/BDD)
I was scheduled to make these Game Notes on the Toronto vs NY Yankees matchup, but it got rained out. I picked a game randomly and fell on the Anaheim vs Minnesota contest.
Enjoy and be sure to watch the pictures taken by one of our reporters on site!
First Inning (Box Score)
- RHP Livan Hernandez opens the game with three ground balls (only 9 pitches needed) and pitches that never go over the 86 mph mark. His Spring Training numbers: 24 IP, 31 H, 17 ER, 5 BB, 17 K, with 24 ground outs and 29 fly outs.
- I love the camera angle we have from WFIC, which broadcasts this game; directly behind the pitcher and elevated a bit to see the movement on pitches. We see the ball tailing and weaving through the zone….*drooling*
- RHP Jered Weaver brings his great March stats (26 IP, 18 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 19 K, 27/31 Go/Ao) and repertoire (90 mph fastball – 2 and 4 seam -, slider, change, curve – in order of usage).
I really like how he hides the ball by reaching really far behind his back and sling shots toward the plate. Great cutting movement on the four-seam fastball, too. It's actually doing him a disservice now….
He takes the lead 0-2 against the speedster Carlos Gomez (game-changing speed!!) and allows a double down the third base line. Gomez slashed at the ball, a little like Andrew McCutchen likes to do to take advantage of his speed on the bases. Look:
His fastball cuts out of the zone when he targets the outside corner against right-handed batters, but stays way up in the zone against left-handers. Michael Cuddyer lets two of them go and misses the third one by a hair. On a run-and-hit play with Mauer at first, he gets a slider in the air for an out.
The next two batter, Delmon Young and Craig Monroe, hit the first pitch they see, both a slider that would have been a strike. The patient approach of the first 3 batters was replaced by an eagerness to make contact with a guy on second.
Second Inning
Hernandez gets two outs on groundballs, but allows a double to Casey Kotchman, who really has an awkward swing where he uses his arm and hands a lot to drive the ball. The pitcher has now offered a glimpse of his slider, that he throws under the 80 mph mark.
Howie Kendrick has the same compact swing Aaron Hill from the Blue Jays possesses and they have essentially the same frame (5'10'', 195 pounds). The direct path to the ball wastes no precious time in their swing and they can hit the ball to all fields. This is the kind of mechanics that will rarely get a batter in a funk, if only for the quick adjustment they can make throughout a season or even game.
Weaver still has trouble spotting the fastball against lefties, but gets Mike Lamb out on a GB (as with Adam Everett for the third out) and Brendan Harris has a weak spot: inside.
The battery mates pound him inside and take advantage of his so-so bat speed and hands. He is a good hitter if he extends his arms, but inside he seems to struggle. We'll check back this season to see if the situations changes. I'm sure you'll bee holding your breath…
Third Inning
Wow…Livan just introduced his 12-6 curve ball, clocked at 59 mph. Napoli was completely out in front of that one and than was struck out looking with a perfect pitch; fastball low and inside to the right-handed catcher.
Figgins drops a ball to the opposite field and tries for a double on Young's amazing arm and is actually thrown out, but the umpire is behind the runner and calls him safe. Replays prove my point. That was an amazing play by Young and a daring attempt by the third baseman. Even with the result (safe), you can be sure Figgins has had his lesson.
Carlos Gomez is so fast; he just put on a great drag bunt and slid head-first into first base for a single. Kendrick did not even reach first base on time with Kotchman fielding the grounder. Gomez was 10-for-11 this Spring Training in stolen bases.
The young outfielder is stranded at third after two ground outs and a strike out (where Weaver finally spots his fastball inside to Cuddyer for the K looking).
Fourth Inning
A ground ball that finds a way in safe territory, a fly ball that becomes the first for Gomez in the Metrodome center field and a great double-play after a liner to Brendan Harris at 2B and a relay to nab the runner on first who was caught too far off the bag….Morneau juggled with the ball and almost lost the contact with first base before he gained complete control of the ball.
The same play happens to the Twins in the bottom of the fourth. Young got on base after an inside-out swing that gets him a single to right field and then proceeds to easily steal a base. Weaver now gets in front in the count with his breaking pitches and you can see the Twins bats are having a difficult time now. They get an RBI anyway before the first out is made, with the same scenario that was written in the first inning.
Look at this action shot from our great photographer…
(Bill Richardson/BDD)
Fifth Inning
Hernandez begins to fall behind hitters, with the umpire not helping by not calling the outside corners. At least he's consistent.
That leads to three straight singles before the first out is recorded, in a double-play that scores a run and leaves a runner on third base. Figgins and Hernandez then proceed to a good battle that the hitter wins with a nice piece of hitting. Figgins slaps the ball, that's thrown down and in, between the first and second baseman and that makes the game even at 2-2.
The Twins come back, thanks to a walk by Gomez, then a steal and a situational play that gets him to third thanks to Mauer. The infield is brought in with Michael Cuddyer and I could not disagree more with that managerial move.
I am proven right when the ball is hit hard to SS Izturis and he can't handle it, something he would have done if he had been a few steps back. What do you think about managers who fall in love with the infield in?
Even Cuddyer gets in on the fun with a stolen base, the forth by the Twins in five innings. Napoli is throwing high and wide and Minnesota is making a mockery out of this display from the catcher. In 2007, Napoli allowed 49 stolen bases in 75 games and caught 15 (23.5 %).
Morneau is attacked inside a lot and he is struck out looking for the first time tonight.
Sixth Inning
Hernandez has attcked Vladimir Guerrero tonight, throwing a healthy dose of breaking ball to the slugger on the outside corner, but not wide like so many pitchers. He has induced him into two ground balls so far, with a fastball inside enough to do the trick the second time around.
In the bottom half, you can witness the beauty of baseball: Howie Kendrick mishandles a grounder from Monroe, but he runs it in the outfield quickly and retires the runner at first. Two batters later, the SS and two outfielders look at each other, but no one catches the ball, giving Harris a double.
Pat Neshek: filthy stuff, but I'm always afraid his arm will fall off after every pitch. The stress on the elbow and shoulder has got to be incredible. He wore down at the end of last season.
Baseball Digest Daily's Matthew Whipps was dispatched to the Metrodome last night and he got those pictures uploaded…before the storm took his internet connection away!!
Hall of Fame legends Tony Oliva and Rod Carew chat around the Twins
batting cage on opening day.
