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While I was in Dunedin I saw parts of six extended spring games. On the first two days there were intra-squad games at the Jays minor league facility. On day 3 the Jays played two games at the Yankee complex in Tampa. While there were six extended spring games played while I was there they were all doubled up.  As I could only watch one game at a time I saw some of all six games. Call it the equivalent of three games seen by me.

Here are my notes on what I saw and remember I only saw a pitcher throw once, it might have been a good day for him or a bad day.



Who impressed me

Mitch Nay

Nay was the most impressive hitter in camp. He had consistently good at-bats. I saw him double over the centre fielders head off Ivan Nova in a Yankee game. I saw him wait on and drive a curveball. Nay is a big guy, probably 6'2" or 6'3". He is an average runner.

Nay's grandfather played in the major leagues. Lou Klimchock played parts of 12 years in the majors, from age 18 to 30. He has been coaching and throwing BP with Mitch since he was 4 years old. With his guidance he thinks Mitch is ready for the professional life and knows what to expect.

 

Zach Wasilewski

Wasilewski has been one of the pleasant surprises in camp. Wasilewski, a lefty, features a nice 91-92 fastball with a change-up and a slider. His command was pretty good.

 

Chase DeJong

 

I saw DeJong pitch at the Yankee complex. At that complex the Yankees have gated off the areas behind home plate so my only views of DeJong came from behind first base. But from there I was very impressed. DeJong has a very smooth, easy delivery. He appeared to have very good command. DeJong showed a fastball, change and curve. He pitched five or six innings against the Yankees and only gave up a couple of hits.

 

Dawel Lugo

 

Lugo is a good sized shortstop who showed a good quick bat and appears to have the range and arm for shortstop.

 

Franklin Barreto

 

Barreto is a short but powerfully built shortstop. I saw him triple off the CF wall against the Yankees leading off the game. He is fast and appears to be a true shortstop. Barreto is either 16 or 17 so he looks good for his age.

 

Alberto Tirado

 

Tirado looked good. He has a skinny body off a 6 foot or 6'1" frame. He showed a very good fastball at 94 mph and a slider that he threw at 81-88 mph. Some times it looked like a curve, sometimes a true hard slider. He also threw a chage-up but his command of that pitch was not great. Tirado cruised through three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth and came out of his delivery. He seemed unhappy after he came out of the game and he spent some time talking with Dane Johnson and Antonio Caceres. It shows that players have to be physically and mentally able to handle the more advanced leagues. Tirado is still just 18 years old. If he was a North American kid he would be getting ready to graduate high school.

 

Other Players

DJ Davis

 

Davis is fast and he has a quick bat. But his pitch recognition still has a ways to go. Even though he is fast he was caught stealing twice against the Yankees, with poor jumps to blame both times.  Davis does have a lot of potential but he is still raw.  I had thought he might start the season in Lansing but now that I have seen him play I agree that he was not ready.

 

Gabriel Cenas

Cenas did not look good hitting, he appeared to be off balance. The Jays have decided to convert him to be a catcher. He seems like a disappointing international signing.

Matt Dean

Dean is a tall third baseman. I didn't see Dean do much at the plate.

Jacob Anderson

Anderson has a long swing. He swings and misses quite a bit too. I did see him hit a home run to right field off a high fastball that was up. Anderson did appear passive in a lot of his at-bats.

Dickie Thon

I didn't see Thon do anything of note offensively. Defensively he looked fine with a strong arm.

Tyler Gonzalez

Gonzalez has a real quick arm with good deception and the ball seems to get on the hitter quickly. However Gonzalez has had problems throwing strikes. The Jays currently have him working exclusively from the stretch to try and simplify the game for him. His fastball was 91-92 but played up with the arm action. I also saw one slider.

Adonys Cardona

I saw Cardona at the Yankee complex so again I had a view just from first base. Cardona threw two innings in relief. Cardona appeared to be throwing hard and I saw a fastball and a change. However Cardona's control was not very good.

Jairo Labourt

Labourt is a lefty with a fastball around 91 mph. His command was not good.

Yeffry DelRosario

Del Rosario is a big framed pitcher who looks like he should throw hard but his fastball sits 88, 89. He complements it with a change and a curve. He looks like a reliever to me.

Jesus Gonzalez

Looked to have a long swing, has power but free swinger plus long swing does not make for consistent success.

Andres DeAja, Rolando Segovia, Angel Rojas

This is just to note that these guys are playing in extended.  DeAza has a big body and looks like a decent hitter.  The other two are smaller infielders.  All are young and need development time. 

 

Rehabers

Dustin McGowan

McGowan looked good, he was throwing 91-94 with the fastball and a good slider. McGowan was in the middle of the plate with some of his pitches but it was a rehab outing.

John Stilson

Stilson threw one inning, 94 fastball with a good slider.

Marcus Stroman

Stroman threw a rehab start, fastball at 94, with a change, curve and slider. He looked good but it was against extended spring training hitters.

Danny Barnes

Barnes also looked good, 91-92 with the fastball with a good change.

Extended Spring Training Scouting Report | 6 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
tercet - Wednesday, May 22 2013 @ 10:22 AM EDT (#272495) #
Awesome report Gerry, I think Mitch Nay intrigues most of us, any chance he starts in Vancouver or probably would he start in Bluefield with a chance of going to Vancouver? 
Did you see Smoral by any chance?  I thought he would be pitching in these games.

I look forward to the SS ball, with Nay, Dejong, Smoral, Davis, Tirado, Cardona & more!


Gerry - Wednesday, May 22 2013 @ 10:28 AM EDT (#272496) #

I did not see Smoral, I heard he had some blisters.

 

Based on seniority and Blue Jay track record I would guess that Dean would go to Vancouver and Nay to Bluefield.  Based on what I saw I would reverse that.

jgadfly - Wednesday, May 22 2013 @ 12:11 PM EDT (#272499) #
...and Anthony Alford ? Any sightings ?
Great reports for those of us who dream and hope that tomorrow might be a brighter day ... Thanks
baagcur - Wednesday, May 22 2013 @ 12:12 PM EDT (#272500) #
Great stuff. For those of us not so clued up, it would help to have age and draft year/round added if at all possible to give more context
Ryan Day - Wednesday, May 22 2013 @ 12:23 PM EDT (#272501) #
Alford tweeted last week that he was going to Florida, and this week he's tweeting about the weather there. He appears to be doing some sort of baseball-related activity.
bpoz - Thursday, May 23 2013 @ 12:08 PM EDT (#272569) #
Great stuff Gerry!!

I am searching my memory and trying to apply facts to perceptions or opinions. All these players are very young so they will mature physically.

I am only thinking of the pitchers. We had HS pitchers in the past and they got taller and filled out. Hentgen, Carpenter, Halladay & D Wells. Carpenter & Wells overcame injuries.

I cannot remember how much if any FB velocity they gained from say 18,19 to 23-25. The day Halladay was drafted he was interviewed and told Jim Hunt that his FB was 93 mph. I think it went up to 96.

The other factors for young hard throwing pitchers are:-
1) Throwing strikes.
2)Avoiding injuries. A Cardona has been unlucky in this regard.
3) Have some other good pitches. Curve, Slider etc...

AA has added a lot of hard throwing young pitchers. It probably takes 5-7 years for the successes to make it. I guess.

That is a long wait. Ouch!!
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