Eyewitness Report: 6/25/13 Elizabethton 8 Greenevillle 4

Finally made it to Pioneer Park for my first game of the season.  What was a pretty good game for six innings dissolved in the seventh into a rout.  Here are some of my observations from the game:

On The Mound:

Starter Enderson Franco did not get off to a great start.  A four pitch walk to the lead off batter is not the way to start a game.  After a stolen base and a ground out, the runner scored on a two out single to give the E-Twins an early lead.  Lead off walks will kill you every time.

The second inning was when Franco impressed me the most.  After the third baseman booted the first batter's attempt.  The next batter hit a tailor made 5-4-3 double play ball that was dropped by the second baseman.  So instead of two outs. It was runners at first and second with no outs.  Franco induced a 3-1 ground out before walking a batter to load the bases.  He then got a pop to third in foul territory and a strike out to avoid any damage.  However the side effect of giving a team two extra outs in the inning is Franco threw 18 pitches that inning instead of just seven.

In the third, he only faced three batters but threw 20 pitches.  The inning went three pitch strike out looking, eight pitch F8 and nine pitch strike out swinging.

In the fourth, Franco got a lead off strikeout and then allowed three straight singles to the bottom of the line up.  He still got out of the inning with just one run scoring. His night was done after four innings.  By my count, he threw 71 pitches, with 50 of the going for strikes.  He fanned five batters and allowed four hits and two walks.

Franco needs to work on keeping base runners closer. In the first inning both runners who reached stole second and the throw never had a chance.  He has a pretty good size leg kick in his stretch and it allows runners to get a good jump on him.

He was relieved by  Edison Frias.  Frias didn't pitch badly, he just doesn't have an out pitch.  He faced five batters who fouled off at least one ball after a two strike count.  None of those at bats ended in a strike out.  Most of them ended up in base hits.  His breaking pitch was in the dirt and the E-Twins were not swinging at it.  He needs an out pitch.  He threw 74 pitches in 3 2/3 innings with 49 of the pitches for strikes.  He struck out two batters and walked one.  He allowed nine hits with five going for extra bases.

Ryan Connolly got the last four outs for the G-Stros.  He is an extreme side arm pitcher. No balls got out of the infield off him.  One was hit well but a nice play by Borchering at first took care of it.

At The Plate: 

Tanner Mathis did what you want a lead off to do.  He got on base.  He went 1-3 but also reached on a walk and a HBP.

Edwin Gomez had the two big hits for the night for Greeneville.  A RBI triple in the 4th and a two run homer in the 8th.  The home came on the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count. Both hits were to right center.

Ricky Gingras had two hits, including a double to lead off the fourth.

Juan Santana added two singles.

Ariel Ovando looked very off balance at the plate.  He has a big step in the load of his swing and I believe it makes it hard for him to adjust to off speed pitches.  He was getting a heavy diet of breaking balls. He struck out swinging twice and hit two grounders to first.  The only good contact was on a couple of foul balls.

Bobby Borchering looked out of sorts as well.  He had one good hit that was smothered by the E-Twins 6'7" first baseman.  But otherwise, it was strikeouts and a pop out to short.

In The Field:

Other than the nice snag by Borchering on a line drive at first, there weren't too many stand out plays.  Gingras did a nice job behind the plate keeping the ball in front of him on several balls in dirt from Frias.

For the second straight night defense at third was an issue.  Angel Ibanez made two errors at third.  One on a well hit but routine grounder that got in on him.  The other was a throw on a tough play coming in.  The throw sailed on him and ended up in the seats.

The other error came on a missed catch by second baseman Parker Hipp.  The throw was low to start the 5-4-3 double play but it appeared to catch him in the palm of the glove and he couldn't squeeze it.

The outfield got lots of practice chasing after balls over their head.  Cut off throws were pretty effective and defensive position of cut off men looked sound.

I hope to make it out to another game this week if life doesn't get in the way. 

Looking Ahead at the 2013 Roster - Spring Training Watch List

Yesterday was a yucky day here in beautiful Greeneville.  An ice storm paralyzed the town and made the Greeneville Astros reschedule their new look launch until Tuesday.  However, the extra down time allowed me to finalized my plans to attend Spring Training this season.

I am looking forward to touching base with guys who have passed through Greeneville who are in both major and minor league camp.  I will also have my eye out for players who might be coming to Greeneville this season when I get a chance to check out the back fields.

Last season, the Greeneville roster was made up of mostly players who had made at least an appearance in Greeneville in 2011 (12) and those drafted or signed in 2012 (11).  There were only five players who were promoted to Greeneville to start the season.  This was a significant departure from the previous year when only four players on the roster had been in Greeneville the year before and 14 were promoted from the GCL or the Dominican Summer League.  This year will tell us if last year was an anomaly or if it is the way the new front office does things.

Here are the players from last year's GCL & DSL teams that I will be watching for in Spring Training because I think they could possibly wind up in Greeneville this season.  Of course, final roster construction is heavily impacted by the players to be drafted in 2013 and injuries. 

Brett Phillips - The center fielder was the 6th round pick from last years draft won't turn 19 until May.  He put up a solid 2012 in the GCL hitting .251 with 13 extra base hits (7 2b, 6 3b, 0 HR).  He had a .720 OPS with an even .360 in both on base and slugging.  He is one of the guys I fully expect to wind up in Greeneville this season. 

Samil De Los Santos - A 19 year old RHP from the Dominican Republic. He fanned 63 batters in 57 2/3 IP in the DSL in 2012.  He walked 20 which is a bit high but when you consider that he walked 20 in 15 1/3 innings in 2011; you can see it is a vast improvement.  Despite the 20 walks, his WHIP was 1.075. 

Pedro Coa - The 20 year old catcher from Venezuela made a strong improvement in the DSL in 2012. His line from 2011 was .186/.263/.198.  Last year it was .256/.320/.311.  He is a contact hitter who had just eight walks and five strikeouts in 104 plate appearances.  In the field, he threw out 60% of base stealers (25 out of 42)! He also has some versatility playing six games at 1B, two games at 2B and a game each at 3B and SS.

Agapito Barrios - The 19 year old RHP from Panama cut his walks significantly in 2012.  He went from 27 in 58 2/3 IP in the DSL in 2011 to just 8 in 49 1/3 IP  in the GCL in 2012.  

Alfredo Gonzalez - 20 year old catcher who hit .244 in 27 games with the GCL Astros last year. His average jumped from .172 in the GCL in 2011.  He also improved in every defensive category as well last year.

Juan Santana -  18 year old middle infielder from the Dominican Republic.  He hit .268 last season in the GCL.  He played 33 games at 2nd and made just three errors.  Struggled defensively at SS in 24 games, making 8 errors.

Wallace Gonzalez - He will be 20 when he reports this spring.  The former 29th round pick in 2011 has spent two years in the GCL; though the 2011 season hardly counts because he only appeared in 18 games.  He hit .256 in 41 games in 2012 and made just one error in the OF in 42 chances.

Enderson Franco - The 20 year old RHP from Venezuela also improved his control in 2012 while he repeated the GCL.  He went from 17 walks in 2011 in 47 IP to just 8 walks last season in 50 IP.  He also saw his strike outs increase from 26 to 37.

Luis Reynoso - The 18 year old from the Dominican Republic had a solid season at the plate in the DSL in 2012.  He hit .281 with a .381 OBP.  In the field, he struggled making 20 errors in 34 games at SS.  He made three errors in 12 games at 2nd.  I expect him to start in the GCL but could earn a spot in Greeneville depending on who is drafted or signed.

Former Player News: 
Yesterday, Baseball America's transaction page reported that the Dodgers signed former G-Stro Victor Garate to a minor league deal.