Spring Training Invites

[John Smith]

[totdprods]

Cool - glad Grendell is getting an invite. He looked like a monster last season and I could see him appearing in Anaheim this year.

Sherm, man, now's your chance. Hermosillo also has the potential to up his stock quite a bit if he produces this spring.

[Broad Street]

Excited to see John Lamb. I don't know why, have no idea who he is, but he sounds like a cool guy.

[totdprods]

I know the lack of activity on the free agent pitching was a little frustrating, and I still think we will sign another, but I've gotta say that I'm pretty excited to see our minor league depth in action. There is a lot of upside and youth in this crop, and while we would be lucky if one or two amounted to anything, there's a chance a couple of these guys could be really good and fulfill their potential. Let's just hope those are the ones who emerge.

[AngelStew43]

Lamb is rehabbing a back injury, doubtful if he makes the club out of ST.  Norris and Grendell stand out as real possibilities to make the club out of camp.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Matt Williams is old,  ut he was a beast with cleveland back in the day. Havent had a real 3B since Glaus.

[ettin]

Damn @John Smith you are right on top of this stuff! Thanks!

[ettin]

Also I saw a name I'd never seen before, Osmer Morales. Looked him up and although he hasn't played in AA or higher he has some really impressive K%-BB% numbers, particularly as a reliever. Interesting pick up and he is stretched out a fair amount too.

I have to say I am really impressed with Billy Eppler's offseason. It's not just the methodical manner of how he's filled holes but it is the scavenging in the nether regions of the Minors that perhaps has impressed me the most.

[Erstad Grit]

I thought Eric young was a 2b. Looked it up and he hasn't been there in quite a while.  

[Ohtaniland]

They should've invited Weiters and Utley. 

[Second Base]

Osmer is a really interesting case. He throws mid to upper 80's with a solid change up, but in the whole, his stuff is pretty vanilla. What makes him interesting are two things. First, spin rate. He spins the ball just about better than anyone in the minors. This isn't a fully understood area yet. We know lots of spin is good, but we don't fully understand the correlation, at least with fastballs because the data is scattered. What we do know is that spin and velocity are what make Richards so special. 

The second thing that makes Osmer interesting is location. He makes the ball move and places it where he wants.

[Second Base]

Also, I'm surprised they skipped on Vicente Campos. Perhaps he won't be healthy in time. I'll be watching Lamb and Banuelos closely. Just something about former top prospect lefties I guess. 

I think it's mostly me being intrigued by their health. If Manny is healthy, he's shown he can be very effective in the majors. Lamb's stuff is better than Banuelos at this point in their careers (Banuelos used to have more velo and bite on his breaking ball. Hasn't been healthy enough to reach back and hit mid-90's). Lamb just needs someone to believe in him and give him an extended look. If you can ride out the expected bumps in the road, the reward could be huge with Lamb, as in Andrew Miller type of huge.

[oater]

12 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Also, I'm surprised they skipped on Vicente Campos. Perhaps he won't be healthy in time. I'll be watching Lamb and Banuelos closely. Just something about former top prospect lefties I guess. 

He is on the 40 man roster, so he's not eligible for this list.

The omission that surprises me is Scribner.

[totdprods]

51 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Osmer is a really interesting case. He throws mid to upper 80's with a solid change up, but in the whole, his stuff is pretty vanilla. What makes him interesting are two things. First, spin rate. He spins the ball just about better than anyone in the minors. This isn't a fully understood area yet. We know lots of spin is good, but we don't fully understand the correlation, at least with fastballs because the data is scattered. What we do know is that spin and velocity are what make Richards so special. 

The second thing that makes Osmer interesting is location. He makes the ball move and places it where he wants.

I think I remember reading somewhere that spin rate is why they were attracted to Daniel Wright too. He's hardly drawn a second glance this offseason, but I could see him taking a step forward too. 

[Brent Maguire]

2 hours ago, ettin said:

Also I saw a name I'd never seen before, Osmer Morales. Looked him up and although he hasn't played in AA or higher he has some really impressive K%-BB% numbers, particularly as a reliever. Interesting pick up and he is stretched out a fair amount too.

I have to say I am really impressed with Billy Eppler's offseason. It's not just the methodical manner of how he's filled holes but it is the scavenging in the nether regions of the Minors that perhaps has impressed me the most.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/projecting-the-minor-league-free-agent-pitchers/

Check this out. Morales ranked 3rd on the list. Underrated move IMO. 

[Docwaukee]

the dichotomy between our pitching depth for non roster players vs. our position player depth is pretty significant.  

[Second Base]

10 hours ago, totdprods said:

I think I remember reading somewhere that spin rate is why they were attracted to Daniel Wright too. He's hardly drawn a second glance this offseason, but I could see him taking a step forward too. 

Daniel Wright looked just plain awful, and his numbers matched that. 

I'm with spin rate, but at the same time, it has to pass the eye test. Daniel Wright does not.

[Inside Pitch]

I would have loved to have seen the spin data on young Jarrod Washburn.  I remember Edgar Martinez saying Wash the hardest pitcher he had to face because there was so much spin on his balls that it seemed to flutter at times..   Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort, two other guys I would have loved to see spin rates on.  

Kevin Brown threw the loudest pitches I've ever heard.  I saw him warming up on a few occasions, there was this very audible buzz from when he released the ball to when it was caught.  One of the coolest things ever.

[Inside Pitch]

9 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Daniel Wright looked just plain awful, and his numbers matched that. 

I'm with spin rate, but at the same time, it has to pass the eye test. Daniel Wright does not.

I'm not disagreeing with you -- but I think the spin info is interesting because the eye test argues he's worse than the numbers he's put up.

[Hubs]

Wright is also on the 40-man roster. These are non-roster invitees. 

Two of these guys could get added to the 40-man roster, at the end of Spring, as both Heaney and Tropeano will likely go onto the 60-man DL. Pujols may as well, but I doubt it.