With the circus surrounding Roger Clemens’ debut tonight, I was looking most forward too taking advantage of the TV broadcast to catch a look at guys like Jose Tabata, Colin Curtis, Frankie Cervelli and Juan Miranda. However, I turned on ESPN2 only to find out they aren’t going to show Tampa hitting, and instead will show a bunch of bumbling morons talking out of their ass.
Errrrrg. So I headed over to milb.com -Â which is a wonderfully fantastic site that is way better than anything ESPN could ever put together – paid my $3.95 for a nightly pass to milb.tv, and watched the game. Roger threw 30-40 pitches in the bullpen after he came out of the game, and I caught a glimpse of the ghost of Kei Igawa sitting in the ‘pen.
Here’s my notes on the kids:
- Reegie Corona can pick it at short, but his arm leaves something to be desired. He did hit a homer, but he’s generally nothing special at the dish. He was intentionally walked with a RISP to get to…
- Tim Battle…ugh. He looked like a tourist in Times Square in center, and he swings at everything. No longer a prospect in my eyes.
- Jose Tabata is a BIG boy. They say he’s 18, but he’s got the body of a 22 year old. He half-assed it down the line on a grounder to second. It was only 1 game, but I was disappointed.
- Juan Miranda has a reeeeeally open stance. If he doesn’t close it up a bit, he’s got no chance at pitches on the outer half. He made a fantastic defensive play on a ball down the line that saved the game.
- Edwar Gonzalez’s arms are gigantic. They’re as big as my thighs. Other than that…eh.
- Vech did aight. I’m not going to pass judgment since it was his first game back after 4+ weeks on the DL. Â
- Colin Curtis doesn’t get cheated up there, he swings with everything he has each hack, which explains his .230 BA. Fantastic in the outfield though, made everything look easy.
- Frankie Cervelli is the real friggin’ deal. He hit a ball off the top of the wall that would have gone out had the wind not knocked it down. He also made an outstanding play on a bunt, and did a great job with Rocket’s splitters in the dirt. He’s got a rock solid big league body, and looks like he has the “I’m good, and I know it” mentality.
- Kevin Russo is a player. Nice swing, nice actions at second. He stole a base despite looking at the ball the whole time. Hustles all the time. Definitely left an impression on me.
- It turns out that Bryan Villalona is actually Guillermo Villalona-Bryan. He had great command tonight, but his stuff was so-so. Don’t go writin’ home about him.
- 16 balls, 42 strikes for this Clemens kid. He’s got a future.
FYI – No Down on the Farm tonight. Go here for your fix. All you need to know is that Steven Jackons got effed up again (he’s allowed 72 baserunners in 40.2 IP), and Mitch Hilligoss hit in both games of the doubleheader to extend his hit streak to 25 games.
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