* Jason Heyward looks fantastic. I don't know if you've heard the stories about this guy, but I have: how he hits the ball so hard that Braves manager Bobby Cox says it sounds like it used to sound when Hank Aaron hit the ball. Or how he hits batting practice home runs so far - like, out of the stadium far - that the Braves had to install a safety net over the parking lot to keep cars from getting dented. He stands 6'4" and 220 lbs, and he's only 20 years old. 20 years old! Imagine how tall he'll be when he loses all his baby teeth.
In the first nationally televised game this spring (Braves vs. Mets on MLB Network) Heyward was 1-for-1 with two walks and a stolen base. The Braves' starting right field job is his to lose, and he's going to turn a lot of heads this season.
* The New York Mets are pussies. In that same game, the Mets were supposed to trot out most of their regular players to kick off spring training: third baseman David Wright, right fielder Jeff Francoeur, left fielder Jason Bay... you know, all the interesting guys. Instead, due to slightly muddy field conditions following a rainstorm the previous night, the Mets top brass got worried that one of their stars might slip in the mud, and instad pencilled in a starting lineup of all second/third stringers.I mean, I know Mets players lost approximately a gazillion man-hours of playing time due to catastrophic injuries last year, but come on! It's the first game of Spring Training, you're up against one of your division rivals. At least give your regulars a couple of innings to start off Spring Training for everyone at home. Brian McCann and Nate McLouth and Yunel Escobar and Jason Heyward all came to play for the opposing team.
Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes weren't going to play anyway because they're recovering from surgeries, which actually made for kind of an important start for center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. At the end of Januray, Matthews was acquired from the Angels as a fourth outfielder. But seeing as starting CF Beltran won't be ready by opening day, Matthews can basically audition to hold his place for the first part of the season. So far he's made the most of his opportunities, competing with the likes of Angel Pagan and Fernando Martinez. We'll see how his job search continues.
* Roy Halladay will lead the Phillies' rotation. In a marquee matchup on Thursday, the Phillies faced off against the Yankees in a World Series rematch. The game featured an ace vs. ace matchup: big lefty power-horse (part powerhouse, part workhorse) C.C. Sabathia vs. newly acquired (from the Blue Jays, by way of the Seattle Mariners) Roy Halladay.
C.C. was a little shaky, allowing two hits and two walks in his two innings, which is to be expected after a long off-season, following a playoffs process during which he was a member of a three-man rotation. But Doc Halladay, by contrast, looked absolutely flawless: two innings, no hits, no walks, three strikeouts. His location was just spot on, even in his Spring Training debut. This guy is a special talent, and he will make the Phillies stronger.
I'm wondering how strong, though. Sure they got ace pitcher Roy Halladay, but they gave up ace pitcher Cliff Lee to get him. Pound for pound, Doc's probably a better, more valuable pitcher than Lee. But if they had somehow managed to net both of them, their starting rotation would be Halladay, Lee, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ. I don't want to say "unprecedented," but that would have been a veritable pantsload of talent there. As they stand now, three guys are competing for the Phillies' fifth starter spot: Kyle Kendrick, Antonio Bastardo, and Jamie Moyer (who does have another year on his contract). I guess GM Ruben Amaro Jr. didn't want to totally deplete the farm system by using prospects instead of Cliff Lee to trade for Halladay.
* Ben Sheets faces live batters for the first time in almost a year and a half. Oh, please let him stay healthy for the whole season. Ohplesae ohplease ohplease!These storylines and more are just some of what makes Baseball such a compelling sport.
The frustrating thing, as a Phils fan, about the Lee/Halladay trade was that it wasn't actually a trade of Lee for Halladay. We shipped prospects to get Doc, then shipped Lee to get some prospects. And it wasn't abundantly clear at the time if those prospects were of equal value.
ReplyDeleteIt mostly looks like the Lee move was somewhat of a salary dump, which is just stupid considering it only would've cost them $9 mil to keep him for a year and probably have a guaranteed World Series berth.
ugh.
True, but there was that business that Halladay promised to sign a long-term deal after this year. And it's never good to have an empty farm system, even if you would get two world class pitchers out of the deal rather than just one.
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