Feb 28, 2014; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets catcher Travis d
In the Grapefruit League yesterday some big-time prospects got a chance to play.
In the Minnesota Twins’s tilt against Miami, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler got into the action for the Twins but none of them even got on base.
For the Marlins, Colin Moran, Brent Keys and Austin Nola all subbed in and none got on base either.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took on the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland and the Pirates position playing prospects had a much better time than in the Minnesota/Miami game. Jaff Decker went 1-3 with an RBI while Taylor Lewis went 1-2 with a triple. Alen Hanson also had a hit for the Bucs.
AL East rivals Tampa Bay and Boston clashed with Tampa Bay traveling with several ML regulars on the squad. Mikie Mahtook and Vince Belnome went 0-2 for the Rays. Lefty Enny Romero threw a scoreless inning but walked one and gave up a hit while Mike Montgomery went two scoreless innings and just gave up a hit and struck out one.
The Red Sox got a lot of players into the game but the biggest name prospect was Xander Bogaerts who went 0-2 with a walk. Alex Hassan, who may be one of the more underrated minor leaguers went 2-3 with two singles.
The Washington Nationals traveled to Orlando to play the Atlanta Braves and brought some impressive young players. Steven Souza went 1-2 but Michael A. Taylor and Matt Skole both went 0-1. One of the club’s top prospects, Brian Goodwin got his first hit of the spring, going 1-3 with a double. On the mound, A.J. Cole threw two clean innings with two strikeouts.
For the Braves, Christian Bethancourt and Elmer Reyes each had a single in his only at bat while Tommy La Stella went 0-1 with a walk. Righty Cody Martin took the mound and threw an inning, giving up one run off of a solo home run to Ian Desmond. That was the only hit he gave up and he struck out two batters. Juan Jaime threw a clean inning with a strikeout as well and 22-year-old righty Jason Hursh threw two innings and gave up four hits but no runs scored.
The Houston Astros took on the New York Mets and sent several young prospects. None of Carlos Correa (0-3), Jonathan Meyer (0-2) or Delino DeShields (0-1) got a hit.
On the other side of the diamond, top ranked catcher Travis d’Arnaud went 2-3 with a pair of singles while Cesar Puello went 1-2 with a double.
In some night-game action the Baltimore Orioles went to Tampa to face the Yankees and Jonathan Schoop went 0-2 and struck out twice for the orange birds. Jean Almanzar was also hitless, going 0-1. Kelvin De La Cruz threw a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one batter. Minor league free agent signing Brock Huntzinger was impressive, striking out the side in his inning for the O’s.
For the Yankees, Mason Williams and Gary Sanchez had an at bat each and neither got a hit while Francisco Arcia went 1-2 with a single and Ramon Flores went 0-2 with two strikeouts. 24-year-old Chase Whitley took the loss, giving up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning of work.
In the final game of the day, the Toronto Blue Jays went about a 15-minute drive across town to face the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. Moises Sierra went 2-3 with two singles in his quest to make the club out of spring training while the club’s top catching prospect, A.J. Jimenez went 1-4 as the DH. Kevin Pillar got his first hit of the spring, a single as part of a 1-4 day. The only pitching prospect for the Blue Jays to pitch was John Stilson who threw a clean inning with a strikeout.
For the Phillies, Maikel Franco went 0-3 and catcher Tommy Joseph went 0-1.