2020 Spring Training: Saturday’s spring winners and losers
Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the first day of the 2020 spring training schedule.
Draw no conclusions from what follows. After all, we’re through exactly one day of the 2020 spring training schedule.
At this stage teams are a lot more interested in assessing position or roster battles rather than actual team performance.
But for what it’s worth, here are the winners and losers emerging from the opening slate of games.
Winner: J.A. Happ, New York Yankees pitcher.
The health concerns that suddenly surround the Yankee rotation – James Paxton and Luis Severino are both idled – make it imperative that Happ deliver. With Paxton sidelined until May and Severino’s status in question, Happ suddenly projects to be the No. 3 starter.
That’s a big step up from this winter when Happ was viewed as so far down the rotation pecking order that he was considered expendable.
Facing the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday, Happ looked reassuringly solid. He needed just a dozen pitches to record his six outs, fanned three and did not throw a pitch outside the strike zone. The Jays eventually beat the Yankees 2-1, but all the damage was done by and against guys who aren’t expected to make an impact this summer.
The Yankees are counting on Happ to make an impact, and Saturday he couldn’t have looked better.
Winner: Tyler O’Neill, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder.
Facing Mets starter Marcus Stroman in the second inning Saturday, O’Neill reached out for a first-pitch low-outside curve ball and deposited it over the left-center field wall for a home run. The Cardinals went on to win 2-0.
It was a big deal for O’Neill, who is vying for a starting spot in left field on opening day.
Winner: Rain.
Normally, February is a dry month in the Valley of the Sun. The historical average rainfall for the entire month of February in Phoenix is less than 1.4 inches.
But rain can fall anywhere, and Saturday afternoon it impacted the opening of spring training in a big way. Up to an inch of rain fell in the Phoenix area Saturday morning, wiping out most of the Cactus League schedule.
Three-quarters of the Cactus League schedule went unplayed. Only the Dodgers-Giants and Cubs-Athletics games, both scheduled for later starts, were gotten in.
Afternoon games between the Royals and Angels, Angels and White Sox, Reds and Indians, Brewers and Rangers, Diamondbacks and Rockies, and Mariners and Padres all were washed away. The Royals and Angels agreed to turn their scheduled March 6 game into a split squad affair, adding a game at the Angels’ home base in Tempe to the one already planned for that day in Surprise.
The other games were all canceled.
Loser: Marcus Stroman, New York Mets pitcher.
It’s awkward to be too judgmental about any eight-batter appearance, especially an early one. But Stroman’s performance for the Mets Saturday was at best mediocre.
Those eight Cardinals batters Stroman faced included five outs, two of them on strikeouts.
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In most other measures, however, Stroman’s showing was less than inspiring. He lasted 27 pitches, of which only 56 percent were strikes. Tyler O’Neill hit one of those strikes, a curve ball, over the wall for a home run. Stroman also allowed a base hit to Matt Carpenter and walked the last batter he faced, Angelo Ravelo, on four pitches.
Because he is a veteran, the Mets are counting on Stroman to be the rotation supporting player behind Jacob DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard.
Unclear: Johann Camargo, Atlanta Braves third baseman.
You can make a case for Camargo as either a winner or loser. In a battle with Austin Riley to be the Braves’ starting third baseman, he got Brian Snitker’s nod to start the spring opener Saturday. What did he make of it?
Camargo got two at bats. He came up in the first, the Braves having already put up three runs against Baltimore’s Chandler Shepherd and with Adam Duvall in scoring position. Camargo chased the first pitch and lifted an easy third out fly ball to left field.
He got a second shot with one out in the fourth inning, this time facing veteran Ty Blach with one out and nobody on. Camargo did come through, his arching hit dropping in front of Mason Williams in right field. But he died there.
On the plus side, Camargo batted .500. On the minus side, he washed out in his one RBI opportunity.
Loser, San Francisco Giants defense.
In the first inning Saturday against the Dodgers, the Giants defense demonstrated that spring training games are designed to work the bugs out. After Chris Taylor drew a leadoff walk, Max Muncy lined a base hit to right fielder Jaylin Davis. When Davis let the ball get through his legs, Taylor came all the way around to score and Muncy advanced to third base.
Giants pitcher Dereck Rodriguez responded by fanning Cody Bellinger and A.J. Pollock, and got Enrique Hernandez to slap what should have been a third out to second baseman Donovan Solano. But Solano butchered the play, allowing Muncy to score.
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Matt Beaty followed by grounding what again should have been the third out, this time to shortstop Mauricio Dubon. He too, clanked it, although Hernandez advanced only to second. He died there moments later when Will Smith hit a pop up that Brandon Belt actually caught, to the surprise and delight of Giants fans. LA went on to win 10-4.