MLB Spring Training: February 26 winners and losers
It was a memorable MLB spring training day for some veteran minor leaguers. Here’s why.
The MLB spring training stars finally aligned Wednesday for a bunch of guys who have spent most or all of their careers riding minor league buses. For a couple, their deeds Wednesday will probably also turn out to be their season memories.
Winner: Myles Straw, Houston Astros outfielder
Straw is getting a look as a possible outfield backup for Houston, and so far he’s making the most of it. Leading off against the Cardinals Wednesday, Straw homered with a runner on base in the third inning for Houston’s first two runs.
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In the fifth, he got a high heater, jetted it into the gap in right, and didn’t stop running until he’d touched home plate with a second home run, this one of the inside-the-park variety.
Straw is now batting .667.
Winner: Bubba Starling, Kansas City Royals outfielder
All of Kansas City is rooting for Starling, who the Royals made a first-round draft pick out of a suburban Kansas City high school in 2011 only to watch him linger eight seasons in the team’s minor league system.
Starling finally got his shot last July, and he’s in camp this spring projected as a fourth or fifth outfielder. Off his showing Wednesday, KC fans may wonder what kept Starling in the minors for most of the decade.
He homered in the fourth inning, walked in Kansas City’s five-run sixth, and doubled in the seventh. So far this spring, Starling is batting .500.
MLB Spring Training: February 25 winners and losers
Winner: Bret Boswell, Colorado Rockies infielder-outfielder
Let’s be candid. Bret Boswell isn’t likely to see much of Denver this summer. He’s a 26-year-old non-roster invitee picked up in the eighth round of the 2017 draft who hasn’t yet made it above AA. The Rockies thought so little of Boswell that when they put him in the game Wednesday, they stuck him in center field rather than his minor league position, second base.
But in the eighth inning of Colorado’s game with Texas, Boswell ensured that he’ll always have at least one big-league story to tell his grandkids. With the Rangers leading 3-1 and two runners on base, Boswell lifted a fastball over the right-field fence for a three-run home run and a 4-3 Rockies lead.
Losers: Pittsburgh Pirates…generally
It’s understood that spring games don’t count, but all the same, would it be possible for the Pirates to start over?
Entering Wednesday’s exhibition contest against the Red Sox, the Pirates were winless, having been out-scored 19-10. Things did not improve for new manager Derek Shelton against Boston. Nine Pirates pitchers gave up six runs and 11 hits, three of them home runs. Meanwhile, the projected heart of the Pirate attack, Bryan Reynolds, Josh Bell, and Gregory Polanco, went a combined 1-for-7, Polanco’s single being the first hit for any of the three this spring.
As a team, the Pirates collected four hits and lost 6-3.
MLB Spring Training: February 25 winners and losers
Winner: Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets pitcher
Angst-ridden Mets fans have spent most of the winter and spring laying presumptive guilt trips on Syndergaard, who as far as their concerned better live up to what they view as his potential in 2020 or stand convicted of sabotaging New York’s pennant hopes all by himself.
In his spring debut, Syndergaard displayed mid-season form. Pitching two innings against the Astros, he did give up one hit but struck out two and mostly kept the ball harmlessly in the infield. Houston did rally to win 4-2 against the Mets’ bullpen, but Syndergaard at least lived up to expectations.
Winner: Oakland A’s World Series hopes
How’s this for team offense? Nineteen Athletics got at least one trip to the plate against Arizona Wednesday and 16 of them produced at least one base hit, 13 of them scoring. Ten different Athletics drove in at least one run.
The heroes included most of the heart of Oakland’s order. Matt Chapman homered, Ramon Laureano, Marcus Semien, and Matt Olson all singled, and Mark Canha doubled. For the game, Oakland’s team batting average was .452.
Loser: Dominic Leone, Cleveland Indians pitcher
Leone is a five-year veteran journeyman hoping to make the Indians bullpen. He did not help his case in San Diego’s 8-0 victory over the Indians.
With San Diego leading 2-0 in the seventh, Leone entered to face a lineup of Padres hopefuls. With one out, Edward Olivares homered to left. Leone got a second out, then allowed a single to Jake Croneworth, a double to Ivan Castillo, a single to Seth Mejias-Brean, and a double to Hudson Potts. Unless you run San Diego’s minor league system, you’ve probably never heard of any of those guys.
For Leone, the final damage was four runs, all earned, on five hits. And very possibly one crushed major league hope.
MLB Spring Training: February 25 winners and losers
Loser: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds first base.
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The Reds are highly thought-of in the NL Central this summer. They’d be even more highly thought-of if Joey Votto starts to hit like Joey Votto.
Over the past three seasons, Votto’s batting average has tumbled from .320 to .284 and then to .261. He’s 36 this year and there are rumbles. Votto’s early spring performance isn’t quieting them.
Against the Mariners, Votto went hitless in his two at-bats with a whiff and a weak tap to first base. Four spring at-bats is obviously too early to draw conclusions, but the record does show that Votto so far is hitless.
Loser: Tommy LaStella, Los Angeles Angels second base
LaStella and David Fletcher are the principal combatants in a battle for the Angels starting second base position. Nobody’s drawing conclusions yet, but the early stages of this fight are all going Fletcher’s way.
LaStella’s chance opened Wednesday when the Angels took on the crosstown Dodgers. Assigned the leadoff spot in the batting order, LaStella grounded out in the first, grounded out again in the third, and lifted a fly out in the fifth. He is now hitless in five spring at-bats.
For the record, Fletcher is 2-for-4 with a double.
Loser: Tommy Edman, St. Louis Cardinals infielder
Players who have made the team almost never get more than two or three plate appearances during the first week of MLB spring training. Unless it’s a split-squad day, which Wednesday was for the Cardinals.
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That meant Tommy Edman, projected to be the Cards’ starting third baseman, had to play all nine innings when his half of the Cards split-squad stood in against the Houston Astros. The result was pure punishment: In the 7-5 Cardinals victory, Edman went hitless and saw his spring batting average drop to .100.