MLB Spring Training: the ups and downs of the Phillies
Bryce Harper had 3 hits, but the Phillies had other issues. Then there was the double play heard ’round the world, and more MLB spring training news.
The Toronto Blue Jays turned a wall-banger into a double play Monday. That’s something you don’t see very often.
Phillies manager Joe Girardi wishes he could see more of ace starter Aaron Nola, who failed to make his appointed Monday start thanks to the flu. Girardi acknowledged that might jeopardize Nola’s readiness for opening day.
And if anybody can find the hits in Didi Gregorius’s bat, Girardi would appreciate that as well.
Here are the winners and losers from Monday’s MLB spring training camps.
Winner: Toronto defense
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 3-1 to a split-squad Toronto team Monday, their 13th defeat in 16 spring games. But it might have been different save for one unusual play in the seventh inning. The Pirates trailed 2-0 at the time, but Phillip Evans drew a walk to start the inning and Kevin Kramer followed with a base hit. When Jacob Stallings followed by drawing another walk, the Bucs suddenly had the bases full.
What followed one out later was the kind of thing that may not happen once a year. Oneil Cruz sent a line drive over the head of Jays center fielder Chavez Young and off the wall.
Evans of course scored easily. But Stallings, running hard, gained ground on Kramer, who was proceeding more cautiously off second to make sure the ball fell in. Young, meanwhile, retreated quickly, fielded the ball cleanly, and fired to shortstop Kevin Smith, whose perfect relay retired Kramer on a close play at home.
No sooner did catcher Patrick Cantwell tag out Kramer than he saw Stallings racing toward him just a few feet behind Kramer. Stallings tried to reverse course but Cantwell was easily able to run him down and tag him out as well, ending the inning and giving him two putouts at home on the same play.
MLB Spring Training Recap: March 9
Winner: Felix Hernandez, Atlanta Braves pitcher
Could Felix Hernandez become the king of Atlanta?
The veteran Seattle ace, signed as a free agent this winter, looked the part against Boston Monday. Hernandez delivered five strong innings and scattered six hits, allowing just one run. He struck out six batters.
Hernandez has now delivered 8 and two-thirds innings, allowing just two runs and a .226 opponents batting average.
Eight MLB spring training innings don’t make a recovery, and it’s well to keep in mind that since 2017 Hernandez is 15-27 with a 5.42 ERA. To this point, however, he’s done everything the Braves asked to cement a spot in the season-opening rotation.
Winner: Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder
In his second season with the Phillies, Harper appears intent on earning his $27.5M salary.
He has 8 hits in 16 spring at-bats, a nifty .500 batting average. Facing the Yankees Monday, Harper delivered a 3-for-3 performance.
Sadly for the Phillies, they wasted all three of those knocks: a Harper’s first-inning single, a third-inning ground-rule double and a sixth-inning single. At the midway point of camp, however, Phillies manager Joe Girardi must be pleased with Harper’s 1.820 OPS.
Winner: Miles Straw, Houston Astros outfielder
In an outfield already populated with Michael Brantley, George Springer and J.J. Reddick, is there room for Myles Straw? Myles Straw thinks so.
Facing the Detroit Tigers Monday, Straw continued his robust bid for playing time in the Houston outfield. Starting for Springer in center, Straw went 2-for-2 with an RBI and raised his spring batting average to .389.
Straw singled with two runners on base in the second inning, sending Carlos Correa home. He also collected a fourth-inning infield hit, but that one did not lead to any runs.
Straw was sparingly used last season, batting .269 in 56 major league games.
Winner: Hyun Jin Ryu, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher
Hyun-Jin Ryu got the start against Tampa Bay Monday and stretched himself out to 16 batters. If he didn’t demonstrate readiness for opening day, he’s close.
Obtained as a free agent over the winter, Ryu allowed three base hits but did not walk anybody and struck out four. That lowered his spring ERA to 1.42.
With the requisite qualifiers about the potential meaninglessness of spring numbers, let it be noted that Ryu is on pace to have by far the best MLB spring training of his career.
MLB Spring Training Recap: March 9
Loser: Didi Gregorius, Philadelphia Phillies shortstop
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Girardi still has concerns, notably at shortstop where Didi Gregorius continues to chase his first MLB spring training base hit.
Gregorius got three more chances to find it Monday against his old team without success. He led off the second inning with an infield pop, grounded to first in the fourth inning, then batted one final time with a runner on third and two out in the sixth. He flied out.
Gregorius has now come up empty on 22 consecutive at-bats, four of them ending in strikeouts. He has reached base twice, both times via walks.
Loser: Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher
In Phillies camp, the bad news wasn’t confined to the field. Projected opening day starter Aaron Nola, who was supposed to take the mound Monday, caught the flu and Girardi said his readiness for opening day might be in question.
“It’s something we’re going to have to look at,” Girardi said.
He said Nola would not return to the team earlier than Thursday, if then. If he was able to pitch on Friday, he probably would only have one more start before opening day, and Girardi acknowledged that may not be enough to have him ready to go.
Loser: Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox shortstop
Anderson’s spring hasn’t been as bad as Gregorius’s over in Philadelphia. Then again, Gregorius isn’t a defending batting champion.
In a 3-3 tie game with the Cincinnati Reds Monday, Anderson went hitless in three more at-bats, dropping his spring batting average to .208. He has just five hits, only one for extra bases, in 24 official spring at-bats.
The Reds pitchers set down the 2019 American League batting king on infield groundouts in the first, third and fifth. The first two led off what proved to be unproductive innings, the fifth inning grounded ended that inning.
Loser: Nate Snell, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher
Nate Snell only wishes he enjoyed Monday’s game as much as Ryu. The 2018 Cy Young Award winner took the mound for Tampa Bay and absorbed and administered an abundance of punishment to himself.
Snell walked the first two batters he faced, Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio. Lourdes Gurriel flied out, but then Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Travis Shaw also walked. That forcing Bichette home and it also forced Snell from the mound.
By the time the first inning had ended, Snell was charged with four earned runs and was saddled with a spring ERA of 27.00. Two appearances into his spring assignments, he’s walked as many batters as he’s retired.
Loser: Minnesota Twins offense
The Minnesota Twins are spending this spring trying to prove what everybody said about them last year: You don’t need to hit for average, just for distance.
So far the wisdom of that strategy is open to question.
On Monday, three St. Louis Cardinals pitchers held the Twins scoreless on six hits. Max Kepler, Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, and Miguel Sano – all ticketed for regular duty – went hitless in a combined dozen at-bats.
Next. Braves: will Felix Hernandez reclaim his throne. dark
The Twins’ team average this spring is .227, ranking 27th in all of MLB. They do have 47 extra-base hits in 13 MLB spring training games, so the power remains. But they’re averaging a puny six singles per game, putting extra pressure on those Twins bats to go big or go back to the dugout.