Posts belonging to Category Teams

• Although the Seattle Mariners are still years away from any sort of contention, it appears as though they are seriously considering breaking camp with the 22-year-old right-hander, Michael Pineda.  Standing at an imposing 6-foot-7, 260-pounds, Pineda is widely considered to be one of baseball’s best right-handed pitching prospects (#17 on the Sombrero’s Top 50), and with a fastball that touches the upper-90s, one can understand why.  So far this Spring, Pineda has posted a 2.57 ERA, struck out five, and walked three over seven innings of work.  According to Matthew Carruth of Fangraphs, however, including Pineda in the Opening Day rotation is not necessarily a wise decision…

• Here at the Sombrero, there’s no such thing as too much Bryce Harper.  After an impressive Spring Training in which he hit .389 (7-for-18) with three doubles and five RBI, the Nationals assigned the 18-year-old to Class A Hagerstown on Saturday afternoon.  Wanting to make the most of every Spring Training opportunity, Harper mentioned that he was feeling “hitterish” the other day.  What exactly does “hitterish” mean? Well, it’s a good thing that our friends at Diamond Hoggers are here to break it down for everybody.

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# 3 Dustin Ackley – Seattle Mariners

2B

DOB: 2-26-1988

ETA: 2011

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#4 Jeremy Hellickson – Tampa Bay Rays

RHP

DOB: 4-8-1987

ETA: 2011

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Eric Hosmer is a special hitter; he possesses that rare combination of power and advanced plate discipline.  Headed into the 2011 season, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound first baseman has garnered top-prospect honors on nearly every Royals’ prospect list, and been featured on most people’s top-10 – we’ve got him at #6.  Simply put: he’s a beast.

After nearly two weeks of games, Hosmer has been the clear-cut star at the Royals’ camp–an organization that has nine players in Baseball America’s Top 100. (Hat tip to Mitch Maier who is currently hitting .647.  He should try to enjoy it while it lasts).  Through Hosmer’s first 14 at-bats, he has six hits, including a double and two bombs, and six RBI.  Overall, he’s hitting .429 and has hit safely in five of the eight games in which he’s played.

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Last night on The Baseball Show, Clint from Diamond Hoggers and I took part in a long, two-part show. In the first half of the show, we welcomed David Franco from NextLevelBallplayer.com. David (who is Clint’s former teammate) has been writing about his experiences from Spring Training on Diamond Hoggers for the past week. You can follow him on Twitter here. He offers the perspective of a former Division I collegiate player who has had some great experiences.

The first half of the show was a lot of fun, and we talked about the following:

• The idea behind his site, Next Level Ballplayer.
• Why aren’t high school kids better prepared for the mental side of the game?
• David talks about his experiences playing with or against guys like John Ely, Joe Blanton, Dirk Hayhurst, Drew Stubbs, Rice University, University of Texas and many more guys who are now in the big leagues.
• A funny story about him spending 9 innings in the GM’s box with the GM of his favorite team, Ned Coletti
• A tale from Fall Baseball in college, involving fiery John Ely
• Talking Jim Tracy’s influence and management style when he took over in Colorado
• Thoughts on the Dodgers for 2011
• Tales from Spring Training

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