A Few Baseball Thoughts

I was able to go out there today for a few innings to watch for the first time. I said this in another thread, but I appreciate the updates on the site every fall. I know some of y'all can't come, so I'll do my best to pass some things along when I can.

You can't draw a ton from watching two hours of baseball. Take it all with a spoon full of salt. But unless you'd like to talk defensive line rotation for the 13th time this week, this is the best I can do.

I didn't stay until the end. I have some golf balls to bang around at Top Golf this evening, but I did see some interesting stuff.

The most impressive thing to catch my eye was Ty Floyd. I only saw an inning of the slender right hander's work, but he jumped to 93 once and then immediately showed a 74 mph breaking ball without a significant change in arm speed. My favorite impression of the breaking ball was that he threw it for a strike once and threw it snapping out of the zone a couple of other times. He settled in at about 89 on a day in the low 60s. There's some juice in that arm.

Dylan Crews sure looks the part. I've seen video of him, and today showed more of a compact swing with serious bat speed. I know there's swing and miss in there, but when he begins to recognize college pitches he's going to be a force. He looks a little different than the other freshmen.

Saw a lot of freshman RHP Blake Money. He's a big boy on the mound, and he throws hard. Fastball was around 92. Didn't see much in the way of an offspeed offering today in three innings. But there's something to work with.

Also saw a lot of Garrett Edwards. I didn't realize he was Mr. Basketball twice in Class B. Another freshman throwing 91. Didn't see much offspeed stuff that popped to me, either.

Cade Beloso was playing left field today. That's because they like a couple of bats including Tre Morgan. I'm not wild about the idea of Beloso in the outfield, but he did steal a base today. He's a decent athlete for that frame.

Love Brody Drost's swing. It's quick and sound. He ripped a single to right in one of his ABs.

The best BP I watched today by far was Gavin Dugas, and then he hammered a homer into the north wind in his first AB. Need some of these guys who have been around a bit to break out.

Have a great weekend, folks.