re: Baseball Spring Scrimmage #13 (Final) 2/12/19

Seems as though Watson has really struggled at the plate during these scrimmages. I sure hope he gets off to a quick start this season and becomes the player we all know he can be.

Thanks Scuba!

So who's been your biggest surprise and any concerns before first pitch?

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So who's been your biggest surprise

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I think it's Cole Henry.

He might be a dominant reliever in the postseason just because they don't have anywhere else to put him.

Johnny Wholestaff
Looking forward to seeing the offense against some different pitchers

I saw Hess pitch only 3.2 innings this spring. His numbers for those were: 2H 1BB 5K. Not bad but too small a sample for me to determine if he is "pounding the zone" or if the competition was just not able to make contact very often. His mechanics look, to me, just like last year. However, I am not an ex pitcher and don't know much about those sorts of things. I do hope that Hess would trust his stuff enough to go right at batters this year instead of trying to nibble as he has done in the past. I think that has caused him to be lifted from games earlier than I would like due to high pitch counts. This year that may not hurt us as much as last year since I think this staff is deeper and more talented than last years in the bullpen. Perhaps someone with pitching knowledge will reply with an evaluation of Hess' mechanics.

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I do hope that Hess would trust his stuff enough to go right at batters this year instead of trying to nibble as he has done in the past. I think that has caused him to be lifted from games earlier than I would like due to high pitch counts.

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I think he got squeezed a few times honestly.

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although I'd be okay with see who has the stamina on weeks we play 5 games.

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That's week 1 and 2, or 2 and 3 depending on how you look at it. I don't remember what the 3rd week with 2 games is.

Which has to be on purpose. I think Hill and Henry get those starts the first two weeks.

There are a lot of scouting reports out there that say Henry's long term projection is the bullpen because of his head-whack.

I can't wait to watch about 5 or 6 of these freshman pitchers. It's really exciting.

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Will Hess be on pitch count leash for opener? Over/ Under 75 pitches?

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They said a 5 inning max. That would put the count at around 75 if he's pretty efficient.

Walker only throwing 3 on Sunday. They haven't said Marceaux's yet, so I'm guessing 5.

That gives us 14 innings for the rest of the team. Hill and Henry may not pitch this weekend since they're likely to start the midweek games.

We'll get to see a bunch of new arms this weekend.

I wouldn't say surprised but Landon Marceaux and the rest of the freshmen pitchers give me the most optimism this year. I read where they were good but I have been very impressed with the depth of talent we have in them.
As for concerns catcher depth is first. I like Mathis more than I thought I would but Garza's knee has me worried about Mathis' stamina. I'm not impressed with anyone else I've seen catch during scrimmages. Perhaps when Willis is 100% healthy, he will be an adequate backup but that remains to be seen.