Hitter of the day
Yu-Cheng Chang, SS, Cleveland Indians (Mesa Solar Sox) 2-4, 2B. Chang was in the package that would have been sent to Milwaukee had Jonathan Lucroy accepted the trade to Cleveland but alas it wasn’t met to be. Chang is a solid player with some bat-to-ball skills, a little bit of pop, and a likely future at second base. He’s not a star player but Chang would’ve been a solid secondary piece in that Lucroy deal.
Pitcher of the day
Dillon Tate, RHP, New York Yankees (Scottsdale Scorpions) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 RA, 1 BB, 4 SO. Tate had a rough 2016 season where he struggled across 16 starts with the Rangers and then transitioned into a relief role with the Yankees after getting moved for Carlos Beltrán. Tate’s third pitch hasn’t materialized yet and he hasn’t offered up a lot of hope that it will given his body of work over the past two years. Tate was dominant out there last night so perhaps paring his repertoire down to two pitches in a relief role will do him wonders.
Best of the Rest
Max Schrock, 2B, Oakland Athletics (Mesa Solar Sox) 2-4, 2 2B. Schrock lit up the Carolina League in 2016 before getting moved for Marc Rzepczynski. He has good barrell skills without a ton of power.
Jacob Nottingham, C, Milwaukee Brewers (Salt River Rafters) 2-4, 2B. Nottingham makes hard contact when he makes contact, which keeps the bat interesting. He’ll have to hit a lot if the catcher thing doesn’t work out.
David Fletcher, SS, Los Angeles Angels (Scottsdale Scorpions) 2-5, HR. He’s a light-hitting middle infielder with average defensive ability. The home run was surprising.
Mitch Walding, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies (Scottsdale Scorpions) 2-3, 2B. He walks a lot which is good, strikes out a ton, which is bad, and his power is just okay which considering the profile is not great.
Franchy Cordero, OF, San Diego Padres (Peoria Javelinas) 2-4, 2B. Cordero still has some speed which helps his average out, but the power is light and he strikes out a ton.
D.J. Stewart, OF, Baltimore Orioles (Peoria Javelinas) 0-2, 2 BB, SO. The two walks are good but Stewart doesn’t project to be much more than a utility player.
Fight another day
Courtney Hawkins, OF, Chicago White Sox (Glendale Desert Dogs) 0-4, 4 SO. …He said let's do a good ass job with Chance three…
Francis Martes, RHP, Houston Astros (Glendale desert Dogs) 4 IP, 5 H, 3 RA, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO. Every so often he can lose the command on his stuff but the three strikeouts in spite of bad command are a testament to his stuff.
Gavin Cecchini, SS, New York Mets ( Scottsdale Scorpions) 0-5, 2 SO. Light-hitting middle infielder who probably profiles best as a role player.
Michael Gettys, OF, San Diego Padres (Peoria Javelinas) 0-4, SO. His swing can still get stiff at times so he’ll run into these.
Thank you for reading
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