It was a delightful day at Osceola County Stadium as the Braves took on the Astros. If you liked offense, then this was the day for you as both teams pounded out a combined 30 hits, and Brian McCann had two homeruns. I'll try and re-tell the game story with the photos I took.
The first photo below is a batting practice photo showing some of the Minor League guys. From left to right are Eric Duncan, Robby Hefflinger, Mycal Jones, Matt Kennelly, some unknown player, and Donnell Linares. I love this shot because of all the high uniform numbers -- truly something you only see at spring training.
The unknown guy never got in the game, so I never found out who he was. Hefflinger was another guy without his name on the uniform, and I was remarking at who the big guy was when this older man sitting behind me said, "that's my son." I struck up a nice conversation throughout the game with Robby Hefflinger's father and girlfriend, who were both thrilled to watch their son get a hit.
Here is the "View From My Seat," Osceola County Stadium, Braves at Astros, 3/14/10, 1:05pm, top of the first
George H. W. Bush (#41) was in attendance watching the Astros. Barb is to his right.
Kenshin Kawakami looked good for a few innings, then looked like donkey in the fourth. Of course, that inning was helped along by a Donnell Linares Buckner-esque error on the first batter, then an infield single. He kind of unraveled after that, and couldn't get the final out. I still think it was a fairly good day for Kawakami.
Troy Glaus is a monster, and looked good at the plate.
Omar Infante hit everything in sight today, and looks to have pulled himself out of his spring training funk with a 3-for-3 day. I didn't take any pictures of Nate McLouth, but he looked downright awful in his at-bats, putting down a bad bunt and then striking out twice and looking totally over-matched.
Roger McDowell pulled KK in the fourth and brought on...
Manny Acosta, who promptly coughed up two back-to-back homeruns -- and they weren't cheap homeruns either, they were both crushed.
Brian McCann hits his second of two homeruns.
Jonny Venters got in the game and looked fantastic about 90% of the time -- the other 10% he looked pretty wild, but that's a big improvement for him.
Eric Duncan has an interesting swing. I believe he corkscrewed himself into the ground on this one, of course, he could have been in pain, as you can see the ball about to hit off his foot.
Mycal Jones looked fantastic in his two plate appearances, which both resulted in hits.
Robby Hefflinger scorched a hit in his only at-bat. He looks very comfortable at the plate. He also hit a mammoth batting practice homerun... I feel extra-good about him as a prospect after today.
Hefflinger at first base next to Glenn Hubbard. As you can see, Heff is a huge kid.
Chris Resop pitched a couple of innings and wiggled his way out of trouble in each.
Wes Timmons was hit by two pitches and struck out to end the game.
And the final pictures below are of Craig Kimbrel and his funky delivery.
I hope you enjoyed my photo game recap. I'll be at the minor league fields tomorrow morning, and then at the game in Viera tomorrow night.
0 recs | 24 comments
Wonderful day for a ball game
I was at the game too. I’ll post some pix later, I have a couple of quick hit thoughts:
1) McCann’s first homer was an absolute bomb. He was annihilating the ball today.
2) In his second at bat McCann hit a foul liner about 90 mph into my section. Some dude broke his thumb trying to grab the ball so it didn’t hit the kid behind him. The ladies were understandably very fond of this dude after he got treated by the medical staff and returned the stands.
3) I didn’t like Glaus today at all. Had some pretty bad cuts on the ball, and he was terible at first. His lack of range there will cost us alot of runs this year, lets hope he can get an OPS north of .800 or so to balance that out.
4) I sat behind Zach Greinke’s dad. Zach played his HS ball locally, and I talked to him for a little bit. He says Zach is having an uncharacteristically great spring training and they are expecting a big year.
5) Gondee ain’t joking about those shots Acosta gave up. One went about 470, and the second one left the stadium in about .32 seconds on an absolute rope. Not pretty.
6) Craig Kimbrel is my boy. He dominated his inning, and even picked a dude off first base with a totally sweet move.
7) For some reason the scoreboard people didn’t have Wes Timmons first name, and would only put up his last name. This was a subject of much discussion among the astro fans in my section. I informed them that Timmons is like Bono or Madonna, he only needs one name. His play did not back up my assertion.
8) We just don’t have enough guys rocking the high socks anymore. This disturbs me to no end.
Sid Bream's Moustache - March 14, 2010
Can you explain your thoughts on Glaus?
I don’t think it’s fair to judge Glaus on his range at 1st base after one game. He was an average 3rd baseman, so most likely he should at least be average at 1B.
alligatorimpersonator - March 14, 2010
I can see what Sid’s Stache is saying on this one. There was one particular ball up the line where Troy just took forever to move at all and once he did it was much too late. He is a big dude, and it seemed like a disadvantage on that particular play.
mj10catchit10 - March 14, 2010
Sure
There were two specific balls that he should have got to. Both down the first base line, and either a dive, or any kind of timing would have got to both of them.
You are absolutely right theres a sample size issue, but I was sitting 20 feet from the plays and it really felt like he should have gotten to the balls.
My buddy, who is a Glaus fan, posited that his glove is better then that, and he must just be hungover. So who knows.
Sid Bream's Moustache - March 14, 2010
Well it is spring training and he might not have wanted to dive and possibly hurt himself or his shoulder since things don’t count yet. I think we’ll have to wait and see how he is during the season when it matters to know for sure how his range is.
Dave_D - March 15, 2010
Yeah, that's what I was thinkin
for ST, he’s probably just looking to practice different situations that arise while playing 1st.
alligatorimpersonator - March 15, 2010
I was there too. Considering you guys stole all my thunder I’ll just add a couple things.
-McLouth looked bad. REALLY BAD. I understand it’s Spring but he looked so over matched.
-I thought Venters looked really good. I did not expect a ton out of him, but he really did impress me.
- Hate to disagree with Gondeee, but I didn’t think Mycal Jones looked at that good. His results were good, but I can’t see him doing well in the majors with that swing. He is so herky jerky and can’t stay still in the box. Hopefully TP (or a good hitting coach) can help him a bit.
- Carlos Lee’s home run was an absolute bomb. It has been said but it needs to be repeated. The outfielders just turned and watched. And this was after I told my dad how Acosta looked better this Spring (I was asking for it)
We also went to the ESPN Wide World of Sports this morning and watched Huddy, Lowe, JJ and lots of other pitchers throw and have some fun. Got autographs from Minor and Saito and they are both awesome guys. Moylan is freaking hilarious that dude had all ten of us in the stands cracking up. Shafer and Diory Hernandez were there getting some work and they both looked just fine. The most impressive part was Huddy hanging after everyone else left getting in extra work and doing some running. You could just tell all the young guys looked up to him and for good reason. I’ve wrote too much so that’s all I got for now.
mj10catchit10 - March 14, 2010
I catch Braves - Astros every spring training
And one of my favorite games it to see how fat Carlos Lee is when he shows up to camp. I commented before the game he was looking pretty svelte… and then he dropped that rocket over the left field fence (only ball anyone carried to left at all today with the wind blowing out of right).
I guess my point is, he might want to be on some folks Fantasy Baseball watch list
Sid Bream's Moustache - March 14, 2010
I scanned over by the Braves dugout to look for the headband guy but I didn’t see you from across the way and was much too lazy to actually go make an effort to find you.
mj10catchit10 - March 14, 2010
Good Work
Good work man keep doing this because fans like me who can’t get to these spring training games look forward to these pics and info.I live pretty far away to attend the spring training games and even farther away from Turner Field so I for one enjoy the info.
LakersMania - March 14, 2010
For what it's worth.....
I believe your unknown guy is Cole Miles
secondbass - March 14, 2010
mystery solved!
No one I asked knew who it was. I would have thought Miles would have been around long enough to get his name on the back of the jersey. I kept thinking it was one of the just-drafted guys like the other’s in that group.
gondeee - March 14, 2010
You beat me to it!
cbwilk - March 14, 2010
So all of you that were there agree that Kimbrel has awesome stuff?
I saw him pitch in Rome and he has electric stuff but he has no control of his pitches. Those kids in Rome were swinging at balls way off the plate. If this kid could ever learn to stay around the plate he WILL BE an awesome closer especially with his stuff. Just look at this spring players were hitting .143 against him but he has walked way too many guys.
Jay212033 - March 14, 2010
Oh yea he was dynamic. He struck someone out on a slider and I doubt Pujols could have even done anything with that pitch (Heyward would have hit it for a five run home run). As long as he can get that walk rate down a tad he will be awesome for us.
mj10catchit10 - March 14, 2010
His last K he absolutely overmatched the other dude. He was lightyears behind Kimbrel’s fast ball.
You could kind of see how control could be a problem, but his Stuff was undeniable.
Sid Bream's Moustache - March 14, 2010
CB was on the backfields today can't wait for his write up but
This was an awesome write up Gondeee! Absolutely love the pics and hopefully you get to see Kyle Rose tomorrow cause if you thought Mychal Jones was fast Rose is faster believe it or not.
Jay212033 - March 14, 2010
Is Rose a CF?
Mr. Sanchez - March 14, 2010
yeah CB…..hurry up already. It was an AWESOME day!!! (other than the windburn….lol)
rbravesfan - March 14, 2010
Haha, give me a little bit, I just got into Ft. Myers. Sanchez, yes, Rose is a CF. rbravesfan, it was awesome, and you guys made it even more fun.
cbwilk - March 14, 2010
Great stuff
From all who were there. Sadly, I’m not seeing/hearing the bright side of the McLouth situation. Kimbrel sounds awesome, but that delivery is pretty crazy.
bighop - March 14, 2010
Awesome pics...
That is one sweet delivery that Kimbrel’s got. I can really see where all the Billy Wagner comps are coming from.
Jacob Peterson - March 14, 2010
Thanks for the recap Gondeee, and appreciate everybody else who attended chiming in with their perspective. Almost feel like I was there. Omar looks a little heavier than last year, or is it just that shot (no, I understand that’s air in his shirt, I mean in the legs)? Nice variety of pix…enjoyed ’em all.
Lizziebeth - March 15, 2010
Game
The wind made this game sorta fun to just watch, With the balls flying out and all. We went there on a whim, not realizing just how close the Stros park was from where we were staying. Got some great tix in the lot, got to meet and shake hands with Don Sutton, got to see Prez. Bush and Barbara, see a dude get a thumb hammered. What a great day at the park! I like this team a lot, but what is up with McClouth, This is not good, having a key part looking clueless
jerryr - March 22, 2010
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