3/14/2012 5:59:12 AM
The DPL prospects are broken down into two pretty equal teams, Red and Blue. They took a full round of batting practice in the Stadium, followed by a quick In/Out and then played an 8 inning game.
Any time any player regardless of age takes batting practice at Fenway Park or "Fenway South", The Wall is obviously going to be a focal point. My younger brother plays in a over 40 league in the Northeast and they got to play a game at Fenway a few years ago. The first thing he said, before I even asked, was "I hit a ball off The Wall in BP!"
So there was much hooting and hollering by the players and some fist bumps behind the cage when 3B Nathanael Javier hit the first towering shot over The Wall during BP. It was the first of many, with Wendell Rijo, Jose Pujols and Delvy Grullon also hitting notable or multiple bombs.
The Red Sox provided all but two of the pitchers for the game and they were an interesting mix of prospects and likely release candidates. It meant that some of the innings were cut short when pitchers reached a pitch limit but the DPL organizers really appreciated the Red Sox working with them so well in this aspect of the game.
The first pitcher out on the mound, ironically, was 2007 3rd round pick Brock Huntzinger. Huntzinger participated in numerous WWBA events in the mid 2000's with the Indiana Mustangs, including the 2006 WWBA World Championships in Jupiter. Huntzinger, who pitched in AA in 2011, showed almost the exact same stuff as he did as a teenager, topping out at 91 with his fastball with an upper 70's slider and 80 mph change up. Of course, he probably isn't quite up to speed yet with his arm strength this early in spring training.
One Red Sox prospect who definitely was up to speed was RHP Francellis Montas. A Dominican, Montas is listed as turning 19 years old next month and being 6-4/190. The eye ball test said that he was 6-3/230 and looked a bit older. The radar gun test said that all his pitches from the wind up were 97-98 mph. Word was that Montas has touched 101 mph before, which is very believable. SS Felix Suarez doubled off a 98 mph Montas fastball, although it was a opposite field bloop that landed on the right field line. But a double against 98 mph is something no matter where it lands and how softly it's hit!
Some game notes:
-- Along with hitting a monsterous BP home run over the wall way out near where it ends in centerfield, Pujols swung the bat well in games. He jumped on one change up out over the plate and crushed a line drive to centerfield that was caught but registered 97 mph off the bat.
-- Wendall Rijo was outstanding. He took the best BP out of any player and also had the defensive play of the game at shortstop, ranging far up the middle and making a quick release to get a runner at first base. He also provided a scare in the final inning when he twisted his knee trying to avoid a rundown tag between second and third base. It looked bad initially but he walked off under his own power under the watchful eye of the Red Sox trainer and word after the game was that he was fine.
-- 3B Alberto Sanchez swung the bat very well in the games and I will have to up my grade on him. He's a bigger, more physical player than most of the other DPL players and it showed in his game approach. He crushed one ball into the left field corner for a double and singled sharply to left his next time up.
-- Scouts were clearly there to look at Gustavo Cabrera in game action. One thing they got to see was his speed. Cabrera walked twice and was also inserted into the game once as a pinch runner for a player who'd been hit by a pitch. He stole 5 bases, most of the "no contest" variety, and was clearly going to take any opportunity he got.
-- Big left handed hitting 15 year old 1B Leury Vargas (6-3/210) showed a very mature approach at the plate, lining hard line drive singles over the shortstop's head his first two times at the plate. The first was off Brock Huntzinger, the second off former Houston Heat RHP Jacob Dahlstrand, who was 90-92 with his fastball.
-- C Yoel Gonzalez is one of the youngest players on the team and is overshadowed a bit by top prospect catcher Delvy Grullon but he showed very well today for a 15 year old both offensively and defensively. He handled Montas with little problem and had a string of quality at bats. One thing Gonzalez discovered, though, is that catching 90 mph sinkers, courtesy of former TCU right hander Tyler Lockwood, isn't very easy. Gonzalez has probably never caught that type of pitch before and Lockwood's sinker was really exploding downwards at times. Gonzalez snow coned so many balls that he had to go to the dugout for another mitt when the webbing got loose.
-- The DPL staff and I have debated the relative merits and prospect standing of shortstops Yancarlos Baez and Richard Urena both in the Dominican and again here in Florida. Urena had the big edge today with the bat, with three quality plate appearances: a well earned walk that featured multiple foul balls, a hard single off an 88 mph fastball and a hard ground out to first base where he pull his hands in on an inside fastball very well.
-- RHP Novas Winder was impressive on the mound for the Dominicans. The 6-1/165 Winder just turned 16 last week (i.e. he would be a 2014 player in the US) and was 85-88 with his fastball, with his best bolts coming from the stretch. He also showed some pitchability, mixing in a curveball, a slider and a pretty good change up.