26
2012
Prospect Pulse: Spring Training Updates
An article by 
As Spring Training 2012 enters it’s final weeks, we can’t help but feel anxious. With all the injuries and uncertainty, all any self-respecting Mets fan wants at this point is for their team to navigate the rest of the way through spring training, staying healthy and intact, and with everyone ready to start the season. The players too, aren’t immune to this anxiety. Despite their cool, professional demeanors, many of these guys are fighting for jobs, and for their professional lives. This is the time when push comes to shove and all the chips will fall into their respective places.
The big league roster is nearly set at this point. Other than centerfield, and a few bench/bullpen spots, there isn’t much drama there. But what about minor league spring training? We talked to thirty-something players here on MMO over the winter. I thought it might be fun to check in with a few of the guys and see how things are going in spring camp. Things are at a competitive high in minor league camp right now, as players vie for roster spots on the long-season teams.
Nowhere is the competition for jobs more intense, than the two A-level team’s starting rotations. At Savannah, as many as a dozen pitchers are battling for five spots. One of them is talented right-hander Bret Mitchell. I spoke with Bret the other night via instant message, and asked him a few questions:
Petey: Hi Bret, how are things? How’s spring training going?
Bret: It’s going good. Feels great being out on the field again.
Petey: I’ll bet it does, I can’t wait for the season to start, have they indicated where you will begin the season?Bret: Not yet should be breaking off into teams soon though, we got a lot of good arms down here and competition is really good.
Petey: I know it must be really fierce competition with you guys that’s real cool! How are your pitches working for you? Any pleasant surprises? What are you working on most right now?Bret: Well I’ve been working hard on my mechanics shortened my stride to protect my groin I have been having problems with. But everything has been working good so I’m happy, plus I’m in great shape and feel healthy.
Petey: That’s awesome Bret, I’m glad to hear everything is good. Keep working, and good luck getting the rotation spot you are hoping for, thanks for taking a few minutes too!
Next I caught up with corner-infielder Joe Bonfe, who also played some corner outfield for the Savannah Sand Gnats of the South Atlantic League last year, and we had this exchange:
Petey: Hi Joe, how’s spring training going? Have they told you where you might be starting the season?
Joe: Well I’ve been working in the AA group this spring thus far but I have no idea where I’ll be ending up.
Petey: What positions have you been working at?
Joe: I have been working mostly at 1st, and some at 3rd base.
Petey: How you been hittin’ em?
Joe: I’ve been hitting really well, a home run and some extra base hits, couple stolen bases.
Petey: That sounds good Joe. Ready for the regular season?
Joe: Feeling great all around and I’m looking forward to the season starting up.
Petey: That’s terrific Joe! Keep on squaring ‘em up, and you’ll do fine.
Alonzo Harris was the starting left-fielder for Savannah in 2011, where he hit .270 in 355 AB’s, with 11 2B’s, 4 3B’s, 4 HR’s, 28 RBI’s and 15 SB’s. He had a very positive post-season as well, chipping in a double, a triple, a home run, and six RBI’s in the playoffs. He was nice enough to chat with us about spring training for a few minutes:
Petey: Hi Alonzo, how are things going for you at spring training?
Alonzo: Things are going well.
Petey: How have you been hittin’ em, and what are some of the things you’ve been working on this spring?
Alonzo: I’ve been hitting well. Working on some bunting a lot, and my steal jumps.
Petey: What positions are you working at this year?
Alonzo: I really been focusing on my outfield and infield work.
Petey: Have they indicated where you might begin the season?
Alonzo: No they haven’t but I’m just working hard to be able to make a full-season club.
Petey: Has anybody been really off-the-hook this spring with their performances so far?
Alonzo: Everyone been on an equal play so far, but everybody is putting in work.
Petey: Okay cool, have a great rest of ST and a terrific season! Thanks ‘Zo!
Then I spoke to one of Harris’ teammates last season, Hamilton Bennett, who closed games for Savannah in 2011. The left-hander had a marvelous season going 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA, 14 Saves, struck out over a batter-per-inning, league opponents hit a paltry .166 against him, and his WHIP stood at a miniscule 0.83.
Petey: Hey Ham, how are things going for you at spring training?
Hamilton: Things are going good. My arm is healthy and body feels great.
Petey: Have they indicated where you might begin the season?
Hamilton: To be honest I have no clue where I will end up this year, I don’t know if anybody truly does. We are all just sitting around waiting to find out.
Petey: Has anybody been really off-the-hook this spring with their performances so far?
Hamilton: Everybody has shown tremendous improvement from last year which is making everything extremely competitive. (Josh) Edgin of course, who for majority of spring training has been up with the big guys.
Petey: Have any of your pitches shown significant improvement this year?
Hamilton: With me all my pitches have improved. My fastball is showing good command down in the zone, my curveball is getting sharper, but my change up I would say has improved the most. I’m really working on it tremendously to make it a big pitch for me this year.
Petey: Wow that’s awesome Ham, it sounds like you are primed for a very good season. Keep up the good work!
Hamilton: Everything is going well down here, my friend, just a few more days till we get to start playing where it counts.
Petey: Go get ‘em Ham! I’ll talk to you soon.
Hamilton: Looking forward to talking to you in the future.
You can tell these guys are really excited, as well as a little anxious, wondering where they are going to start the season. Baseball is in the air. The season-openers are drawing close. The competition is at it’s peak. Everything is at stake. Oh, how wonderful it all is at this time of year, when we all anxiously await the rebirth of a freshly minted baseball season! And for the Mets farmhands who are cutting their teeth in the minor leagues, this is the time of ultimate promise. A time when the world is out there for the taking, if one plays his cards right. A time to test one’s limits and see how far he can fly. Oh, the glory of it all, to be young, and a Met!
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
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Pete, as usual nice work man.. you’ve been great for us and this site.. The CORE salute you for all the hard work..
You know Pete you got me thinking…
Something I never really considered before because I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to A and AA ball…
But it seems odd that they limit the starters to 5 that low down and those who don’t win a start wind up becoming BP arms.
I don’t see any reason to force kids that young to go every 5 days and wonder why they would hurt the development of other stater capable players by limiting it to 5.
Seems to me a 6 or 7 (Maybe even 8) man rotation would be better as it allows more guys to work on being starters (thats what you really want them all to be since BP help is a dime a dozen) and it would put a little less stress on the kids and maybe avoid some of the injuries our MiL starters have been afflicted with.
While I agree a 5 man rotation is in order for AAA where your preparing for the routine of the MLB squad I don’t see any reason for it below AAA.
Your Pen should be dictated by who failed as a starter not by how many starting slots you have.
And with a 6 or 7 man rotation you could use some of them in between starts on their normal BP session schedule to come in as a reliever for an inning when needed.
Seems a waste to have more than 5 guys who could be starters and wasting some because of your rotation limitations.
In A Ball especially it’s about working to be the most you can be and not the place where a competition should judge how much development and what you get developed to be.
I think expanding the A and AA ball rotation would be a good thing long term!
I don’t know the body is so habit forming and to get these guys used to that recovery time I think it best to limit pitches instead of starts.
Well the body might be habit forming but it takes a lot longer to stretch a guy out from pen to starter and get his body acclimated to that then it does to get him on a 5 day cycle!
And you have AA and AAA to do that when he gets promoted!
they move guys in and out though to keep the innings down. So a guy might start for a while, then be in the pen for a while, switching with a different player.
Also, I know that at some of th elower levels the Mets (not sure about other organizations) “piggy back” guys, so that 2 guys share a rotation spot. Both stay on a starters schedule, but 1 guy will start the game and go 5, and the other guy will come out of the pen for a couple innings. Something along those lines.
and I assume they want to keep them on a 5 day schdule to get them used to that routine.
well see my comment above about the 5 day sched….
I still think the extra day of rest and making them go 6-7 would be better for them in the longterm….
While going every 5th day seems like it’s tough thing to do it’s not as tough as making it through the order the third time around which is what seperates the good starters from the crap!
That low in the Minors should be about what you do per game, not about how many games you do it in.
Maybe this system explains why Pelfrey, Niese and Gee have issues when the 6th inning hits because they don’t have a lot of experience with having to face that lineup the third time around in the Minors!
Just something to think about not saying we are doing anything differently than anyone else!
But if the goal is to develop the minors better then maybe doing it differently would be a good first step!
However I think that most agree that it’s the amount of pitches per start and the duress of those pitches are what they are more concerned with in terms of resulting in an injury. Trying to reach back and throw hard in the 90th pitch as opposed how many games they start.
But that is precisely when the arm gets built up!
Thats EXACTLY what the kid need to learn to pitch though to be a successful MLB starter!
And the extra day or two of rest should mitigate any stress from going two more innings.
He gets more recovery time as well!
That extra day of rest does nothing to help throwing too many pitches or over exerting the arm because of it. You can even ask your buddy Bay on that one. There is a reason that every organization counts pitch counts for their players and yet still tries to keep them on a normal rotation.
Yeah what reason is that TRS?
Have you heard what Nolan Ryan and Seaver have had to say about that?
Have you ever had to pitch every 5 days and know from experience which is harder to overcome, Two extra innings (7 Innings) every 6 or 7 days or 10 Innings every 10?
Hmmm?
Well I do know that even in high school they are very concerned about pitch counts more so than the amount of starts.
I also know that even with the Rangers one of their biggest concerns with Yu was the ability to adapt to a 5 day rotation, which is also why he went ahead and switched to that last year in Japan to make the adjustment easier.
Which would explain why since the incorporation of these Pitch counts, Most starters only last 4 or 5 years at their competitive best and have a hard time getting into the 7th and 8th inning and forced us to need things like 8th and 9th inning specialist!
Before Pitch counts pitchers would regularly throw complete games!
See many lately?
Do weightlifters get better by lifting lesser weights more days or more weight in less days?
Ask me if you build up to lift the larger weight you will be able to handle MORE stress and more often is just a matter of decreasing the rest period over time!
On days he needs another day so be it but at least your going to get more per day!
The body really only takes three days to heal from any stress put on it.
Thats why the do their inbetween tosses on day three…
This whol pitch count thing may be widely accepted but it hasn’t proved to keep players healthier longer in fact the data shows it’s just the opposite!
And if they learn to pitch longer when they are tired and still be effective that will have learned how to be effective earlier in the game without having to gas themselves and throw 100 MPH ever pitch!
But thats what happens when you let a Radar gun and clicker dictate your physical regimen!
Thanks for bringing us some insight to the kids. Love reading these.
Alonzo Harris…..from this picture he looks about 13 years old.
Man, I’m getting old…..
that does look like a picture from a little league game doesn’t it?
LOL, that was my first thought.
Thanks for updates like these. I wonder how many less players the Mets will have this year on the farm because of subtracting the PSL affiliate?
probably not that many, since I thought it ended up shifting more guys back into extended ST 9and whatever they call the group that just stays in PSL working out instead of going onto a “real” team)
Its not like the farm system was deep on talent, anyway. Whoever they lose will probably just be filler, anyway. the talented kids will still be in the system.