JUPITER, Fla. — Say this about pitcher Anthony Reyes’ first time throwing to hitters this spring: He was able to put the ball over the plate.
“I felt pretty good,” he said. “I had some command I’m not really used to having.”
Reyes, who is trying to stick as a starter this season, threw 40 pitches Thursday, starting the next-to-last wave of starters throwing to batters. The righthander, just a few years removed from being the buzz of spring training, has talked about getting in better shape this offseason, about having surgery to correct his vision and, as much as he can say it, about “having fun pitching again”.
He reiterated that sensation Thursday.
Though, if the focus is on results, looks can be deceiving.
Reyes had no trouble finding the plate with his pitches, and hitters had no trouble finding the outfield with said pitches. Cody Haerther mashed a home run — possibly the first of live BP — over the left-center fence late in Reyes’ round. Josh Phelps, the first baseman that probably should be talked about more, hit two shots to the warning track.
“One of the things you’re really looking for from a pitcher at this time of year is if he’s throwing the ball over the plate,” pitching coach Dave Duncan said. “And he threw the ball over the plate.”
It’s so early to start judging players. Can’t get a read on Josh Kinney’s health yet. Can’t get a read on Juan Gonzalez’s true power yet. Can’t get a read on Adam Kennedy’s all-round play yet. Can’t get a read on Colby Rasmus’ candidacy yet. Everything is in its baby-step phase.
About the only thing that can be gauged is comfort.
Matt Clement, for example, and the Cardinals were not comfortable with his arm strength so there’s been a decision to alter his program. (He did a second day of long toss Thursday instead of throwing from the mound.) The Cardinals, for example, are comfortable with Gonzalez’s physical condition and the strength in Cliff Politte’s shoulder and, as manager Tony La Russa pointed out today, the shape Cesar Izturis came to camp.
Comfort can be judged.
And in that realm, Reyes asserts an affirmative. He said he feels better about his mechanics, but most of all he feels better about his command. After a couple of years struggling to locate any pitch but his changeup, Reyes feels this spring he’s putting the pitches where he wants. The catcher puts down a target and Reyes finds it. No groping. Not like before.
Eventually, that target won’t be over the heart of the plate.
Reyes thinks he’s better capable of finding it on the edges, too.
“I just wanted to see if I can get the ball over the plate as often as possible,” he said. “The past couple years, I just felt like every time I was trying to throw it somewhere, it would never get there. (Today) I was more or less hitting the mitt. … I don’t care about the hits now. As I keep doing this, I’ll be more and more stronger and I’ll be able to put the ball where I want to.”
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In what merited a press conference in his native Hungary, catcher Denes Simonyi received an invitation to the Cardinals’ minor-league spring training. The invite had been months in the making — brokered as it was by the Mad Hungarian himself, Al Hrabosky. Spent some time surfing an Hungarian baseball web site, and besides what appear to be some snazzy games, here’s Simonyi’s batting line:
.375/.514/.625
That’s over just 32 at-bats and there are some gargantuan slugging percentages in the league leaders (See: Balazs Halmos’ .895.) Simonyi is 21 and will come to camp in early March. More on him, including a photo, at his web page, here.
The Cardinals went to the other side of the world to find their other newest international invitee to minor-league camp: Righthanded pitcher Jai Chul Chung, of South Korea. He is the first South Korean player signed by the Cardinals. Chung will turn 26 during minor-league camp.
Neither player is signed to an actual contract; both received non-roster invites.
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The league Simonyi played in is loaded with great names. Simonyi played for the Sleepwalkers, who would play games against the Brick Factory, the Fighting Flies, the Cardinals, the Ants or even the Red Ants (two different teams) and, the best, the Stinky Sox. Brilliant.
Would love to score a Sleepwalkers cap. Tres baseball writer.
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There was a question after yesterday’s blog about Brian Barton and the surgery the outfielder had on his knee. Talked with Barton today, and he clarified. It was on his right knee. He had a procedure called “lateral release”, and the purpose was to keep the patella from rubbing against the femur. He had a little cartilage damage in there as well, but the chronic pain and clicking he felt was the kneecap grinding against the leg bone. He too has heard it described the damage in his knee as both a tiny fracture and a bone bruise.
“The bigger thing is that it’s fixed,” Barton said. “I have some slight soreness here after working out or running, but nothing like before. I’m getting back in the swing of things.”
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A sure sign Colby Rasmus has arrived: On Friday the makers of baseball video games will be in town to scan the faces and features of players for the next wave of XBox and PS3 games. Rasmus is one of the players who is on the list because they don’t have a digital duplicate for him. The others are Brian Barton, Brian Barden, Ryan Ludwick and Jaime Garcia.
Also this year the managers and coaches will be scanned so that they can be accurately recreated in the games. Just think, sometime this year you could have a digital Dave Duncan, who looks like the actual Dave Duncan, amble out to the pitching mound to see if the digital Garcia is OK to throw a few more innings in some September start …
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Ludwick had the most eventful live batting practice, and it had little to do with the rain that continued to fall during it. The Cardinals outfielder faced prospect Clayton Mortensen along with his group of returning outfielders (Skip Schumaker, Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel). In his first turn in the cage, Ludwick swung at an inside fastball and snapped his bat — the barrel of which helicoptered out to shortstop. In his final turn in the cage, Mortensen kept going inside with his pitches until finally plunking the outfielder on his left shoulder.
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** Commericalized Zone **
Author Craig Messmer came by campus today to promote his book, Stat One. The attempt of the book and his Web site is to throw the most important offensive statistics into a statistical Cuisinart and blend up a one, true, silver-bullet stat that defines and ranks hitters throughout baseball history.
Messmer uses runs produced (RBI + runs - HR) and complete bases (TB + BB + HPB + SB - CS) to create his “P/E Average”, or Offensive and Production Efficiency Average. The number it offers up is similar to an SAT score. All that is prelude to offering his nugget from the book: Albert Pujols’ P/E Average is the best among current players and the seventh-best all-time. The list:
- Babe Ruth, 1.436
- Lou Gehrig, 1.387
- Ted Williams, 1.346
- Hank Greenberg, 1.318
- Jimmie Foxx, 1.315
- Joe DiMaggio, 1.295
- Albert Pujols, 1.271
- Barry Bonds, 1.264
- Manny Ramirez, 1.234
- Alex Rodriguez, 1.234
Messmer uses that stat as a springboard to a ranking of the greatest offensive players in baseball history, a list that has three Yankees at the top. Pujols’ number, when blended with other less-empirical considerations, puts him at 28 and rising. Stan Musial ranks No. 11, a spot that Messmer admits might hurt the book’s sales in St. Louis.
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Speaking of stats, a fascinating rebut from Derek Jeter in today’s New York Post when asked about a study that ranked the Gold Glove winner the worst shortstop in baseball.
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The Cardinals newest department, “Fan Development”, launched its first project — an official online club. It’s called (you’ll never guess) Cardinals Nation. Some of the benefits of membership include:
- Complimentary Gameday Audio.
- Founding Membership Card
- Discounts at team store and online team shop.
- Exclusive web chats (ooo, a cage match with JSL!!!#$%$!!!)
- Exclusive message board (bring it, says Cards Talk)
Annual memberships go onsale today, at $19.95. More info available by contacting cardinalsnation@cardinals.mlb.com.
** Back to Baseball, College *
Baseball America continues its college preview with a feature story on Aaron Crow, the Mizzou pitcher, preseason All-American and current draftnik favorite. My editor at BA picks the Tigers to go to Omaha this year. That means … road trip.
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