I gotta say I think Wood to RF is smart. Lile's defense is, if we're being kind, a work in progress. LF is where you hide your weaker OF... where you stick the weaker arm. Even if we say Wood's defense hasn't been dramatically better than Lile's, his ceiling is higher. Wood's arm is superior so RF makes sense. And he may find it's easier to track the ball off the bat in RF. Get both bats in the lineup and improve the D? Seems prudent.
What was Gray's velo averaging a couple of years ago, before his injury? In other words, what should we look for today as evidence that it hasn't fallen off?
Wood and his arm in RF over LF is such a no-brainer, I’m shocked this is his first look there. Nice DP to get out of the first!
Also glad to see Gray throwing a lot of offspeed early - his fastball wasn’t good enough to be his primary pitch even pre-injury. Loving the early decision-making we’re seeing from this coaching staff.
Given that Crews is a better defender than Wood and Young is a Gold Glove caliber CF, putting Wood in LF made sense last year. Lile hadn't emerged yet. Hassell didn't show much. Pinckney wasn't ready. As Wood and Lile hit well and need to be in the batting order, it seems perhaps they're prepping Crews for CF with Hassell and Young battling for 4th OF and a host of others pushing them. And if Crews continues to struggle, there are two CF candidates waiting on the wings.
Gray's fastball was 94-95 in the first inning but is showing 91-92 in the second inning. Could be normal for this time of year, but something to monitor.
All things considered, that has to be considered a positive spring debut for Josiah Gray. He threw 38 pitches (25 strikes) over 1 2/3 innings. He only threw nine fastballs, but he was at 94 mph in the first inning, then 91-92 mph in the second inning. He struck out three, all via breaking balls. He also was hurt by bad defense, including a popup that landed in front of Daylen Lile in shallow left field and a dropped third strike by Keibert Ruiz.
It's been a good day at the plate for Keibert Ruiz, who has homered and singled in his first two at-bats. And these weren't cheapies, with eat hit featuring an exit velocity of at least 100 mph. For a guy who simply hasn't hit the ball hard enough in recent seasons (when healthy), that's a very encouraging sign.
For team like the Dodgers you don’t sweat a lot in Spring Training but this team has to show some attention to details to break the cycle of failure they have been trapped in and that knock down by Alvarez really shows they are not sleepwalking
Let's go, Josiah!!!
I gotta say I think Wood to RF is smart. Lile's defense is, if we're being kind, a work in progress. LF is where you hide your weaker OF... where you stick the weaker arm. Even if we say Wood's defense hasn't been dramatically better than Lile's, his ceiling is higher. Wood's arm is superior so RF makes sense. And he may find it's easier to track the ball off the bat in RF. Get both bats in the lineup and improve the D? Seems prudent.
Wood just proved your point! Nice double play there.
What was Gray's velo averaging a couple of years ago, before his injury? In other words, what should we look for today as evidence that it hasn't fallen off?
92-94 range
Check!
Really rooting for Gray and hope the lineup gets some offense going today!
Gray's first inning: 16 pitches, 12 strikes, 4 fastballs
I love it
So far, so good!
Wood and his arm in RF over LF is such a no-brainer, I’m shocked this is his first look there. Nice DP to get out of the first!
Also glad to see Gray throwing a lot of offspeed early - his fastball wasn’t good enough to be his primary pitch even pre-injury. Loving the early decision-making we’re seeing from this coaching staff.
Given that Crews is a better defender than Wood and Young is a Gold Glove caliber CF, putting Wood in LF made sense last year. Lile hadn't emerged yet. Hassell didn't show much. Pinckney wasn't ready. As Wood and Lile hit well and need to be in the batting order, it seems perhaps they're prepping Crews for CF with Hassell and Young battling for 4th OF and a host of others pushing them. And if Crews continues to struggle, there are two CF candidates waiting on the wings.
Gray's fastball was 94-95 in the first inning but is showing 91-92 in the second inning. Could be normal for this time of year, but something to monitor.
Man that was a tough luck second inning.
Things were going well until they weren't. The defense, and the wind, were not helpful.
Still, if he comes out of this healthy, Josiah ought to be pleased with his first outing in two years.
All things considered, that has to be considered a positive spring debut for Josiah Gray. He threw 38 pitches (25 strikes) over 1 2/3 innings. He only threw nine fastballs, but he was at 94 mph in the first inning, then 91-92 mph in the second inning. He struck out three, all via breaking balls. He also was hurt by bad defense, including a popup that landed in front of Daylen Lile in shallow left field and a dropped third strike by Keibert Ruiz.
Somewhat depressing that Keibert seems destined to make opening day roster
And he hits a homer as soon as I type that
Keep typing whenever he’s up.
Don't forget Abrams just falling down on a pickoff play, that should have been a sure out for Gray, but Abrams fall let the runner get back to 1B.
Nice to see James Wood (see, Mark, I spelled it right!) get his first hit.
Not able to see but listening and following Gray wasn’t bad and this Mets pitcher took out the Astros best that is my take so far
No, Gray wasn't bad at all, and Drew Smith (the former Met) had a 1-2-3 inning. Good spring training debuts for both, I think.
It's been a good day at the plate for Keibert Ruiz, who has homered and singled in his first two at-bats. And these weren't cheapies, with eat hit featuring an exit velocity of at least 100 mph. For a guy who simply hasn't hit the ball hard enough in recent seasons (when healthy), that's a very encouraging sign.
actually he hit the ball very well the first six weeks of last season. I believe he was our top hitter or close to it by BA until mid-May.
For team like the Dodgers you don’t sweat a lot in Spring Training but this team has to show some attention to details to break the cycle of failure they have been trapped in and that knock down by Alvarez really shows they are not sleepwalking
Behind Nats dugout.
Prediction: Alvarez makes starting rotation.
Three strong innings look promising.
Alvarez issued one of the Nats 4 HBP today. Are Nats pitchers having control issues, or are the Astros crowding the plate?
Well that was a Reifert-ian performance by McGarry today
For the third time this spring, a Nationals game has ended in a tie, this time by a 3-3 count.
GOOD
* Josiah Gray threw 39 pitches over 1 2/3 innings, reaching 94 mph, striking out three
* Keibert Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a homer
* Brady House went 2-for-3 with his third double of the spring
BAD
* Andrew Alvarez walked three and was charged with an error, though he didn't allow a run over three innings
* Griff McGarry walked two and hit a batter while throwing 32 pitches without completing an inning
* Daylen Lile called off CJ Abrams on a pop-up into shallow left field, then couldn't make the play on a windy day