Early 2018 Spring Training Update

Spring training is a great time for baseball.  New expectations, new hopes, young talent getting a chance to compete on the big stage in front of their team’s front office execs.  Baseball has laid dormant since the Huston Astros clinched the World Series, but tons of fields in Arizona and Florida are now spilling over with batting practice, bullpens and bunt coverages.  One, my favorite parts of spring training are the random numbers assigned to the non-roster guys.  These next few weeks will be the only time you see a guy wearing 68 pitching to a hitter wearing 79.   This spring there will be a few UofL Cardinal 9 alum wearing these random numbers throughout the spring.

Just before Spring Training started a three-team trade between the Yankees, the Rays, and the Diamondbacks was completed affecting Nick Solak.  Coming into this spring Solak was listed as the New York Yankees number 8 overall prospect in a very loaded system, particularly up the middle. Due to that congestion in the Yankees farm system this trade is actually great for Solak.  Now there is not as much as a logjam for him on his ascent to the Major Leagues.  As long as he continues to tear it up we should be seeing Solak and Brendan McKay in a Tampa jersey for a long time to come.   The latest update from the Rays has indicated that once the regular season begins he will be assigned to the AA Montgomery Biscuits with another UofL Alum, Grant Kay.

Player stats are in order by team

      -Cole Sturgeon has been taking advantage of his opportunity this spring playing in two games.  He only has a couple of at-bats but is batting .500 with a home run and 3 RBI’s.

     -In 6 games this spring, Adam Engel is slashing .333/.538/.778/1.316.  He does have a solo home run and four walks.  With his speed consistently getting on base will help him solidify himself in that lineup.

     -Adam Duvall only has a few at-bats this spring but he does have a home run, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI’s and a stolen base.

     -Kyle Funkhouser has thrown 0.2 of an inning this spring.  He struck out 1, walked 2 and gave up 3 earned runs.

     -Will Smith has played in 5 games so far with a home run and a couple of hits to accompany his slash line of .250/.333/.750/1.083

     -Chad Green has totaled 1.2 innings pitched with 3 strikeouts in one start.

     -Kyle McGrath has been lights out in 2 innings to this point striking out 3 batters and surrendering only 1 hit with zero runs scored.

     -Nick Solak has had 9 at-bats for his new team but does not have a hit yet.  He does, however, have 1 RBI.

Washington Nationals
-In 9 games, Chris Dominguez is slashing .200/.200/.200/.400 with 3 RBI’s and 1 stolen base with a new team.