Mack Stuff – Carlos Vazquez, Wilmer Flores, Domingo Tapia,
Ryan Freel
RP Carlos Vazsquez - Venados de Mazatlan – 2.1-IP, 0-H,
0-R, 5-K, 0-BB, 3.49
Vasquez very quietly put up superb numbers in Savannah last season:
6-2, 2.96, 1.08, 41-G, 79.0-IP, 75-K, 26-BB. Vasquez will move on to St. Lucie
with his Savannah buddies and, hopefully, continue to put up these kind of
numbers. He was an international free agent sign in 2010 who will play next
season as a 21-year old. He was a starter in 2011 for Brooklyn (15-G, 14-ST,
4-2, 3.61) but there simply wasn’t enough room for him on the very talented
2012 Savannah rotation.
3B Wilmer Flores - Bravos de Margarita – 1-3, 1-BB, .279
Stat line for winter: .279/.343/.430/.774, 179-AB, 25-K, 15-BB… has
cooled down a little this month. What he is doing is exclusively playing third
base now, a position the Mets have obviously decided to showcase him at in
2013. There would be an obvious attempt to move him elsewhere if the team had
plans on keeping him in the organization in the long run. No, this is 201302014
trade bait and the rarified air in Las Vegas will be perfect for his one
dimensional game ( I wish somebody would print out defensive stats from winter
ball, but they just don’t exist on paper).
In a piece for
Fangraphs, South Atlantic League analyst Mark
Newman discussed this very conundrum. He stated: "Domingo Tapia’s inability to throw a breaking pitch
screams bullpen projection at the moment. This leaves Tapia in a tough spot as
changing his arm slot may yield a decent breaking pitch, but take the bite out
of his impressive sinker." And so we have our central conflict: Do you
tweak the arm angle in an attempt to maximize his long-term value -- while at
the same time potentially hurting the sinker? Or do you let him do what he does
best, throwing mostly sinkers with the understanding that he could very likely
end up as a reliever in the long run? It's a tough call. Which is why I don't
really want to make it; I'll eat the cake I have, thank you very much. Call it
a cop-out, but I'd be more apt to leave Tapia's delivery the way it is and have
faith that he can develop a useable secondary pitch along the way. He could
easily spend four more seasons in the minor leagues before getting 'too old';
that's more than enough time for me to hope on. AA
P John Maine signed with the Florida Marlins.
I was in the Mets camp when John Maine reported
to camp in 2010. He actually was supposed to report a few weeks earlier when
pitchers and catchers reported, but he didn’t show up and the Mets never
mentioned anything about it. He finally arrived and went out to the mounds
hidden behind two of the back fields. The Mets use these for stealth practice
with their pitchers and normally are off limited to press, but since this was
officially the first day the whole team reported, reporters were allowed to view
the pitching mounds.
I purposely stood
behind the fence that separated me and Mike Nickeas,
who was assigned to catch Maine. This was the only practice mound that a reporter
could actually position himself immediately behind a catcher and visualize a
pitch.
It became quite
obvious very early that Maine was not going to be able to keep the ball within
the zone unless he slowed it up. His top speed was only in the high 80s. and I
remember Nickeas finishing up the session and walking halfway towards Maine
(which is the normal routine) and meeting him halfway for a handshake. Mike
came back to take position for the next pitcher he would catch and he looked at
me and made a rolling of his eyes which spoke volumes and confirmed what I was
thinking at the same time.
Maine didn’t have
it anymore. Sometimes, it just happened like this. It goes away overnight and
you can’t command the strike zone without slowing down to the low-80s, which is
murder at this level.
Former Cincinnati Reds infielder Ryan Freel committed
suicide on Saturday. He was 36 years old. In this world, everyone rushes to
Facebook to see if someone that takes his own life had their own page. They
leave comments to someone that no longer is around to read them, no less, close
down their site and they shake their heads wondering how could somebody this
blessed and gifted do something like this to themselves. So little time and
expense is spent on mental health these days and there are so many other people
like Freel out there just hanging on trying to come up with a reason to go
through the motions for one more day. Friends of Freel said he was a fighter on
the field and no one took the game more serious than he did. Trust me, that
means that the loss of that stature cost him dearly when it was taken away from
him. Veterans hospitals are filled with
people like Freel. You’ll find them sitting out front, smoking away, and
staring off with what we used to call that ’10 mile look’. I’m going to get
back to sports now, but look around you. There’s someone that needs your caring
and understanding. Reach out and try what you can. Some cases like Freel’s are
hopeless, but many find comfort in therapy and guidance, especially from friends and family members during the holiday season.
