Spring Training first week impressions: Where are the games at?

What has stood out the first week of Spring Training games.

Photo Credit: WTM

We are just over a week into the Spring Training schedule, and while we haven’t been able to see every game, it’s been enough to have a few things stick out so far.

I review some things that have caught my attention this Spring.

Lack of streamed games

I remember that, as a kid growing up, I’d race home from school during the Spring, hoping that I’d be able to catch a glimpse of the tail end of just one Pirates game. Once I was in high school, I knew they were playing on ESPN, I even ditched school to watch them play (Sorry, Mom).

Now I’m throwing Twitter semi-tirades that every Spring Training game isn’t available for us to watch.

That’s how far things have come in the nearly 15 years since I left high school, and it doesn’t make sense that all Spring Training games aren’t available to some extent for us to watch.

But yet, I’m on Twitter talking about how I’ve seen as many Mount Saint Mary’s college baseball games as a professional baseball team (3) I follow.

Spring Training is the perfect blend of baseball to get people excited. It’s an excellent way to get people excited for not only the upcoming season but the future of your favorite franchise.

The Pirates and Orioles had four of the last five first-overall picks playing in the same game, with multiple other first-round picks also playing.

Baseball fans had to rely on cell phone videos to come out from paying fans to see what happened.

MLB will come up with some story as to why it ‘isn’t possible’ for this to happen, yet we all know what it comes down to - money. It could be as simple as setting up a cheap camera behind home plate and streaming the games.

The Pirates play their Spring Training home games, whereas the Bradenton Marauders do, and they have ALL of their games streamed.

But there isn’t any money in that, ‘just’ a way for phones to keep up with their favorite team.

Ok, that’s enough. Here are some other things that I’ve noticed in the week’s worth of games we’ve had.

Hunter Stratton

I talked about Stratton going into games, and he hasn’t disappointed. The cutter has been effective already, and he looks like he will push for a roster spot.

It will have to come with another roster move since Stratton is an NRI, but you can make a case that he’s been one of the eight best relievers in games right now.

The likely scenario is for him to start as depth until an opportunity presents itself.

Gilberto Celestino

Another NRI, Celestino, hit a grand slam while driving in five total runs on Friday. He’s also been aggressive on the bases while making some plays in the outfield.

It will be interesting to see how the outfield picture plays out. Joshua Palacios will be behind after dealing with an injury, and Canaan Smith-Njigba hasn’t played great so far.

Celestino will push the envelope, and you can probably make the case he’s the most likely NRI to make the roster.

Termarr Johnson

The 2022 first-round pick had himself quite the week, belting a double and two home runs. He had an average exit velocity of over 100 mph before his hit on Friday (there was no tracking in the Baltimore game Thursday), with a max of 106.6 mph.

He adjusted to the pitch on two hits, dipped low, and could still drive the ball - one for a home run.

It feels like he’s selling out for power right now, which is suitable for a small sample size of surrounding that comes with Spring Training but less promising throughout an entire season.

He has plus raw power but has shown the ability to adjust, which could make him a high-average hitter. Maybe he can get to both, and while it’s nice to see him hitting home runs, it doesn’t do too much for the main areas of concern for him last year.

Jared Triolo

With such an open competition, where up to four players are vying for the second base job, it seems like a shame to anoint anyone after a week, but Triolo has been playing out of this world early.

He’s done nothing but hit and play solid defense. It feels like a roster spot, in general, is his to lose, as he will likely be the primary backup to Ke’Bryan Hayes, but he could force his way into more work as the starting second baseman, moving around here and there.

Rotation

It’s hard to say what the rotation could or should be, especially since I’ve seen so few of the candidates, but right now, I’d probably go something like this,

Mitch Keller

Marco Gonzales

Martin Perez

Quinn Priester

Roansy Contreras

Have Bailey Falter start on a short leash in the bullpen and Luis Ortiz begin in the minors. While Roansy doesn’t have a rotation spot ‘locked down,’ with no options remaining, it would take a very bad Spring for him not to at least get a look briefly into the regular season.

When it’s time to start calling up some of the guys who will be waiting in the minors, that’ll be a different story, until then it wouldn’t shock me at all to see him break camp with a rotation spot.

The Pirates favor more pitch to contact type of pitchers, that’s where Priester gets the nod. Realistically, put him and Ortiz on the same schedule, and you can almost rotate them a couple of times early on if you want.

Henry Davis

I genuinely don’t believe we were ever in a scenario where we would see Henry Davis head to Triple-A, the bat is too valuable in the majors.

This seems more of a way to prepare for a ‘worst-case scenario’ if Davis struggles defensively and at the plate.

He may have some growing pains as a catcher, but he looks well on his way to proving he’s among the 26 best players on the 40-man roster.

Davis will be in the majors, and when the struggles begin, and they will, that’s why you bring in someone like Yasmani Grandal, to take the pressure off of him.