• Live batting practice sessions are still rather interesting, in my eyes, especially when pitchers and hitters find themselves in certain situations like the one Dennis Santana was in today. He got behind RyanO’Hearn 3-0, threw a strike in the zone and got O’Hearn to foul off two pitches before getting him on what appeared to be a check swing with a ball out of the zone. No fear throwing a pitch there with some movement in a 3-2 count. That’s what you want to see out of a high-leverage arm in any setting.
• Konnor Griffin did that thing again today where he impresses with his bat. Only this time, he wasn’t causing roof damage. Instead, he took things a step further in batting practice by clearing the batter’s eye in center field. Then, he took it further than that by hitting a homer in a live BP against Nick Dombkowski. More and more impressed by him with each passing day. I know he absolutely has to earn his way, but if this kid consistently hits this spring, you just have to have him traveling north with this team.
• Every time I watch Jake Mangum hit against one of these pitchers, he’s fouling off breaking pitches in the dirt or ones up in the zone. The guy just battles. DonKelly talks about the importance of grit a lot, and I think this Mangum guy personifies that trait.
THE ASYLUM
Three observations: Santana’s perseverance
Three observations from here today:
• Live batting practice sessions are still rather interesting, in my eyes, especially when pitchers and hitters find themselves in certain situations like the one Dennis Santana was in today. He got behind Ryan O’Hearn 3-0, threw a strike in the zone and got O’Hearn to foul off two pitches before getting him on what appeared to be a check swing with a ball out of the zone. No fear throwing a pitch there with some movement in a 3-2 count. That’s what you want to see out of a high-leverage arm in any setting.
• Konnor Griffin did that thing again today where he impresses with his bat. Only this time, he wasn’t causing roof damage. Instead, he took things a step further in batting practice by clearing the batter’s eye in center field. Then, he took it further than that by hitting a homer in a live BP against Nick Dombkowski. More and more impressed by him with each passing day. I know he absolutely has to earn his way, but if this kid consistently hits this spring, you just have to have him traveling north with this team.
• Every time I watch Jake Mangum hit against one of these pitchers, he’s fouling off breaking pitches in the dirt or ones up in the zone. The guy just battles. Don Kelly talks about the importance of grit a lot, and I think this Mangum guy personifies that trait.
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