First AFL Box score

[JaxRed]

A report of 2 days worth of AFL. Saw the Thu night Seguaros, none of the Reds did anything (good). Today Alonso and Heisey had day off. Cozart was the DH. My wife thought Alonso looked slimmer. I wasn't sure but she might be right.

So Tanner Scheppers pitched last night. He bounces up and down as a timing mechanism before he throws. His fastball was at least 96 every time. The scoreboard radar gun only had 2 digits He hit 99 a few times. So I was wondering whether he topped at 99 or it just wouldn't register higher. And then periodically he would break in a 84 MPH curve ball. Very impressive.

Saw the Goodyear Stadium and practice facility. The minor league practice fields are way far away from the stadium. At least for an old guy like me, it's a drive and not a walk.

Now.....the stadium. First of all it's brand new, and about 10 times better than Ed Smith. On the other hand, it had a bit of a "value engineering" look. Example - Surprise stadium's walls are a combo of Stucco and decorative brick. Goodyear is concrete block.

I'm going to check out Dodgers tomorrow. I hear it's the Taj Mahal of spring training.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by JaxRed

A report of 2 days worth of AFL. Saw the Thu night Seguaros, none of the Reds did anything (good). Today Alonso and Heisey had day off. Cozart was the DH. My wife thought Alonso looked slimmer. I wasn't sure but she might be right.

So Tanner Scheppers pitched last night. He bounces up and down as a timing mechanism before he throws. His fastball was at least 96 every time. The scoreboard radar gun only had 2 digits He hit 99 a few times. So I was wondering whether he topped at 99 or it just wouldn't register higher. And then periodically he would break in a 84 MPH curve ball. Very impressive.

Scheppers is getting glowing reviews from the AFL so far. As for the radar gun, usually they will register 00 or 01 for 100 and 101. However it sounds like the stadium gun was slightly hot. Pitch FX had him topping out at 98.2 MPH. He was throwing a 90 MPH change up though, which is hilarious. His average fastball speed from last night was 96.4 MPH.

[lollipopcurve]

Do we have Boxberger's numbers from yesterday? Curious to see if those reports re: his fastball (touching 98) have legs.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

Do we have Boxberger's numbers from yesterday? Curious to see if those reports re: his fastball (touching 98) have legs.

His fastball did hit 97 two games ago. Yesterday he was 92-93 and hit 95 twice. Only threw 12 pitches though in 2 innings.

[lollipopcurve]

His fastball did hit 97 two games ago. Yesterday he was 92-93 and hit 95 twice. Only threw 12 pitches though in 2 innings.

thanks Doug

pretty optimistic about Boxberger as a reliever

[HeatherC1212]

Thanks for the review Jax!

[REDblooded]

So... Is Boxberger gonna be our Drew Stubbs to Scheppers Lincecum?

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by REDblooded

So... Is Boxberger gonna be our Drew Stubbs to Scheppers Lincecum?

Only if people choose to make it that way.

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by REDblooded

So... Is Boxberger gonna be our Drew Stubbs to Scheppers Lincecum?

I doubt it. At the time of the 2006 draft, the consensus was that Lincecum was the best pick, but for the 2009 draft, even though a lot of people didn't like the Boxberger pick, we were relieved that the Reds didn't draft Scheppers after hearing about his shoulder injury. Even if Scheppers finds enough control and command to be effective, I have no confidence that he'll avoid major arm surgery long enough to be a quality major leaguer.

[REDblooded]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Only if people choose to make it that way.

fair enough... didn't post my displeasure here, but i was pretty ticked when Scheppers wasn't the pick.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by camisadelgolf

I doubt it. At the time of the 2006 draft, the consensus was that Lincecum was the best pick, but for the 2009 draft, even though a lot of people didn't like the Boxberger pick, we were relieved that the Reds didn't draft Scheppers after hearing about his shoulder injury. Even if Scheppers finds enough control and command to be effective, I have no confidence that he'll avoid major arm surgery long enough to be a quality major leaguer.

It wasn't the concensus. There were plenty who didn't want to select a short, thin, questionable mechaniced pitcher who walked over 5 per 9 in college.

[JaxRed]

So back in Jax..... Saw article saying Alonso has been doing some work at 3rd and LF.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Mario-Rijo]

Originally Posted by JaxRed

So back in Jax..... Saw article saying Alonso has been doing some work at 3rd and LF.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

A picture is worth a thousand words.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Mario-Rijo

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Huh?

[redhawk61]

Originally Posted by JaxRed

So back in Jax..... Saw article saying Alonso has been doing some work at 3rd and LF.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Yonder Alonso the future of the Reds in LF

IMO at the time of the draft, the Reds did not think Votto was going to be the ball player he has become, in fact no one really did. Most saw his ceiling as a .280/.350/.420-.450 hitter, a solid player, but not a fixture, thus thought that once Alonso was ready, they could trade Votto to fill other needs. But now that he has established himself as one of the top hitters in the league, despite his posistion, he is going nowhere, and the Reds still want to make use of Alonso's bat.