Observations from workouts

[JaxRed]

The India homer was legit but there was a lot of bad luck that inning. Colon reached on a dribbler that Sims bobbled, Jankowski fisted one for single.

[JaxRed]

Aquino just went deep off of Reed to straightaway center.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Aquino to straight away CF for another HR.

He hits the low ball well.

The outside slider, notsomuch.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Kuhnel is not in the best shape of his life.

I'm guessing the last Red to own those pants was Todd Coffey.

[JaxRed]

Moose needs to buy him a Peloton

[Bourgeois Zee]

Garcia hits one on the button right at the CF.

He swung at a couple of offspeed sliders off the plate, then took one. (That's slightly promising.) Solid AB.

- - - Updated - - -

Jankoski with his 3rd hit (IIRC) of the day. None of them were murdered.

Payton scored, showing off solid wheels.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Akiyama with another shot.

I love his swing. Opposite field liner.

If he can do that consistently, the Reds will be an offensive force.

[JaxRed]

That was a really nice piece of hitting there by Shogo. Sliced it down third against the shift after the error by Galvis.

[M2]

Jankowski fisted one for single.

[HammerTime]

Aquino to straight away CF for another HR.

He hits the low ball well.

The outside slider, notsomuch.

To be fair, not many do.

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Akiyama with another shot.

I love his swing. Opposite field liner.

If he can do that consistently, the Reds will be an offensive force.

I love what I have seen from him so far. He looks really quick too.

[Kingspoint]

Kuhnel is not in the best shape of his life.

I'm guessing the last Red to own those pants was Todd Coffey.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Notes a few days into Summer Training 2020:

- Shogo Akiyama looks really good. He's a smart hitter (apparently) who's stinging the ball all over the field. Quality ABs pretty much every time up to the plate.
- Joey Votto looks dialed in. I'd prefer more hitting, but if he's not being given the pitches to hit, there's not much he can do about it.
- Kyle Farmer is going to be the backup SS and has looked relatively smooth at the position. What an odd combination-- legitimate middle infielder and catcher. That said, he's a great Swiss Army knife to have in the toolbox.
- Travis Jankowski seems to recognize how important this is to whether he makes the team or not. He's showing off all his tools. He also, as based on interviews, understands the hypothetical role he'd play on the team.
- Power seems not to be an issue.
- Miley looked solid. Glad to have him as a fifth starter.
- Mahle remains (slightly) frustrating. He looked really good for the most part, yet gave up runs he shouldn't have. This is a continuing trend.
- The back end of the bullpen-- save Iglesias-- has looked really shaky. Garrett, Lorenzen, and Reed have been poor.
- Nate Jones looked solid.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Quote Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee
Aquino to straight away CF for another HR.

He hits the low ball well.

The outside slider, notsomuch.

To be fair, not many do.

Laying off that slider is key, IMO, to his development. If he can dial back the wild hacks on those pitches, he becomes a 270/330/520 monster. If he can't, he's a serviceable low BA, low OBP power guy off the bench.

Some guys learn. Suarez has, for the most part.

Some guys never do. (Mesoraco didn't.)

[Mitri]

Notes a few days into Summer Training 2020:

- Shogo Akiyama looks really good. He's a smart hitter (apparently) who's stinging the ball all over the field. Quality ABs pretty much every time up to the plate.
- Joey Votto looks dialed in. I'd prefer more hitting, but if he's not being given the pitches to hit, there's not much he can do about it.
- Kyle Farmer is going to be the backup SS and has looked relatively smooth at the position. What an odd combination-- legitimate middle infielder and catcher. That said, he's a great Swiss Army knife to have in the toolbox.
- Travis Jankowski seems to recognize how important this is to whether he makes the team or not. He's showing off all his tools. He also, as based on interviews, understands the hypothetical role he'd play on the team.
- Power seems not to be an issue.
- Miley looked solid. Glad to have him as a fifth starter.
- Mahle remains (slightly) frustrating. He looked really good for the most part, yet gave up runs he shouldn't have. This is a continuing trend.
- The back end of the bullpen-- save Iglesias-- has looked really shaky. Garrett, Lorenzen, and Reed have been poor.
- Nate Jones looked solid.

Thanks for the notes. I am fine with Farmer as backup SS, mainly because Galvis is a workhorse who can play every inning. I still think we'll see Garcia if Galvis goes down for an extended period.

Bullpen is an enormous weak spot. A lot will hinge on the the SP. If the starters all stay healthy/virus free, the bullpen might be ok. I think Mahle could be really good as a 2-inning guy twice a week. De Leon as well, if that's their plan. But hopefully the offense will be good enough to give the bullpen 3 run leads instead of last year's 1 run leads or tie games that would eventually get blown up.

[JFLegal]

i'm also more than fine with farmer as the backup ss. first of all, he seems better with the glove there than anyone expected. secondly, after a few games, the reds could bring up jose garcia as the backup shortstop and not have it count as a year of service time.