Leftover Baseball Notes

Fielding is a RS freshman. Nice high school stats. That was his first game, and as I noted, I don’t think he did anything to earn pitching in that tight a spot.
They used Easton bats, but some guys had a different brand that began with an “M”…wasn’t sure what it said, but it didn’t look like Mizuno.

Montgomery looked fine in the field. Didn't pay much attention to him, though. I just kept wondering where Conforto was…
Dunn was at SS, and played well for the most part. He made a really bad throw on an easy double play ball in the 8th inning of game 4. SB made the game close partially due to it, but also because the 3rd base ump called a “20 second rule” on Brocker. Basically, Brocker took > 20 seconds to deliver a pitch after receiving it from the catcher. Apparently this rule is never/has never been called in history, because everyone went ballistic. The batter flew out on that pitch, so he got to hit again, and ripped a double and then scored—SB was gifted a few runs late.
Jake is fine as a catcher in terms of throwing (below average arm at C, but a very quick release and accurate arm). His biggest problem is receiving. I didn’t look at the stats, but I believe I saw 5 passed balls, and 4 in game 4. SB fans kept saying, “man, they sure have a lot of passed balls”. It really was alarming. Anything near the dirt (even catchable low pitches) went right by him.
Barnes is a good all around player. Watched him closely. Good in every department, but not great in any. Tomassini and Dettman had the best eye and ability to draw walks. Matthews was good at working counts, too. Not sure any of them hit enough to bat 1, though, so Barnes might be the guy.
Based on Davis’s stature, I don’t see him playing much outfield. He’s very stout and lacks wheels. I can only see him at DH and 1B. Could be wrong, but I just don’t see it. Conforto looked okay in his limited OF time. Looked like he lacked range but could play a little.
The backup catcher (Espisito?) looked good receiving and throwing between innings.
IMO, Smith needs to play 2B. Tomassini is known for his glove, but his bat was more impressive this series, and I don’t see that continuing (if history is any indicator). After a horrible start, Smith hit something like .330 in Pac-10 play last year, and he has a great glove. Not sure why he didn’t see any time in the IF this series. Really disappointing.

Other notes: Tony Bryant actually throws two change ups. Watched the gun, and one comes in at 72, and the other at 64 (looks sooo slow). The latter could be an old school palm ball. I say this based on the speed, dip, and rotation. Doesn’t quite look like any of the standard change ups. His fastball tops out at only 85-86.

Boyd was the only Beaver to hit 90mph on the gun. Wilkerson was at 87-88. Rodriguez at 87 max (he looked good, though). Brocker looked to have the most “electric stuff”, but the gun only had him at 88 (looked more like 92 to me). His off speed pitch (looked like a slider) was incredible. Could have been a hard curve, though, because he’d throw it at the batter and have it catch the inside corner. Usually a slider starts down the middle and goes outside/away. It was hard to see from my angle.

Davis looked poised at the plate. Didn’t see any nerves. Haven’t looked at any of the box scores, but I believe he had 5 hits or so in the series. He also hit a lot of balls hard. Seemed very hard on himself. If he swung and missed a pitch he’d hit his head, etc. That’s a good trait.

These are just the mental notes I made while watching. Any other questions just ask.