Pirates SS Konnor Griffin has been the early talk of spring training after blasting two moonshots in the same game followed by Pittsburgh leaking their desire to sign him long term. Translation: they know he should be part of the opening day lineup but would like to maximize whatever leverage they have here. We’ve seen this move a lot, and I get it. I actually think it makes sense for most young players to offer a year or two of free agency to make a ton of money earlier than they would’ve and have stable income across time. Decent money management is all you’d need for your whole family to live like royalty for a hundred years, minimum. Why quibble over the dollars beyond that? It’s a little different for a Pittsburgh player. Humans like to win, or at least compete.
Rockies OF Zac Veen kicked some addiction issues this off-season and gained something like 500 pounds of muscle (reportedly more than 40 pounds). He looks good early this spring with two home runs in six games, but the real benefit of this life change would be his response to the season-long daily grind, in my opinion. Should also help with his response to slumps. It’s hard to replace old habits with new ones, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more time on the ballfield is often his response to newly found free time that used to get filled with a substance or two.
Rockies 1B TJ Rumfield has three home runs, slashing .417/.533/1.167 through 15 plate appearances. Spring training doesn’t matter unless it does, and for a guy like Rumfield, it certainly does. This new Colorado front office brought in a few new guys and might be a little extra invested in seeing their off-season targets succeed, which figures to help this former Yankee farmhand make his case for an extended look. At 6’5” 225 pounds from the left side, he makes more contact than the typical big man and has been better than league average at each of his last four stops in the New York system.
Nationals 3B Brady House has just eight plate appearances but has already hit two home runs. He hit just four in 73 games last season on the way to a 56 wRC+. The 11th overall pick out of high school in 2021, House has better bones than that. This fresh new front office and coaching staff could help renovate his approach and make a big difference. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a better-than-league-average regular in year two. He just got traded for Brewers OF Garrett Mitchell in the Highlander Dynasty Invitational, and he’s probably available on the cheap in your leagues.
I just double checked the books, and there’s no law that says Detroit can’t open the season with Kevin McGonigle at shortstop. They have Zach McKinstry and Javier Baez on the roster, but they’ve both lived that utility player life and probably fit a first-division roster better in that role. McGonigle is 2-for-2 with a double, triple and a walk today, slashing .462/.533/.769 on the spring. Gonna be tough to send him down if he’s still hitting like this in a few weeks.
Yesterday I watched Twins RHP Taj Bradley wipe away a left-handed hitter with a 98 mile per hour fastball up in the zone and wished I had him on some teams. He got nickel and dimed the next inning, but he revamped his delivery and started putting in the homework it takes to retain a big league rotation spot. Arrows up for Bradley with a full-season to refine his craft in a relatively weak division. Click here to read more about Bradley’s developmental journey.
Red Sox LHP Connelly Early hit 97 in that same game during a snappy nine-pitch inning. He looks awesome. It’s February, and I love baseball, so a lot of this stuff looks pretty awesome to these Midwestern winter eyes, but I work hard to separate the yay-baseball feelings from the holy-shizz-lookit-this-guy feelings. Still good if not quite so smooth in his second inning, during which the announcer started talking about how Cam Schlittler got tons of hype while Early was also good without the hype. Real little brother stuff. They’re playing the Twins in this game. Not a Yankee to be found on the broadcast.
Speaking of New York, two Yankees’ MONSTARS, OF Spencer Jones and RHP Carlos Lagrange, are putting on a show during their time on this planet: Jones hitting preposterous bombs and Lagrange touching 102.4 while dispatching each hitter with ease. I wouldn’t like the look of it if I were that Boston broadcaster.
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