Official Spring Training Thread

[Illinest]

Well get ready cause toronto v pittsburgh today. Oh hi there joey bats!

 

[pixburgher66]

There's not really a way to watch, is there? I do have a friend who has graciously offered me his password to his mlb.tv account. However, there's like 8 guys on his account...competition!

 

[evolver115]

some slightly good news on AJ:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_784623.html

The right-hander will need eight to 12 weeks to recover from a blowout fracture of the orbital bone surrounding his right eye. On Friday at Allegheny General Hospital, Dr. Randall Beatty repaired the floor (bottom portion) of the bone.

Burnett has considerable swelling but does not have nerve or muscle impingement or concussion symptoms. Doctors do not anticipate long-term vision problems.

No nerve damage or concussion like symptoms is good news. Still, just unbelievable how shitty the Pirates luck is

 

[pixburgher66]

Ahhh, so it was a blowout fracture. That clears things up a bit for me. That also explains the need for surgery. Not having nerve damage is key there. That's good news.


Also, nice to see that bats show up today But I'll try not to read too much into spring training games.

 

[thedddd]

I guess the silver lining in the Burnett injury it wasn't to his ARM!

 

[magnumo]

Impressions from Pirates-Orioles Game

The TV cable system in my area carries MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) and MASN2, which feature most of Washington's and Baltimore's baseball games during the regular season. Last night, they televised the game between the Pirates and the Orioles.

It was an interesting game, and it was great to see the Pirates win one. Obviously, it's very early in Spring Training, and it's only one game, but I came away with some pretty strong impressions, both on the plus and minus sides. First, on the "plus" side:

- Matt Hague: As I've posted previously, I really would like to see the Pirates give Hague a chance. (That probably won't happen.) But he certainly looked like a hit-machine in last night's game. Nice, quick swing..... hit the ball hard.

- Justin Wilson: Never saw him pitch before. His control was a little shaky (matching his reputation), but when he threw strikes, he appeared essentially unhittable, with good velocity and stuff. When he got ahead, he was especially effective, as hitters had to chase his stuff out of the strike zone. (Actually, most of the Pirate pitchers looked decent.)

- Yamaico Navarro: Another guy I had never seen before. Last night, his bat looked quick and solid. He definitely looked like he knew what he was doing at the plate, and looked like he might be a strong candidate for a utility role.

On the "minus" side:

- Pedro Alvarez: He looked kind of helpless at the plate. One of his two strikeouts looked particularly bad..... three pitches, no contact, and his facial expression looked totally confused as he walked back to the bench. I'm still hoping that he'll find himself, but just off last night, he looked like toast.

- Gorkys Hernandez: If anything, he looked even more helpless at the plate than Alvarez..... three K's in three plate appearances.

- Tony Sanchez: What struck me most was Tony's throws back to the pitcher. In stark contrast to Fort, I can't tell you how many times the pitcher had to jump or lunge to catch return throws from Sanchez, and at least once, Sanchez threw the ball well over the pitcher's head, such that an infielder had to retrieve the ball. Don't know what was going on with that, but it appeared that Sanchez's head was not in the game, and I believe I detected a bit of disgust on the pitchers' faces on more than one occasion.

Other than those impressions..... Marte looked good at the plate but shaky in the field. In addition to his misplay which allowed the Orioles to score their first run, he had to make additional last-instant adjustments to catch a couple of other fly balls. The Orioles announcers commented that, since there was little wind, they didn't understand what was causing Marte's problems. Perhaps he's not used to playing RF.

 

[BigBlueNation111]

I need baseball...so very much.

lol..i hear ya! I recorded the Reds spring training game last night!

 

[thedddd]

On the "minus" side:

- Pedro Alvarez: He looked kind of helpless at the plate. One of his two strikeouts looked particularly bad..... three pitches, no contact, and his facial expression looked totally confused as he walked back to the bench. I'm still hoping that he'll find himself, but just off last night, he looked like toast.
QUOTE]

I read and heard a report stating the same thing about him during that game. It is early but he is yet to prove otherwise.

Isn't he 0-5 with 3 k's to start spring training? If it doesn't start soon enough it might be McGehee starting at 3B with Navarro backing him up.

 

[pixburgher66]

Nice to see Hague making his mark, but if he does make the big team that probably means Pedro didn't...

 

[thecrow124]

Nice to see Hague making his mark, but if he does make the big team that probably means Pedro didn't...

IMHO that would be acceptable. Not for my glaring dislike of Pedro, but the object of the major league team this year should be to win with the best players. If Matt Hague continues to outperform Pedro then he should be on the major league roster.

If Pedro continues to perform as he has, he may need a trip down to A ball and actually begin to accept some coaching on his swing and his defense, get humbled a little bit and see if he might actually want to put in the work it takes to be a major league baseball player. I do not mean go to the level and destroy the kid pitchers down there, I mean go there and learn to hit and see pitches.

 

[Darkstone42]

 

[Illinest]

Apparently pedro went yard, garret jones went yard, and marte too. Marte has hits in seven straight abs. Maybe we should think about which outfielder should start getting reps at 1b? Also jeff karstens recorded nine outs on 11 pitches?!! Mother of god. The team lost though - with lincoln and locke getting shelled.
I gotta tell you - my opinion of our chances will swing way over to the other side if karstens has another good season.

 

[Darkstone42]

Apparently pedro went yard, garret jones went yard, and marte too. Marte has hits in seven straight abs. Maybe we should think about which outfielder should start getting reps at 1b? Also jeff karstens recorded nine outs on 11 pitches?!! Mother of god. The team lost though - with lincoln and locke getting shelled.
I gotta tell you - my opinion of our chances will swing way over to the other side if karstens has another good season.

9 outs on 11 pitches... Now that's efficiency.


And Pedro going yard is a huge deal for me. I imagine he just needs some success to relax him at the plate.

 

[Burgh Sports Rule]

9 outs on 11 pitches... Now that's efficiency.


And Pedro going yard is a huge deal for me. I imagine he just needs some success to relax him at the plate.

You are right Darkstone. Pedro is the key to everything. Not only this yr, but future yrs, as well. If Pedro can find it, the rebuild of this team just got fast tracked. If he does not, we may be set back again for a few yrs.

PS Darkstone, where did you get your Avitars of the Sesame Street & Muppets Characters? And how would I go about doing something like that?

Those are great & I love them. (Yes, I'm 42yrs old & still love the muppets. LOL!)

Burgh.

 

[thecrow124]

Pedro going oppo is only significant if he hit the pitch where it was thrown. If he was late on a fb on and got lucky it means nothing.

As far as outfielders switching to 1b, I think Cutch is the tallest at about 5'11". Not that it is that important, I am just more used to a taller 1bman.

I have said all along Karstens isn't a fluke. He is not overpowering, but every pitch he throws seems to have 3 planes to it. That just makes him hard to hit as long as he is in the zone. He is soft enough that if he is out of the zone he won't get many chasers.

Now to curb all enthusiasm, it was spring training game 5

 

[Illinest]

Oh i was mistaken anyways. Karstens did not retire nine hitters on eleven pitches. Sorry.

 

[Darkstone42]

You are right Darkstone. Pedro is the key to everything. Not only this yr, but future yrs, as well. If Pedro can find it, the rebuild of this team just got fast tracked. If he does not, we may be set back again for a few yrs.

PS Darkstone, where did you get your Avitars of the Sesame Street & Muppets Characters? And how would I go about doing something like that?

Those are great & I love them. (Yes, I'm 42yrs old & still love the muppets. LOL!)

Burgh.

The Muppets are just genius. I've been watching Muppet Show DVDs lately, and a lot of the sketches are really surprisingly artistic and mature for what was (loosely) designed to be a kids' show.

As for the avatar, in the link which says User CP below the banner at the top of the screen, it gives you access to a lot of information and settings. You can see who has repped you and for what, as well as any comment they left, change your avatar (the tap is called "Avatar" or "Change Avatar" or something like that), your signature, your information, and the phrase which appears below your screenname.

If you go to change avatar, you can either upload a file or enter a link the the image of your choice. I just Google searched my favorite Muppet (Sweetums, as you can see; as a big, goofy dude who looks angry and scary but is actually kind of a nice guy on occasion, I can relate to him), clicked on my favorite image to get to the full-sized version, right clicked on the image, selected "copy image location/URL," and then pasted that link in the change avatar screen.

 

[thedddd]

The Muppets are just genius. I've been watching Muppet Show DVDs lately, and a lot of the sketches are really surprisingly artistic and mature for what was (loosely) designed to be a kids' show.

As for the avatar, in the link which says User CP below the banner at the top of the screen, it gives you access to a lot of information and settings. You can see who has repped you and for what, as well as any comment they left, change your avatar (the tap is called "Avatar" or "Change Avatar" or something like that), your signature, your information, and the phrase which appears below your screenname.

If you go to change avatar, you can either upload a file or enter a link the the image of your choice. I just Google searched my favorite Muppet (Sweetums, as you can see; as a big, goofy dude who looks angry and scary but is actually kind of a nice guy on occasion, I can relate to him), clicked on my favorite image to get to the full-sized version, right clicked on the image, selected "copy image location/URL," and then pasted that link in the change avatar screen.

Funny you mention that about the muppets as a kid watching their show you always wondered why adults laughed at certain points. Now as an adult with kids you get it now, for instance, Statler and Waldorf are my favorites now.

Granted you know when they made these shows they had to be high as a kite and loved to sneak in the dirty stuff, you will get it at 1:54 (and if anyone isn't sure what that means NSFW).
This isn't from the muppets but sesame street is Jim henson productions:

Sorry now back on topic....

 

[Darkstone42]

Funny you mention that about the muppets as a kid watching their show you always wondered why adults laughed at certain points. Now as an adult with kids you get it now, for instance, Statler and Waldorf are my favorites now.

Granted you know when they made these shows they had to be high as a kite and loved to sneak in the dirty stuff, you will get it at 1:54 (and if anyone isn't sure what that means NSFW).
This isn't from the muppets but sesame street is Jim henson productions:

Sorry now back on topic....

Heh.

The Muppet Show was much less subtle about it. They just threw it right in there. No holds barred.

On an unrelated note, this is currently one of my favorite sketches.

[YOUTUBE]Op8y-_jpjd4[/YOUTUBE]

They made a lot of alcohol and smoking references in a lot of their sketches.

 

[thedddd]

Oh yeah they did, heck look at the muppet band a bunch of high hippies.

I agree the muppets didn't hide it as much. Back then basically the same folks doing both shows but since Sesame street is on daytime as a kids show they needed to be more subtle.