The New York Mets lost 2-1 on Friday afternoon to the Washington Nationals in their first of two games on the day.
Juan Lagares made his spring debut but he wasn’t the one grabbing all the headlines. That was Tim Tebow.
Tebow looked foolish in his first at-bat of the game against Max Scherzer, striking out on three pitches. In his second at-bat though he lined a single on the first pitch he saw from Nats’ top pitching prospect Erick Fedde. His next time up Tebow would reach on an error.
Tim Tebow does the baseball thing pic.twitter.com/Nmcg9dPE2u
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) March 2, 2018
Left-handed reliever Matt Purke made his Mets debut with a scoreless sixth inning that included two ground ball outs. He faced all right-handers and sat 87-91 MPH with his fastball.
Right-hander Jacob Rhame continued his impressive spring with a scoreless frame. He was sitting mostly 95 MPH and hit 97 MPH twice with his fastball.
Marcos Molina pitched two innings, he allowed a run on two hits (solo homer by Victor Robles) and didn’t strikeout or walk anyone. He was topping out around 92 MPH but was getting good movement on his pitches.
Right-handed pitching prospect Drew Smith threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
There wasn’t much of anything going offensively from the Mets until Gavin Cecchini slugged a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the Mets to make it a 2-1 game. Cecchini is now 4 for 7 with a double, two home runs and five RBI this spring.
All the velocity notes came from our own Jacob Resnick who was at the game. He will have more for you later!
What are we to make now of Cecchini? He wouldn’t be the first nor the last former high ranked prospect to struggle, succeed, struggle and then later redefine himself.
I’ve been high on him for awhile so it’s exciting to see him succeed. Obviously his success will be dependent on a lot more than just a few nice games in February and early March. All we can do is watch and hope he keeps it up consistently throughout the season.
Going to be a very nice infield in Las Vegas. Dom, Cecchini, Luis G. and Thompson with Philip Evans as back up to all 4. Nido/Lobaton catching.
Outfield with Kelly, den Dekker and Borenstein looks a lot less.
Evans may still be underrated. I think he could turn out to be a very solid big league player. Thompson I’m less high on, but we shall see. Watching a (very little bit of) Cecchini and Guillorme this spring has been a revelation, though I’ve always been high on Luis. I wonder how long a leash Cabrera (and Reyes) will get this year if they don’t come out of the gate well.
This is going to sound harsh and negative, and I don’t mean it to. I’m simply speaking to the facts. We are to make nothing of Cecchini just yet. The first two weeks of spring mean less than nothing. Moreover, he’s gotten just about all of his hits in the later innings against lesser pitchers, which also means nothing. At least one of his HRs was a ball that was left hanging out over the middle of the plate.
One lesson I’ve learned over the past five springs is the importance of Week Three. Lots of guys start out well the first two weeks of spring games. In Week Three, you see some of them suddenly drop off. Its not just them cooling off. Its a matter of the pitching getting better. All of a sudden they can’t catch up to a fastball and get fooled badly on the breaking balls. The single-A and many AA pitchers have been sent down, while the starters are both ramping up their games, and going 4 innings (or longer). THATS a much more real barometer than the first week or two. No need to get into it now. Just watch and see.
You’ve got the last part right. He has to do something in more meaningful games and environment to overcome the sever lack of readiness or talent he demonstrated last year. I’m still smh over what anybody sees in him at this juncture. Please tell me what talent he has actually demonstrated that says he is a major leaguer.
Evans is definitely underrated. Especially around here. As for Cecchini and Guillorme, there are no revelations this early in spring. They’re not getting their hits off of major league pitchers throwing their best stuff. That said, whatever positives they’ve shown, you can’t possibly be serious about a “leash” on any major leaguers because of these two guys. They’re just not that close yet.
The problem with that IF is that its too crowded. Someone who warrants playing time is going to be given less than he should.
I don’t think Kelly gets a full time starting job in the OF. I think he gets used as a utility guy. And Borenstein has looked every bit the career minor leaguer that his resume says he is. He might do a nice job in Vegas, but the value of that is minimal when there’s virtually no chance of him contributing to the big club at any time. If a double-A outfielder surprises and earns a promotion (and there are a few wild cards there who could), developing them is more important to the org than Borenstein, and Zach will have to give up some laying time for them.