ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE
Rising Stars Game - AFL East over AFL West 9-4
RHP Jarred Cosart got the start for the East and quickly learned that one shouldn't walk Reds prospect Billy Hamilton who promptly stole two bases against him. In two innings, Cosart gave up two runs on one hit and two walks with a strikeout. According to Jonathan Mayo, Cosart was hitting 96-99 during his outing. 1B Jon Singleton was 1-for-2 with a walk and George Springer came into the game late, going 0-for-1 with a strikeout.
Jon Singleton continues to impress me with his plate discipline. He had really good at-bats and, in the times I've seen him, he never looks like he's pressing or lost at the plate. I would like to see more of that from George Springer. In the times that I've seen him, including last night, he has a tendency to swing for the fences ... a lot. I'd really like to see him work harder on just getting the ball in play, but that's just my opinion.
The announcers were very complimentary of the Astros trio. They see Cosart as a front of the rotation starter with great stuff and think that Jon Singleton will easily adjust to hitting left-handed pitching better. George Springer's batting practice was also a subject of discussion as Springer hit a ball high up off the batter's eye in dead center that got everyone's attention.
But most of the talk revolved around Hamilton and Washington's Brian Goodwin, the lead-off hitters for the two teams. I couldn't help but think that, in next year's Rising Stars Game, they will no doubt be talking about a speedy lead-off hitter again, but this time it will be Delino DeShields. I will take DeShields any day of the week over Hamilton. Hamilton is very exciting to watch, but so is DeShields. And I think Delino will ultimately prove to be the more well-rounded player.
In any event, I realized that Houston should be well-represented in the Rising Stars Game for years to come, and that's a pretty cool realization.
No game today
VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE
Zulia over Magallanes 6-5
Sergio Perez got the start and the loss for Magallanes. In three and two-thirds innings, he allowed six runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Lara over Caribes 8-7
Jake Goebbert was the DH for the Caribes team and went 1-for-5 and scored two runs.
Caracas over Margarita 6-5
CF Brandon Barnes was 0-5 with a strikeout.
DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE
Toros over Gigantes 3-0
Aneury Rodriguez had a very good start for the Toros and was rewarded with the win. In five scoreless innings, he allowed only three hits and no walks and struck out five. Jimmy Paredes was DH for the Gigantes and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
Aguilas over Escogido 4-3 in 13 innings
SS Jonathan Villar went 0-for-4 with a strikeout for Aguilas.
Singleton is impressive. Both the hit and the walk came against tough lefties. When I saw him play in person I was also surprised by his speed on the the bases. He moves quite well for a big man. He did make an error last night but I think he has the potential to be a plus fielder at 1B.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight Greg. When I talked to Keith Bodie in Corpus back in June, he said that Singleton would be a plus defender at first base and that we wouldn't lose anything defensively with him playing there. I agree!
ReplyDeleteAs a person who has seen Hamilton and DeShields in action. Defensively DeShields is a much better player. With Hamilton the Reds are trying to convert him to an outfielder and the only game that I saw him play he made two pretty big errors. If you walk Hamilton he will definitely make you pay for it....
ReplyDeleteThe only person that I'm worried about in AFL action is Bobby Borchering. He hasn't been doing all that great as Jayne has pointed out. He kind of reminds me of J.C. Thompson with his SO rate.