Tagged: Athletics

AFL 10.14.15 Glendale at Mesa

My MLB.com game recap

Notable Performances:

— Athletics prospect Sean Manaea got the start for Mesa. The left-hander, ranked as the No. 3 prospect in Oakland’s organization, was a big piece in the trade that sent Ben Zobrist to the Royals at this year’s Trade Deadline.

Manaea missed the first half of 2014 with injuries, but over the second half of the year he showed why expectations are so high. In 14 starts, Manaea posted a 2.66 ERA and struck out 51 batters in 42 2/3 innings.

On Wednesday, the left-hander got off to a bit of a shaky start — allowed one run on two hits in the first — but set down 10 in a row to finish his outing. Manaea finished four innings and allowed one run on two hits.

Best Play(s):

— Angels prospect Eric Aguilera made a diving stop at first base to take away a hit in the first inning. He also had two hits and two RBIs.

— Pirates No. 2 prospect Austin Meadows made an impressive throw from right field to home plate. The throw was right on line and one-hopped the plate. On the 20-80 scouting scale, one scout gave it a 55, another a 60. However, later in the game he had a similar opportunity and the throw wasn’t nearly as impressive.

The arm strength is there, the consistency needs some work.

 Worth Mentioning:

— Angels catching prospect Stephen McGee hit just two home runs in 68 games this season, but he tapped into that power in the second inning with a home run to left. The prospect later doubled and caught a runner stealing with a real quick pop and perfect throw to second.

— Cubs No. 19 prospect Jeimer Candelario two well hit singles to right in first two at-bats. Then showed a little bit of pop with a ground rule double to right-center in his third trip to the plate.

AFL Opening Day: Mesa Solar Sox at Glendale Desert Dogs 10/13/15

The 2015 Arizona Fall League is officially underway and in addition to the articles I will be writing for mlb.com and mlbpipeline.com, I’m going to be adding some additional tidbits to the blog. These will be trends/players/plays that stood out, but that didn’t make it into any articles for one reason or another. This will also be a spot where I answer questions sent to me that I don’t get to on Twitter.

Notable Performances:

– Chad Pinder, Athletics No. 7 prospect, hit a pair of homers and finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Oakland’s organizational hitting prospect of the year and the Texas League Player of the year hit 15 homers this season and neither of his homers were cheapies. Wednesday was a strong start to the Arizona Fall League for Pinder as he hit the ball hard all afternoon.

– Dodgers No. 24 prospect Kyle Farmer didn’t show a lot of power during the year, so it was a bit surprising to see him pop one over the 380’ sign in left-center. Farmer also had a walk-off single. You can read more about him here.

Best Play:

– Renato Nunez, the sixth ranked prospect in the A’s organization, is still developing as a defender, but showed some flash in the second inning. Nunez, playing third, dove to his left and made a great stop on a hard-hit ground ball, but then rushed and made an errant throw across the diamond.

Nunez redeemed himself a bit in the fifth as he had to back up to field a big hop behind the bag and made the long throw with ease.

Worth Mentioning:

– Phillies 16th ranked prospect Andrew Knapp was named Philadelphia’s organizational hitting prospect of the year and showed why with a booming double off the left-center field wall.

– Brian Holmes, selected in the 13th round of the 2012 Draft by the Astros, isn’t on the club’s top-prospect list, but flashed some potential in his two innings of work. The left-hander struck out 115 batters in 101.1 innings this year so he has strikeout stuff, but struggled a bit with command in his two scoreless innings Tuesday.

– Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford went 1-for-4 and wasn’t all that impressive at the plate, but made a few athletics plays defensively. Pretty easy to see what all the hype is about.

– Corey Black, the No. 18 prospect in the Cubs organization had 101 strikeouts in 86 innings of AA this season so it’s obvious he has the stuff necessary to put hitters away. Black threw one inning Wednesday and struck out a pair.

More than just a hat

* Name has been changed for privacy purposes

Spring training has barely started, but George Martin – a lifelong baseball fan – has already had one of his most memorable days as a baseball fan. And it centered around a baseball hat.

Martin, a Bay Area resident, has been an A’s fan for a number of years, but it’s unclear how many years he will be able to cheer on the green and gold.

Martin turned 78 this past week, but rather than celebrating with cake, ice cream and a big party, he spent his birthday in a hospital bed battling multiple forms of cancer.

Knowing his health was declining and facing the reality that this may be Martin’s last birthday, members of his family reached out to the A’s organization days before Martin’s birthday in an attempt to make the day special.

Sending an email to a generic team feedback account can go any number of ways and sometimes it feels like no one ever reads those or responds, but the A’s responded in a big way.

The team didn’t do anything extravagant, but they did take the time to put together a care package with a birthday card an A’s hat, baseball cards, a schedule and various other items.

Upon opening the package Martin’s face lit up, his spirits were lifted and he immediately put on the A’s hat – which he hasn’t taken off since.

Baseball – and sports – is often boiled down to wins and losses, but sometimes the best stories come from off the field.

Martin is just an average fan and the email sent from his family member was likely just one of hundreds or thousands that the A’s receive. The team didn’t have to respond, but they did.

And odds are, if the A’s responded to Martin’s story, they’ve likely responded to plenty of others.

Kudos to the Oakland organization.