Louisville Bats
When I first saw Neftali Soto, I thought, “This is the guy limited to first base?” He looks to be in excellent shape, but I haven’t seen him in the field at any position other than first, at which he looked fine showing good hands on a couple scoops and flashing range on a ball in the hole. At the plate, he’s known for being a dead-red hitter with excellent power, but apparently, Indians pitcher Jeff Locke didn’t get the message as Soto drilled a first pitch fastball over the right field fence. He dropped his shoulder in the next at-bat, leading to a pop-up, as he looked to try to hit another homer. Though I’ve heard he’s not patient, he worked a walk and a deep count in his next at-bats, but his high leg kick does inhibit his ability to hit off-speed stuff as he hasn’t learned how to wait back. He needs another year in the minors, but I could see him as a big leaguer, especially if he could move to 3B or corner OF.
Yasmani Grandal was also up. There were no challenges defensively for him behind the plate, so while I didn’t see anything to complain about, I didn’t see anything to rave about, either. Offensively, he looked really good going 2-for-2 with a couple hard hit balls and 2 walks, including one the opposite way. Grandal looked really good all the way around, and he’ll be excellent insurance/trade bait for the Reds.
Denis Phipps is one of the more interesting prospects around (and will be the subject of his own piece in the next month). After doing nothing in his first 5 seasons, he’s hit .346/.397/.527 in AA and AAA this season. He’s never been too walk friendly, and he’s not patient. But I’ve seen him in 5 or 6 games, and he always makes hard contact. If he could play center, I’d say he could start in the majors, though as more of a second-division starter, but even though he’s somewhat fast, he’s not really fast enough to start in center. Phipps is probably a nice 4th OF option, but if he keeps improving, he may be a late bloomer at 26 years old.
Brad Boxberger was the only Bats pitcher of note in the game. Coming in as the closer, he hit 91, 93, 95, 99, 93, 95, 97, and 93 before settling in around 93-95. That’s quite a range in velocity, but he stayed in the 93-95 range for most of his appearance. The fastball, however, appeared to be straight because the players frequently fouled it off even though it was coming in pretty hard. Boxberger also showed an off-speed pitch at 80-82, but it wasn’t very good. Though he walked 2 people, it was because A) his fastball is straight and his secondary stuff wasn’t good, leading to foul balls and long at-bats, and B) the umpire had a small strike zone. Otherwise, Boxberger stayed around the plate. He’s a middle reliever, but unless his secondary pitches get hitters off that fastball, he won’t be particularly helpful.
Indianapolis Indians
Jeff Locke probably hates genetics. He’s listed as 6’1”, but there’s no way he’s 6 feet tall. With a delivery that’s fluid and arm action that’s almost silly easy, he throws a fastball in the 88-92 range, but if he was as listed or taller, I shudder to think of the velocity he could generate. But he is what he is, and while the fastball has a little sink, it’s an average pitch at best that’ll get drilled when it’s above the knees. Locke, however, does have quality secondary offerings in a change and curve that have good movement, but the curve should be easy to spot when it comes out of his hand. His control is average, and it would really help if it was above-average or plus. He could be a 4/5, but on a good team, he’s a middle reliever whose change might keep him from being a LOOGY yet not dominant enough to be a set-up man.
