Spring Training Round-up

I've been hitting the MLBTV pretty hard this spring, and here are a few observations from around baseball:

Rich Harden is impressive.

I watched him pitch for the first time ever, and he tickled the upper reaches of the radar gun, regularly popping 97 mph. He's been injury prone but always full of potential (or so I'd heard until the other day, and for a strange and inexplicable analysis of his mechanics, see this Hardball Times article). His slider looked as good as Brad Lidge's used to, and as mentioned his heat is remarkable. He wasn't touched by the Rockies (9K, 2 hits, 1 run). I will say that late into his short start, he got a bit gimpy with his control, rendering his stuff less effective. Other than that, however, he's a regular horse.

The broadcasters (NL Rockie guys) compared Harden to Roy Oswalt, because each are shortish and great pitchers. But Oswalt never had 97 mph gas like Harden does, and he sports a big curveball, not a sharp Lidge-like slider.


Carlos Lee is a hitter.

Homer that I may be, Carlos Lee can swing the stick. He hit his first homer of Spring Training today, a bomb to left field off of admittedly past-his-not-even-that-amazing-prime Joe Mays. That was only after he rapped a solid line drive single up the middle off of Bret Tomko earlier in the game. He's getting the bat head on the ball in very quick time, and showing the bat speed that earns someone a gujillion beans a year. As an Astros fan, I'm psyched to have two superior bats in the lineup. (Same goes for Derrek Lee, by the way).

Biggest Surprise

Jeff Samardzija would appear to be the real deal on the mound. He throws a lot harder than I thought he did, and he had that sort of presence you would expect from a high-level college player. Nothing out of control, nothing particularly undisciplined. His secondary pitches were decent around a sinking fastball, and that will likely be where he spends his energies in the minors. I was astounded to see how good he looked, and I'm not talking about the hair.

Brian McCann's swing was carved out of sweet butter.

When I see McCann hit, I think of those great long, beautiful left-handed swings, like a younger Shawn Green or Roy Hobbs. It's just about the opposite of Derek Jeter's inside out number.
But he gets it around, and I predict continued good hitting.

Final Note

I will say that, while watching a few Cubs games, I had a very strange feeling. Wow, I thought, this is a good lineup. Soriano, Murton, Aramis, Lee, Jones, Floyd. That's an admirable bunch.