Yesterday: The A-Team looked good. Jameson Taillon tossed three no-hit innings before being touched for a dinger in the fourth; he went five frames/59 pitches (43 strikes) and that was the lone hit, along with two walks and five whiffs. The Bucs were up 7-0 after three, keyed by a bases-juiced triple by Corey Dickerson and longs ball from J-Bell and Elias Diaz. Gregory later went deep, and so did Ozzie Albies against Josh Smoker; he had the homer off JT, too. It wasn't a great outing for Josh; he gave up another homer and left with two-on and two-out in the seventh. They both scored off Sam Street (Bradenton & the Aussie League) to further inflate Smoker's final line. Tyler Eppler gave up another long tater to make it 8-7 in the eighth, but Pablo Reyes (Altoona) and Ryan Lavarnway both answered the challenge by clearing the fences to make it 12-7. Good thing, too, as Eppler gave up a pair of bombs himself in the ninth to make the final 12-9. The Pirates hit five home runs; the Bravos clobbered six; it was a good afternoon to be a kid hanging outside the fence with a mitt.
Notes:
- The Pirates had 15 hits, drew four walks, got aboard twice via wayward throws and had a bopped batter.
- Jaff Decker went 2-for-2 with a homer against his old mateys.
- RHP Tyler Eppler was re-assigned to minor league camp.
- Sneak preview: hot prospects Mitch Keller and Taylor Hearn will pitch as the Bucs have a split squad set tomorrow.
- The Rangers have released Jon Niese, who was on a minor-league contract.
4 comments:
Aye NOO Jaff wud kom bak too hirt uss! Evin iff he kant spel hiz oan naym, he izz a gud playur. :-D
Actually, I am mildly surprised to see him still hanging around. I think he's realistically a fringe big leaguer - fifth OF type, but hey, it beats working for a living, and he does have a little bit of time in the majors. Maybe he's trying to stick around long enough to get his pension? Honestly, a guy in his shoes would probably be better off going to Japan. If he does well, he can still make a lot of money compared with getting a J-O-B in the US, and occasionally a few of those "gaijin" come back to the US and do well in the big leagues, though most of those are pitchers.
He'll need a sudden breakout to get a pension - tho he's had stops in MLB for the past five years, his service time is negligible. This is Jaff's 28-year-old season; guess he hasn't quit on the dream yet.
Hey, I can't blame the guy, particularly if he has one of those split contracts where he gets big league money (if probably the "minimum") for any major league time he might scrape and claw his way into. Maybe he is also angling for a coaching position? Anyway, we wish him well. There's a certain pathos, I think, to guys like him. Baseball has always had a lot of them.
He's been around for quite a while - Top 50 pick in 2008 out of high school. I think he's single, so no family anchor. I saw he got cut from the Bravo camp today after putting up some ugly spring numbers as he continues on his AAAA journey.
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