Here's how the Warriors graded out during the scrimmage:
Overall (B)
Once again, the team performed better than I expected for its second scrimmage of the season.
Pitching (B-)
The Warriors used seven different pitchers in this scrimmage: Jason Waner, Lance Cardinal, C.J. Brucki, Ryan Tannebaum, Robbie Maxfield, Dennis Bresingham, and Ryan Novak. Our pitching staff allowed nine walks in six innings--far too many walks. The pitchers struck out only three Celtics' hitters. However, the Warriors' defense was once again up to the task--making several inning ending plays.
Jason Waner
threw 12 pitches to retire the Celtics in the first inning. He has now thrown 22 pitches in two scoreless innings in his first two outings. Lance Cardinal did a great job working his way out of a jam (bases loaded with one out) in the second inning. Ryan Tannebaum retired the side quickly in the fourth inning.Defense (A-)
Once again, the defense played a nearly flawless game. The Warriors made only one fielding error in the contest and that was on a very close play at first base. Several innings ended on excellent defensive plays--starting with C.J. Brucki throwing out a runner attempting to steal third base. Another inning ended when Anthony Lauciello quickly retrieved a wild pitch from the backstop and tagged the advancing runner. Tim Prendergast made the biggest play of the scrimmage in the final inning of play...fielding a hard hit ground ball at first base, tagging the base, and then firing a perfect throw to retire the runner at home plate to complete the double play! Even though this was only a scrimmage, Tim was recognized with a game ball for this play.
Tim Prendergast - Scrimmage MVP (Photo courtesy of Ann Bresingham)
Outfielders also did a much better job backing up throws in this scrimmage. A few outfielders (who generally play the infield) were not always baseball ready at the time of the pitch. And, our defensive grade dropped a little as pitchers are still slow to cover home on wild pitches as well as slow to cover first base on balls hit to the right side of the infield.
Hitting (C)
The good news in this category is that our hitters were generally patient and made the Celtics' pitchers earn their way out of most innings. Hitters laid off the bad pitches--drawing 7 walks and scoring 4 runs on just 2 hits. Robbie Maxfield had the big hit in this game with a line drive into leftfield in the first inning to score two runs. Anthony Lauciello continues to reach base on nearly every plate appearance.
The bad news is that our hitters made very little contact--striking out 12 times in five innings! Of course, the Celtics feature some very strong pitching including two former Warriors--Matthias Dietz and Mike Rafferty. We may have to start bunting more...especially with a runner on third base with one out (just to get the run home).
There are a few things we can do to improve the hitting situation. Hitting opportunities vary by player. We are working on scheduling a hitting clinic geared specifically for the Warriors with an excellent instructor who also played professionally to help address a few of these opportunities.
Baserunning (C+)
Our baserunning showed some improvement this scrimmage. The primary and secondary leads were extended. Sometimes, the primary leads were too aggressive which resulted in one pick off. Two examples of very good baserunning in this scrimmage were: Jack Lebert had some very good secondary leads which would have allowed him to easily score from third base on a ball in the dirt. Sam Marc ran hard through first base even though the first baseman had already recorded the out.
Our baserunners need to do a better job of reading pitchers so that we can get quicker jumps and greater secondary leads. We also need to run out all dropped third strikes.
