Spring Training 2011: Week Three Review - Luke(ing) good

Week Three of Spring Training action wraps up today, and as far as the Aussies go, it was a week of cuts. Aside from this, there were some other positive performances particularly from Rich Thompson, Peter Moylan and Ryan Rowland-Smith, and Luke Hughes and Brad Thomas continued to have strong preparations. With less than two weeks to go until Opening Day, there are now eight Aussies in Major League camps, and it looks like we will end up having five - or possibly six - filling 25-man roster spots on Opening Day.

Through week two of spring training, it was really the Aussie pitchers who stood out in their performances. This week they have been good - not great - whereas the hitters were all strong. 

Highlights of Week Three


If any US-based Aussie players had any doubts about the value of spending the offseason in the ABL, they need only look to the experience of Luke Hughes to be convinced it is incredibly useful. After winning the ABL with the Perth Heat, Hughes hit the ground running at Spring Training, and he hasn't looked back. This week he went 5-for-14 (.357) with a double, two homeruns and four RBIs. Over the entire spring, he is now 15-for-44 (.341) with three doubles, five homeruns and 14 RBIs. He now leads the Twins in at-bats, runs, homeruns and RBIs. He does though also lead them in strikouts - with 13.


Hughes is essentially fighting for a spot as the Twins utility bench player. At the start of spring he was up against three  guys - Matt Tolbert, Trevor Plouffe, and Chase Lambin. Today the Twins sent Plouffe to minor league camp, leaving Tolbert and Lambin to fight it out with Hughes. So far this spring, Tolbert has hit for contact - with an average of .281 but just one extra base hit (a homerun) and two RBIs. Lambin has a slightly better average than Tolbert, with .313, but also has little power. The main difference between both Tolbert/Lambin and Hughes, is that they are recognised shortstops. 

Luke Hughes

Ron Gardenhire has been heaping praise on Hughes over spring, and has indicated that he may well make his decision based on offense rather than defense. If this is the case, Hughes will be the clear winner. At this point, given the consistency and strength of his performances, it would be surprising if Hughes did not make the Opening Day squad. 

Ryan Rowland-Smith

Ryan Rowland-Smith finally managed to put up some solid numbers in Week Three. He pitched three innings this week in a start against the Detroit Tigers. He allowed three hits and one run - which was a first inning homerun to Magglio Ordonez. He seemed to settle in nicely, and picked up two strikes, while issuing two walks. This was a positive outing following on from his early games, in which he gave out too many walks. 


Rowland-Smith is battling [at least] four guys to earn the fifth spot in the Astros' rotation - Nelson Figueroa, Jordan Lyles, Lance Pendleton and Aneury Rodriguez.  

• Figueroa is 2-0 record from three starts and has an ERA of 5.00. He has four strikeouts and four walks. 
• Lyles is 1-2, with an ERA of 1.80, but he has only started one game. He has struck out five and walked two. 
• Pendleton has also spent most of the time coming in from the pen, but has one start, and a record of 1-0. His ERA is 6.43 with three strikeouts and seven walks. 
• Rodriguez has two starts, and no decisions, an ERA of 4.00, three strikouts and four walks.

Without having seen these guys in action, it is hard to say where things are heading for Rowland-Smith, but it is clear that he is certainly in contention. The one thing he has that none of the others have is that he is a lefty. 

Astros' Manager Brad Mills is giving him as good a chance as anyone to show his stuff, and the other guys he is up against are not setting the world on fire. He would be due for another start over the next day or two - perhaps against the Braves, the Pirates or the Tigers - and he will be looking to go deeper in the game and lock in another solid performance.

Trent Oeltjen

ESPN has rated him a 10% chance of making the Dodgers Opening Day roster, but Trent Oeltjen isn't letting that get in the way of putting up solid numbers. Trent played in 5 games for the Dodgers this week and went 4-for-7 (.571), with one double and three runs. 

Rich Thompson also had a good Week Three. He pitched two innings in the Angels' win over the Padres. He allowed his first run of the spring - however it came off just one hit to the lead off man, who swiped a base and then scored on subsequent groundouts. With an injury to fellow reliever Scott Downs this week, Thompson's chances of scoring a spot on Opening Day have increased. He looked calm, strong and determined in the game against the Padres, and looks ready for a full season in the Bigs.

As he did last week, Peter Moylan put up some strong numbers for the Braves. In two innings of work, he gave up no hits or walks, and struck out one. There's really not much more you can say about Moylan at the moment, he is going about his business as consistently as the day is long. 


Not-so-highlights

A few Aussies were cut from Major League squads this week. Justin Huber went from the Twins to Rochester, while Brendan Wise and Chris Oxspring were sent from the Tigers to the Toledo Mud Hens. 


Some of the gloss started to rub off Shane Lindsay this week. He made just one appearance for the White Sox, and gave up three hits and three runs (one unearned) in one inning of work. Lindsay is among a bunch of players competing for a final bullpen spot. At this stage his chances of making the cut don't seem as strong as some of the others. 


Grant Balfour has continued his ordinary spring. This week he pitched two innings, for two hits and two runs, taking his ERA to 12.00 on the campaign so far. Spring has not been kind to Balfour over the past couple of years. In 2009 he went 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA, and in 2010 he went 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA. Maybe the lack of intensity of spring training games is something that makes it difficult for Balf to fire up. Regardless, he will start the season as a senior member of the A's bullpen.

Some new faces in Spring Training

A couple of young Aussie prospects had a chance to hit out with the big league squads over the past week or so through some split squad games. Both James Beresford and Tim Kennelly have seen some time for the Twins and Phillies respectively. Beresford went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in one appearance for the Twins, while Tim Kennelly smacked an RBI double [which was very nearly a homerun] against the Rays. 

Tim Kennelly

Stats for Week Three


In a new feature this week, OzMLBplayers is entering the realm of statistical data provision. We have pulled together the stats for each of the Aussies involved in Spring Training this week into the following tables. Click them to see in full size.


Hitting

Pitching

Next week's ones to watch
We will be paying close attention to Ryan Rowland-Smith's next appearance (or two), and hoping he can continue to rebound. We'll also be crossing our fingers that Trent Oeltjen and Shane Lindsay can somehow find a way onto Opening Day rosters. And of course, we will be keeping check on the performances of guys who seem to have locked in their spot, including Rich Thompson, Pete Moylan, Grant Balfour and Luke Hughes.


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