Spring Training 2011: Week One Review - Hughes the Man

One week of Spring Training is in the books. The countdown to Opening Day has begun, and there have been no less than 11 Aussie baseballers in action in Major League camps. Of the 13 participating in Major League Spring Training, only Shane Lindsay (CWS) and Drew Naylor (PHI) have yet to appear in official action.

It has been a bit of a mixed bag really. There have been some strong performances, and some slow starts. Some of the Aussies who will be a part of Opening Day rosters have been a bit rusty. And the guys battling for a roster spot have had mixed results.

High points for the week

So far the stand out has been Luke Hughes for the Minnesota Twins.

Luke Hughes of the Minnesota Twins warming up for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League

Hughes has had a hot bat to start the year, with a 1.064 OPS in the ABL, and he has followed this good form into Spring Training. In five games so far, Hughes has gone 5-for-13, with two home runs and five RBIs, as well as a stolen base.

It has been enough to generate a lot of attention from Twins fans, and from management. Hughes' challenge has always been finding a spot in the Minnesota infield that contains seasoned pros like Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer. He has long been recognised as having the bat for the majors, but maybe lacking a little in defense. Things might be starting to line up nicely for him this year though. There is some doubt over Justin Morneau, Hughes has had a great (and long) pre-season, and he is attracting praise from Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire, who told the Miami Herald:


"If he can stay healthy he can be a force. He's got some pretty good tools. He can play third, he can play second, he can probably play first. I think he can go in the outfield too. He's got enough bat that he can play every day. He's got a lot of upside, as far as I am concerned."


So far so good. This week the Twins have a few games against the Cardinals, the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, among others. We'll be keeping a close eye on Hughes, as well as some of the other Twins infielders, to see how things shape up.

Chris Oxspring

Other notable performances this week have come from the Tigers Trio - Brad Thomas, Chris Oxspring and Brendan Wise.

Oxspring has been good, giving up no earned runs, although he did take the loss in one of his appearances.

Brendan Wise has also been strong, only allowing two hits and one earned run in his 3.1 innings of work. And predictably, Brad Thomas has been sound, giving up only one run over 4 innings pitched.

Brad Thomas is a dead cert to start the season on the roster, and so far both Oxspring and Wise won't have done their chances any harm, although it still seems likely that they will start the year in AAA.

Rich Thompson also had a good week - giving up just one hit, and striking out two, in two innings of work for the Angels.

Not quite so high points for the week


Elsewhere it has been a bit of a battle for the Aussies. Some of our pitchers have been roughed up a bit, and a few hitters have been struggling to get bat on ball.

Trent Oeltjen

Trent Oeltjen has been plying his trade for the Dodgers, trying to make a bench spot for the Opening Day roster. He has not had a great deal of game time so far - usually coming in off the bench in the later innings, and he has only managed to scrape together one hit, an RBI single today. His line for the week is 1-for-6 with two strikeouts.

Trent must have been wondering what he was in for late in the week when he came up against Reds firebrand Aroldis Chapman, who has been known to clock 105mph on the radar. The first pitch Trent faced was over the plate but at about head height. "If that had been at my face, I probably wouldn't have had time to move...when you're coming off the bench and that's the first pitch you see, it wakes you up. He is one of the hardest throwers in the game, and he's a left-hander" he said. Trent - perhaps not surprisingly - ended up striking out.

Grant Balfour

While his team mate Luke Hughes has been on fire, Justin Huber has not had it so easy over at the Twins. Much like Oeltjen, Huber has had a lot of time coming in off the bench and has had to scrub together whatever he can. It took a few days to get going, and he has struck out in four of eight at bats, but Huber finished the week with a double.

In the pitching side of things, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Peter Moylan and Grant Balfour all got roughed up in at least one appearance this week.  Balfour was probably the worst of the lot. Against the Reds early in the week he started strong - getting two outs without too much damage. But he then gave up three hits, allowing three runs. While this was not a great start to the week, he bounced back on Friday, throwing one inning with one hit and a strikeout against the Rangers.



What we will be watching next week
There are a few storylines we will be following closely next week:
1. Can Luke Hughes keep up his hot form? And will it be enough to land him a spot on Opening Day?
Astros rotation?
3. Will some of the fringe guys like Oeltjen, Huber, Naughton and Naylor get a chance to showcase their wares?

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