I wrote the other day about Tim Alderson going back to an old long toss program, and how his old velocity is back this Spring. Alderson threw an inning today in the Triple-A game, and the results were once again strong.
The first pitch out of Alderson’s hand was a fastball. The gun reading? 93 MPH.
Alderson followed with three straight 91 MPH fastballs, getting a ground out back to the mound.
In the next at-bat he led off with another 93 MPH fastball. He left a curveball up in the zone for a ball, then got a ground out to first on a 92 MPH fastball.
Alderson finished a quick, eight pitch inning with a 92 MPH fastball against the third batter, getting another ground out to first.
“Just had the one inning, so I wanted to make it quick,” Alderson said of his performance. “Got a couple ground balls. Got in, got out, and got some work in.”
After the outing, Alderson went over to check the velocity charts behind the plate.
“That’s where I want to be. That’s what I’ve been working for,” Alderson said of his results. “I just wanted to check to make sure what I’ve been doing was working, and if it wasn’t, if it was a little slower, then maybe we could change some things.”
The right-hander was where he wanted to be. He only threw one inning today, although today’s schedule was off due to Cruz and Reyes coming over from major league camp, along with the addition of guys who were recently reassigned to the minors, like Daniel Cabrera.
Alderson is still being stretched out as a starter, although he’s not a lock for the rotation. He threw two innings his last time out, which was his second outing of the Spring. He got a lot of ground balls that outing, which has been a trend in all of his starts this Spring.
JEFF LOCKE GOES FOUR INNINGS
Jeff Locke went four innings today at Pirate City. The left-hander allowed a run on four hits, with no walks and one strikeout. He threw 49 pitches, with 35 going for strikes. Locke was 89-93 MPH with his fastball, although he mostly sat around 92 MPH.
Locke was scheduled to start the game, but was pushed back to beginning his outing in the second inning when Juan Cruz was sent over to minor league camp to get an inning of work.
OTHER NOTES
**Juan Cruz pitched an inning at the start of the Triple-A game. His fastball was sitting around 92-93 MPH, and he showed some good breaking pitches. He hung a curveball, which was crushed for a double off the wall, although that was his only hard hit ball.
**Jo-Jo Reyes pitched an inning in the Double-A game and gave up a few hard hit balls.
**Jarek Cunningham hit a double in the Double-A game. I didn’t see many other at-bats, but it seems like Cunningham is getting a hit in every game this Spring.
**Aaron Pribanic threw a few innings of the Double-A game. His control was a little wild throughout the start. At one point he hit an opposing batter in the head with a pitch.
**Matt Curry made solid contact on a single against Deck McGuire.
**Brian Tallet pitched an inning in relief, with a strikeout and two ground outs. It was a nice moment on the final ground out of the inning. Tallet’s family was in attendance at Pirate City today, and his little girl started cheering loudly when Jeremy Farrell fielded the ball, then started shouting “Way to go Daddy” when he came off the field.
**Jose Diaz came on for an inning of relief and was consistently hitting 95-96 MPH, touching 97. He does that with zero effort, and throws a nice mid-80s slider.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Duke Welker had a nine pitch battle, and ended it with a strikeout.
