I was over at extended Spring Training this afternoon, where the Pirates were playing a game against the Phillies. Here are some observations from camp.
**Zack Dodson got the start in the Jamestown game, going 3.1 innings and giving up three runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Dodson was 85-92 MPH with his fastball, and his curveball was looking good, ranging from 66-72 MPH. He ran into trouble in the fourth inning, leading to most of his runs. Dodson is in extended Spring Training while he serves out his regular season suspension, which ends at the end of the month.
**Hayden Hurst went three innings, allowing two runs on four hits, with a walk and two strikeouts. The runs came off a home run. Hurst was 89-93 MPH with his fastball.
**Edwin Espinal made a nice heads up play on a throw from Harold Ramirez. Ramirez threw to the plate on an RBI single, and the runner started advancing to second. Espinal ran over, leapt up to catch the ball, and threw quickly to second to get the runner easily. The play would have been close at the plate, and probably wouldn’t have prevented the run, but the play wasn’t close at all at second.
**Luis Urena dropped a double down the right field line in one of the two at-bats I saw from him.
**Miguel Rosario was 91-92 MPH, touching 93.
**Ulises Montilla had a nice double to the left field gap, and also made a nice turn at second base on a double play.
**The most impressive all around player today was Harold Ramirez. He was making great plays all over the field. He showed off some good skills in center field, and was very smart on the bases. Ramirez doubled twice, and showed some good hustle. He stretched a single into a double by running all out on one of his hits. He also made some smart base running to advance to third and score on a shallow sacrifice fly after his first double. He was hitting the ball well, but most importantly he was making smart decisions all over the field.
