Editor’s Note: Don was in attendance for today’s Arizona Fall League Game — Surprise vs. Mesa — and provided us with some scouting notes on the O’s prospects.
Brian Ward: He posted another outstanding game behind the plate. Defensively, he waits until the very last second to set up and makes every pitchers’ job easier when working against hitters. At the plate, he never chased pitches and worked into effective hitters’ counts, producing two solid line drive at-bats. He was a bit unlucky and should have posted a multi-hit game.
Avery did not chase pitchers' pitches and made solid contact with his swings.
Xavier Avery: He was playing left field today and did an impressive job that will bode well for versatility down the line. At the plate, his numbers will look over matched, but he was patient in every at-bat. This patience is something that he needed to work on, so it should be a positive point. He did not chase pitchers’ pitches and made solid contact with his swings. Look past the results and you can see him taking a step forward.
Steve Johnson: His command was slightly erratic in the first inning and he was all over the place. Once settled, he was working the inner half of the plate and was staying on top of the ball. The results were a few swings and misses, along with a couple of ground ball outs. These three innings were the best I have seen from Johnson in the O’s organization. If he can continue these results, he could make a serious run as a long inning man out of the bullpen in the near future.
Casey Lambert: Casey was constantly pitching away from contact and living exclusively on the outer half of the plate. He was able to keep the ball down in the zone, but there may not be much swing and miss stuff in his game. Once hitters got a look on him today, they were sitting on him. It resulted in shaky command and hard contact.
Sean Gleason: Displayed a real heavy fastball that at times had some movement. He pounds the inner half and throws strikes early in the count. He displayed solid command of the fastball, but will need to refine his splitter. If he can get the split finger working, he should profile very well in smaller ballparks, such as Camden Yards, especialy with high ground ball rate potential.
