Fifth day of major league full squad workouts and minor league mini-camp. Major leaguers practiced in the morning and minor leaguers in the afternoon.
Minor League Mini-Camp :
Side Bullpens : 11 pitchers
Marty Gair, Kevin Warunek, Erubiel Armenta, Andrew Walling, Nate Karaffa, Casey Steward, Ethan Chenault, Mavis Graves, Micah Ottenbreit, Jake Eddington and Luke Russo.
Live BP : 9 pitchers
Andrew Baker, Braeden Fausnaught, Gabe Mosser, Alex McFarlane, Jonah Dipoto, Enmanuel Mejia, Mitch Nuenborn, Tommy McCollum and Josh Hejka.
I missed the morning major league practices but was there for the minor league live BP’s. Andrew Baker threw the ball well, was in or around the strike zone with good zip and movement, struggled a bit with secondaries but overall a good outing. Enmanuel Mejia has big time heat - reminds me of Anuerys Zabala who was in the Phillies system back in 2021. Alex McFarlane looked compact and fluid from a three quarter slot - ball came out clean with zip and purpose, good first live for him in a bit (coming off a year spent rehabbing). Josh Hejka is a down under side armer (ala Kent Tekulve) - look like he gets great movement on his pitches, he drilled Erick Brito as the first batter he faced as the ball kept running in, against others he showed that same run but hit spots and produced swings and misses, I walked away intrigued by his outing - wanna see more, the arm slot is very unique and with the movement he had today might just be a special talent. I only saw Braeden Fausnaught against the last batter he faced - it was a K - kid battles and has a mix of pitches as a lefty that is very effective, he’s a starter likely destined to return to Reading to begin the year.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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