Mike Kaffee
Hurricanes Baseball Reporter
[email protected]
FRIDAY THE 13TH. In what was scheduled for a 4 PM start, the coaching staff took it upon themselves to upped the time to 3PM without telling the scouts nor yours truly of the change. It was their concern for threatening weather which needless to say never materialized. That being said I arrived at the top of 3rd inning with two outs. Apparently, from what I could piece together as to the first 2 1/2 innings the bats were relatively silent with the exception of a solo HR from Jake Kulikowski. The only other tidbit I managed to gather was the defense was sloppy in the initial inning. As to who did what and how play progressed until my arrival will have to wait for another time. Ben Chestnutt and Chris Scinta, whom the scouts came to see will also have to wait for another day. They were able to relate the HR by Jake was off of Chestnutt. I saw the final out by Chestnutt 4-3 with a man on first ending the top of 3rd. I will pick it up from there. In quick summation, the only thing popping today were the bats. After three days of scrimmaging, there has been no shining light to appear on the mound. We still have tomorrow and I am hoping they are saving the best for last.
For the half-inning, I got to see the back half of the Chestnutt/Scinta duo Chris didn’t exactly stir my fires. Chris opened the inning giving up a lead-off single to Jacoby Long who quickly stole second without anyone covering the bag. Long’s speed didn’t even warrant an attempt to throw him out. The steal by Long set up a scoring opportunity with no one out. This was a problem we had last year in failure to move the baserunners and unable to do so with runners in scoring position. Today, a different story. Dorian Gonzalez advanced Jacoby to 3rd on a 3-1 groundout, followed by Jack Scanlon driving a single through the right side to bring Long home. Jack Kulikowski who had homered prior to my arrival continued with his hot bat this preseason with a hard-hit ball through the middle only to have it grabbed by Antonio Jimenez,SS, and tossing out Scanlon at second. The play by Antonio made up for being caught flat-footed earlier on Long’s steal into second. Only saw one inning of Scinta but not leaving a fuzzy feeling.
For Scinta and Chestnutt their day was done which brought in Julian Hernandez, a sophomore transfer from Miami Dade, and Slaide Naturman, a junior transfer from Gulf Coast State (Panama City). Julian, first up, did not get a very nice welcome To Cane baseball. His first faceoff was against Daniel Cuvet, and Daniel paid him no respect with the ball leaving the yard with interest written all over it. If this wasn’t enough after walking Chris Perez, Luca Reyes after sending one airborne yesterday, did likewise today going into the second deck of the parking garage. Things got a bit easier in the 5th for Julian not allowing a run only to have Edgardo Villegas totally ruin his inaugural visit to the mound with giving up his third homer of the day in the 6th. Friday the 13th will be a day he will want to get out of his mind quickly or he will be getting a one-way ticket back to Panama City to enjoy the beaches up there and think of this memorable Friday the 13th.
Unlike Julian, Slaide had an easier go of it cruising through his first two innings. Just when he thought all was well escaping the 13th unscathed, the 6th almost ruined his day. No hits, but three walks loaded the bases with two outs, and Dorian Gonzalez with thoughts of clearing the bases and ending on a high note for the bats. No waiting for Dorian, taking the first pitch drilling it to right only to have his hope crushed and closing the scrimmage for Day 3.
At this point of the preseason, where pitching should be ahead of the hitting, the bats continue to sizzle. Yesterday 4 HRs and today 4 more(Cuvet Kulikowski,Reyes,Villegas) totally 7 hits that I know of. I can not account for any other hits for the prior 2 1/2 innings I missed with the exception of Kulikowski’s HR. Great to see our bats scorching but not so with what our pitching staff has so far provided. This year, like years past, we are definitely overloaded with hitting power. JD, like Gino last year will have difficulty coming up with a starting lineup. The OF is rich with hitters as well as our infield. The only position on a definite lock right now is catcher going to Carlos Perez. After his horrific performance last postseason, I only hope that it is totally out of his system.
Still have one more day to make things a bit clearer and our newbies continue making an impact. Already seen Jimenez, Cuvet, Reyes, Kulikowski make their presence known but I have yet to see any pitchers with possibly the exception of Nick Robert and possibly Jordan Vargas. If JT Caruso can keep his hat on and concentrate on his pitching instead, he offers potential.
The preseason is just getting started and come Scout Day, we might have a better idea of who’s in and who’s waiting to come in. Barring any last-minute changes where JD tries to outsmart the weather, first pitch is scheduled for 145PM. Rain forecast is for 30-40% so there is no telling what JD is prepared to do. Standby to Standby
