Spring Breakout Recap: Astros and Cardinals

Zac Beck was on site in Jupiter for the spring breakout game between the Astros and Cardinals and shares some brief thoughts

Cover Photo with image by Norm Hall via Getty Images

Beck was on site for the Tigers and Phillies spring breakout game today. He shares a few brief thoughts on who stood out to him and who you should be paying attention to moving forward.

Astros and Cardinals Spring Breakout Thoughts From Beck

I liked Jake Bloss.

The command wasn’t totally there today. The results weren’t really there either. I walked away with a better sense of his frame and stuff and could see how it all came together with some refinement. He was sitting 95 mph on his fastball, up to 96, and the visual grade aligned with the data-driven grade. It was flat (superlative) and played well at the top of the zone. It was complemented well by a nice slider despite the lack of results.

Victor Scott II probably ought to make that ball club.

Scott is one of the most exciting players in all of baseball, minor leagues or otherwise, and probably shouldn’t spend much more time below the big league level. He’s a better centerfield defender than Dylan Carlson and would fit wonderfully at the top of the order ahead of Goldschmidt and Arenado. The bat may be better immediately, too, despite most projection systems forecasting Carlson as league average and Scott as below-average in terms of wRC+. I would not bet on Carlson holding that spot full-time for very long.

Quinn Mathews looked like a different guy.

Mathews was the Cardinals’ fourth round selection last summer out of Stanford, and if you’re familiar with his name it’s likely from his 156-pitch complete game versus Texas. He was a pretty polished arm at draft time known for throwing strikes with a broad arsenal.

He was humming it in there today. His fastball averaged closer to 95 mph on the day after previously averaging 92 mph and topping out at 94. That’s a very notable change in velocity, especially for a lefty with a chance to hang in the rotation. He threw at least five unique pitch variations today. 

The automated ball-strike system is still electric.

This time, it was Thomas Saggese leveraging the ABS challenge system on a breaking ball that was called a third strike. He called for it immediately and confidently and was right — the pitch was at least a full baseball outside the zone. It was very quick, and the fans enjoyed it as much as the Santana challenge the day prior. I’m a fan.