This week, I spoke with Class A Lakewood BlueClaws manager Mickey Morandini who shared some thoughts on his team's roster and more.
Thoughts on the BlueClaws lineup and where he sees his players fitting in...
"With Tyler Greene, he's going to be our utility infielder. So, he'll spell (Mitch) Walding on occasion, he'll spell (Angelo) Mora on occasion, he'll spell "Quinny", when he needs a break. (Willie) Carmona will primarily be our DH, but he'll spell (Art) Charles at first, he will also play some third. In the outfield, it's just gonna be a who's hot type of thing. You know, (Carlos) Tocci's gonna play every day. (Brian) Pointer's probably going to play almost every day. And then with (Yan) Olmo and Zach Taylor, we'll just kind of go with the hot hand, maybe righty-lefty (match up), something like that. (Chace) Numata's gonna catch more games than (Chad) Carman, but they're both going to get a lot of playing time, so that's kind of what we're seeing right now."
On third baseman Mitch Walding's solid output in the early going this year...
"Yeah, I've been impressed with Mitch's all around game. He's played a tremendous third base...made some real tough plays over there. And his ability to hit with two strikes in the first three days, I think three or four of his RBI hits have come with two strikes. That's good to see from Mitch, a young kid that you don't know how they're going to react to the league and hitting with two strikes and things like that. And Mitch has been very impressive, so if he can continue to swing at good pitches and put the ball in play and play the good third base, then he's going to have a real good year for us."
On 2011 top Phillies draft pick Larry Greene Jr.'s exclusion from the Lakewood roster to begin the season and being assigned to the extended spring training roster...
"It was an in-shape issue. He came into (spring training) a little overweight and they just wanted to make sure that he was in shape, at a good weight to come here and play. I don't think there's a time table to get him here. I guess when he's in shape and ready to go, they'll decide what to do then. But they just wanted to keep him down there, get his weight down a little bit, get him down to game playing shape and then I think they'll decide what to do when that point happens."
On if there where any other players who missed the cut that could see time with Lakewood this season...
"I mean, I think (Dylan) Cozens has a chance, at some point, to come here. Maybe (Andrew) Pullin. Those guys had very good springs. But they just needed to stay down there and are both obviously young and Pullin with the position change needs to play more second base down there and Cozens just needs to play. He was, I think, a two or three sport star in high school and didn't play a lot of baseball other than when they were in season. But those guys are just going to stay down there and continue to play and if they play well, and have a good summer down there and start out at Williamsport and play well, they'll probably be here at some point, if things go well."
On how the BlueClaws' bullpen maps out and how some of the relievers are currently slotted...
"(Andrew) Aizenstadt, (Felix) Santos and (Nick) Hanson are going to be our long guys, middle guys that we can stretch them out a little bit. (Zach) Cooper, (Steven) Inch and (Delvi) Francisco are going to be our late inning guys. You know, Inch and Francisco are to be more our 8th, 9th inning type pitchers. And then (Jeb) Stefan, he can go long, he can go short, he can kind of be that in between guy. For now, Inch and Francisco are probably going to be our closers, maybe with some opportunities for Cooper too."
Thoughts on the BlueClaws lineup and where he sees his players fitting in...
"With Tyler Greene, he's going to be our utility infielder. So, he'll spell (Mitch) Walding on occasion, he'll spell (Angelo) Mora on occasion, he'll spell "Quinny", when he needs a break. (Willie) Carmona will primarily be our DH, but he'll spell (Art) Charles at first, he will also play some third. In the outfield, it's just gonna be a who's hot type of thing. You know, (Carlos) Tocci's gonna play every day. (Brian) Pointer's probably going to play almost every day. And then with (Yan) Olmo and Zach Taylor, we'll just kind of go with the hot hand, maybe righty-lefty (match up), something like that. (Chace) Numata's gonna catch more games than (Chad) Carman, but they're both going to get a lot of playing time, so that's kind of what we're seeing right now."
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| 2011 5th round draft pick Mitch Walding |
"Yeah, I've been impressed with Mitch's all around game. He's played a tremendous third base...made some real tough plays over there. And his ability to hit with two strikes in the first three days, I think three or four of his RBI hits have come with two strikes. That's good to see from Mitch, a young kid that you don't know how they're going to react to the league and hitting with two strikes and things like that. And Mitch has been very impressive, so if he can continue to swing at good pitches and put the ball in play and play the good third base, then he's going to have a real good year for us."
On 2011 top Phillies draft pick Larry Greene Jr.'s exclusion from the Lakewood roster to begin the season and being assigned to the extended spring training roster...
"It was an in-shape issue. He came into (spring training) a little overweight and they just wanted to make sure that he was in shape, at a good weight to come here and play. I don't think there's a time table to get him here. I guess when he's in shape and ready to go, they'll decide what to do then. But they just wanted to keep him down there, get his weight down a little bit, get him down to game playing shape and then I think they'll decide what to do when that point happens."
On if there where any other players who missed the cut that could see time with Lakewood this season...
"I mean, I think (Dylan) Cozens has a chance, at some point, to come here. Maybe (Andrew) Pullin. Those guys had very good springs. But they just needed to stay down there and are both obviously young and Pullin with the position change needs to play more second base down there and Cozens just needs to play. He was, I think, a two or three sport star in high school and didn't play a lot of baseball other than when they were in season. But those guys are just going to stay down there and continue to play and if they play well, and have a good summer down there and start out at Williamsport and play well, they'll probably be here at some point, if things go well."
On how the BlueClaws' bullpen maps out and how some of the relievers are currently slotted...
"(Andrew) Aizenstadt, (Felix) Santos and (Nick) Hanson are going to be our long guys, middle guys that we can stretch them out a little bit. (Zach) Cooper, (Steven) Inch and (Delvi) Francisco are going to be our late inning guys. You know, Inch and Francisco are to be more our 8th, 9th inning type pitchers. And then (Jeb) Stefan, he can go long, he can go short, he can kind of be that in between guy. For now, Inch and Francisco are probably going to be our closers, maybe with some opportunities for Cooper too."
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