Skip to main content

BlueClaws Quotables: Morandini Speaks on Quinn, Tocci, Walter

Mickey Morandini, Photo- Jay Floyd
Last week I spoke with Class A Lakewood BlueClaws manager Mickey Morandini and he offered his thoughts on a few of his players, including shortstop prospect Roman Quinn and 17-year-old outfielder Carlos Tocci...


On switch-hitting Roman Quinn's turnaround this season, batting .303 with three HR and 12 RBI since April, when he sported a .202 average with two homers and six RBI-

He's getting more comfortable, especially left-handed.  Seeing more pitches is the big thing for him.  He was a little bit too aggressive early in the counts, at times, swinging at some pitches up.  But, now he's starting to draw some walks.  The on base percentage, I challenged him...he was about .240, at one point, and I challenged him to get to .330, .340 in a month.  He got there in about three weeks.  He's up to about .340, so it's just him getting comfortable left-handed, getting the confidence back.  A lot of it has to do with going up there and believing in yourself and swinging at better pitches. He's got real good bat speed from that left side, it's just a matter of getting some more at bats.


On Kevin Walter's Class A debut last week, in which he allowed one earned run over four innings-

He threw the ball real well.  He was aggressive in the strike zone.  He had two innings where he got into some trouble and he worked his way out of it both time.  He only gave up a run in the third and had the bases loaded in the fourth and got out of it and, obviously, when you win a close game like that (Lakewood beat Delmarva, 5-3), that's a big part of it, so I was happy with the way he threw.


On righty batting prospect Carlos Tocci picking things up offensively as of late, batting .261 since April, when he tallied a .192 average-

He's getting better and better.  Just like Quinny, he's getting more comfortable.  (His) confidence is really high right now.  I like to give him some at bats in that two spot at times and he's done well there.  He's gonna swing the bat and put the ball in play and now he's starting the pull the ball with a little more consistency.  Early in the year, everything was going to right field and now he's starting to pull the ball a lot more and the average is starting to climb.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi