Okay, a quick note once again that these are only semi-serious, and that I'm definitely taking players' bodies of work into account when making the calls here on who is rising and falling along the roster bubble. I should say that every Spring I see a lot of posts on the internet talking about the meaninglessness of Spring statistics, which is true. There aren't enough numbers to justify making calls based on numbers, and there isn't enough of a control to filter out varying levels of competition. That said, sometimes said posts will then make the unfortunate jump to either imply or directly state that the Spring games themselves are meaningless when it comes to talent evaluation. Other times, crusty sportswriters from mainstream media outlets come up with some seriously misguided impressions about said baseball bloggers and leave their readers with the same impression that Spring games are meaningless when it comes to evaluation. In either case, don't fall into the trap. Take the numbers with a big grain of salt, but it's okay to look more closely at the performances to see what's going on.
Alright, so let's move on to yesterday:
MOVING UP:
Fogg and Kim, Kim and Fogg: Thanks to RedHawk for the tip to Litton's cartoon. Anyway, both their outings were impressive, but (and you knew this was coming) even Royals fans noticed their lineup yesterday wasn't exactly going to work in reality. It was a nice step, but let's see the pitchers do it consistently and against stiffer competition before changing our opinion of the pending disaster they may bring.
MIXED BAG:
Danny Graves?: Well, he got that all important Spring Training "W", didn't he? :) Actually, giving up that blast to Billy Butler can't be construed positive, but of those in actual competition for bench roles with the team, none fell into this category. Jamey Carroll's spot is assured, and though he went zero for two, two of his three PA's improved our scoring chances, one actually scoring a run from third. It would still be nice to see a number next to his batting average that is a less reachable lifespan.
MOVING DOWN:
Yorvit: The not so long Spring is now making his bat as well as his defense more suspect. Not all the SB's charged to him in the box yesterday are legit (that one of home is all Joe Koshansky) but neither is the CS (that's all Fogg). If he can't prevent any more runners than Javy from advancing, than we should go with the more promising bat.
Others of Note: Colorado Springs is going to have a pretty decent club this season, even with Tulo and Iannetta advancing to the bigs out of that class coming up. This is especially true if Omar Quintanilla has finally regained his stroke, yesterday's triple being another sweet swing from his weekend. Of course, the sweetest swing belonged to his soon to be Sky Sox teammate, Seth Smith.
Ryan Spilborghs played great in the Mexican Winter League, and he's played great this Spring to date in Tucson. When his stats from the two leagues are combined and adjusted for their hitter friendly contexts, the numbers are becoming more significant. Be advised that it's possible he's taking another step forward.