The good news is that Seiya Suzuki can hit the ball really, really hard. The bad news is, Cubs pitchers are going to have to be careful this spring!
Thanks for absolutely TERRIFYING me today with this tweet, Jordan Bastian:
Scary moment in live BP this morning: Seiya Suzuki lined a pitch (word was it had a 112 exit velo) back at righty Anderson Espinoza. Luckily, hit the pitcher's glove first.
He laughed it off and kept pitching. They hugged after the workout ended. pic.twitter.com/a7rxZ5ZrSe
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 21, 2022
Thank goodness for no injuries there. The terror of live BP against organization-mates. And since there were no injuries, we can marvel at that recorded exit velocity for Suzuki! 112 MPH is QUITE good, especially for a guy ramping up. And as we’ve discussed before, the max exit velocity a guy can reach is one of those great indicators of latent power. Some guys physically CANNOT hit the ball quite that hard. Some guys can. (And then the separator from there, of course, is how frequently you can do it at a good launch angle.)
Meanwhile, Anderson Espinoza, who only just turned 24 despite being on the prospecting radar for nearly a decade, is a multi-time-arm-surgery survivor, so we don’t need to be adding a comebacker injury to the list. Already on the 40-man, Espinoza will be a candidate to come up and contribute at the big league level rather quickly (especially out of the bullpen) if he looks capable in the early going this year. This is his final option year.
Looks like Anderson Espinoza has a new weapon. I think it’s a slider with some added lift, saw it 3-4 times today, movement data could show more cutter.
Deviation from his very bullet-spun SL from last season. #Cubs @WatchMarquee
🎥: @ScottyChags pic.twitter.com/MFsRbNthS5
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) March 21, 2022