Blogs > Minor Matters

Run by Josh Norris, The Trentonian's Thunder beat writer, this blog will cover the team, as well as the Eastern League and Minor League Baseball as a whole.



Thursday, April 9, 2009

Observations from the season's first week

The baseball season is finally here and I, for one could not be happier. Although my Yanks haven't started off so well, there have been plenty of exciting things to whet your roundball appetite.

-- In Toronto, guys like Adam Lind and Travis Snider have to give you hope for the future, even if your pitching resembles a M.A.S.H. unit.

-- Speaking of Toronto, there was a bit of history made there today when the Blue Jays' Ricky Romero and the Tigers' Rick Porcello both made their major league debuts.

Watching the first few innings, it's clear that Porcello has nasty stuff. His fastball hovers consistently around 92-94 mph, with plenty of movement and his breaking ball is quite nasty.

Combined, Romero and Porcello are 45 -- younger than Jamie Moyer.

-- The Marlins scored their first opening-weekend sweep in team history, even if it did come against the Nationals. One thing to note from that series: Emilio Bonifacio. The young third baseman has eight hits in his first 14 at-bats, including a triple and an inside-the-park home run on opening day -- the first since Carl Yaztrzemski did it in 1968. He's also stolen four bases in as many tries.

With Bonifacio, Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu around the infield, the Marlins should be pretty exciting to watch in 2009.

-- Jordan Schafer is giving Braves what they've been missing since Andruw Jones let himself go: a dynamic center field around which to build for years. After getting suspended for HGH early last season, Schafer is quickly making people learn his name for all the right reasons. His line early on: .300/.462/1.362 ... that's right, 1.362. He's got two home runs and three walks in his first 13 plate appearances, pretty nice.

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