The first weekend of Spring Training games is officially in the books. Sunday’s action included a number of young pitchers who made their Spring Training debuts, including a couple of hard-throwing right-handers who may make their first Major League Baseball outings at some point this season. Let’s take a look at some of the notable events from Sunday’s action.
Related: Brett Baty, Jasson Dominguez Go Yard in First Spring Training Action
Eury Sees First Action
Top Marlins pitching prospect Eury Pérez made his Spring Training debut on February 26, and showcased a hard fastball that sat in the upper-90s and went up as high as 100 MPH. Perez pitched two innings for Miami in the team’s Sunday loss to the Cardinals. In the outing, Perez struck out one, and gave up four hits & an earned run over two innings.
Pérez struck out 110 over 77 innings, across two levels last year. The young righty will almost certainly head down to the Minors again in 2023, most likely in AAA to start. Miami owns a solid rotation with a number of options for the back end, including Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett. Miami should take their time with Pérez, who could be a force when ready to pitch in the Majors thanks in large part to a plus fastball and a dominant changeup.
Joyce Does Too
Fireballer Ben Joyce lit up radar guns last spring at the University of Tennessee. Regularly hitting triple digits down in college, the Angels selected Joyce in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft. The righty saw his first action of Spring Training on Sunday. Joyce struck out two over a scoreless inning. He didn’t hit the triple digits, but did sit comfortably in the upper-90s with his fastball and showcased an impressive breaking ball.
A couple of other notable arms also took the mound in Sunday’s 7-0 win against the White Sox. LHP Reid Detmers struck out five over two scoreless innings to start the game. 2021 first-round pick Sam Bachman saw action as well in the win. Bachman struck out the side in the eighth in his lone inning of work.
Bradley Looks Impressive
Sticking with the theme, youngster Taj Bradley made his first outing of the spring for the Tampa Bay Rays. Bradley didn’t record a strikeout, but didn’t walk anyone in a scoreless, one-inning outing for the Rays against the Red Sox.
The Rays are set to trot a stacked rotation come the start of the regular season. But should injuries arise, Bradley — who is one of our ten fantasy pitching prospects to watch this year — could make it up to the Majors at some point in 2023.
