Checking in from the Fort. Good day of action today. They finished up with two intrasquad scrimmages. Penny threw a couple of innings working his way towards a first spring start. We'll start with him. Here's a quick chart on Penny. Fortunate enough to have my own radar gun this season as a new addition.

1st inning- Penny.

Mailman- FB- Strike- 89
FB- Foul- 92
FB- Ball- 91
CB- Ball- 77
FB- HR- 92

Diaz- FB- Strike- 92
FB- Strike swinging- 93
FB- Ball- 93
CB- K swinging- 78

3rd batter (view blocked on hitter)
CB- Ball- 77
FB- 93- K swinging
FB- 92- 6-3
4th batter (view blocked on hitter)
FB- Strike- 92
FB- Strike- 91
FB- Ball- 93
FB- Foul- 93
FB- L-3- 90

Penny looked to be throwing pretty effortlessly and had good command of his fastball. His curveball had pretty good action and he dropped it in for a couple of strikes. More of an aggressive side session, but looked pretty successful in achieving the goal. Next step getting him into a game.

Notes from the field

- David Mailman looked good in his AB against Penny. He worked the count and then ripped an inside fastball at 92 MPH down the line for a home run. Smooth, quick swing cleaning out the inside fastball. His AB against Capellan resulted in a check swing strikeout on a curveball. Still some work to do against lefties, but he's looking comfortable in the box
- Oscar Tejeda looks noticeably bigger than he was last season. He is starting to fill out his frame and reach some of the physical projections
- Tyler Yockey generates some good lift with his swing. He is smooth to the ball and finishes up with two hands on the bat, following through around his back rather than up high like a lot of guys do. Lot of torque in his lower body. The ball comes off his bat pretty well and there is a power potential there.
- David Marks is a max lift guy. Likes to drop his shoulder and elevate the ball. When he was connecting, the ball was coming off his bat hard.
- Luis Exposito is very solid. Filled out frame. He's quiet at the plate with not much action before the pitch comes at him. He's got a long follow through and a swing that is going to generate a lot of lift on the ball. After getting going, the balls were coming off his bat on a hard line.
- Derrik Gibson is a smooth fielder. He was taking balls at 2B during a drill and was all over everything hit his way. Great range into the hole and up the middle. Very strong, quick throws across his body.
- Ryan Dent looked a lot smoother in the field playing 2B. He had a better approach to grounders hit his way and was moving well to either his left or right. His arm plays ok at 2B. Still around average, but his footwork was a lot better than when I was saw him to finish up 2008.
- Kyle Stroup looks a lot bigger than what he is listed at.
- Jay Johnson is back healthy and swinging the bat smoothly in his BP sessions.
- Juan Bonifacio is on the lean side. Room to fill out his frame as the uniform hangs off his body. Hits from a closed stance with a timing step. That's something that seems to throw him off balance from time to time. Makes some pretty solid contact despite his slight build. He had an AB against Penny that the coaches were impressed with.
- Yamaico Navarro is very quick on inside balls. The ball comes off his bat on a line. Pretty good batspeed there.
- Carson Blair has a very solid lower body. You can see why they think he can move to catcher. Drops his back shoulder a bit when he goes into his swing. Uncoil's on the ball pretty well, but there is some head movement and early opening of the hips. Dwight Evans was coaching him after his last session, working him through hitting with more of a still head.
- Chia-Chu Chen is driving the ball more than last season. He looked a little more filled out and like he is driving through the ball more. He drilled the base of the wall on the fly in BP a couple of times.