8 Biggest Observations Visiting Guardians Spring Training in Goodyear
By Jeff Mount
3. Off-Field Wheels
Everyone in the front office has an assigned parking space, which is new. Stephen Vogt and Craig Albernaz back into their parking spaces every day, which might or might not tell you something. Carl Willis and Sandy Alomar pull forward into theirs. Kai Correa rode a scooter to the facility every day.
4. Unorthodox Power
We did get to see Chase DeLauter's home run on Tuesday. There has been a lot of talk about DeLauter's unorthodox swing. It reminds me somewhat of Dave Parker, the way his wrists snap halfway through the swing.
A word of warning - the last guy I saw hit a ball that far in Goodyear was Lonnie Chisenhall, who you have probably forgotten about. But it is nice knowing we have a guy with those kinds of tools, and it will be hard not to think about that home run in June when we are watching Myles Straw hit home runs as often as the cicadas come out.
5. Fans in the Stands
On Tuesday we sat next to Stevie Emanuels' grandmother while he pitched the eighth inning for Oakland. It was the first time Emanuels had pitched in a major league game, which was fun to see.
On Wednesday we sat next to a woman who said she had met Sam Hentges, but then she got excited when Austin Hedges came up to bat, until she remembered that Hentges had told her he wore number 31.
Considering Hentges is lanky, 6'6'', and pitches, it's hard to imagine she needed to know his uniform number to distinguish him from Hedges, who is none of those things.