Results tagged ‘ Mike Foltynewicz ’
Mills eager for full squad to hit the field
The Astros will hold their first full-squad workout on Sunday, when all 63 players in Major League camp are scheduled to hit the field for the first time this spring. Manager Brad Mills expects everyone to report by Sunday morning.
“We’re very happy with the six days we’ve had [with pitchers and catchers] and now we’re ready to move forward,” he said.
In fact, the Astros have had a huge number of position players participating in drills for the last few days, a number that’s growing daily. Non-roster outfielder Brandon Barnes, who showed up Friday, was on the field for the first time Saturday.
The only players who hadn’t worked out at Osceola County Stadium by Saturday were outfielders Carlos Lee and Jonathan Singleton and infielder Jonathan Villar. Position players aren’t required to report until Sunday morning, when they will be given physicals prior to take the field.
Here’s the day in photos:
His back feeling better, Wandy Rodriguez took the mound Saturday.
David Carpenter throws in the bullpen wiht Jon Matlack watching.
Jason Castro and David Carpenter talk after their bullpen.
Doug Brocail gives some pointers to Lucas Harrell.
Conditioning drills capped the day for the pitchers.
Brett Wallace swings in the cage.
Right-handers Jarred Cosart and Mike Foltynewicz and left-hander Brett Oberholtzer – three young pitchers ranked among the Astros’ top seven prospects by MLB.com – were among seven hurlers who participated Saturday in the first day a Minor League mini camp.
The other participants are right-handers Jake Buchanan, Ross Seaton, Josh Zeid and Jason Stoffel and catchers Miles Hamblin, Ryan McCurdy, Roberto Pena and Mike Kvasnicka. Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who watched the pitchers throw, said the young arms will get some innings in Grapefruit League games.
Here’s a quick Q and A with Foltynewicz:
Q: What are you hoping to get out of the Minor League mini camp?
A: “Trying to work on the things we left off on in instructional ball, trying to get the command of the strike zone down. I’m really just trying to get a head start along with these seven guys to get ready for a good season.”
Q: How excited are you about a chance to pitch in a big-league Spring Training game?
A: “Heard about that probably a month ago, and it made me want to work even harder. That’s my ultimate goal, and it’s that little bit more motivation.”
Q: How big of a year is this for you?
A: “It’s a pretty big year. Last year, I had good games and had bad games, and this year I just have to put it all together and find that happy medium. I think it’s a big year to prove myself to a lot of the doubters out there, so it’s a pretty big year.”
Q: What’s it like to be a part of this group of talented young arms coming up?
A: “It’s pretty exciting. Later on down the road, this is going to be a great Houston Astros team. we’ve got a lot of good arms and I’m really excited for the future.”
Here’s a quick Q and A with Jarred Cosart:
Q: What are you hoping to get out of the Minor League mini camp?
A: “It’s great. I was bummed at first about not coming to big league camp, but it happens and there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t control it. That’s what Fred and all the guys told me today, to come out here and pitch and getting down here early just helps me get a little jump on everybody else coming to Minor League camp. It’s a good group of guys and I had Brocail and a lot of the big league guys watching today, so it’s really not much different than over there.”
Q: Are you excited about the chance of pitching in a Grapefruit League game?
A: “This would be my first chance. They said be ready to throw in multiple big league games. They’re getting us ready as if we’re in big league camp and I’ve heard they’re having a lot of split squad games to get a lot of the younger guys over there who are fighting for that fifth spot. They’re going to have openings. They said to be ready for a couple of games.”
Q: You’re getting instruction from Doug Brocail and Jon Matlack. How beneficial is that?
“I got open ears to anything. Matlack pitched in the big leagues for 15 years a while back and Brocail just recently came out of the game and he’s been a big league pitching coach for two or three years now. They know what they’re talking about, as do all these coaches. I’m always open to any advice, mechanical, mental, whatever. They just said I’ll make a lot of money if I pitch down. That’s pretty much the basics of pitching. Right now it’s staying consistent and doing the little things. They said the stuff is there and the name of the game is mix pitches and staying down in the zone, and I have a chance to be pretty good if I can do that.”
Here are some photos from the first day of Minor League mini camp:
Brett Oberholtzer plays pepper.
Mike Foltynewicz plays pepper.
Jarred Cosart has some fun.
Ross Seaton has fielding drills.
Foltynewicz, Astros reach deal on bonus
The Astros have reached an agreement on a signing bonus with first-round Draft pick Mike Foltynewicz worth $1.3 million, his advisor Bobby Witt told MLB.com on Friday.
Foltynewicz, the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher the Astros selected with the 19th overall pick Monday in the First-Year Player Draft, could be in Houston next week to sign the contract and begin his professional career.
“Some of the other things regarding school and other stuff have to be worked out,” Witt said. “As far as the Astros and terms, they have been agreed upon.”
The Astros, as policy, won’t acknowledge a deal is in place until a contract is signed.
Foltynewicz, 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, sits in the low 90s mph with his fastball and has touched 96 with a good changeup. He’s the first pitcher taken in the first round by the Astros since left-hander Brian Bogusevic in 2005, but Bogusevic has since been moved to the outfield.
“My goals are to try to get to the pros as soon as I can, within two or three years,” he said after being drafted. “I feel real confident about that. I’m a real hard worker and I’m going to listen to everything that everyone has to say. I’ll take criticism the right way, learn from it and I want to try to get up soon.”
Foltynewicz went 9-1 with a 0.38 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 72 2/3 innings this year for Minooka Community High School in the Chicago area.
Foltynewicz leaning towards Astros
Mike Foltynewicz, the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher the Astros selected with the 19th overall pick Monday in the First-Year Player Draft, said Tuesday he’s more likely to sign with the Astros than go to the University of Texas.
“I want to get my professional career headed out in the right way and right now I’m definitely going to considering starting my professional career,” he said.
Foltynewicz, 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, sits in the low 90s mph with his fastball and has touched 96 with a good changeup. He’s the first pitcher taken in the first round by the Astros since left-hander Brian Bogusevic in 2005, but Bogusevic has since been moved to the outfield.
“My goals are to try to get to the pros as soon as I can, within two or three years,” he said. “I feel real confident about that. I’m a real hard worker and I’m going to listen to everything that everyone has to say. I’ll take criticism the right way, learn from it and I want to try to get up soon.”
Foltynewicz went 9-1 with a 0.38 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 72 2/3 innings this year for Minooka Community High School in the Chicago area.
He throws a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, slider, curveball and a changeup. His can get up to 96 mph with his four-seam fastball in early innings, and will sit at 91-94 mph. His two-seamer is 88-91 with good movement, and he has a 12-to-6 curveball that ranges from 71-74 mph. His changeup is 84 mph with some movement.
“I’ve had a curveball all my life and last summer I started working on the slider more, just another pitch to get in there,” he said. “That’s been working great for me. It looks like my fastball coming in, but just has that break to the left. Both those pitches are really great for me. I can throw them for strikes.”
Brian McTaggart
Recent Comments