My Surprise, AZ Visit

My pictures are now available at http://www.royalsprospects.shutterfly.com/ I'm Jack, in case you don't know, so

http://royalsprospects.shutterfly.com/pictures/1799
http://royalsprospects.shutterfly.com/pictures/1678
http://royalsprospects.shutterfly.com/pictures/2701

So it's a little haphazard, but those are all my pictures. Some 2009 photos were accidentally included in a new set...sorry about that.

While I stayed in Youngtown (immediately outside Surprise) last week, I mostly visited the Minor League camps but attended four Major League games during the day. Here are some random, on-the-whim thoughts from the morning practices and afternoon intersquad games.

- Aaron Crow looks good. He dips his top side of his body when he pitches which is something I have read about. It could be an issue down the road.
- I encountered a Minor League pitching coach (not sure who) working with Mike Montgomery on a regular curveball. Evidently, they want him to veer away from a palm curve he tossed in high school and want him to adapt to their style.
- I spoke briefly with pitching prospect Ryan Morgan, with whom I pitched in college. (He obviously ascended to astronomically higher rankings than yours truly), although I did not see him pitch.
- Eric Hosmer was hitting mostly grounders in the two B.P. sessions I saw. On the contrary, Hilton Richardson was really ranking. Not sure if B.P. is much of an indicator but I hope to see more line-drives and XBH from Hosmer's bat in '10.
- Saw Rowdy Hardy pitch for the first time ever. He struggled quite a bit with command, which is odd for him. He has a 3/4 and submarine delivery.
- Blake Johnson's curveball looked outstanding (take that for what it's worth).
- Salvador Perez and Jose Bonilla really did a good job taking charge of the infield diamond communication-wise. Wil Myers looked a bit lost and out of place behind the dish. He took quite a few instructions from the dugout coaches....a sign of his inexperience.
- A ton of bunting and stealing took place. Not sure if this is uncommon; but I would see several bunt and steal attempts every half inning.
- I'm really excited about Clint Robinson's prospects in NWA this year. He was raking the ball in intersquads; saw him hit a couple XBH and a HR.
- Chris McConnell = quite slick defensively. Johnny Giavotella didn't look too bad, either, and showed range (to my naked non-scouting eye, so again take it for what it's worth).
- It was interesting to see particular "cliques." Many of the Latin players watching the games stood in one group...the American-born players would chatter in another.
- Got autographs from Mike Moustakas and Everett Teaford.
- Select pitchers who did not pitch in intersquads that day kept score, tracking first-pitch strikes and pitch counts (to my knowledge)....and possibly more.
- Speed at the top! The tops of lineups were loaded with speedy-types....Patrick "Roundhouse Kick" Norris, Adrian "The Jet" Ortiz, Derrick "D-Rob" Robinson, and more (lame nicknames...)
- Did not see Dan Duffy or Jeff Bianchi for perhaps obvious reasons. I also did not see Sean McCauley (injured). I did not see several others.
- A center fielder (I believe it was Norris) dropped a routine fly-ball. Granted, it was sunny, but the ball popped in and out of his glove.
- Saw Chris "Disco" Hayes pitch in the bullpen for the first time.

Anyway, I might think of more....