MLB: Thoughts from a Week of Baseball in Arizona
My wonderful wife Abby and I just returned from a week of vacation in Arizona. We went to get away from New England winter, to see sights including Sedona and the Grand Canyon, and to take in baseball in the Phoenix area.
In total we went to six games over the course of the week: three Cactus League games, two World Baseball Classic games, and one WBC exhibition.
Here are some thoughts and impressions on the games we attended. Without further ado…
Game 1 — Mariners at Dodgers, Camelback Ranch (2–2 Tie)
Camelback Ranch is a very nice park. It’s in Glendale, and not far from the Cardinals’ mammoth stadium where they just had the Super Bowl. It’s not easy to get to if you’re staying in Phoenix or Scottsdale, but it’s worth it. It’s a well thought-out facility and they don’t charge for parking. It was my second-favorite of the four spring training parks we visited.
The park never got more than 40% full despite it being a beautiful night. Guys being gone for the WBC may have been why.
Logan Gilbert started for the Mariners and he looked pretty good, was hitting 95 on the stadium gun most of the time.
It’s very cool to see Jason Heyward getting a legitimate shot to make the Dodgers. I imagine your team is better just by having a guy like that around, especially with how many young players the Dodgers plan to break in this year.
There were Dodgers fans in our section, wearing Dodgers gear, who were not aware that Justin Turner and Trea Turner had signed elsewhere over the winter. I’m not saying this is representative of anything, but it did happen.
Nothing very interesting happened in the game until the first run was scored in the bottom of the 8th inning. Alberto Gonzalez, ranked 27th in the M’s system by Baseball America, drilled a 2-run shot in the 9th. The Dodgers ended up scoring one in their half for a 2–2 tie. So fun stuff at the end, but not much before that.
I almost caught a foul ball that landed a few seats from me but rolled under a seat I couldn’t get to in time. Curses.
Here’s my take on the Dodger Dog:
I’ll add that Abby cracked me up when she said the Dodger Dog had “notes of anise.”
Game 2 — Team USA at Angels, Tempe Diablo (USA won 6–0)
I’ll get this out of the way: Tempe Diablo was by far the worst of the four spring training stadiums we saw. It’s cut out of the middle of a business park area (it’s literally next to businesses who do things like aircraft systems controls, HVAC and metal finishing).
It’s very drably designed. Half the seats are metal benches. There’s no video board, and protective netting only goes to the end of the dugout. They also charge you to park a solid 15-minute walk from the stadium.
They also had some issues with the aforementioned non-video board.
The only reason MLB granted the game there had to be in deference to Mike Trout, who was greeted as a conquering hero by the crowd. He walked in alongside Ken Griffey, Jr., Team USA’s hitting coach. That was damn cool to see.
This would end up being the first of three times I got to see Team USA in person during the week. What an incredible collection of players. On this day the pitching stood out. Merrill Kelly pitched well for the squad on this day. I loved seeing Daniel Bard out there too, he’s an incredible story.
Tyler Anderson sucked for the Angels, but again, it was a loaded squad on the other side. Nolan Arenado, who might end up being the best 3B to ever suit up, crushed a grand slam to left-center. That was fun.
Getting to see Trout, Arenado, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Pete Alonso, Tim Anderson, JT Realmuto and more play on the same team didn’t feel real.
It was funny to see the Angels “loan” a few of their prospects to Team USA to finish out the game. Great opportunity for the guys I saw including Jordyn Adams and Zach Neto, though.
Game 3 — Team USA vs. Team Great Britain, Chase Field (USA won 6–2)
This was the one spur-of-the-moment game we attended. After realizing tickets to see the Suns play the Kings would cost an arm and a leg even after the game started, we decided to get tickets for USA vs GB instead.
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It was my first time going to Chase Field. It’s a nice but fairly nondescript park. I won’t harp on it too much, but the Diamondbacks were not prepared for how many people were coming for these games and issues with available concessions cropped up as a result.
I feel pretty luck I got to see Adam Wainwright pitch for Team USA, and I’m glad at least one great starter appeared in this tournament for America.
Team USA did most of their damage in the 3rd and 4th innings, capped by Kyle Schwarber crushing a homer.
The Brits lost, and that kinda made me happy. Take that, Charles.
Game 4 — Rockies at Diamondbacks, Salt River Fields (D-Backs won 10–9)
Salt River Fields was the best spring training stadium we visited. Great location in Scottsdale, easy to get in-and-out of (although you do have to pay to park on premises), outstanding concessions, comfortable seats, modern amenities — just fantastic. Make it a priority to go there.
The young players stood out on both sides. Corbin Carroll is not only the best or second-best prospect in the entire game, but he may be the fastest baseball player I’ve ever seen in person. Early Jacoby Ellsbury is comparable. He just signed a long-term extension, and he’ll turn many routine ground balls on the infield into base hits in his career. What a major weapon that is for a team.
Gabriel Moreno hit the shit out of the ball several times and was a take-charge presence behind the dish for the D-Backs pitchers. He’s gonna be a damn good one, and there’s a chance Mike Hazen fleeced the Blue Jays on that trade, especially since they got this guy too:
On the Rockies side I was impressed with Ezequiel Tovar, who is a top prospect that has been handed the keys to play SS. He ambushed a first-pitch fastball his first time up for a double, and looked smooth at SS.
I liked getting the chance to see Zac Veen later in the game, who was Colorado’s 2020 1st round pick. He can really hit with a great lefty swing.
The game dragged, despite the pitch clock and other new rules, because the pitching sucked. The promise of some young players on both teams notwithstanding, neither have the pitching to compete this year.
Game 5 — Team Mexico vs. Team USA, Chase Field (Mexico won 11–5)
This was the crowned baseball jewel of the trip. A game between two world baseball powerhouses, in a part of the world where many fans of both sides would be able to attend — I was looking forward to this for months. Alas, the game itself did not live up to the hype, as USA failed in all phases and Mexico took advantage.
No matter what, this was still the most electric atmosphere for a baseball game I’ve been to outside of playoff games at Fenway Park. When Joey Meneses hit his second HR of the night for Mexico I thought the roof would blow off the place.
I got choked up when we first got to our seats and I took in the mostly-full huge MLB stadium with fans who were just there to celebrate the game of baseball. It was the exact thing I was hoping it would be. I’ve loved baseball for more than 30 years and this was a seminal moment for me to take in as a fan. I wish I could bottle the feeling and sell it. It was damn special. I loved every second of it.
I found myself rooting for Mexico because of Alex Verdugo and Jarren Duran. Verdugo took a walk late, Duran pitch ran for him and got a steal and later scored. I’m so glad those guys took this opportunity and they seem to be having a lot of fun with it.
Game 6 — Giants at Padres, Peoria Sports Complex (Giants won 11–9)
Peoria was the third-ranked of the spring training stadiums we visited, not far behind Camelback Ranch but way ahead of Tempe Diablo. Parking was free, good amenities, solid layout. The seats were uncomfortable and got to be frying-pan hot in the sun.
The Padres have several guys at the WBC but still managed to roll out a lineup with Trent Grisham, Jake Cronenworth, Austin Nola and Fernando Tatis, Jr. I can confirm the Padres fans still love Tatis and have seemingly forgiven him for his misdeeds. He played RF in the game we saw.
Michael Conforto looked good at the plate and in the field, he appears fully recovered from the shoulder injury that cost him all of 2022.
Starting for San Diego was Brent Honeywell, Jr., who at one point was the Next Big Thing for Tampa Bay before injuries derailed his career. He has somehow only thrown 4.1 innings in MLB. His stuff looked good in spots, but he also gave up this to Thairo Estrada.
Honeywell was followed by Tim Hill, who is supposed to play a big lefty role in the Padres bullpen. He got shelled. The Padres pitching honestly might be an issue this year.
For the Giants, Sean Manaea had an up and down performance. He flashed 96 on the stadium gun, and changed speeds to make Tatis look silly on a swinging K to end the first. But he also got hit pretty hard and was lifted before he could finish the 4th.
Like the Salt River game, this one was slower because of bad pitching. Still, an 11–9 game only took a shade under 3 hours. The rules are working as intended.
I’d also note that in the three Cactus League games we watched we saw maybe one pitch clock violation per game. Not surprisingly, the professionals whose job it is to learn new rules have learned the new rules so they can do their job.
Anyway, we had a great week and baseball remains awesome. Also go to Arizona because it’s great. Here’s a great Arizona band, too. Take care.
