Spring Training Backfield Notes: March 17

Sunday’s action for the Padres’ minor leagues included live batting practice sessions for five different pitchers and a pair of games at Milwaukee’s Maryvale complex. The Brewers’ decision to move one of the games into the big league stadium eliminated the ability to float between games, so I opted for the younger position group playing on the back side of the complex.

Here are some observations from what I saw and thoughts on how a trio of arms who threw are a reminder of the wildly different paths players can take chasing big league dreams.

Righty Langston Burkett, one of the youngest pitchers in camp, more than held his own in two innings of live batting practice against Double-A and Triple-A hitters. Working with a fastball that’s been up to 94 this spring and a nasty curve, he got a weak grounder and two lazy flyouts to left field from a trio of lefthanded hitters, including Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella. He missed the zone with too many of his fastballs, but induced bad contact when it was over the plate. In his second inning, he worked from the stretch, showing the the same velocity. Even as he continued to miss spots, the big-bodied righty from the Santa Cruz area who signed as an undrafted free agent last summer showed plenty of stuff, logging another weak fly ball and two grounders.

The Padres have been one of the most league’s aggressive clubs at signing undrafted free agents in recent years. While that’s a group that often includes college seniors, five high school players from around the country last year were reported to have signed after the draft. Burkett was one of two – Washington state outfielder Donte Grant being the other –  who signed with the Padres.

Burkett won’t turn 19 until April and will likely open the year in extended spring training as he gets built up, but the 6-foot-6 hurler is one to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

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When the Red Sox drafted Jay Groome with the 12th overall pick in 2016, he was the consensus top lefthanded high school pitcher in his class. Big-bodied with a fastball already reaching the upper-90s and the makings of two secondary weapons, Groome checked all the boxes, despite some questions about makeup. He looked the part in three brief outings that summer, but things started in the wrong direction in 2017, when a disappointing campaign was bookended by injuries. The one at the end of the year turned out to require Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2018 and most of 2019.

After COVID, Groome finally pitched most of a full year in 2021, flashing enough stuff to rack up 134 strikeouts in 97.1 innings even as he gave up an ERA of 4.81. He finally found his footing in 2022, posting strong numbers in Double-A and Triple-A for the Red Sox before the Padres acquired him in the trade to dump Eric Hosmer‘s salary. He came into last year’s spring training with a real chance at a rotation spot, but after he missed out on it, things went totally sideways for the big lefty. He posted an 8.55 ERA and walked 112 batters in 134.2 innings in El Paso.

Groome – who, by virtue of all his missed time in the minors, is in a fourth and final option year – has been working to find some of the velocity he lost last year. He faced the same hitters as Burkett, looking especially effective against the lefthanders in the group. At 25, the dreams of a frontline starter from his high school days are behind him, but if Groome can get back to where he was in 2023, he’ll have a chance to contribute at the big league level during the year.

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After multiple auditions during the offseason, Mitch Miller signed as a minor league free agent just before big league camp opened in February. For the 6-foot-6 lefty, it’s another step in an arduous journey dating back almost a decade. Miller was a highly regarded player on the showcase circuit going into his senior year of high school way back in 2015, getting some buzz as a potential first-round pick. Instead he wound up at Clemson, but barely pitched in two seasons for the Tigers. The Angels took a flyer on him in the 31st round in 2018, but he opted not to sign.

In the pre-transfer portal days, he went to D-II West Texas A&M so he wouldn’t have to sit out a transfer year, but then injured his shoulder and missed all of 2019. He got into only 10 games the following year before COVID shut things down.

The Georgia native eventually wound up signing with the independent Pioneer League in 2021 where he showed enough to get an affiliated contract with the Pirates that winter. Working in the low minors in 2022 and 2023, Miller struck out 80 over 68.1 innings, but also walked 37 on the way to posting a 5.03 ERA that got him released last August.

Miller has a tantalizing mix of sinker, cutter, change and a slow slider that tunnel well off each other, which helped him to four strikeouts in two innings of work against young Brewers hitters on Sunday. Encouragingly, he only issued one walk and induced weak contact for his other two outs. Now 26, Miller is in the mix for a bullpen role as he tries to make good on the promise that he’s flashed since Burkett was in elementary school.

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The Low-A roster’s game at the Brewers opened with a bang as Leo De Vries, hitting from the left side, jumped on a cutter under his hands and turned it around for a homer down the right field line. It was an impressive piece of hitting from the precocious 17-year-old. In his next at-bat, he came up with two runners on and attacked the first pitch he saw, but got under a fastball above the zone for a fly ball. His final plate appearance came against a lefty, giving him the opportunity to turn around. He got ahead in the count with a couple of nice takes, but ultimately struck out.

With the earlier start to the Arizona Complex League this year – a decision widely embraced by everyone in the industry – this year’s top international signee should get his first official career at-bats in the desert in May. If he shows he’s adapting well to the routines of professional baseball, he could be in Lake Elsinore before the draft.

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Hard-throwing reliever Luis German worked his second impressive outing in a row, dialing his fastball up to 98 and flashing both a firm changeup and a curve. Signed for $10,000 as a 21-year-old at the start of the 2022 free agency period, the righty who is bigger than his 6-foot-2 listed height, fought his command badly in Arizona last year. He walked 14 batters – and hit four more – in just 10.2 innings. In his two appearances this week, he was hitting his target more consistently. That translated to a pair of 1-2-3 outings without a walk. If he can stay in the zone, he could be a weapon at the back of the Lake Elsinore bullpen to open the year.