Spring Training Week 3

In this 3rd week of Spring Training, nothing too out of the ordinary happened, but there were some noteworthy occurrences.

Bryce Harper:

National's all-star right fielder is in the news again this week, and its due to his solid spring so far. Harper who struggled in 2016, only one year removed from winning his NL MVP, but has been hitting very well this spring. Harper is tied for the league lead in home runs with 6, and is hitting a solid .314. Harper has been inconsistent the past few years, and the Nationals need Harper to be productive if they have any playoff hopes, and the Nationals are in the middle of their best years, so they need to strike while the irons hot.

Matt Havery:

The next story from the week comes out of the same division, but it's with Mets' pitcher Matt Harvey. Harvey is coming of nothing short of a terrible year, where he went 4-10 with a 4.86 ERA in an injury shortened season. Harvey made his return to the Mets this spring, and he was out of shape, and found smoking publicly, and his velocity was also in the high 80's and low 90's, compared to his regular mid to high 90's. His spring has reflected these problems where he is 0-4 with a 7.30 ERA. Harvey has only shown shadows of his former self since his Tommy John surgery in 2013, and quite frankly it's very sad. Harvey has a lot of talent, and I'd be a shame if all of it went to waste because of a few bad decisions. I hope for Harvery, Met's fans, and all baseball fans that Harvey can find himself and be the ace that he once was, and was always projected to be.

Kevin Kiermaier:

Rays' young outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has been signed to a $53.5 mil/6 yrs contract this week. Kiermaier right now is a defensive specialist, but he shows many signs of strong hitting to come soon. The Rays who are rebuilding have now locked up their center fielder, and may try to build their team around him, almost like what they did with Evan Longoria when he was first big. It's definitley a good move with the promise he bring, and for the Rays the only possible repercussion is there's a little money tied up in a defensive superstar.

So this is what's happened in week 3 of spring training. The WBC's championship game will be played on Wednesday, so I will recap the WBC and giving my opinion on everything then, but until then I'm going to enjoy the semi-final games, and the spring training games, and I hope you'll be enjoying them too.