Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber are capable new complementary pieces; there are a few relievers to like. Eddie took his spotlight fame and appeared on several television shows after that moment. During his rookie year in 2016, Tony batted .217, had one home runs, and drove in seven runs batted in. Marcus Stroman is a professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets. The next shortest baseball player was almost two feet taller than Eddie. In terms of not having a season in, we did the best we could with all of our pitchers in terms of getting them work and keeping an eye on them.. Standing at 56, David Eckstein was a shortstop for in the Major leagues. These are not the only teams who could win it all, but they're the ones that are in a class of their own. The NL Central, again, is not strong. RBT 1.16M subscribers Subscribe 1.5M views 1 year ago Is it possible to hit a 100 foot homer, a 70 ft homer or maybe even a 10 foot. During his time as a player with the Yankees, Yogi Berra was a World Champion 13 times. These teams all have chances, between 20% and 40% playoff odds at FanGraphs, and much of the difference there can be explained by the different levels of competition in their various divisions. We think they can; this offense is going to mash. After 53 total innings, Gearin retired with an ERA of just 2.89. No, its not going to be a big deal, though concerns about his shoulder and declining Statcast metrics will exist until he answers them.) Ivan Pudge Rodriguez was a catcher in the Majors standing at 59. In fact, it might be more worthwhile for General Managers to draft pitchers under 6 feet tall and reap the rewards. Outside of owning this sports website, I also run my own SEO consulting agency, TM Blast LLC. What's The Shortest Possible Home Run in MLB The Show? The Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, Players Who Should Be in the Hall of Fame, The Best MLB Players with Their Numbers Retired, The Best Current Baseball Players Under 6 Feet Tall, Vote up the best active MLB players shorter than 6 feet tall. Trevor Rogers, 23: After throwing 136 1/3 innings in 2019, he logged only 29 2/3 in the short season. Players like Jose Altuve, Dustin Pedroia, and David Eckstein have won multiple awards and led their teams to World Series victories. This is, in fact, the case: short relief pitchers are producing 2.33 WAR for every $10 million they earn in free agency while taller relievers are producing 1.36 WAR for every $10 million they earn. (More Randy Arozarena, better Austin Meadows, and the promotion, at some point, of Wander Franco.) Last year, it was adding top starter Hyun Jin Ryu, who helped them to a 32-28 finish, their first winning season since 2016. Guys are being more selective with him. My name is Greg Kristan, and I'm the owner of The Stadium Reviews, LLC. The As had a bad winter, until maybe they didnt. We might be getting to the point where scouts will start preferring the little guys. Jose Altuve height, Adam Eaton is Nats shortest | wusa9.com Jimmy Rollins was the shortstop of the Philadelphia Phillies team form 2000-2014. MLB rumors: Dodgers, Yankees seek depth after injuries, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to miss WBC with knee injury, Kik Hernndez recounts on-field bathroom accident, Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter has tender elbow, Max Scherzer fools hitter with new pitch clock rules, Report: Padres looking to extend Juan Soto, Josh Hader, How 5-foot-6 Tony Kemp stacks up against baseball's shortest players, Phillies top prospect Painter has elbow tenderness, Report: Padres looking to extend Soto, Hader, Report: Mets to use six-man rotation at times in 2023, Dodgers SS Gavin Lux tears ACL, will miss entire season. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors Pedroia's size scared scouts. Most ballparks will have some fans to witness it. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'1VAPZ2jiTZdRTXSocn1IuQ',sig:'ugML6BumnLpWO0wFCKj485NwmUlruJtfgjbcNeyfVv8=',w:'433px',h:'594px',items:'1179437208',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); The trade of Fowler was fine, because he no longer had a role, and St. Louis has what feels like dozens of young outfielders looking for playing time. Alyson Footer. While playing baseball in the majors, Cedric has a .197 batting average, four home runs, and 15 runs batted in. Standing at 59, Mookie is not the shortest MLB player in the game, but still stands out. . Still, few saw this kind of stunning power coming this fast, and that, along with Albies' speed and energy, has Braves fans dreaming big.The thing that strikes you about Betts, Ramirez, Altuve and Albies is how many things they do well. We notice the distribution of WAR and relievers salaries in free agency: section: | slug: move-over-jose-altuve-the-astros-now-have-two-of-the-shortest-players-in-mlb | sport: baseball | route: article_single.us | At the front end of the pitching queue was left-hander and 27-year-old rookie Dylan Lee, whom the Braves signed in April and who made just two appearances late in the regular season. One of them, obviously, cannot win their own division, because the Dodgers and Padres, who might be the two best clubs in the game, have the slight complication of fighting each other for the NL West. Tim Collins, standing at 57, had a 91-5 record during his four years in High School. Ryu was excellent, but he's rarely durable; he's thrown 160 innings in a season just twice, and one of those was as a rookie back in 2013. The stuff is off the charts, Ng said. 5'6 is remarkably short for a MLB pitcher, and it makes Shantz one of the shortest pitchers of all time. Edwin Moscoso has the least-friendly strike zone to pitchers in 2021. Is this because theyre short or is it because they arent as durable? All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Micah Bucknam, RHP, Mennonite Educational. A lot of it takes place during the seasonmaking sure we are monitoring them, and especially the stressful innings they pitch, and making sure we dont push them any further than they can handle.. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: mlb | pageType: stories | Nevertheless, he is by far the champion undersized pitcher of all time. This year the danger in the air around them is particularly acute. While the average height of ballplayers is 61, some of the shortest players have made the most significant difference. His best strikeout stats came in 2008 when he struck out 158 in 174 innings pitched. Such are the unique demands of throwing a baseball competitively that young pitchers are developed slowly. His strikeout per inning ratio is still better than 1:1 (77 K's in 72 IP) but according to fangraphs.com, his velocity has dropped into the 91-93mph range. His height created confusion with the umpire, but the manager had the proper papers showing he was an MLB player. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, SI Insider: This MLB Free Agent Market Shows Player Development Never Ends. More thorough scouting reports will of course follow for the players the Braves pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, but these should at least . The rotation has been durable and productive this spring; camp has been buzzing about Randy Dobnak's new slider. 2 overall by MLB Pipeline) is beginning to bear fruit. That doesn't mean they're going to be good, really, because they're projected to finish last in the AL Central, as they have three times in the last four years. ), and dating back to the start of their run in 2013, have won 41 more regular-season games than any other club. Since they're expecting David Price to finally make his long-awaited Dodgers debut as well, and Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Julio Uras round out the starting five, their rotation is so deep that Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, who might be top-end starters on other clubs, will be mere depth arms here. indicates the player had fewer than the required number of at bats or Five pitchers have failed to record an out in World Series starts, so Lee at least avoided joining that group. If not, youre short, but at least you might get an interesting nickname like Tim Lincecums (511) The Freak.. During that time with the Yankees, he won six AL pennants and three world series. Rodney is averaging 95.7 mph on his fastball so far in 2012 according to fangraphs.com. Weve started gathering ideas at least internally with the pitching department and front office, Hinch said. He borrowed Rauch's uniform and comfortably stood inside his pants. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. PNC Park remains a delightful place to experience baseball. Standing at 58, Ozzie Albies is the second basemen for the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball Team. The average number of relievers used per game has increased seven straight years. In his only plate appearance for the St. Louis Browns, Eddie walked. Hes about to get Chuck Knoblauch swinging (and missing) on 1-2 count for his 17th strikeout of the night to finish the game. The rotation is already suffering some health questions. Its September 10th, 1999, and the small flame-throwing right-hander from the Dominican Republic just struck out Scott Brosius and Darryl Strawberry. Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, Empower Field at Mile High Stadium Parking, how the positions breakdown in more detail via height. At 5'7", Collins is the tallest entry and the only other active pitcher on our list. He evenput up a strong showing against theNew York Mets on Sunday, walking one and striking out eight in seven innings for the win. Fixing MLB's Worst Starting Pitching Rotations for 2021 Its just not quite as optimistic as it seemed. But if we were to write maybe this is the year they get enough pitching, and maybe this is the year Shohei Ohtani pulls it all together, and wow, Albert Pujols is still there? it would both be accurate and the exact same thing you could write about them every year. Herrera, acquired in the Francisco Rodriguez trade from the Milwaukee Brewers, is currently the shortest active player in the majors. Maybe one you've never seen before. Standing at 56, Billy holds the record for driving in the most runs batted in with 198 in 1894. Pedro is 5'11'' and 170 lb, one of the smallest pitchers in baseball. No team faces a bigger challenge this year with young starters workloads than the Marlins. signed the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Lamet trying to pitch past an elbow injury, if Rowdy Tellez gets the chance to show the huge strikeout cut. Copyright 2023 Then we learned Alex Bregmans hamstring has been a problem all winter. The pitching might not be better, but its likely to be deeper, and it was already deep. That's where it gets fun. We might be getting to the point where scouts will start preferring the little guys.Baseball is becoming what I always dreamed it would be. Hendriks departed, and Semien departed, and so did Robbie Grossman and Tommy La Stella and Mike Minor and Joakim Soria. The Padres "won the offseason," if there was an award for such things. Here's a look at the 20 youngest players in the BA 500. He fanned 1,072 and won eight Gold Gloves. Snitker probably never intended to let the lefty Lee face Carlos Correa, but what didn't go according to plan is that Correa's turn came up in the first inning with a chance to put a crooked number on the board. 229 Washington Street, Suite 306 Alas, Goldstein also said that Kemp "won't give you any power" and is "limited to second base by his arm." His 1.12 ERA that year is the best single-season mark for a starter over the last 100 years. Cedric Mullins, who stands at 58, is a baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles. None is likely to finish last. We have them a tier below the Blue Jays here, and to be honest, we're already second-guessing ourselves. His career stats in Major League Baseball come out to a .233 batting average, 15 home runs, and 7o runs batted in. 0.2 SB att/Team Game (catchers), and plate appearances for the BA, OBP, SLG or OPS title that year. Are shorter pitchers undervalued in the baseball market? Their strength is their rotation, but now there's considerable concern about Kyle Freeland's shoulder. Can MLB Fix Baseball? Inside the Plan - esquire.com Bob Gibson's 1968 season is considered by many to be the greatest ever for a starting pitcher. During his playing time, Joe won two World Series and won the NL MVP twice. MLB Outfield Walls, Ranked - Sports Illustrated Walter was a Major League Baseball player form 1912 to 1934. He posted his best season in 2021, hitting .228 with nine home runs, 26 extra-base hits, a .693 OPS, and 0.6 fWAR. Standing at 58, Leury Garcia is a utility position player for the Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball Team. In Here's the long and the short of it on Mets pitching in 2012: Jon Rauch is long. Or even just healthi-er. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. When owners and MLB bickered about when to start the 2020 season, agent Scott Boras supported playing more than 60 games in part because he feared the toll of pitching a full season after a short one, even for the likes of Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer. From 2007-11, Lincecum fit the archetype as he won two NL Cy Young Awards and struck out 1,127 batters in 1,028 innings pitched. The removal of a dominant Blake Snell in the deciding game of the World Seriesdue only to an analytics law that a fresh reliever is better than a starter facing hitters a third timebrought this trend into the harshest of lights. It's fair to point out that three-fifths of their rotation just departed (Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Tim posts a 12 win and 17 loss record in his career with a 3.60 ERA. But with Justin Verlander injured and Springer off to Toronto, it seemed like itd be easy to say this was the end of an era, especially if you only looked at 29-31 last year and not came within a game of the World Series. But, we figured, there was plenty of reason to believe theyd get more from Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, and Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley would be back, and even if the rotation depth was thin, Framber Valdez looked like a breakout star, and a top four of him, Zack Greinke, Jos Urquidy and Lance McCullers Jr. would be pretty good. We present them here for purely educational purposes. World Series 2021: In appreciation of the pitcher at-bat, good (Zack We can look at the height distribution for pitching seasons of the last 5 years and see that its approximately normal: The pitchers consistently beat the clock, often by several seconds. 2023 MLB Player Pitching Stats | MLB.com He played fantastic defense. During his two year career with the New York Giants in 1923 +1924, he had an ERA of 3.74, and 52 innings pitched. 1 pick in the Draft, which may land them Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker. A former fifth-round pick, Kemp has hit .281/.359/.375 throughout his Triple-A career, all the while splitting time between second base and the outfield. MLB minimum salary 2022 | Statista It helps that there were only two other equally diminutive pitchers over the decades, but Viau could stand proudly, if not highly, on his record. Davis isn't strong at third, and Pete Alonso is below average at first while a superior first baseman, Dom Smith, is below average in left. No. Vote below, then head over and check out the shortest players in baseball right now. MLB's 5 Best Power Pitchers Under 6'0" Tall - Bleacher Report We could probably leave it at that, but last year, we lumped this group together and people felt left out that each team didnt get a section, so in the interest of fairness: The Orioles might be on the way back. Joe Sewell was an MLB player for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. The 2006 Detroit Tigers captured the AL pennant with an impressive collection of power arms in the bullpen. Gone are the days when the2002 Royals would add 92 innings to the workload of Runelvys Hernandez, or the 2010 Marlins would give a 66-inning increase to 22-year-old Alex Sanabia. Atlanta's Ozzie Albies is 5-foot-8 and also has 14 homers. You dont have to compare Snchez, Rogers, Mize and Skubal to Seaver, Sutton, Carlton and Jenkins to understand how the game has changed. If he can have a few more healthy seasons -- he's 33 and just now coming off the disabled list -- he will have a viable Hall of Fame case.Then came Jose Altuve. The Cardinals traded, as you may have heard, for Nolan Arenado. In 2019, Ozzie won the National League Silver Slugger Award for second basemen. If you hit 30 home runs, youre a power hitter. Lee's start of 1/3 innings was the shortest in the World Series since Mark Thurmond also got just one out in 1984. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Bob was a centerfielder for the Boston Braves but did not have great stats. So, we see that successful pitching seasons by short pitchers dont come completely out of the blue. More pitchers 25 and younger threw 200 innings in 2013 (nine) than in the past four full seasons combined (just six from 2016-19). These five clubs are all headed in the right direction. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. That, combined with his slight 5-foot-9 frame, scared off everybody. If you hit .300, youre a great hitter. Given the lack of a clear top team in the AL West, its not hard to see the As surprising us once again. (We think it can.) During his short career so far, Ozzie has a .279 career batting average, 54 home runs, and 186 Runs batted in. Eddie Gaedel was the shortest baseball player ever to play in the MLB. There are considerable questions about what Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong will bring. The value printed here is their We need to pay attention to the stress they are under and in a certain way we can measure and value that with proper diligence. Edward Cabrera, 22: This is the kind of intriguing case all clubs face with pitchers who have yet to reach the big leagues. Big jumps in workloads rarely happen now. By this approximation, the chance of randomly selecting a pitcher of the last 5 years who is shorter than 511 is about 5%. The top ten best pitching seasons for shorter pitchers of the last 5 years are: With this list and it's writeups, we will have written up 160 players and ranked 300 in total between all of the position groups. The MLB minimum salary in 2022 stood at 700 . They might not be the favorite at all. As MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince wrote, no player 5-foot-8 or shorter has been taken in the top 20 in the Draft. The White Sox had a decent enough winter. Standing at 56, Bobby Shantz was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. The parade of relievers grows longer, inserting more stops in a game already overwrought with them. (Well get to those.) At 5'8, Alejandro Kirk is the shortest catcher in Major League Baseball. Shorter pitchers are generally relegated to the bullpen; there have been 95 instances in the last 5 years of full-time short relief pitchers and 968 instances of full-time taller relief pitchers. Giants Mariners Marlins Royals Tigers. Standing at 53 as a shortstop for the Chicago White Sox, Jess only played in one game and had one at-bat. I like his arm angle, Ng said. Since 1950, there have been nine players who were 65 inches tall or shorter -- Eddie Gaedel, obviously enough, being the shortest of the short. section: | slug: braves-dylan-lee-records-shortest-world-series-start-since-1984-in-game-4-vs-astros | sport: baseball | route: article_single.us | The Most Likable Baseball Players Of 2022. The Red Sox have a lot of the same questions they did headed into 2020. He finished his batting career with over 2,600 hits and got int the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954. Theyre still going to be good. The Shortest, Tallest, Oldest And Youngest 2021 MLB Draft Prospects WBC Roster Preview: Chinese Taipei Looks To Make Some Noise Every team faces a great unknown this year: How do you transition pitchers from the shortest season in history to a full one? Morgan was a 5-foot-7 whirlwind. Toronto Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor has been able to throw relatively hard despite not having the classic hard-throwing pitcher's body. Lists about America's pastime, including rankings of MLB players by every position. Look at the accelerated decline since 2015 in the average innings per start for all starters: The same post-2015 decline shows up in the average number of pitches per start. We can all but guarantee some of those players will be better, perhaps most of them. During his career, Billy was part of the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Beaneaters. Playing shortstop of the Washington Senators at 53, Pompey was known as the Yo-Yo. Lee began his night by allowing an infield single to Jose Altuve. If so, to what extent? The 5'10" Cueto is still averaging 91.7 mph on his fastball this seasonwhich still places him in power-pitcher category. Kirby Yates is already likely out for the year. Standing at 55, Gene was pitching in the Majors from 1911 to 1915. So theres that. No team relied on them more last year. He has averaged a strikeout per inning throughout his career, (295 K's in 217.1 innings pitched). While playing sixteen seasons in the majors, Bobby had his best season in 1952. Itd be nice if Keston Hiura, now playing first, mashed like he did in 2019. Weve made strides technology-wise in monitoring these things.. Standing at 55, Maranville had a long and accomplished playing career. Theres no argument on that from there. In the middle? Just three years later, as a 23-year-old in Cleveland, he was an MVP candidate. He was traded to the Boston Braves in May of that year, made one appearance and disappeared into history (or maybe into Jon Rauch's pants). 3.1 Plate Appearances/G, 1.0 IP/G, No one says Zack Greinke is short at 62 but when the 61 Dylan Bundy was drafted the one constant knock on him was his height, this is also true for all the pitchers who are listed at 60. But this time, at least, it feels different, because a very good farm system (ranked No. Before jumping into who the shortest MLB player was, we should understand the average height in the league. The Phillies did make some moves, at least in the sense of retaining free agents J.T. It would be foolish to think the Marlins will start him 30 times and run up 160 innings on his arm. It has to happen sometime, right? The Nationals well look, if were talking about top-end talent, please do note Juan Soto (have you heard hes Ted Williams? numbers may appear out of order. '"Everything comes around.When Altuve got the chance, he did a pretty good impression of Morgan. rank it your way 1 Mookie Betts Los Angeles Dodgers 1,387 votes 5 feet, 9 inches 2 Teams that just made it to Game 6 of the World Series do not usually trade away high-quality 28-year-old lefties. As importantly, though, they won 60% of their games in 2020 with: down years from Matt Olson and Frankie Montas, an injury-shortened year from Matt Chapman and uninspiring years from Stephen Piscotty and Ramn Laureano. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Coors Field remains a delightful place to experience baseball. The beauty of Major League Baseball is that the size and height of players do not matter. MLB preview: Young pitchers will be challenged in 2021 - Sports Illustrated This year, his 14 homers is among the leaders. But who is the best baseball player shorter than 6 feet? Below are some of the shortest players ever to play throughout baseball history, but before we start, we need to know some averages. Throughout a season, teams conduct regular arm and shoulder health checkups, comparing strength and flexibility test results to a pitchers baseline numbers. He showed that late in the year and through the playoffs.. Short pitchers can be successful and can dominate batters, most of whom are much taller, as Cueto did last year and in 2012. Benintendi not having actually been productive since the Red Sox raised the trophy makes trading him off reasonable enough, but this still looks like an offense that has Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo and a ton of questions. But really, did anyone else go out and get Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, breakout-waiting-to-happen Joe Musgrove and Ha-Seong Kim? The worries about the staff's ability to stay healthy are real. Thats what the Miami conversation always begins with, that Pablo Lpez, Sixto Snchez, Sandy Alcantara, Elieser Hernandez, Trevor Rogers and friends are the core of what might be a really good and youthful starting rotation. The Braves and Astros are battling in the 2021 World Series. We should probably remember that the Yankees' offense, as it always does, will absolutely mash, especially if Giancarlo Stanton can stay healthy. Hes built like Madison Bumgarner and from his 6-foot-5 frame confounds hitters with a low release point of almost the same height (5' 7'') as Bumgarner and Jon Lester. April 1 isn't just "Opening Day," though it is of course that, too. It might be the year that helps define when they do. He went to the Red Sox, won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, then followed that up by winning the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Similarly, if youre six feet, you can pitch. During this career, Gene played for the Cleveland Naps and Buffalo Blues. Do you have a sports website? His nickname was also known as the Shine. Lincecum is still putting up power numbers despite his poor record and lower velocity numbers. Scouts were worried about that size. There is a very select fraternity of MLB power pitchers under 6'0" tall. "It gave me hope," Altuve said. "I thought, 'If I can get a chance, I can show them that I can play. The Astros boast the shortest MLB player in Jose Altuve, but the Nationals have a secret weapon in Adam Eaton More than 100 MLB players are under six feet, and six of them are on the Nationals roster. For his career stats, Leury has a .256 batting average, 23 home runs, and 119 runs batted in. Last year, he led the Majors with 56 doubles, and he added 29 homers. It can be done during the game, Ng said, in terms of arm angle, release point, velocity all of it can be compared to baselines.. Jose Altuve is the shortest player in baseball at 5-foot-6, but there are more than 100 MLB players under 6 feet. Here are the 1st Power Rankings of 2021. His numbers don't dictate that he ishis strikeouts per inning have dropped from 8.2 in 2008 to 6.1 this season. Anyway, we've fallen into the trap, too; we're just talking about pitching. Oh, and Surez might play shortstop now. From 2015 to 2019 (the last full season), starters average workload dropped from 93 pitches to 86 pitches: Every team is reading from the same sheet of music. Like the rest of us, they want to see what Adalberto Mondesi can do, and when Bobby Witt Jr. will make it up, and if Brad Keller can take that next step. You can read more about the pitcher breakdown in that link. Sure. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. During his MLB career, Bon had a batting average of .083. Within the last decade all teams have moved to a staircase model of adding innings to young pitchers workloads. Eddies uniform was number 1/8 and is now in the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. He's listed at 5-foot-9, though that seems more like an inside joke than anything else. Limits on young pitchers began taking root after both Mark Prior and Kerry Wood broke down after they combined to throw 803 2/3 innings for the 2002-03 Cubs. This year, it was adding George Springer and Marcus Semien. 5 this year? Standing at 56, Joe has the second-lowest career strikeout rate in MLB history. "When he can't say 'I'm blowing this guy away,' that's when you stop having that gunslinger bravado," said Leiter. Six Feet Under: Evaluating Short Pitchers | Community Blog Tony Kemp was brought to the majors on Monday. We just need to be really careful with them, and not just from a strict innings standpoint. That seems to be the threshold for weather you have ok size or are considered smaller. They were historically bad in 2018, then were better in '19 and better than that in '20. "He commanded every pitch that he threw, had good life on his pitches and it was a very, very impressive outing for him," Yost said after Collins' first appearance in the Cactus League campaign.