Braves spring training: Sean Newcomb strikes out 4, Bryce Ball goes yard

The Atlanta Braves got a solid start from Sean Newcomb on Wednesday and got a couple of big home runs in 4-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Sean Newcomb is pretty much a lock to start the season in the Atlanta Braves Opening Day rotation, but there are still enough questions there that we need to see him make some improvements in spring training.

The biggest thing we need to see is him throw strikes.

He did a decent job of that in his first Spring outing as he didn’t walk a batter over 2 innings, but he did go to a three-ball count at least three times that I saw.

The first inning was a frustrating one as he gave up a couple of hits to start the game, the second one went right to the shortstop position but it was vacated with the runner from first trying to steal.

And then back-to-back runs scored on a passed ball and a wild pitch. It looked like Newcomb and Travis d’Arnaud got crossed up on the passed ball.

He bounced back in the second inning to strike out the side in order.

Overall, I thought Newcomb was really sharp with the fastball. All four of his strikeouts came on the fastball, which sat 92-94 and was up to 95.

But he really didn’t have any command over his curveball, which I only saw him throw in the first inning. His changeup looked better in the second inning than the first.

It was a solid first start for Newcomb, we just need to see him continue to show better command of all his pitches.

Touki Toussaint came in after Newcomb and threw two scoreless innings, but I wasn’t really impressed with his outing as he fell behind just about every batter.

However, when he was in the zone he got a lot of weak contact.

He finished his outing with a strikeout and showed why he still possesses so much upside as he carved the hitter up with some really sharp breaking pitches.

Other game notes:

* Big home runs: d’Arnaud and Bryce Ball each hit towering home runs in this game. d’Arnaud’s was a no-doubter (see below), while Ball took a pitch down-and-away on the left-handed hitter and drove it out to left-center field.

* I wasn’t overly impressed with Patrick Weigel in his two scoreless innings. Like Touki, he fell behind almost every batter and didn’t really seem to be sharp with his pitches. I’m not sure what the future holds for him, but this outing didn’t exactly excite me (it’s spring training, I know).

The Braves will be back at home on Thursday to take on the hated St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, it won’t be on TV as Jack Flaherty goes up against Felix Hernandez.