Notes from Wednesday's Timber Rattlers Game

I attended Wednesday's Wisconsin-Cedar Rapids game, and thought I'd share some notes. Before that, though, a quick disclaimer: Counting today's game, I've seen the T-Rats exactly one time this season, and I'm not a professional (or even a good amateur) scout. None of the stuff I'm about to share should be viewed as a full evaluation, just some observations from a few hours in the front row.

Now, here's what I saw:

• If today's outing was any indication, Jake Odorizzi could be really special. He was working in the low 90's most of the day, peaking at 94. He had a rough first inning control wise (and got nickeled and dimed to the tune of three runs), but settled down in the second and pitched very well from there on out. He was at 51 pitches at the end of two innings, but retired the last seven batters he faced in order to finish strong. He struck out seven in four innings.
• D'Vontrey Richardson showed some flashes of potential but also looked really raw. He had a first inning strikeout where his swing looked really long. After that he settled in and had a few quality ABs (and two singles), but a baserunning mistake in the seventh really stuck out: He should have been picked off first on a decent move - the umpire blew the call. He proceeded to retake the same lead and got picked off easily the second time.
• This was my first time seeing Scooter Gennett, and he looks like a guy with good pitch selection who will easily slot into a "gritty" category. On a related note, he's smaller than I expected him to be. B-Ref lists him at 5'9", 164, and I'd have to see him step onto a scale to believe that. 
• Actually, several T-Rats are pretty small - Gennett, Michael Marseco and Pete Fatse all started today. Fatse is easily the largest of the three at 5'10", 170...and the 5'10" is generous. The new S100 helmets, required in the minors this year, don't help: The smaller guys look like little kids wearing their big brother's helmet.