Alex Rodriguez reached base twice in three trips to the plate in his spring training debut Wednesday afternoon, but baseball insiders weren't especially impressed.
“From everything that I saw, the bat is slow right now, it’s no question,” Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa told the New York Post.
Bowa has a basis for comparison, having served as third base coach for the Yankees from 2006-07 and on the Mariners staff in 2000 when Rodriguez was still in Seattle.
Other (unnamed) seasoned observers echoed Bowa's assessment after Rodriguez went 1-for-2 with a walk.
But as Bowa and and one scout went on to note, it was only one game and it's normal for any hitter to be playing catch-up at this early stage in spring training.
“Two to three weeks from now, I’ll have a better feel,” Rodriguez told reporters. “Everything feels a little off right now. Everything feels a little strange right now.”
Understandable, of course, but the nature of Rodriguez's return after being suspended for the entire 2014 season guarantees such scrutiny every day going forward.
And no media outlet has shown more scrutinty than the Post, which made its feelings clear with Thursday's headline:
New York Post headline crushes Alex Rodriguez http://t.co/ttzsHCofcc pic.twitter.com/CnS2uuhThl
— For The Win (@ForTheWin) March 5, 2015So tune in Friday night, when Rodriguez is scheduled to serve as the designated hitter against the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.