Down the home stretch the Bears had 10 more players complete short development programs before the season begins.
- RP Richard Bullock - Improve Defense
Unsuccessful: I had so many open lab slots that I started putting pitchers into training programs to improve their defense. Bullock is a veteran so I'm not surprised by this result but he's a horrible fielder so it wouldn't have taken much to improve.
- 2B Brock Ramsey - Improve Defense
Unsuccessful: Ramsey is a tweener and something has to give if he wants to debut in the BBA. Defensive improvement won't be the reason as he remains more of a bat-first guy with no discernable lab improvement.
- 3B Jorge Reyes - Improve Defense
Outstanding: Reyes might be our best prospect and this helps solidify it. The 2059 first round pick now looks to be a solid defender at the hot corner after improving his arm, error, and TDP ratings by 1 point. Prior to this program he was caught between 2B and 3B.
- LF Chris Hall - Improve Defense
Outstanding: Vegas tried improving Hall's defense in the lab to no avail but this time it stuck and his outfield range, error, and arm all improved by 1 point. He's still going to play DH more often than not but this makes me more comfortable throwing him into the outfield.
- LF Tynan Rose - Improve Defense
Unsuccessful: Rose's defense basically mirrors Hall now. They platoon at DH and I'll mostly try to avoid letting Rose play the field.
- 3B José Pérez - Improve Defense
Successful: it's worth noting Perez had an outstanding result with his defense in the lab last offseason. This time he again improves defensively, although the improvements weren't enough to bump any of his fielding ratings a full point.
- 3B Etugrul Inonu - Improve Defense
Outstanding: the development train keeps on chugging for Inonu. After completing a long-term program successfully he crushes it with his defensive program. His arm and error ratings both improve by 1 point while less noticeable improvements are reported to range and TDP. Inonu's profile now reflects a good 3B who should also adequately defend 2B while being capable of standing at SS or the corner outfield.
- 2B Zero Dimotsios - Improve Defense
Unsuccessful: Dimotsios is already a strong defender so the hope here was a jump up to being capable of handling shortstop. He remains a good looking defender at the other infield positions.
- 2B Wasim Nasser - Improve Defense
Outstanding: Nasser is still just 17 years old so this was by far my youngest lab attendee. The risk paid off with Nasser improving by a full point in his infield arm, error, and TDP ratings. Less than a point was added to his infield range. He's now a solid 2B who is better suited to field some grounders at third.
- SP Morgan Tomsett - Improve Defense
Successful: my other pitching development attempt managed to improve his defensive rating by 1 point. This seemed like a worthwhile investment since Tomsett should be with us for several more seasons and he's a dogshit fielder.
