Five Spring Training Notes: Selby's ascension puts him in bullpen competition

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Colin Selby had returned home to Charlotte from the Arizona Fall League and finally had a little time to himself before he got the call from Ben Cherington. He had his contract selected and was now part of the Pirates' roster.

Not a bad development for a 16th-round pick from Randolph-Macon College, a Division-III school.

"You don't see a lot of guys from smaller schools make it this far," Selby told me. "Knowing I got that call and got that much closer is an exciting feeling."

Selby has brought up his humble beginnings as a professional a couple times in my conversations with him, but the thing about pro ball is draft status can only get you so far. At some point, you need stuff, and Selby has stuff. He showed it in Arizona, and then Wednesday at Pirate City.

Here he is blowing a couple pitches past veteran Ji-Man Choi:

The pitcher has the advantage in these early-spring live batting practices, but getting a guy like Choi is a nice feather in the cap for a guy in his first big-league camp. He showed last year that he can face some of the toughest competition in the minors, recording a 2.27 ERA across 35 2/3 inning for Class AA Altoona and AAA Indianapolis, blowing away top-30 prospects with high-90s fastballs with two high-spin breaking pitches.

"But playing through those guys, I realized there wasn't much of a difference than those guys and me, so I always felt like I was in the mix," Selby said. 

Now comes the next step: That jump to the majors. Derek Shelton has been very open that there's a lot of competition in that bullpen. Selby is a part of it, and even if he starts in the minors, he is in a good position to be promoted at some point this year.

Now, it's about working towards getting that next call.

"I have confidence in what I throw, and what I throw has been working," Selby said. "No reason to change that."

• Since I singled out Selby's live batting practice against Choi, let's take a look at some more from today.

First, Oneil Cruz vs. Jarlín García, the team's biggest reliever signing this winter. Left-on-left. And Cruz ends it with this:

If he is going to be this year's breakout player, like he told DK, he's going to need to be able to do that.

Also caught him doing some fielding drills. He bounced a couple throws to first while moving to his right, but they were on target. You can tell he and infield coach Mendy Lopez have been working on his footwork.

• Cutch?

Cutch.

The bat speed and swing are still there. He's a couple years removed from the ACL injury and is back at his home park. Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a solid year for him?

• FanGraphs released their list of their top 100 (well, 112 prospects), and Quinn Priester fell to No. 108. He was the organization's minor-league pitcher of the year last season, but he has seen his top-prospect stock drop this winter, also falling off Baseball America's top 100 list.

I wouldn't read all that much into it right now, especially when he has at-bats like this one against Malcom Nunez:

It's the SMALLEST of sample sizes, but that was a really good sequence that showcased how special a pitcher he can be.

The general impression I've gotten on Priester is scouts love him and analysts are more wary of the red flags. Personally, I think he needs to pitch backwards with the breaking stuff first, and that he can be at the heart of a future rotation.

• Injury news to wrap up the day: Termarr Johnson is dealing with a right hamstring strain. He will be withheld from all baseball activities for 10-14 days before being reevaluated. 

Going based on when spring-training cuts normally happen, that might be an end to his first major-league spring training.

Robert Stephenson is also dealing with some minor elbow discomfort. He self-reported it right before he came into camp and is on a modified throwing program. He should throw off a mound, or maybe even a side session, early next week.

And Blake Cederlind is a full go this spring, and word is he's throwing the ball like he did before the surgery. If that's the case, keep an eye on him this year.