Grady Sizemore joins Indians as advisor

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Grady Sizemore - Indians ST 2/14/17

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Fans lined up along a fence, reaching over the top pole with baseballs, photos and pens clutched in their outstretched hands. A veteran wearing Indians gear approached the group, some stubble on his famous face, and stopped to sign his name a few times before heading to Field 1 at Cleveland’s complex.

The new addition to camp was Grady Sizemore, who has been hired as an advisor to the Tribe’s player development department. For Cleveland fans, Sizemore is as known for what might have been as he is for his incredible feats on the field as one of the game’s bright young stars so many years ago. The former outfielder is currently weighing what will come next for him, and that journey begins in Goodyear, Ariz., this spring.

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Grady picked up by Rays, impresses in debut

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On June 15th, Grady Sizemore was signed to a minor league deal by the Tampa Bay Rays. After working out for a few days at their training complex in Port Charlotte, FL, Grady began a string of games with the High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs on Sunday, June 21st.

Just one short week later, the MLB club selected his contract and he made his debut with the Rays batting 2nd in the DH position vs. the Boston Red Sox on Sunday 6/28. Going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a double, Grady seems to have made a good first impression with his new club and their fans.

Check out his thoughts from before and after the game below:

Grady Sizemore Finds Opportunity To Compete With Rays – Sports Talk Florida
Grady Sizemore makes good first impression on Rays – Tampa Bay Times

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Sizemore makes most of his opportunity

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Since struggling mightily in the month of April (.147/.194/.176 — albeit in limited playing time), Grady seems to have heated up along with the weather. With a line of .368/.415/.421 in May so far, his numbers have quite improved, landing at .264/.312/.306 as of May 18th.

While the power doesn’t seem to be there (yet), it’s good news to see him swinging a hot bat this month. Is it the weather, the increased playing time, or just that he was in a slump the entire month of April? Will the power ever return? Those answers remain to be seen, but we’re enjoying this little hot streak while it lasts.

For their part, Grady and Philly manager Ryne Sandberg think it’s the more consistent AB’s that are helping:

“It felt good to have some good swings and get the win,” Sizemore said. “I felt like I didn’t have a lot of at-bats or a lot of consistent at-bats, so I try to just do what you can to stay sharp and relax up there and keep grinding it out.”

“Grady just seems to be clicking right now,” Sandberg said. “He gave us some real good pinch-hits, he got some hits and I think that got him rolling. Now with some starts, he seems to be in a groove. He’s just seeing the ball real good, squaring it up.”

Read more at Phillies.com

The Phils begin a long 10-game road trip, during which they’ll face the Nationals and Mets, following the 3-game set with the Rockies in Denver that begins tonight.

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Sizemore ‘forgotten man’ so far this spring

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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Grady Sizemore has become a bit of a forgotten ballplayer with the Phillies this spring.

The Phillies made bringing back Sizemore a priority, signing him to a one-year, $2 million contract in mid-October. But the 32-year-old Sizemore hasn’t been getting much time with the regulars in Grapefruit League games. He didn’t play in Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the Astros, one day after making the trip to Lake Buena Vista only to enter the game against the Braves as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.

Read more at The News Journal.

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Catching up with last year’s big spring training story, Grady Sizemore

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CLEARWATER, Fla. — The excitement of spring training is a little different this time around for Grady Sizemore.

The outfielder who showed the Red Sox enough last spring to get an Opening Day start despite not having played major league ball for two years, is now with the Phillies, vying for a job in left field.

A year ago, Sizemore was a topic of conversation every day. Now he sits almost anonymously in the Philadelphia clubhouse, just trying to build off a 2014 campaign which saw the 32-year-old play in a combined 112 games with the Sox and Phils.

“There were moments where you feel like it’s coming back and then there were moments where you kind of feel a little lost,” said Sizemore, who hit .216 with a .612 OPS in 52 games with the Red Sox before being released. “I think it’s more of being away from the game for so long. There were some bright spots and some down spots. Just being able to find that comfort zone where you’re not going through those long stretches where you feel you don’t have it.”

Read the rest at WEEI.

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