Trevor Bauer and Patrick Corbin: An Eye-Witness Report

Definitely would have liked to have been at Salt River Fields this afternoon to see two of the top pitching prospects in all baseball working for the Diamondbacks. Both Trevor Bauer and Patrick Corbin were in action for the team against the Giants. Looking at the box-score, you would not have thought Bauer's line was anything special, but it seems to have been one of those cases where numbers are not necessarily the best picture. Given the interest, and as a more subjective - and today, likely more useful - view, I asked Visalia's Donny Baarns, who was working on today's broadcast for MLB.com, whether he'd mind giving us his take on how the young duo performed.

He was pleased to oblige, and you can find his thoughts on Bauer and Corbin after the jump.

As I said in the wrapup after the game, I thought Bauer threw pretty well (aside from not getting ahead in the count as often as he'd like) and was very unlucky to give up 6 hits. I thought he handled the potential frustration of giving up soft hits well and didn't allow himself to get rattled by them, which is something the D-backs coaching staff needs to see. In many ways, that ability to push through a patch of sub-optimal luck may be more impressive to Kirk Gibson and co. than just striking out the side every time.

I also thought it was interesting how intimidated Giants hitters were by Bauer's fastball. Multiple times, a pitch would sail a bit high but not that close the batter, who would nonetheless flinch and jump back. Bauer flies toward the hitter as he drives into his motion so much that even when he sits at 91-92 mph, it still looks much quicker.

Corbin, meanwhile, was outstanding. Gibson noted before the game that he really likes Corbin, loves how he pounds the zone and shows no fear. Corbin didn't disappoint. And he showed firsthand how filthy his slider is, particularly against lefthanders, who had no collective chance against him today. And when he compliments that fastball-slider combo with a changeup that is much better than when I last saw him in person in Visalia two years ago, he makes that fastball look even quicker when he goes back to it.

A good positive day for both youngsters, in my opinion, for different reasons.