01/18/2013 - Arizona National Spring Training Irving continues to show improvements in his baseball abilities. Foot speed has improved as he ran his best 60 time to date but will benefit by continuing to work to increase foot speed. At 1B, feet are aggressive as he attacking ground balls, displaying clean hands. He shows proper footwork around the bag and is a solid receiver. Throws are accurate but needs to build more arm strength through a long toss program. At the plate, Matt shows a balanced setup. Hands are smooth / loose and works through a level swing path. For hitting grades to continue to improve, he needs to improve bat speed and work to stay inside the ball to utilize all fields. Power numbers will continue to improve as he learns to use his lower half more. On the mound, arm strength has improved as he threw his best velocity to date at 69 mph. Fastball shows a range of 66-69 mph. Breaking ball displays 2/8 shape with gradual break. He slows his arm speed on his changeup, tipping off pitch to hitters but shows solid arm side run. Mental makeup is a plus as he is very coachable and works hard to be the best player he can be.