I was happy that the Giants had been playing almost perfect baseball so far this spring, but I was seriously starting to worry that maybe the baseball gods weren't smiling. Well, the baseball gods were appeased today as the Giants dropped their exhibition game against the Mariners 6-2 and looked bad doing it. Key lines:
Aaron Rowand- 2 for 3, CS. I'm OK with Rowand leading off. He seems to be taking his job of getting on base seriously and certainly seems capable. What I'm not OK with is Aaron Rowand thinking he's a classic leadoff speedster and trying to steal bases. They say you have to be successful on at least 70-75% of basestealing attempts to make it a positive offensive contribution. Rowand might get to 50% if he's lucky. He needs to just get on base and be ready to try to take third on a single, or come home on a double, but not try to steal!
Mark DeRosa- 2 for 2, BB. DeRosa shows why he may be an offensive upgrade, but a defensive liability as he failed to get to a pop fly double in LF.
Tim Lincecum- 2.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's. Just 2 ER, but a WHIP of 3 isn't going to win you many games. I'm thinking that Timmy is starting his spring over since he was limited to a simulated game due to rain his last scheduled start.
Madison Bumgarner- 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 0 K's. Another start-over, but the signs are ominous. Baggs is reporting 86-89 MPH. Add in the wildness and lack of K's and you have to start wondering if this kid is hiding an injury, like an ACL or something.
Mota, Runzler and Romo- 3 likely bullpen members were lights out once again with 1 shutout inning apiece.
A couple of minor league contract signings of note:
1. Pablo Sandoval's older bro signed out of indy ball.
2. LHP Andy Sisco. This guy is enormous and might be interesting. A lefthanded mirror image of Steve Palazzolo at 6'10", 270 lbs. Pitched pretty well for one season with KC in 2005: 2-5, 3.11, 75.1 IP, 42 BB's, 76 K's. His BB/9 ballooned over the next 2 seasons and then he missed 2008 and 2009 with TJ surgery. Still just 27 y.o., he's someone to keep an eye on. The Giants have a history of being patient with this type of pitcher. Maybe they need to have Steve Kline take a look at him. He was able to get Dan Runzler turned around.
Fangraphs has it's NL Top 50 Prospect list up. Pretty similar to BA's with 4 Giants: Posey- #4, Bumgarner- #9, Zack Wheeler- #26, Thomas Neal #36. We'll see how it shakes out when they combine the NL and AL lists into a overall Top 100. Gotta wonder about MadBum that high with his continued velocity issues. Definitely a story to follow and a scary one for Giants fans.
Around the league:
Brandon Webb appears more and more likely to start the season on the DL.
Matt Holliday has a rib cage strain that seems like it might be more serious than originally thought. Rib cage strains can be debilitating for a long time.
Russell Martin is out 4-6 weeks with a pulled groin muscle. Gotta think there is something longer term going on with him though.
Michael Taylor homered for Oakland. Fantasy tip: Watch this guy closely. He'll start the season in the minors, but will almost certainly be called up before the season is over and will absolutely rake.
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Chron this morning reports that Joe Martinez's MRI shows elbow inflammation. Sounds like the DL and Fresno for poor Joe. Given Bumgarner's performance, would you agree that 5th starter's job will, for the time being, land on Wellemeyer?
ReplyDeleteJim
I wonder if someone started messing with MadBum's mechanics. Maybe they tinkered with arm angle or release point, but something definitely happened last year in Connecticut... Tacklebox
ReplyDeleteInjury wise, for Bumgarner, a loss of control and velocity would point to problems with his elbow and shoulder, respectively.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteToo bad for Joe Martinez. That guy has worked so hard and pitched so well at every step along the way only to develop arm problems just as he is on the threshold of the majors. Disappointing to say the least.
I have believed #5 starter was Wellemeyer's to lose from the day he was signed. So far, he has done nothing to lose it.
Tacklebox and Marcello,
There are a bunch of videos of Bumgarner on youtube.com. If you look at him pitching in his final game for San Jose vs this spring and last year in MLB, there are several things that I noticed, or think I noticed(I don't claim to be an expert on pitching mechanics):
1. The tempo of his delivery is much faster in San Jose.
2. His crossstep is more pronounced last Sept and persists this spring, though maybe not quite as pronounced as in the fall.
3. He draws his arm back and kind of hesitates with the ball waving way out behind him in the fall and this spring compared to San Jose.
It is quite possible that someone tinkered with his delivery in CT. It seems like more than just a coincidence that both he and Alderson apparently had a significant drop in velocity and in K rates after their promotion to CT. I think CT had a new pitching coach last year. Bob Stanley had been very successful there in the past, but seemed to have some sort of falling out with the organization.
I'll be interested to see if anyone has anything to add on the videos.
seriously, if you are seriously worried about 'wasting wins', every time you make that point you lose credibility. that is something middle school kids say. just saying....
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Hey lighten up man! You sure seem like a humorless dude, or dudette. I think I prefaced it with something about being "superstitious." It was meant to be a lighthearted joke!
ReplyDelete.....and seriously, I hope I still have a little bit of middle school left in me!
ReplyDelete