The Giants won a slugfest against the BrewCrew in Maryvale 10-9 with all kinds of crazy $#@& going on. Let's get right to the key lines:
Darren Ford- 0 for 4. Ford was the starting CF today and didn't do so hot.
Mike Fontenot- 1 for 4, 2B, BB. Fontenot was the starting SS today and made an error. No word on his range.
Mark DeRosa- 2 for 3, HR(1). DeRosa is hitting .750 in the early going and definitely making some kind of statement. He's played mostly 2B, but that's obviously Freddy's position when he's healthy.
Travis Ishikawa- 2 for 3, 2B. Travis must know he has the most tenuous spot on the roster, well, except for Aaron Rowand that is, he's not going to make this decision easy. On the other hand, he may be creating a trade market for himself. He's listed as the LF today. Is that for real? Interesting!
Brandon Belt- 3 for 5, 2 2B. O M G !!! This kid has absolutely raked at every level. After a couple of quiet appearances, he got the start at 1B today and, well, he raked! If the Giants wanted him to beat the door down, he took a pretty good whack with a sledgehammer today! Right now, this roster looks like it's headed for a train wreck. A good train wreck, mind you, but a train wreck nonetheless. If this keeps up to the end of spring training, there is going to be carnage!
Nate Schierholtz- 2 for 3. Nate is hitting .375 in the early going and making a case to stay on the roster.
Barry Zito- 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 2 K's. I understand that Zito is a slow starter and spring training games, especially the first game don't mean anything, but after the embarrassment of being left off the postseason roster, I thought maybe Zeets just might come to camp a bit better prepared and with a sense of urgency. Well, we got the same old Zito we have all come to know all too well. We'll probably end up with double digit Quality Starts again, but this just looks like his heart really isn't in it. Probably an unfair criticism, but man, we've got at least 3 more years of this?
Jason Stoffel- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Stoffel came in and got the K to get Zito out of the 2'nd inning.
Jeff Suppan- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. Maybe Suppan will pitch well enough to make himself trade bait? Or, he might make a nice option at the back of the bullpen for long relief and emergency starting. The NL West ballparks are taylor made for his style of pitching.
Javier Lopez- 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K, BS, W. These kinds of outings are common for relievers early in ST. They don't mean too much unless you're fighting for that last spot in the bullpen which Lopez is not.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Romo's second scoreless outing of the spring.
Marc Kroon- 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Not gonna make the team this way.
Tim LIncecum makes his second start of the spring tomorrow against the Cubbies in Scottsdale. Look for him to add in a few split-changes and generally be a bit sharper this time out.
Man, when was the last time any of you can remember this kind of competition for this many roster spots in Spring Training?
Addendum: Great write up in Extra Baggs about Cody Ross. The best part was about Matt Cain confronting him about his bat flipping the day he joined the team. Nice contrast in styles there. Key quote: "Even as a 20 year old rookie, Cain was old school." How great is that anyway? Sabean again stated that Belt would most likely start the season in Fresno, but but still left to door open just a crack. I think he most likely will start the season in Fresno, but better it be a surprise if he makes the Giants than a surprise if he gets sent down.
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kroon is only in camp for the love of the game
ReplyDeletethe guy made close to 20 mil playing in japan, and would still be there now were it not for their really strange racist attitudes concerning foreign players coming close to japanese records.
he has a relationship with our third base coach and bochy...so i guess he is just living the dream of that one more shot to get back into the bigs. he doesnt make it...he aint going to freso...he will be headed to some beach with his family.
done with zito....not even gonna bother watching his games or worrying about it. what pitcher thinks he is gonna get corner calls his first outing in st? one that has nothing left
like i said below...im glad im not sabean or bochy...who wants to really cut down this current team? the only two i can say for sure is rowand and fontenot....but the fo is gonna have to take alot of things into consideration
one thing for sure...this team is in a much better position this spring, then it has been in years
and i still think belt will start off in fresno
but will be up by the end of may at the latest.
man...i really dont know what to do with myself...i havent been able to bitch about a single thing
they are skipping madbum's start?
and i really care little what timmy does during the spring....but is he ever gonna bring back his curve? i miss that pitch
"It's great to have someone pumping the strike zone," Bochy said. "That's what he did."
ReplyDeletegreat quote from bochy....just dissed zito while praising suppan
Yup, sounds like Bochy is pretty much done with Zito too. Problem is what to do with that contract?
ReplyDeleteOh, and look for MadBum to follow Timmy like he did in the first ST game.
ReplyDeleteWell said about Zito, Dr B (and Bacci). I have no idea what goes through his head. If ever there was a time to show up, ready to do some business, this was it. And...nothing. You're probably right, Zito will get his decent starts during the season. But he is the absolute LAST guy anyone wants to see pitching anywhere near a big game. No heart. None.
ReplyDeleteNo, you want a pitcher working on his stuff early in ST, not just trying to win the game. That is also why they are throwing so many strikes. This isn't about Zito being a slow starter - they haven't started yet; it's till practice!
ReplyDeleteKennv,
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on the situation. Ordinarily, for veteran pitchers, you don't care what they do in the first game or two of spring training. With Zito coming off the humiliation of being left off the playoff roster though, he might want to come to spring training with the preliminary work done ahead of time looking to make a statement with his first outing. It's not like his arm was tired from throwing all those extra innings in the postseason! As for throwing strikes, we didn't even see THAT from Zito!