Sunday, March 24, 2013

Game Wrap Spring Training 2013: Giants 5 Angels 4

The Giants pushed a run across in the top of the 9'th to come away winners of a see-saw contest.   Barry Zito had another strong start.  Key Lines:

Hunter Pence- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(2).  BA= .368.  The Rev looks like he's ready to go.  Hope some of this carries over into the season.  He'll be playing for a contract.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(1). BA= .354.  Crawford is on fire.  Again, hope some of this carries over. He was a very tough out by the end of last season.

Ricky Oropesa- 2 for 3, 2B.  BA= .346.  I would say Ricky has made the most of the opportunities he has gotten this spring and it is apparent the Giants appreciate that.

Barry Zito- 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.00.  Another strong start by Zito.  I think all of them have been good since the first 1 or 2.

Scott Proctor- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 4.91.  Proctor is making the final bullpen decisions painful.

Jose Mijares- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 19.29.  Mijares might not want to get too comfortable with the way Proctor is pitching.

Chad Gaudin- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R,  0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.81.  Gaudin shows his versatility pitching out of the Mijares jam.

Heath Hembree- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.63.  This is the first time I've seen Hembree pitch on TV and the first time I've seen him pitch at all since seeing him in 2011 in San Jose.  He certainly looks like future closer material.  Easy heat with a long, loose arm.  He looked especially good elevating the fastball and getting swing thoughs with it, but he can bust it down in the zone too.

Pablo Sandoval had more tests on his elbow with no new findings reported.  Seems like being ready for Opening Day might be too much to expect.

Brandon Belt woke up with a stiff neck and was a last minute scratch.  I'm less worried about that than Pablo's elbow.

19 comments:

  1. I like the way Hunter is playing right now. He even stole a bag today. I am still not sure I want him long term but I am hoping he has a good year for us. We are going to need him if we want to repeat.

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  2. And Barry being Barry. Only gives up one run despite a WHIP of almost 2 for the game. I am concerned about the back of our rotation with him and Lincecum. They have the potential to put a real strain on our bullpen.

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  3. i listened to some of the game through the halos broadcast. seems halos are really concerned about their pen. halo announcer was impressed with craw and pence and hembree. re hembree, he pretty much said what you did.

    im confused about something. i thought if someone was sent down and is on the 40, he cant come back

    final pen, of and if spot announcement should be very interesting. although i expect to see everyone on the 40 long before sept

    bacci

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    1. The rules are confusing, but I think I've figured out that a player on the 40 man roster can be sent down and called back up and sent down again as as many times in a season as needed and it still only counts as one option.

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    2. im just talking st. a few of the beat reporters noted that during st, if someone on the 40 man was cut, he couldnt come back to big league camp, but other minor leaguers could

      also, looks like riot is ready to retire if he doesnt get a starting gig. doesnt think a backup or utility role is enough to take him away from his family

      i guess i respect that, but riot has a good 3-4 years left in him and could easily make another 15-17 mil...which buys a lot of leisure time

      oh well...its his life

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    3. I read in the aftermath of the big cut down that the Giants were able to cut 21 players because the rules have changed. Someone on the 40 man can still play in the big league st games even if they were cut. So there was no need to keep them in the big league locker room. That's why Noonan can play. I believe that Heston started a game several days back in lieu of Bumgardner as well.

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  4. Simple roster question: can we add a 'bat'? While I love versatility, I keep wondering who would be DH in interleague (20 games, I think) or 1st PH in a close game. I'm not looking for a great hitter, but someone who is at least a threat. Pill? Someone off the waiver wire?

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    1. I would like to see that Giants add a RH power bat, but it's not like they are completely devoid of DH options. There's the Blanco/Torres platoon that can be extended to one of them being DH. There is also whoever wins the roster spot between Pegs and Gillespie. Gillespie actually seems to have some HR pop in his bat. Also, Buster can move to 1B with Belt serving as DH with Sanchez/Quiroz catching.

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    2. Pretty weak options overall. I'd prefer Buster DH/Belt 1B for defense if we're using our backup catcher. Blanco/Torres offer speed rather than punch. Gillespie/Pegs? There is no terror in that threat.

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    3. An NL team is not going to keep a clumpy DH type around for the few games in AL home parks. The problem with DH'ing Buster is if you have to move him behind the plate during the game, you lose your DH, at least I think that is how it works.

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    4. Correct on the DH rule, but it's a risk I'd be willing to take. And I'm not hoping for a "clumpy DH" type, just a bit more of a threat with the bat. 20 interleague games = 10 games needing a DH, which is enough to matter in the standings as I fear this will be a close division this year. A much hated team has spent a ton of money to try to take us down, so I worry about any weak points that we might have. Heavy rests the crown.

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  5. OT: Fangraphs has their Positional Power Rankings 16-30 for SP and has the Giants at #16.

    http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/2013-positional-power-rankings-starting-pitchers-16-30/

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    1. If 15 teams have better starting pitching than the Giants, we will see a lot of low score games this year.

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    2. Fangraphs relies on FIP and XFIP to rank their pitching. The Giants have a long history of outperforming those stats which really calls into question the validity of the stats which drives the Fangraphs people crazy.

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    3. I didn't know the Giants had a long history of outperforming those stats, but just going by common sense, can one question that ranking? 16th?

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    4. Oh, absolutely. In the discussion, Dave Cameron basically admits they are being underrated because of the FIP/WAR thing, but then tries to justify it based on lack of rotation depth. Depth is definitely an issue, but how many teams run more than 4 deep in their rotation let alone 5 or 6?

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  6. Our long national nightmare is over. Boras gets the brew crew to sign Lohse for 3/33mm and they lose their pick. Los Gigantes move up to lucky #25, the Matt Cain pick!

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    1. Wow! That has to be a bad signing for the BrewCrew and a disappointment for Lohse. Lose-lose all the way around.

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  7. http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25864645

    really nice moment for the two shawons

    bacci

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