Monday, May 6, 2013

Down on the Farm: 5/5/2013

AAA  Colorado Springs Sky Sox defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 9-6:

Juan Perez(3B)- 4 for 5, 2 2B, 2 SB(6).  BA= .303.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .195
Roger Kieschnick(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(5).  BA= .310.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 4.22.

Perez is hitting .389 over his last 10 games.  Don't look now, but Brownie has a 4 game hit streak going.

AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Trendon Thunder 5-1:

Joe Panik(SS)- 2 for 5.  BA= .308.
Andrew Susac(C)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .305.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 3 for 4, SB(3).  BA= .245.
Justin Fitzgerald(RHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.09.
Phil McCormick(LHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.04.

Parker has a 4 game hit streak of his own in which he is 8 for 17 with 3 doubles and a triple.  With as bad as the starters in Fresno are pitching, maybe Fitz can get a chance?

High A  Rancho Cucamonga beat the San Jose Giants 4-1:

Angel Villalona(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(6).  BA= .214.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.61.

Low A  Augusta Greenjackets vs Asheville Tourists postponed by rain.

10 comments:

  1. DrB, if Susac keeps hitting the way he has and with the position he plays, wouldn't he emerge as the Giants top prospect?

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    1. Since Susac was once considered for a top draft pick before dropping from injury concerns, if he "proves" himself in the big bad Eastern, then I think he will reemerge at the top of prospect lists. But Panik and the squadron of young arms in the Giants system will give him some tough competition for the actual "top spot", imo.

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    2. Susac is very interesting.

      I was surprised that he was promoted given how his batting line was so bad, but BB-Reference.com's new minor league games and splits shows that he was just really bad at home, hitting .210/.340/.329/.669 but a more robust .273/.362/.423/.784 on the road. And in spite of the poor batting average at home, he still had a good OBP.

      He also almost hit as well against RHP as LHP, .723 OPS vs. .750 OPS, not bad at all, andn his BA was on the very low side .208. If he was at his overall .244 instead, he would have had a .390 OPS vs. LHP.

      On top of that, while he struggled for his first four months, he hit really well in August (plus 3 games in September), roughly .900 OPS and all three of his triples. So while overall his offense looked bad, these all showed good results, so I now see why he might have been promoted, based on stats.

      Susac has had a nice 2013. Started out hot in first 8 games (.346/.433/.731/1.165, 2 HR in 26 AB, but 11 K's, only 4 BB), then cold in his next 7 (9 K's in 21 AB! .154 BABIP), but then has been hot again the last 10 games, .400/.488/.714/1.202, with 2 HR in 35 AB, 6 BB/5 K, and 10 games hitting streak.

      Hard for him to keep up such a high BABIP (.429 in latest streak). Also, not sure if recent parks were more hitter oriented or not. Still, if he can keep it over 1.000 OPS during the season, yeah, I have to think he'll be the top prospect barring Blackburn, Stratton, or Crick rising through the system quickly to AAA this season.

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    3. I heard somewhere that Susac was orginally ticketed to repeat San Jose but showed enough improvement in spring training that the Giants changed their minds and sent him to Richmond.

      One thing you can't see from looking at stats is he had to learn to play catcher in the pros. College catchers do not call games as pitches are called by the manager from the dugout. In the pros, catchers are expected to call the pitches which is a huge mental adjustment.

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  2. At some point, both Fitzgerald and McCormick need to move up to Fresno to see how they handle AAA.

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  3. Loving Juan Perez. I'm a little surprised Frankie Pegs got the call up and not JCP.

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  4. Pegs deserved the call up given his performance in the spring and his recent hot hitting. I hope he doesn't just sit and cool off. I was glad to see him get into the games on Saturday and Sunday.

    I noticed that Panik is back at SS. Any information as to why? It seemed like he was on track to take over at 2B in a year or two.

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    1. I think its just Ehire has some sort of minor injury. They're playing Relaford at 2B the past 3 games with Panik at SS.

      Peggs made a nice running catch yesterday. He brings some good energy to the fight. Nice SB as well, although he did come off the bag. Nick Punto was not the savvy vet on the spot though.

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  5. Wow, Brown has been hot or not, but not really in-between so far.

    From game 2 to 12, not really hot, but good hitting, and one has to wonder if he got power hungry and tried to hit for more power after game 12, because in the four games leading up to that, he had a double, homer, no XBH, then double and triple, and then for the next 14 games, to end of the month plus May 1st, 6 for 54 with one XBH, .146 BABIP, .111/.213/.130/.343, plus his strikeout rate jumped up too, roughly 25% of his AB's (meaning poor contact rate of under 75% when you want to be above 85% generally in the majors).

    Then in his modest four-game hit streak, he's hitting and for power again, 6 for 19, 3 doubles in 4 games, though still striking out, 5 K's in 19 AB. Last time, it started a poor streak of hitting, he needs to continue the good hitting if he hopes to get a call-up this season in Septmember, a la Peguero in 2012.

    According to his splits, he's been sucking at home and against RHP in particular.

    Still sucks at one of his most important duties, if he were to make the majors, stealing bases, caught 3 of 7 times, that is way too high for a basestealer.

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