Thursday, September 12, 2013

Down on the Farm: 9/11/2013

The San Jose Giants won the deciding game of their semifinal California League playoff series over the Visalia Rawhide 9-5 to advance to the championship series against the Inland Empire 66'ers:

Matt Duffy(SS)- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .389.
Mac Williamson(RF)- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .368.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 2 for 5, HR(4).  BA= .364.
Trevor Brown(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .474.
Devin Harris(DH)- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .286.
Myles Schroder(3B)- 2 for 4, 2 2B, HBP, SB(1).  BA= .118.
Pat Young(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 2.70.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.08.
Derek Law(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

All above stats are for the postseason only.  As you can see, many SJ hitters had a very good series!  Ricky's dinger was his 4'th in the series.  Pat Young didn't make it to the 4'th inning and was hurt by an error, but the 7 K's in 3.2 IP against just 1 BB is impressive.

The Inland Empire 66'ers won their series finale over the Lancaster Jethawks 4-3 in 15 innings!  This has to be a bitter defeat for the Jethawks who won both halves of the regular season in the Southern Division.  The Championship series starts in San Bernardino tonight where games 1 and 2 will be played.  I will make every effort to attend both games.  I presume Blach will pitch game 1 with Cricky going in game 2 so Friday night is the game to attend if you have to choose.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, Ricky... The kid can definitely hit, he just has to grind it out in Richmond next year. Hopefully his big second half this year will give him the confidence to head back up next season and give it hell.

    If Duffy hits next season, I could see him getting a bump to Richmond midseason. His stock is rising.

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    1. Actually, if Duffy has a good spring, he's got a good chance of starting off at Richmond.

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    2. I wouldn't even be surprised if Duffy went to RICH/AA at the beginning...Maybe he could use more time in SJ, but there is nobody to man shortstop at RICH unlss they go outside the org. with a minor league FA..They finished the year with Stromsone and Tomlinson manning shortstop and doing a bad job of it..bad enough where they were using Panik at short also...So, unless, the Giants are rethinking Panik back to short, I can see Duffy earning a spot at AA from the beginning.

      As for Ricky, I saw him I about 5 games at Rich this year, most of the time he looked lost but he did have one impressive game where he smoked almost everything...None of the hitter prospects that moved up from SJ to RICH lit the world on fire (Susac (the best), Ricky, Panik, Duvall) but should have another chance next year...

      Good relief work by MARTE (Rich bound next year)and not a horrible result for Young..At least he knows he has something to work on!

      Good to have another series..

      SteveVA

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    3. Good to have another series... Amen.

      SJ, the crown jewel of the minors for the Gigantes. I wouldn't be surprised by Duffy to RICH either.

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  2. If it's Crick on Friday night, I might have to renege on a promise. But it will be worth it.

    DrB, will this be the first time you see Crick? Love a comparison, if you go, between him and Wheeler whom you described in the past as having pitched, paraphrasing here, one of the best games you have ever seen from a San Jose pitcher...or something like that.

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    1. I've seen both Wheeler (twice in person) and Crick (4 times in person this year including his last two dominating starts) and I'd say they compare favorably in terms of electric stuff. Command/control-wise, they both struggled in San Jose (and Wheeler still struggles here), but Crick has really seemed to figure that piece out and in his last few starts, is showing pinpoint control and great command with all of his pitches including a devastating change-up.

      My issue with Wheeler was that his plus fastball didn't appear to have a lot of movement, which made that pitch more hittable than you would think. And he struggled more than a top prospect should (IMO) at getting out of jams, giving up big hits in key situations with RISP more than I had anticipated.

      Crick's fastball OTOH seems to have a late hop to it that makes it nearly unhittable. I can't tell you how many times he's thrown it down the middle of the plate and hitters didn't come close to it. KC also seems to have a knack for getting out of trouble, making the big pitches when it counts and limiting damage more often than not (reflected in his microscopic ERA/FIP). This is another reason (IMO) that people are talking about Crick in a closer role, though I think that's way too premature.

      ~AP

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    2. Thanks for that.

      You're right - it's a bit premature for Crick as closer.

      Vogelsong, on the other hand, lately seems to be good for a few innings before falling apart. Maybe he will be a great reliever.

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    3. I saw Crick early in the season in the game he left with the oblique injury, so it was only two innings. From what I saw he was comparable to Wheeler, but Wheeler's game is still the best one I've seen a minor leaguer pitch. I hope to see Crick tomorrow night and maybe he will top it?

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