Monday, March 17, 2014

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/17/2014: Angels 8 Giants 7

Tim Lincecum got cuffed around in this one as the Angels won a see-saw battle in Cactus League action today.  Key Lines:

Marco Scutaro- 1 for 2, 2B.  BA= .500.  Scooter made his spring game debut today and hit a double down the 3B line in his first AB.

Tony Abreu- 0 for 3.  BA= .167.
Ehire Adrianza- 0 for 3.  BA= .194.
Brandon Hicks- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .400.  Is Brandon Hicks this year's Randy Elliott?

Tim Lincecum- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 4.30.  When you live by BABIP, you die by BABIP.  Tim Lincecum recorded no strikeouts and just 2 BB's in his 5.1 IP, but 7 batted balls found holes, and that added up to 5 runs allowed. Maybe Timmy can reinvent himself as a contact pitcher, but contact pitchers generally don't get paid $20 M per season.

Yusmeiro Petit- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 7.88.
Jean Machi- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 6.35.  With Huff, Cordier and Hembree all pitching well, you have to wonder whether Petit and Machi are in danger of not making the final cut.

Around the League:

The A's announced that Jarrod Parker will undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.  An awful lot of the recent rash of TJ's seem to coming from pitchers who have previously had the procedure which raises a whole host of questions.

The Detroit Tigers announced that SS Jose Iglesias will miss most, if not all of the season with shin problems that are reportedly due to stress fractures.  The Tigers do not have in-house replacements who have played above AA.  We'll see if this generates any interest in them signing Stephen Drew.  The Tigers are build to win now, so losing the late first round draft pick should be a secondary consideration here.

12 comments:

  1. Will interest in Ehire Adrianza be generated? How favorably does Adrianza compare to a healthy Iglesias?

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    1. They are both mainly defensive players. Hard to tell if one is better than the other. Iglesias certainly has the reputation going for him. To me, Adrianza looks like he has more power potential.

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    2. At this point, I do not think Adrianza has any significant trade value.

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  2. Jerrod Parker is the As pitcher.

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    1. Let's try this a third time: Jarrod Parker.

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    2. Thank you. Good to see the identity police are out in force. Fixed!

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  3. Listening to the radio broadcast, it didn't sound like Lincecum got hit very hard at all, and no XBH were recorded for the Angels, though they fielded their entire opening day lineup sans Pujols.

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  4. Don't like this loss. Reminds me too much of 2013. Timmy gets hit up + BBs and can't get out of an inning, misses covering 1B, mind farts, leaves a mess, offense rallies back, only to see an overtaxed bullpen cough up the lead in the 9th.

    It used to be Happy Lincecum Day, now it's grab a bottle and hope we make it thru the 5th inning. I'm still a Timmy guy, because he is Timmy. But damn, this is getting tough.

    For all my bitching, I'm still taking the Giants staff over the As, who can't keep their arms healthy.

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    Replies
    1. Carl Steward wrote an insightful blog piece on Timmy's reinvention yesterday...

      http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/2014/03/17/spring-notes-lincecum-looking-determined-to-go-maddux-style-and-it-could-be-a-compelling-conversion/

      Timmy's focus is on the mental side and that's where it should start - changing his mindset from Koufax to Maddux. I question whether his mechanics can support the same change from gymnastic power leverage to pinpoint control. Can he build repeatable mechanics around slower speeds, which deliver a Madduxian level of control?

      We are all getting front row seats to Timmy's remake. It should make for an interesting year.

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    2. I agree with your take on the problems of translating Timmy's patented delivery into Madduxian command.

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    3. DocB, I look forward to discussing Timmy's Makeover as the year plays out. Not many pitchers have successfully pulled this one off and at $17M/year it ain't a cheap nose job either.

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  5. Maybe it's the dead-arm phase.

    As long as we can stay health, we get a head start already; and I believe that was the stated goal going into spring training.

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