As in the afternoon game, the Giants jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a 2 run blast by Brandon Belt, but then lost the lead and failed to score again in the game. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt(1B)- 2 for 3, 3B(2), HR(2), SB(1). BA= .435. Another huge game for Belt. Please don't get hurt this year!
Justin Maxwell(LF)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .238. Maxwell is pulling ahead in the race for the temporary roster spot to replace Hunter Pence.
Ryan Vogelsong(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 9.39. Them's some ugly ERA's behind the Giants starters' names right now.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00. Gregorio has not been striking people out, but he has been getting outs. Hopefully a confidence builder.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. ERA= 3.00. Heston has really settled down since a bad first outing of the spring.
George Kontos(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 5.06. Sliders don't bite in the desert.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K. ERA= 6.00. No runs allowed, but loaded the bases.
I would expect some cuts now that this split squad day is over. I believe it is Tim Hudson's turn to start tomorrow against the D'Backs.
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Belt-If he can stay healthy.He could make the All-Star team.
ReplyDeleteMaxwell-Another good game for Maxwell.He had a triple,and another assist.He definitely has the lead for the last OF spot.
Vogey-Let's see how he makes the transition to the pen.
Gregorio-Another good appearance.
Strickland-Walked two guys and no one scored.Dodged a bullet.Like the grit though.
seems duval made a throwing error that led to 3 runs in the second
ReplyDeletegiants are very thin at 3rd
not really worried about starters not looking their best....save it for the regular season
just dont get hurt
bacci
If you look at the sequence, Duvall's error was the direct cause of 1 run scoring. The other two would have scored anyway if you simply change the error into an out, but we don't know about indirect impacts. Throwing continues to be a problem for Duvall. At this point, you have to think it is not going away. Seems like the depth chart at 3B is McGehee, Arias, Delfino.
DeleteBochy's doing a great job looking at all his options.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the regulars who are "mendozing" will get their strokes going with regular play which they haven't gotten yet. No projected roster player even has 25 ab's yet.
All the pitchers are in single-digit IP's, and I would guess working on getting their arms ready, not so much getting k's and outs.
We'll be half-way through ST this week. Like (I think) you suggested, time for some reassignments soon, and getting serious becomes the issue.
I too like what Maxwell potentially brings -- power -- but sure would like him to hit a HR sometime!
In a pinch, both Adrianza and Duffy have played a little 3B, a lot of SS's make that move as they get older. Maybe Arias is enough b/u, that's what he's been for years!
Remember when the Dodgers moved Garvey from 3rd to 1st and he became a perennial AS. Not saying Duvall will be an AS but he's not a 3Bman. Play some LF in Sacramento and check him out in the summer if there's any OF help needed when Pence comes back. His performance at 3B is ludicrous and probably affecting his hitting at this point.
We can trust that Bochy won't panic, and Sabean will be scrutinizing the waiver wire for a few weeks.
Maxwell's enormous strikeout rates have always made his power barely usable. He's always had good walk rates. That tells me he has probably been too selective early in counts and then isn't able to adjust to 2-strike counts. Given the Giants recent hitting philosophy and the success they have had with it, I'm going to guess that Bam Bam and Bochy have counseled Maxwell to look for hittable pitches early in the count, concentrate on making contact and worry about HR's later.
DeleteBTW, if Maxwell does make the team and does hit some HR's, the next big Giants promotion could be to paint his bat silver and call it Maxwell's Silver Hammer! Yeah, I know. That dates me.
You make a good point -- if Maxwell can cut down on the k's, his natural power will get more hr's (when he's making contact) than Blanco or surely Aoki. If that's what you meant -- I don't mean to read anything extra into what you wrote.
DeleteGiants find a way to win without hr's (2012?), but what do we remember from last year: The dramatic hr's: Ish & Belt winning games. Blanco's in a loss not so much. There were more hr's that contributed to wins, but Posey got 77 PAs in the post season without a hr, but SF wins 12 games and loses 5.
Giant pitchers just HAVE to keep the opponents hr's down and/or runners off the bases. If Harper had had runners on, it might have been a different NLDS.
As for the silver hammer, let's hope Maxwell stays healthy, hits hr's, and doesn't kill anyone with his bat.
I agree. Maxwell was clearly brought in because of his power potential. The nice thing about him is he if he can hit for some power, Bochy doesn't have to find ways to minimize the damage on D like he did with Pat the Bat, Morse and Ishikawa. I think the Giants think Maxwell's natural power will come out if he can start making consistent contact, so work on the contact first.
DeleteProps to Doc for the Abbey Road call out!
DeleteRyan Braun is another power hitter who might serve as a model for what to do with Duvall. He came up as a third baseman, where he was a defensive disaster, and was moved successfully to the outfield, first left and more recently right.
ReplyDeleteMay I respectfully suggest that you take a minute to look up Ryan Braun's college and minor league numbers, then compare them to Adam Duvall's, then come back here and tell us if you still think he is a good comp to Adam Duvall?
DeleteThank you, DrB, for your courteous way of letting me clarify what I meant. It wasn't to compare Duvall, who was drafted toward the end of Round 11, with Braun, who was drafted fifth overall for very good reasons. I was following on Anonymous's mentioning Steve Garvey, which wasn't to call Duvall a new Steve Garvey, but, I think, to mention a position change that let a team keep a strong bat in the lineup. Braun came to my mind because his move to the outfield let the Brewers not lose the benefit of the strong throwing arm that he had as a third baseman, but have him use the arm where the fielding requirements were different, and where the relation between fielding a ball and throwing a ball were also different from what they are in the infield. A similar switch might let the Giants get the benefit of Duvall's bat, which Bochy was praising a day or two ago, and also get the benefit of his third baseman's arm without risking so much because of his degree of inaccuracy when he tries to execute the kinds of plays third basemen must make. I don't think he will turn out to be Ryan Braun, though, however much we could wish he did (minus the PEDs), whatever position changes the Giants may decide on.
DeleteBraun is a strongly negative defender even in the OF by Fangraphs defensive metrics. His bat is obviously good enough to overwhelm his defensive liability. Duvall has a nice bat, especially in power, but it is not now nor is it likely in the future good enough to overcome what will almost certainly be his strongly negative defensive metrics.
DeleteDuvall? Seriously, if we were able to trade him to someone, we wouldn't get a Mitch Delfino.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we did get Scutaro for Charlie Culberson, so what do I know?
Why do we like Duvall? Because of the power shortage?
Maybe he and Maxwell should read Duffy's book.