Sunday, October 4, 2015

Game Wrap 10/4/2014: Rockies 7 Giants 3

The Giants honored the career of Jeremy Affeldt before the game and had a Fan Appreciation party afterwards.  In between, they played a great game for 8 innings and a terrible one in the 9'th to end the season with a loss, but not on a losing note.  Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 1 for 3.  BA= .262.  I don't know.  Pagan had a nice offensive month of September, but there was bad karma in the field seemingly day after day.  Today was not exception as there was yet another shallow flyball that he seemed to be giving less than 100% effort on.  He was lifted early, not sure why, but none of the other starters came out early.  Maybe he is still not 100% physically?  The beat writers seem to think there is going to be news on this front before the start of next season.  We'll see.

Kelby Tomlinson- 2 for 4.  BA= .303.  At one point, 2-3 weeks ago, it looked like the magic may be running out on Tomlinson's season, but he picked it up and literally sprinted to the finish line.   It's been announced that he is headed to Arizona to learn to play, not just OF mind you, but CF.

Jarrett Parker- 2 for 4.  BA= .347.  The Giants have a history in the recent past of sticking with young players who make an impression and what an impression Jarrett Parker made in the last 2-3 weeks of the season!  When pitchers made the adjustment and started throwing him more breaking balls, he adjusted and hit more singles and doubles.  I think he has adjusted the Giants offseason plans big time.

Matt Cain- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.79.  Matt Cain needed this start.  Very nice, solid finish to a tough season for Hoss.  I don't know if he can be counted on to be the Hoss again, but this was an encouraging sendoff to the offseason.

That's if for the Game Wraps for 2015.  It was a tough season in many ways, but a hopeful one for the future in many others.  I am not sure exactly what I am going to write about this offseason or when.  I will write whatever I feel like writing.  I will do the 2016 Giants Top 50 Prospects later on after the Winter Meetings as always.

One more piece of really big news for the Giants future.  The Giants have reportedly reached an agreement with international free agent Eddy Julio Martinez, a Cuban emigre now residing in the DR.  Back in July it was expected he would sign with the Dodgers, but now the Giants have picked up the #2 and #4 international prospects of this signing period and that bodes so well for the longterm future of the organization.

Once again, the Giants are as well positioned for the future as any organization in baseball!

11 comments:

  1. Our farm system is ripe with talent. Not that it matters but with Beede, Bickford, Fox, E. J. Martinez, Arroyo and C. Johnson we finally might have a few players in the top 100 rankings for MLB or BA. We didn't need that to win 3 rings but the recognition is always nice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The draft order for 2016 is set and Giants are slated to pick #19. However, there are 4 teams (Mariners, Red Sox, Nationals and Orioles) who could possibly sign a player with a qualifying offer. That pick at 19 could possibly be 16 or 17 after everything has player out. Either way I hope this class is deep enough to get an impact arm or bat at their spot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'd have to imagine Jordan Zimmermann is a guy the Giants will be very interested in this offseason. It's very likely the Nats will slap a QO on him. Do the signings of Fox & EJM put the G's in a position to sacrifice their pick for someone like him? I'm torn, because I think Zimm might be one of the best fits for this rotation, but I also know there's some major buzz around the 1st round of the 2016 draft class. It'll be interesting to see how that unfolds.

    Cove Chatter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zimm is an interesting case. He had TJ surgery in 2009. There are teams out there who believe that the lifespan of a TJ surgery is no more 6-8 years. We are seeing a rapid increase in the number of repeat TJ's and the average time from the first surgery to the second is just under 5 years. I don't know what the Giants believe about TJ's, but they have tended to shy away from pitchers who have had the surgery. I have noted several times that the way they are handling some of their top pitching prospects suggests to me that they believe high velocity/high strikeout numbers are risk factors which they are trying to mitigate earlier in their careers.

      I'm going to guess that Jordan Zimmermann might be a guy that don't want to give a big, longterm contract too, but then again, I am not great at predicting what the Giants might do.

      Delete
    2. Here's another way of looking at the TJ issue. Let's say you believe that Zimm's risk of having a second TJ is no greater than the risk of, say, Mike Leake, having his first. The chances of Zimm successfully coming back from his second TJ are significantly less than Leake coming back from his first. So even if the risk of surgery is the same, the risk of the surgery resulting in a busted contract is greater for the pitcher who has had a prior TJ vs one who is a TJ virgin.

      Delete
    3. For some reason I keep forgetting he had TJ. That definitely adds to the equation. Injury concerns alone are pretty substantial, as is the QO dilemma. Combine them and it might not be the best fit. Gosh, I just love the way the guy pitches. He's a sinkberballer who with very good velocity and playoff experience. I believe he would be a great Giant.

      What about Samardzija? Gosh, he really struggled this year. Is one above average season enough to take a risk on him? I have faith that Righetti & Gardner could help iron out whatever problems he had this year. Again, do the White Sox slap a QO on him? And if so, does he accept it in hopes of rebuilding his value?

      Another name I'll be keeping an eye on this winter is Scott Kazmir. The Giants could use another lefty, and I don't think he'll command a huge contract. I could be wrong though... And is he another TJ guy? I can never keep all of them straight.

      Cove Chatter

      Delete
  4. jeremy did some great preaching out there today, was a very nice send-off

    very nice to have vogey say a few words at the end too

    im not upset at all by this season.

    lots of positives and lots of things to look forward to in the future

    thank you to everyone who contributed to this blog

    and a huge thank you to the doc for all your hard work...especially keeping us informed about the farm hands

    looking forward to what looks to be a very exciting post season

    cant wait to see what happens during the hot stove

    and now that im back in the city, really hoping to catch games next summer at sj and sacto

    bacci

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for all the Game Wraps and Down on the Farms!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Doc, another fun year ups and downs, buts lots of great optimism going forward.
    I expect a very interesting off season.
    Thanks again for your must read blog.

    Richard in Winnipeg

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Doc for helping me keep sane. Your daily blog was basically the first thing I reached for when I woke up.

    As for the Giants' season, I'm actually pretty positive. On the day Matty Williams was fired, with one of the objections his "desperate" decisions when faced with adversity, I think how lucky we are to have Bochy at the helm. Fact is, we lost every position player except 3rd base and Catcher for a protracted period of time, and lost multiple starters. In the face of all that, we were in it until the last week or two (yeah, we were out of it but for the math, but the series against the Dodgers had some energy to it). That to me is amazing.

    Next year we can look forward to an infield of home-grown talent, include a very good defensive reserve in EA. Will be interesting to see how the boys in Black and Orange handle the FA market and shore up the OF, but I love the idea of Kelby playing CF for years to come. I think an OF of Pagan, Kelby and Pence, with Parker and Blanco as reserves would be kind of nice!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for another great season of Game Wraps. Take your time this off season and write about stuff that interests you; we all understand its the baseball OFFseason.

    ReplyDelete