The Giants scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 6'th inning after the starters had pretty much all hit the showers to back some stingy pitching from seemingly half the pitching staff to win their first Cactus League contest before an apparent sellout crowd in Scottsdale Stadium. Key Lines:
Conor Gillaspie 3B- 1 for 2, HR(1). BA= .500. The Giants don't really have a backup 3B and Gillaspie is trying to win a bench spot to fill that need. He made an error but also hit a dinger in the 3'rd inning to even the score at the time.
Trevor Brown 1B- 2 for 2, 2B. BA= 1.000. Trevor Brown showed his versatility by taking over 1B when Brandon Belt's day was done. He picked up right where he left off last September with a single and double in his two PA's.
Grant Green LF- 1 for 2. BA= .500. When you look at Greenie in a baseball uniform, you can see why he was a first round draft pick. Big, athletic looking body. Just hasn't quite shown enough to nail down MLB job over the years.
Christian Arroyo 3B- 1 for 2, 2B. BA= .500. Arroyo relieved Gillaspie at 3B in this game. He made a couple of plays at 3B and hit a ground-rule double into the gap in R-CF. He now has 3 hits with 2 doubles if you count the intrasquad game yesterday. Has he put on just a bit of weight?
George Kottaras C- 0 for 2. BA= .000. Kottaras has some veteran savvy and bats LH which is an asset for a backup catcher, but his throw down to 2B on a SB by the Angels appeared to have a serious humpback to it.
Jeff Samardzija RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 4/0. ERA= 4.50. Samardzija was a bit rusty here as he started off the first inning hitting about 90 MPH with the FB, then ramping up to 93 in the second inning, but without much command. As long as he stays healthy, throwing hard and getting GB's, I think he'll be A-OK.
Clayton Blackburn RHP- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Blackburn looked sharp hitting the corners with the FB and getting swings and misses and weak grounders of a sharply downbreaking curveball. He took a couple of comebackers off the leg and Bochy pulled him after the second one even though he appeared to be fine and did not look like he wanted to come out.
Mike Broadway RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Broadway looked dominant against some Angels scrub hitters. No radar gun on the broadcast, but he appeared to be throwing gas.
Derek Law RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Law looked sharp with his funky over-the-top delivery. He gets terrific downward plane on the ball, especially on breaking balls.
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Jake Peavy makes his spring debut tomorrow against the Brewers in Scottsdale.
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Around the League:
Mallex Smith was a single shy of a cycle as he had a double, 2 triples and a HR while going 4 for 6 for the Braves. Top Braves SS prospect Ozhaino Albies added 3 hits with a HR.
Red Sox lefty Henry Owens had 5 K's in 2 IP in his spring debut.
Nomar Mazara had 3 hits with a dinger for the Rangers in his spring debut. Watch for Mazara to make the Ian Desmond signing pointless. He's the Rangers LF of the future, or maybe RF.
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Nice debut for the Giants. I completely agree with you about Grant Green, who I think could play a role with the team this year. I didn't see Law, but I was very impressed with Blackburn and Arroyo (that double nearly carried out of the park, or so it looked to me on the webcam).
ReplyDeleteIt's only a spring training game, but I would add that Kelby's defense and Gorkys Hernandez' play stood out to me today as well. The Giants camp is stocked full of interesting players this spring.
Cove Chatter
I really enjoyed Gorkys aggressiveness on the base path.... seemed to really bother the pitcher. Also, I may be looking into this too much but Gillaspie seems to give off the vibe of being a bad teammate - not sure if he's a guy you want in the clubhouse. Just looking how he responded to his throwing error and home run.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have thoughts on this?
I think the Gillaspie thing is old news at this point. The beat writers covered this in detail. Conor got off on the wrong foot with his ill-considered demand and the Giants equally ill-considered acquiescence to an under-the-table MLB deal when he was drafted and signed. That did not sit well with the veteran leadership on the team. Gillaspie admits he was not humble enough about that and his role on the team when he first came up to the majors. It's something he's worked to make right. So, it's a bit of a dead horse we're beating here.
DeleteDid anyone get the sense that Gillaspie may not be the best teammate/ clubhouse presence?
ReplyDeleteThoughts?
I'm not sure if it's a Baggarly or Pavs recent article, but there was piece on Gillaspie that talked about this. It's something that he's aware of and that he's prioritizing apparently. Personally, I'm rooting for him as baseball is a humbling sport.
DeleteAgree with Jeff Sun here. See my above response.
DeleteBlackburn's fastball looked to have enough zip to be effective. I know it's a big knock on him.
ReplyDeleteBlackburn has plenty of fastball as long as he maintains command which is true of most successful MLB pitchers.
DeleteDodger's Anderson is out 3-5 months. Wow.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen that, but yeah, that 's a big deal if true.
DeleteCrazy how Blackburn got drilled in the leg twice in the same inning. Even at that, the kid was rolling. I think he knows he's close to be on the 25 man.
ReplyDeleteTuned in to MLB Network, and was shocked to see Matt Duffy playing 3B for the Astros.
ReplyDeleteHeart was racing until I realized it was a different Matt Duffy.
Yeah. I could imagine that feeling! I had a brief flash of that last when I accidentally went to Fresno for some AAA information because I'm so conditioned to think "Giants" when I think Fresno because of the long history (A-ball from 1963 through 1987 and AAA from '98 through '14). And there he was -- Matt Duffy -- 3B.
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