Thursday, June 30, 2016

Down on the Farm: 6/29/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats were idle.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Akron Aeros 2-0:

Tyler Beede RHP- 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 2.71.
Rodolfo Martinez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's, Save(1).  ERA= 0.00.

Tyler Beede is quietly getting stronger as the season progresses.  His ERA over his last 10 starts is 2.07.  He did not allow more than 3 runs in any single game over those 10.  His ERA is 1.53 over his last 5 starts.  Here are his pitching lines for his last 5 starts:

6/2/2016:    8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's
6/9/2016:    6 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.
6/16/2016:  7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K's.
6/23/2016:   6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.
6/29/2016:  7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K's.

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High A  Bakersfield Blaze burned the San Jose Giants 9-4:

Steven Duggar RF- 3 for 5.  BA= .284.
Chris Shaw 1B- 2 for 5, HR(16).  BA= .285.
Daniel Carbonell LF- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .254.
Jose Morel RHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.63.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.25.

Per Joe Ritzo via Covechatter:  Duggar, Shaw and Hinojosa all promoted to Richmond after the game.

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Low A  Asheville Tourists defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 6-3:

Lucius Fox SS- 3 for 5, SB(19).  BA= .220.
Jalen Miller 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(3).  BA= .238.
Miguel Gomez 1B- 2 for 5.  BA= .352.
Dillon Dobson 3B- 3 for 5.  BA= .281.
Michael Connolly RHP- 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.93.

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Short Season  Hillsboro Hops topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3:

Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .375.
Raffi Vizcaino RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.64.

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AZL Giants were idle

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DSL Giants were idle

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Game Wrap 6/29/2016: A's 7 Giants 1

This was another nightmare game for the Giants in what is turning out to be a nightmare series against the A's.  A series of errors, miscues, injuries and missed opportunities in the 3'rd and 4'th innings set the outcome of the game.  Key Lines:

Mac Wiliamson- 0 for 2 2 BB.  BA= .233.  It was a rough night for Big Mac.  Jake Peavy was looking good while putting the A's hitters in his popcorn popper until 1 out in the 3'rd inning.  Marcus Semien hit yet another pop up into shallow RF.  Mac came rushing in while Ramiro Pena went out.  They collided and got tangled up with Pena sustaining a left leg injury that eventually forced him from the game.  The ball rolled toward the RF line as Semien circled the bases ending up at 3B.  Later in the same inning, Mac leaped for a ball hit over the RF wall by Jed Lowrie, had the ball in the webbing of his glove only to have it roll out and fall on the wrong side for a HR.  And what is it with OF gloves not grasping the ball?  Same thing happened to Pagan in LF earlier in the season.

Mac had a chance to redeem himself in the top of the 4'th inning.  With 1 out and the bases loaded, he worked the count to 3-2 and got the pitch he wanted, belt high, inside half.  He yanked it and it looked like it had a chance until it hooked late and ended up about 20 feet left of the foul pole.  On the next pitch, he grounded into a DP.  Oh, and he caused another DP earlier when he overslid 2B in violation of the new 2B rules.

So, rough night for Mac, but I did like the process of his AB in the 4'th inning.  If he can work a pitch count like that, good things will eventually come of it.

Ramiro Pena- 0 for 1.  BA= .400.  Pena suffered an injury on the above described play.  He stayed in the game initially, but came out in the 5'th inning for PH Conor Gillaspie.  He'll be out 5-7 days so he's going to have to go on the DL to make room for another callup.  That is going to create 40 man roster problems because the only way they got Tejada on the roster was to call up Chris Heston then put him on the 60 day DL which will give him both more MLB service time and an extra $100 K on the season.

Ruben Tejada- 0 for 4.  BA= .158.  I have to say I am not sure why they called up Tejada over Grant Green or Rando Moreno in the first place.  Not only did he go 0 for 4 in this game, but he hotdogged a basket catch in foul territory only to drop the ball for an error.  Man, if it were up to me, he'd be released immediately after the game and call up both Green and Moreno!

Angel Pagan- 0 for 3.  BA= .295.  Pagan has mostly fielded LF pretty well this year.  Tonight, he was having trouble catching up to balls and catching balls.  I didn't see it, but after he fumbled a ball that turned a single by Billy Burns into a double, Jake Peavy reportedly went nuts on the mound.  Pagan came out of the game for Jarrett Parker later.

Jake Peavy- 3.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 5.44.  As I said earlier, Peavy was cruising in the 3'rd inning when the collision between Ramiro Pena and Mac Williamson turned an out into a 3 base error.  Peavy seemed to completely lose his rhythm and mojo.  He ended up throwing 40 pitches in the inning and probably should have come out after that.

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The Loss left the Giants 6 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys lost to the BrewCrew 7-0.

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Madison Bumgarner takes the mound tomorrow against Rookie Dillon Overton.  Bumgarner also gets to hit for himself instead of a DH.

Down on the Farm: 6/28/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats outscored the Las Vegas 51's 14-10:

Robbie Garvey CF-LF- 3 for 6, SB(1).  BA= .667.
Gorkys Hernandez CF- 1 for 1, BB.  BA= .298.
Miguel Olivo C- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .278.
Travis Ishikawa LF-1B- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .225.
Myles Schroder 2B- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .111.
Rando Moreno SS- 3 for 4.  BA= .284.
Adalberto Mejia LHP- 4 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 5.71.
Jean Machi RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's.  ERA= 3.75.

Looks like Myles Schroder got a call up to Sacramento a few games ago.  Mejia has struggled since his dazzling first start after his callup.  Las Vegas is a tough place to pitch, though.

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AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Akron Rubber Ducks 6-3:

Christian Arroyo SS- 1 for 3, 2B, SF.  BA= .279.
Tyler Horan LF- 1 for 3, HR(7), BB.  BA= .261.
Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .269.
Brandon Bednar SS- 3 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .308.
Matt Gage LHP- 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.75.
Ray Black RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.74.

Bednar got called up from San Jose a few games ago.  Ray Black has a 3.00 ERA in his last 10 appearances and has allowed just 1 run in 8.1 IP, over his last 9.

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High A Bakersfield Blaze scorched the San Jose Giants 3-2:

Ronnie Jebavy CF- 1 for 3, BB, SB(13).  BA= .237.
Jose Reyes RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.46.
Sergio Romo RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Romo has to be ready.  Maybe he is the missing piece of the Giants bullpen?

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Low A Asheville Tourists beat the Augusta Greenjackets 3-1:

Jalen Miller 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .233.
Dylan Davis RF- 2 for 4.  BA= .288.
Jake McCasland RHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.71.

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Short Season  Hillsboro Hops blanked the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-0:

Hengerber Medina RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 7.62.

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DSL  Dodgers edged out the Giants 2-1:

Jose Rivero SS- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .280.
Francisco Medina 3B- 4 for 4.  BA= .206.
Johan Herrera RHP(17 yo)- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.80.
Aneudy Acosta RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 2.53.

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Phil Bickford and Adalberto Mejia will represent the Giants in the Futures Game.

Game Wrap 6/28/2016: A's 13 Giants 11

Well, THAT wasn't good!  The Giants bullpen blew 2 3-run leads in the worse bullpen meltdown of the Bruce Bochy era that I can remember.  Maybe if you go back to the early Bochy years and Armando Benitez, but yeah, I'm not sure any of them were this bad as almost every member of the bullpen gave up crooked numbers to ruin another fine starting effort from Albert Suarez and a determined effort from the Giants offense.  Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(4), BB.  BA= .253.  Span has been scuffling again, so good to see him hit with some authority here.

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5, BB.  BA= .301.  Pagan is a dynamic player when he's healthy.

Brandon Crawford- 3 for 5, 2B, 3B, BB.  BA= .268.  Crawford filling up the boxscore there and in big situations.  He drove in 2 runs with the double and 3 runs with the triple.  He's hitting .346 over his last 7 games, .291 over his last 15.

Ramiro Pena- 2 for 5.  BA= .412.  Pena played 2B for Panik who seems to have developed concussion symptoms stemming from getting hit on the head by Matt Moore about 10 days ago.  Pena so far has been more than a capable fill in.  He's not going to hit .400 forever, though.

Conor Gillaspie- 4 for 5.  BA= .260.  Gillaspie's bat is hot, but he made a key error at 3B to extend the 6'th inning and allow 2 extra runs to score which ended up being the difference in the ballgame.

Jarrett Parker- 2 for 2, HR(4), BB.  BA= .280.  Parker sure loves to hit against A's pitching.  He must be licking his chops at the thought of returning to the Oakland Coliseum or whatever it's called now.

Albert Suarez- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.83.  A very typical Suarez line.  He gives up right about 2-3 runs in 5-6 IP every time out.  In this case, he was 1 out away from allowing just 1 run in 6 IP when Kontos came in and allowed his 2 inherited runners to score.  Then Gillaspie's error then 2 more runs and the Giants nice little 4-1 lead had evaporated.

Bullpen- 4.1 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 5 BB, 2 K's.  The bullpen looked like it was jelling on the road trip, but my goodness, it's a hot mess now!  Total team effort too!  Osich pitched a clean inning and Derek Law struck out the one batter he faced, but Strickland hit a batter in 0.1 IP, and 4 relievers gave up crooked numbers.  Might be time for some serious soul searching and maybe even some housecleaning in the bullpen.

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The Loss dropped the Giants lead in the NL West to 6 games over the Dodgers who edged out the BrewCrew in Milwaukee 6-5.

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The interleague series moves to Oakland for the next two games with Jake Peavy facing rookie LHP Sean Manaea tonight.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Game Wrap 6/27/2016: A's 8 Giants 3

Jeff Samardzija allowed just 1 run on 2 hits in 5 IP, but he also allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in his other inning of work including a 3-run backbreaker dinger to Marcus Semien.  Meanwhile the A's got a terrific performance from a swashbuckling rookie pitcher named Daniel Mengdon, handlebar mustache and all.  Gotta say, his swagger reminds me a bit of a guy named John "The Count" Montefusco!  Key Lines:

Ramiro Pena- 2 for 4.  BA= .414.  Pena filled in for Brandon Crawford who got a day off to nurse some aches and bruises.  Small sample size mirage here, but Pena is acting like he wants to stick around awhile.  He was involved in 2 DP's on defense to boot.

Jeff Samardzija- 6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.91.  Earl Weaver said winning baseball is great pitching and 3-run HR's.  I think he meant 3-run HR's by HIS team!  Shark is struggling with his offspeed pitches.  I'm not quite sure what he meant to throw Semien in that situation, but he hung it up there like a batting practice pitch and Semien went yard.  You knew this game was over right there.

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The Loss cut the Giants lead over the Dodgers in the NL West to 7 games as the Da Bums salvaged a game out of their 4 game series in Pittsburgh on getaway day.

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Albert Suarez tries to get the Giants back on the winning side of the ledger tomorrow facing Kendall Graveman.

Down on the Farm: 6/27/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats blanked the Las Vegas 51's 6-0:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(5), 2 BB.  BA= .296.
Andrew Susac C- 2 for 4, 2B, SF.  BA= .216.
Travis Ishikawa LF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .224.
Ty Blach LHP- 9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 10/4.  ERA= 4.23.

Impressive performance by Blach, especially considering game time temp was 107 degrees.

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AA  Akron Rubber Ducks edged out the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-4:

Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .264.
Dan Slania RHP- 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K'S.  ERA= 3.44.
Matt Reynolds LHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.

Hunter Cole is on fire!

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High A  San Jose Giants extinguished the Bakersfield Blaze 5-0:

Steven Duggar RF= 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .282.
Phil Bickford RHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 1.64.
Pat Young RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.55.
Tyler Cyr RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Bickford looks sharp and Tyler Cyr has not missed a beat in his promotion from Augusta.

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Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Asheville Tourists 5-1:

Shawon Dunston Jr LF- 1 for 2, 2B, BB, HBP.  BA= .375.
Junior Arias 1B- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .311.
Grant Watson LHP- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.95.
Luis Pino RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.50.
Caleb Smith RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.28.

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Short Season Tri-Cities Dust Devils topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7-2:

Jean Angomas LF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .424.
Victor Concepcion RHP- 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 5.40.
Cesar Yanez RHP- 1.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

I am driving the Cesar Yanez bandwagon.

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Rookie AZL  Cubs cuffed the Giants 7-2:

Roger Edwards CF- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .333.
Nick Hill RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .500.
Stephen Woods RHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.50.
Stetson Woods RHP- 3.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.76.

Might be a challenge telling Stephen and Stetson Woods apart in boxscores.

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DSL  Giants pounded the D'Backs 7-2:

Jose Rivero SS- 3 for 5.  BA= .273.
Ricardo Genoves 1B- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .369.
Norwith Gudino RHP- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.38.

Down on the Farm: 6/26/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats defeated the Las Vegas 51's 6-4:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 4 for 5.  BA= .292.
Travis Ishikawa LF-1B- 2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .210.
Rando Moreno 2B- 2 for 5, SB(2).  BA= .254.
Robbie Garvey LF- 2 for 2, 2 SB)2).  BA= 1.000.
Jean Machi PR- 0 for 0, SB(1).  BA= .000.
Steven Okert LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.38.
Mike Broadway RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(4).  ERA= 4.08.

Chris Heston was safe on an error in the top of the second, but apparently was injured on the play.  Machi came in as a PR and stole 2B!  LOL!  Remember him booking it down the first base line on a bunt when he was with the Giants?  Anyway, Machi actually came around to score in the inning!

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AA  Binghampton Mets pounded the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-2:

Ali Castillo SS- 2 for 3.  BA= .324.
Preston Claiborne RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.00.
Matt Reynolds LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.

If the name Matt Reynolds seems familiar, it's because he's a big LHP who pitched for the D'Backs for a couple of years.  Giants just signed him to a minor league deal.  He had an ERA of under 2 in 2014 in about 25 IP for the D'Backs.  Hey!  You just never know.  You can never  have too many lefty relievers!

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High A  Stockton Ports beat the San Jose Giants 7-4:

CJ Hinojosa SS- 2 for 5.  BA= .298.
Jonah Arenado DH- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .262.
Chris Shaw 1B- 1 for 3, 2B, SF.  BA= .284.
Jose Vizcaino Jr 3B- 1 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .231.
Cristian Paulino RF- 2 for 4, SB(17).  BA= .243.
Sergio Romo RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Romo looks like he's ready to come off the DL either tomorrow or Tuesday.  I imagine Chris Stratton will be sent down.  He's not really being used anyway.

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Low A Augusta Greenjackets topped the Columbia Fireflies 4-2:

Shawon Dunston Jr LF- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .368.
Miguel Gomez 3B- 2 for 5, HR(9), SB(3).  BA= .353.
Johneshwy Fargas CF- 2 for 4.  BA= .259.
Conner Kaden RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.86.

Fargas is hitting .297 over his last 10 games.  I think we all knew Gomez could hit, but then he started showing some power and now he's stealing bases too?

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Short Season  Salem-Keizer Volcanoes edged out the Tri-Cities Dust Devils 4-3:

Manuel Geraldo 3B- 1 for 3, BB, SF.  BA= .349.
Ryan Howard 2B- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .308.
Ashford Fulmer CF- 1 for 3, BB, SB(3).  BA= .400.
Gustavo Cabrera LF- 4 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .324.
Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 3, Sac.  BA= .405.
Mac Marshall LHP- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.66.
Kendry Melo RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, 3 HBP.  ERA= 1.23.

Gustavo!

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Rookie AZL Indians outscored the Giants 7-3:

Christoph Bono- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(2).  BA= .125.
Mikey Edie CF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .316.
Chris Denorfia DH- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .333.
Julio Benitez RHP- 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.84.
Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Ruotolo was the Giants 27'th round draft pick out of Connecticut.  Bono was a late round pick out of UCLA.  He is the son of former UCLA and 49'er QB Steve Bono.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Game Wrap 6/26/2016: Giants 8 Phillies 7

The Giants played a rather non-Giantsy, ragged game against the Phillies, but managed to escape with a walk-off Win on B2B doubles by Ramiro Pena and Conor Gillaspie.  Key Lines:

Denard Span- 1 for 5.  BA= .250.  Span has been scuffling at the plate again, but his perfect bunt single in the 3'rd inning started a 4 run rally against Aaron Nola, who up to that point looked pretty good.

Angel Pagan- 4 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .297.  Not to diminish the role Pagan played in winning this game, but one of those doubles might have been a triple had he not spent a few seconds thinking it might be a HR to Triples Alley, of all places.  The ball caromed off the wall directly to the the CF and Pagan was out by a foot or two at 3B.  He also might have held up at 2B when he saw the ball carom right to the CF, which he surely did because the play was in front of him up to that point and he was definitely watching it.  I'll say it again, though, Pagan is a dynamic player when he's healthy, which he finally appears to be.

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, 2B, HBP.  BA= .285.  The double was driven right down the RF line with no slice.  Bustey does that when his swing is right.  The HBP came in the first inning and was the first of several in the game.  More on that later.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 5.  BA= .262.  I don't know if hitting with runners in scoring position is a skill or luck, but Crawford has been extraordinarily successful at it for a long time.

Ramiro Pena- 2 for 4, 2B, HBP.  BA= .400.  The HBP came in the 4 run 3'rd inning and was the first of two consecutive HBP's by Aaron Nola who had already plunked Buster Posey.  I will say, none of the Nola HBP's appeared to be intentional.  The double came in the 9'th inning and started the winning rally.  I probably should have been a triple because it had some hang time.  Pena golfed it right down the RF line and like Pagan a few innings earlier, he spent a few seconds thinking it might be a HR instead of bolting out of the box.  All turned out well in the end, as Gillaspie delivered a double to back it up in the next AB.

Conor Gillaspie- 2 for 4, 2B, HBP.  BA= .219.  Gillaspie delivered the second walk-off of his career right after Pena's double.  Gillaspie is apparently not the most extroverted person in the world and Bochy calls him Mr Happy.  He did manage to crack a smile or two as his teammates mobbed him after the walk-off hit.

Johnny Cueto- 6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 11/2.  ERA= 2.42.  Cueto appeared to be doing his thing, but kept running into trouble with 2 outs.  He allowed a run in the first which was pretty much all do to BABIP luck with no solid contact.  He then seemed to settle down until 2 outs into the 4'th inning when he hit Maikel Franco on the arm and chest with what appeared to be a retaliation pitch for the 3 HBP's by Nola.  The Ump rightfully warned both benches and Cueto seemed to lose some focus and allowed 2 runs to score, cutting the Giants lead to 5-3.  Kruk and Kuip seemed to think the umps strike zone suddenly got a lot more tight for Cueto after the HBP which may have contributed to 3 more runs he allowed in his 6 innings of work.

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With the Win, the Giants avoided losing a series to a team headed in the opposite direction.  They also temporarily gained 0.5 games on the Dodgers in the NL West to extend their lead to 7.5 games.  The Dodgers are playing the Sunday Night ESPN game in Pittsburgh with Clayton Kershaw facing someone I've never heard of before, so you have to think it's likely the Giants lead will still be 7 games by the end of the day.

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The Giants start a 4 games series split between AT&T Park and Oakland's home ballpark, whatever it's called now.  Game 1 will be in SF with Jeff Samardzija trying to get back on track facing rookie Daniel Mengdon.

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Addendum:  Kershaw had an off night, at least by his standards and the Bucs topped Da Bums for the 3'rd game in a row.  Giants lead in the NL West is now 8 games.

Down on the Farm: 6/25/2016

AAA  Las Vegas 51's beat the Sacramento River Cats by a touchdown and 2 extra points 16-8:

Ryan Lollis RF- 4 for 5.  BA= .266.
Travis Ishikawa LF- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .193.
Robbie Garvey PH-CF- 1 for 1, HR(1).  BA= 1.000.
Clayton Blackburn RHP- 2 IP, 8 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 4.50.

Las Vegas is a tough place to pitch and it was 105 degrees at game time.

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AA  Binghampton Mets edged out the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-3:

Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(8).  BA= .264.
Tyler Horan CF- 1 for 4, HR(6).  BA= .263.
Sam Coonrod RHP- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 5/0.  ERA= 3.75.

I guess you could say Coonrod was effectively wild.  Cole is hitting .371 with 3 HR's in his last 10 games.  The 3 HR's have come in his last 5.  He is hitting .333 with 6 HR's in the month of June.

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High A  San Jose Giants defeated the Stockton Ports 7-4:

Steven Duggar RF- 2 for 5, HR(10).  BA= .279.
CJ Hinojosa SS- 1 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .300.
Jonah Arenado 1B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .261.
Tyler Cyr RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.
Rodolfo Martinez RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(21).  ERA= 0.88.

Cyr gets the promotion from Augusta.

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Low A Augusta Greenjackets downed the Columbia Fireflies 3-2:

Junior Arias 1B- 3 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .324.
Johneshwy Fargas CF- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .247.
Dominic Mazza LHP- 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 12/0.  ERA= 3.57.
Ryan Koziol RHP- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(1).  ERA= 2.36.

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Short Season  Tri-Cities Dust Devils topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7-2:

Heath Quinn RF- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .222.
Ashford Fulmer LF- 3 for 4, 2B, SB)2).  BA= .409.
Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .382.
Melvin Adon RHP- 4 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 6.30.
Rayan Hernandez RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

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Rookie AZL  Indians beat the Giants 8-2:

Beicker Mendoza DH- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .444.
Nick Hill RF- 1 for 1, 2 BB, HBP, SB(2).  BA= .500.
Michael Bernal 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .385.
Chris Falwell RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K's, GO/AO= 9/2.  ERA= 0.00.
Justin Alleman RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.

Alleman was the Giants round 20 pick out of Lee U.

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DSL  Giants pounded the D'Backs 10-2:

Jose Patino CF(18 yo)- 2 for 5.  BA= .316.
Angeddy Almanzar 1B(17 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .368.
Ricardo Genoves C(17 yo)- 3 for 4.  BA= .371.
Miguel Figueroa RHP(18 yo)- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 5.73.
Jesus Reyes RHP(19 yo)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

I'm feeling giddy about Angeddy!

Game Wrap 6/25/2016: Phillies 3 Giants 2

The Phillies scored all 3 of their runs in the 7'th inning off Madison Bumgarner, who appeared to be tiring.  Meanwhile, the Giants offense hit into all kinds of bad BABIP luck and came up short in trying to pick up their ace pitcher.  Key Lines:

Madison Bumgarner- 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 1.99.  The Phillies got 3 of their 5 hits in the pivotal 7'th inning, the last being a 2 run line drive HR to dead CF by Cameron Rupp that was crushed.  I have to say, watching Bumgarner pitch on TV, I suspected something like that was about to happen.  He appeared to be tiring quickly in the 7'th, elevating his pitches and with less zip to them.  He threw 107 pitches in this one which is not a lot for him, but per substitute beat writer Jerry McDonald of Giants Extra, he has now thrown over 100 pitches in 12 consecutive games, the longest such string in the majors.

Jeremy Hellickson(Phillies)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.27.  Give Hellickson credit.  He had excellent command of at least 3 pitches and mixed them well.  He did seems to have some strike zone help from the umpire(probably equal on both teams).  Let's talk about luck, though.  In the official boxscore, the Giants were credited with 4 line outs to the OF, 1 of which resulted in a DP.  They also had 5 official flyouts, at least one of which carried to the LF warning track.  So yeah, luck works both ways and it was not on the Giants side in this game.

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With the Loss, the Giants remained 7 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys lost to the Pirates again, 6-1.

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Johnny Cueto goes for the series win this afternoon facing Aaron Nola.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Down on the Farm: 6/24/2016

AAA  Tacoma Rainiers defeated the Sacramento River Cats 7-3:

Andrew Susac C- 1 for 3, HR(2), BB.  BA= .215.
Miguel Olivo DH- 2 for 3, HR(6), BB.  BA= .275.
Joan Gregorio RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 5.59.

Dominant start for Gregorio and his best since being promoted to Sacramento.

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AA Binghampton Mets topped the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-6:

Ali Castillo 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .322.
Tyler Horan LF- 2 for 4, HR(5), BB.  BA= .264.
Ricky Oropesa 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .224.
Kyle Crick RHP- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 0 K's.  ERA= 5.80.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.79.

Very disappointing start for Crick who failed to get out of the first inning 1 game after his best start in several years.  Rogers gets back on his horse and starts another scoreless streak.

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High A  Stockton Ports beat the San Jose Giants 6-4:

CJ Hinojosa SS- 2 for 5, HR(6).  BA= .299.
Chris Shaw 1B- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .280.
Cristian Paulino 2B- 3 for 4, 2 SB(16).  BA= .233.
Robbie Garvey LF- 0 for 2, 2 BB, 2 SB(3).  BA= .242.
Mark Reyes LHP- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.84.

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Low A Augusta Greenjackets swarmed over the Columbia Fireflies 19-7:

Lucius Fox SS- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(18).  BA= .214.
Jalen Miller 2B- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(2), BB.  BA= .238.
Miguel Gomez 3B- 2 for 5, BB, SB(2).  BA= .359.
Dylan Davis LF- 3 for 6, 2 2B, 3B.  BA= .289.
Skyler Ewing 1B- 3 for 4, HR(1), BB, SF.  BA= .230.
Johneshwy Fargas CF- 2 for 6, 2B.  BA= .230.
Cory Taylor RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.97.
Ryan Halstead RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 7.16.

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Short Season  Salem-Keiser Volcanoes edged out the Tri-Cities Dust Devils 4-3:

Manuel Geraldo 3B- 3 for 4.  BA= .361.
Ryan Howard SS- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .500.
Gustavo Cabrera LF- 1 for 3, 3B.  BA= .269.
Raffi Vizcaino RHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.50
Cesar Yanez RHP- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Howard moves up to S-K and Geraldo moves to 3B.  Heath Quinn also moves up but goes 0 for 4.

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Rookie AZL  Giants were idle.

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DSL  Giants outscored the Twins 11-8:

Jose Patino CF(18 yo)- 4 for 5, SB(3).  BA= .311.
Jose Rivero SS(18 yo)- 2 for 4, HBP.  BA= .265.
Ismael Munguia LF(17 yo)- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .400.
Ricardo Genoves DH(17 yo)- 2 for 5.  BA= .345.

Game Wlrap 6/24/2016: Giants 5 Phillies 4

They say it's a game of inches, but in the era of instant replay it's become a game of millimeters and a few millimeters is how much Ramiro Pena's throw to first beat Tyler Goedel by to get the final out of the game and prevent the tying run from scoring as the Giants won their 4'th game in a row and 12'th of 13.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .305.  Belt cleared the bases in the 7'th inning with a drive that bounced up against the CF wall.  Make no mistake, Belt is THE MAN in the Giants lineup now.  He has turned himself into an elite hitter.  He ranks 4'th in MLB in 1B fWAR and 2'nd in offensive fWAR for first basemen.  For some reason, defensive metrics don't like him, although he certainly passes the eye test on defense.  He has a strong case for being an All-Star but Goldy, Will Myers and Anthony Rizzo edge him out in fWAR and all have more dingerz.  The top 4 1B by fWAR are all in the NL.

Angel Pagan- 3 for 4, SB(7).  BA= .282.  Pagan drove in the first run on an infield hit and drove in Belt from 3B for the Giants final run which proved to be the difference in the ballgame.  Pagan showed no signs of hammy problems as he booked it down to 1B on the IF hit then stole 2B.  Henry Schulman is reporting via MLBTR that the Giants are open to a short term deal with Pagan for next season depending on how the rest of the season plays out, including possible trades.

Jake Peavy- 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 5.22.  It was a typical Peavy game, mixing pitches, shaving corners, pitching out of jams.  In another game, Bochy might have pulled Peavy after Bourjos tripled with 1 out in the 7'th and the Giants trailing 2-1, but Boch knew his bullpen was gasses and left Peavy in there to strike out PH Paredes and get Odubel Herrera on a flyball out.

Santiago Casilla- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.43.  Casilla has always tended to lose effectiveness if he has to pitch 3 consecutive days.  Bochy tried to keep the work to a minimum by having Lopez face the LH leadoff hitter, but Casilla loaded the bases with 2 outs.  Bochy came out to the mound.  From the look on Casilla's face, he clearly thought Boch was coming to get him, but Boch left him in there and somehow left a smile on Casilla's face.  He then retired the last batter, Goedel on the millimeters play at 1B to end the game.

Bruce Bochy- Bochy outmaneuvered Phillies manager Pete Mackanin in the pivotal 7'th inning.  After Brown led off the inning with a single, he announced Jarrett Parker as a PH.  Mackanin countered with a lefty, Araujo.  Boch pulled Parker even though it burned one of just 4 bench players and sent up Buster Posey to PH.  Buster then delivered a single to CF which kept the line moving toward Brandon Belt and his 3-run double.  Mackanin admitted after the game that he didn't think Boch would burn Parker or use Buster as a PH there. Combine that with Bochy's bullpen management and you can chalk this one up as a Win where the manager was the difference in the game.

Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco- It was LGBT night which I ordinarily would not comment on, but I have to give a shout out to the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco who hit it out of the park on a very inspiring song during the pregame ceremonies, especially the soloist who was phenomenal.  I haven't been able to find a video of that performance but if it's out there, it's definitely worth the time and effort to look it up.

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The Win gave the Giants their best 40 game stretch, 31-9 since 1954 when they went 33-7.  We all know how the 1954 season turned out, right?  As mentioned above, it was also their 12'th win in 13 games, 1 win short of their best run of the season so far.  The Win also extended their lead over the Dodgers to 7 games which I think is their biggest lead of the season in the NL West as the Dodgers lost to the Pirates 8-6.

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Madison Bumgarner toes the rubber tonight facing Jeremy Hellickson.

Friday, June 24, 2016

Scouting the Trade Deadline: Outfielders

Outfield is one position where the Giants might be interested in making an acquisition before the trade deadline.  Now, the Giants actually have plenty of OF's and their recent success on the field and production from Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker will likely make them less interested in making a big splash trade. If they have a need, it is for a specific type of player, namely a RH hitting left fielder with power.  Needless to say, those don't grow on trees, but there are a few interesting names that might be available.

First of all, my criteria for teams being definite sellers is 10 or more games out of the Wild Card race.  There are currently just 3 teams that fit that description:  Twins, Braves and Reds.  There are 8 additional teams 5 or more games out of the WC race which I would consider possible/probable sellers: Rays, Angels, A's, Phillies, Brewers, Padres, Pirates and D'Backs.  Let's break it down and see who might be available from each team.

Twins:  Robbie Grossman.  Grossman is a switch hitter batting .294 with 5 HR's in 100+ AB's this year.  He could probably be acquired fairly cheaply, no frontline prospects, but he's more of a bat off the bench kind of player and not a clear upgrade on what the Giants already have.

Braves:  Nick Markakis.  Good player, but bats left-handed and does not hit for much power.  Giants have plenty of those already.

Reds:  Jay Bruce.  Bruce has power, but it's left-handed and would it play in AT&T?  He's also a terrible fielder.  Reds would also be looking for at least one frontline prospect in return.

Rays:  Desmond Jennings.  Bats RH, but hitting just .182 so far this year and his career seems to be in rapid decline.  Unlikely there is any upgrade here.

Angels:  The only OF the Angels have worth acquiring is Mike Trout and in the extremely unlikely event he is available, there are other teams that have higher ranked prospects to deal.

A's:  Khris Davis is an intriguing possibility.  He's got the power.  Not a great LF but would be passable for 3 PA's per game and Bochy has tons of experience subbing in defensive replacements in the late innings.  Josh Reddick is also a possibility, but bats LH.

Phillies:  Cody Asche and Peter Bourjos are more 4'th and 5'th OF types.  No upgrade here.

Brewers:  Ryan Braun.  This is the big kahuna of the trade deadline.  He's not a great defensive OF, but the bat more than makes up for hit.  He bats RH for both average and power.  He does come with considerable baggage and is in the first year of a 5 year/$100 M contract that will almost certainly be terrible before it's done.  There is also the question of whether the Brewers would trade him even if they fall completely out of the race.  They would almost certainly be looking for 2-3 frontline prospects in return.  There would be other teams interested who probably have more attractive prospects to trade.  Personally, while I would continue to root for the Giants and be happy for any help Braun provided, I would have a hard time rooting for him as a person or individual player.  For that reason, I kind of hope they don't trade for him.

Padres:  Melvin Upton Jr, Jon Jay, Matt Kemp.  Upton Jr would be the obvious target here.  Jay is too much like what the Giants already have.  Kemp can still hit a little, but is expensive and looking more broken down every day.  Upton Jr. has both power and speed and is a better defender than Kemp, but doesn't exactly keep the line moving.  Not sure either team wants to trade within the division.  Since the Giants would be the team giving up prospects, they might be the ones who most not want to do that.

Pirates:  Talk of the Pirates trading Andrew McCutchen has sprung up.  Given what 'Cutch means to that team, I doubt it happens even if they fall completely out of the race.  In addition, the Giants would be looking for help right away and McCutchen has a bad hand.  He would have to prove that's healthy to make this an attractive deal for the Giants.

D'Backs:  I don't see any OF's on their roster they would be looking to trade.

In summary:  I think the most likely outcome is the Giants don't trade for an OF.  I'll put a trade for Khris Davis as #2 most likely and Upton Jr as #3 with Ryan Braun a longshot, but that would be a blockbuster and a sign the Giants are out for world domination.

Down on the Farm: 6/23/2016

AAA  Tacoma Rainers doubled the score on the Sacramento River Cats 10-5:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .285.
Ruben Tejada SS- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .222.
Adalberto Mejia LHP- 6.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.38.
Sergio Romo RHP- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 6.23.

Adalberto pitched better than the like looks.  He took a QS into the 7'th inning and Jean Machi allowed 2 inherited runners to score.  A big uh-oh for Romo.  The Giants wanted to see him pitch in B2B games and this was he result.  Gotta wonder if he elbow is really OK.

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AA  Hartford Yard Goats defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-2:

Darren Ford CF- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .208.
Tyler Beede RHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 2.97.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 0.84.
Christian Jones LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.94.

Strong start for Beede, although you generally like to see no more than 2 BB's in a start.  Rogers gives up his first runs of the season closing the books on a 32 inning scoreless streak.

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High A  Stockton Ports blanked the San Jose Giants 5-0:

NTSH

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets beat the Columbia Fireflies 6-3:

Lucius Fox SS- 0 for 2, 3 BB, 2 SB(17).  BA= .208.
Miguel Gomez 3B- 4 for 5, 2 HR(6).  BA= .358.
Matt Winn C- 1 for 5, HR(6).  BA= .204.
Shawon Dunston Jr LF- 3 for 3, 2B, SB(3).  BA= .357.
Michael Connolly RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 2.91.
Tyler Cyr RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2).  ERA= 2.31.

Maybe Gomez needs work in the field at this level, but he needs a bigger challenge at the plate.  This dude can hit!

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Short Season  Tri-Cities Dust Devils outscored the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 8-6:

Manuel Geraldo SS- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .313.
Jean Angomas LF- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .524.
Chase Compton 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .179.
Hengerber Medina RHP- 3.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 10.13.
Kendry Melo RHP- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Rayan Hernandez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Disappointing start for Hengerber.  Is it Carmot who has a mancrush on Angomas?  He's really tearing it up in the early going.

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Rookie AZL  A's pounded the Giants 8-4:

Nick Hill CF- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .455.
Beicker Mendoza 3B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .429.
Chris Denorfia LF- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .333.
Matt Krook LHP- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

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DSL  Giants edged out the Twins 4-3:

Jose Rivero SS(18 yo)- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .250.
Angeddy Almanzer 1B(17 yo)- 1 for 3, HR(2), SF.  BA= .361.
Ricardo Genoves C(17 yo)- 2 for 4.  BA= .340.
Jose Marte RHP(20 yo)- 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 11/0.  ERA= 2.20.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Game Wrap 6/23/2016: Giants 5 Pirates 3

Joe Panik drove in 3 runs with a bases-clearing triple and Mac Williamson had a breakout game including a mammoth HR while Albert Suarez and the bullpen held the Pirates offense in check.  Key Lines:

Joe Panik- 1 for 4, 3B.  BA= .259.  Panik hit just .188 on the 7 game road trip, but made the most of it with 10 RBI's and 5 Runs scored.  He had 4 game-winning hits on the trip which did not include this 3 run triple.

Mac Williamson RF- 3 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .243.  Mac has been on base 7 of 9 PA since his most recent callup.  He drove in Panik from 3B on a single and then hit a mammoth HR with an exit velocity of 108 MPH.  No disrespect to Jarrett Parker, but I think it's only a matter of time before Mac is the Giants starting LF and for a long time.  It's downright scary to think of what this lineup could do with Big Mac's power added to the mix.

Ramiro Pena- 2 for 4.  BA= .471.  Pena spelled Crawford on getaway day and got 2 more hits.

Jarrett Parker- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .273.  Parker continues to make significant contributions.  I see him as more of a 4'th OF in the future.

Albert Suarez- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.68.  Suarez has been amazingly consistent. In 4 starts, he has gone 5 IP with 3 R, 6.1 IP with 3 R, 2 ER, 4.2 IP with 3 R and 5 IP with 3 R, 2 ER.  He also has a relief appearance with 3 R in 5 IP and another with 2 R in 4.2 IP.  You can't have a rotation of his type of pitcher, but as a 5'th starter, it's good enough, at least until Cain can get back healthy.

Bullpen- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  Another shutdown job by the bullpen with 4 pitchers contributing, Kontos, Strickland, Gearrin and Casilla with Casilla earning his 16'th Save and striking out the side in the 9'th inning.

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The Giants complete a 7 game road trip with a 6-1 record.  They have won 11 of their last 12 games.  The Giants also have as many Wins as the Cubs although the Cubbies have 3 fewer losses.  The Giants also gain 0.5 games on the Dodgers in the NL West and now lead the division by 6 games.

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I am sure the flight home was a happy one.  The Giants start a weekend home series against the Phillies with Jake Peavy facing Zack Eflin.

Down on the Farm: 6/22/2016

AAA  Tacoma Rainiers defeated the Sacramento River Cats 5-2:

Travis Ishikawa 1B- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .200.
Ty Blach LHP- 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 4.67.
Sergio Romo RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.25.

Romo seems to be inching closer to returning to the MLB team.

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AA  Hartford Yard Goats outscored the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-6:

Christian Arroyo 3B- 3 for 5.  BA= .295.
Ryder Jones 1B- 2 for 5.  BA= .250.
Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(7).  BA= .260.
Matt Gage LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.69.

Cole is hitting .351 over his last 10 games with 3 HR's.  I'm guessing it is not just a coincidence that Arroyo moved back to 3B when Matt Duffy hit the DL.

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High A  San Jose Giants were idle.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets were idle.

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Short Season  Salem-Keizer Volcanoes edged out the Boise Hawks 3-2:

Manuel Geraldo SS- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .296.
Jean Angomas DH- 3 for 4.  BA= .529.
Victor Concepcion RHP- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.75.

Angomas moved up to 2'nd in the batting order.  This start by Concepcion was more like what we were hoping for.

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Rookie AZL  Giants topped the A's 5-3:

Robinson Medrano 1B- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .333.
Sandro Fabian RF- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .333.
Nathanael Javier 3B- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .500.
Conner Menez RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

A Nathanael Javier sighting!  Medrano finally gets a gig in the States after languishing in the DSL for 3 seasons.  He improved his stats each season down there and is still just 20 years old, so he still has time.  One of my favorite prospects for awhile.  Love his size at 6'3", 180 lbs.  Fabian is an 18 yo graduate of the DSL.  Very nice pro debut for Menez, the Giants 14'th round draft pick out of The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA.

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DSL  Rojos pounded the Giants 11-4(completion of suspended game):

Ismael Munguia LF- 1 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(3).  BA= .424.
Angeddy Almanzer 1B- 2 for 5.  BA= .353.

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DSL  Giants blanked the Rojos 4-0:

Angeddy Almanzer DH- 2 for 4.  BA= .362.
Ricardo Genoves 1B- 3 for 4.  BA= .327.
Johan Herrera(17 yo)- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.25.
Oliver Pinto(19 yo)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.71.

Game Wrap 6/22/2016: Giants 7 Pirates 6

Jeff Samardzija had his worse start of the season as the Giants fell behind 6-1 after 3 innings, but the bullpen, led by Derek Law pitching in his hometown, stopped the bleeding and then shut it down for the remaining 6 inning while the offense chipped away for an improbable come-from-behind win.  Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 5.  BA= .256.  Span is 5 for 11 after getting a 1 game breather on Sunday in St. Petersburg, FL.

Joe Panik- 1 for 4, BB.  BA= .259.  Per Bill Laskey, Panik has 3 GW Hits this road trip.

Buster Posey- 1 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .277.  Buster got the last out of the game for the Giants on a perfect throw to the bag to nail John Jaso on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out, then did a rare fist pump with his mask and helmet askew.  If the helmet hadn't been in the way, I think we might have seen him saying "not havin it!"

Mac Williamson- 1 for 2, 3 BB.  BA= .182.  Mac's single through the hole on the left side had an exit velocity of 115 MPH.

Ramiro Pena- 1 for 5, 2B.  BA= .462.  So far, the Pena/Gillaspie platoon is working to perfection.  Pena is a switch-hitter to boot and got a hit from each side of the plate in this game.

Jeff Samardzija- 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.59.  Samardzija has all but abandoned his offspeed stuff and is down to a FB and Cutter for all practical purposed.  That can work if he has good command and keeps the ball at the knees, but uncoiling out of the back turn is causing him to open up too soon and that is elevating the pitches where they are getting hammered.  Giants pitcher whisperers have their work cut out for them.

Derek Law- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.49.  The Law came in and restored order…er laid down the Law… or something.  This was in front of his family in his hometown and he was electric stopping the Pirates in their tracks and buying time for the Giants offense.

Josh Osich- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.74.  This was Osich's best appearance of the season and one of the few times he's filled the Jeremy Affeldt role of a lefty reliever who can go more than 1 inning.  Let's hope this is the start of many more.

Cory Gearrin- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.30  Where, oh where would the Giants be without Cory Gearrin?

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(15).  ERA= 2.57.  Casilla did his part on the strike-em-out, throw-em-out by blowing a FB by Gregory Polanco who had a huge night and had already battled Casilla for several pitches.

Bullpen- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.  The Bullpen's composite line was the equivalent of a dominant start, a truly herculean performance.

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The Win kept the Giants 5.5 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys won another come from behind game from the Nats to sweep their 3 game series and extend the Dodgers win streak to 6 games.  Gotta be really disappointed at the way the Nationals laid down and died in front of the Dodgers there.

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Albert Suarez tries goes for a series win against Jonathan Niese on getaway day tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Down on the Farm: 6/21/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats defeated the Tacoman Rainiers 5-2:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 1 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .280.
Ruben Tejada 3B- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .200.
Andrew Susac C- 0 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .218.
Chris Heston RHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 11/3.  ERA= 3.82.
Steven Okert LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.65.

Chris Heston sez Hey! Don't forget about me either!

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels pounded the Hartford Yard Goats 11-3:

Ali Castillo 2B- 2 for 5, Sac.  BA= .325.
Christian Arroyo 3B- 2 for 6, 2B.  BA= .286.
Hunter Cole RF- 3 for 5, HR(6).  BA= .257.
Myles Schroder SS- 4 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .273.
Tyler Horan LF- 1 for 5, HR(4).  BA= .255.
Dan Slania RHP- 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.19.

2 hits with a double seems to be Arroyo's standard line.  Giants weren't ready to commit to bringing him up just yet.  Part of that is what would you do with him after Duffy comes back?  Part of it is lack of urgency at the MLB level.  They should do fine with a platoon of Gillaspie/Pena for the time being.  Part of it is having to drop someone from the 40 man roster.  Who?

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High A  San Jose Giants were idle for the Cal League All-Star Game.

For those of you who care, the Cal League All-Stars lost to the Carolina League All-Stars 6-4:

CJ Hinojosa went 1 for 4 with a double driving in 2 runs.

Chris Shaw went 1 for 4 with a double and drove in 1 run.

Reyes Maronta allowed 2 ER in 1 IP.  Rodolfo Martinez pitched a perfect 1 IP with 2 K's.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets were idle for the SAL All-Star Game.  The North team topped the South team 2-1:

Dylan Davis went 0 for 2.  Matt Winn went 0 for 1.  Caleb Smith allowed a BB in 0.2 IP.

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Short Season  Boise Hawks beat the Salem-Kiezer Volcanoes 4-2:

Jean Angomas LF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .462.
Ashford Fulmer RF- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1).  BA= .417.
Mac Marshall LHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 5.40.
Cesar Yanez RHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Here's what catches my eye about Yanez: He's 21 yo and listed at 6'5", 175 lbs.  He hasn't pitched much in the past 2 seasons with more BB's than K's.  I'm guessing he throws hard.  In 2 appearances this season he has 4 K's and 0 BB's.  I'll file his name away as a sleeper.

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Rookie AZL  D'Backs outscored the Giants 10-9:

Ryan Howard SS- 2 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .250.
Chris Denorfia LF- 1 for 3, 2B.  BA= .333.
Ryan Kirby 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .375.
Heath Quinn RF- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .600.
Nick Hill DH- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .300.
Beicker Mendoza 3B- 3 for 5.  BA= .444.
Michael Bernal 2B- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .400.
Jacob Greenwalt RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.   ERA= 9.00.
Reagan Bazar RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.

Howard was the Giants 5'th round draft pick with a reputation for a good eye at the plate.  Quinn was their 3'rd round pick.  Kirby was their 12'th round pick out of San Diego U.  Nick Hill has intriguing size at 6'4", 190 lbs drafted in round 26 out of Eckard College.  Mendoza played OF all last year for the DSL Giants, moving to 3B here. He is just 18 yo.  Bernal was the 29'th round draft pick out of Arkansas.  Bazar is 6'7", 250 lbs drafted in round 17 out of Louisiana-Lafayette.  Little used in college but reportedly throws in the high 90's.  Greenwalt was drafted and signed out of HS in Colorado in round 23.

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DSL  Rojos vs Giants suspended after 4 innings with the Rojos leading 7-2:

NTSH

Game Wrap 6/21/2016: Giants 15 Pirates 4

Just when it looked like the Giants might never score another run, ever, after 12 consecutive scoreless innings to start the series with the Pirates, they exploded for 7 runs in the 4'th inning and went on to crush the Pirates in Pittsburgh.   Key Lines:

Denard Span- 3 for 6, 2B.  BA= .254.  Span was in a deep slump batting just .125 over his last 7 games coming in, .167 over his last 15 and .200 over his last 30.  Bochy gave him the night off in Game 1 of the series and he responded with a 3 hit night with 3 runs scored.

Brandon Belt- 2 for 6, 2 2B.  BA= .305.  Belt is the leader of the offense, or maybe co-leader with Buster Posey.

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .278.  Buster was hitting .357 in his last 7 games coming in.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .260.  Crawford has an uncanny knack for doing exactly what is needed in every situation.  He drove in the first run of the game with a no-out, bases-loaded walk in the pivotal 4'th inning.

Ramiro Pena- 2 for 2, 3B.  BA= .500.  Pena is getting his chance to impress and so far is making the most of it.  Bochy sez he will get some PT at 3B, probably against LHP's.

Angel Pagan- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .270.  Pagan had been scuffling since his return from the DL and really since his original hammy strain.  .250 over his last 7 games coming in, .185 last 15 and .226 last 30.  The dinger was a grand slam that broke this baby open in the 4'th on the heels of Crawford's bases-loaded walk.

Jarrett Parker- 2 for 2.  BA= .258.  Parker is 6 for 9 in his last 4 games.

Gregor Blanco- 3 for 4, 2 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .269.  Blanco is en fuego hitting .346 over his last 7 coming into this one.  Best 4'th OF in baseball!

Conor Gillaspie 3B- 4 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .224.  After an 0 for 20-something slump, Gillaspie is now 5 for his last 6 with a 2B, HR and 6 RBI's.  Bochy sez he'll get the bulk of PT at 3B while Duffy is out.

Trevor Brown- 1 for 1, 2B.  BA= .241.  I'm pretty sure there was a post on another blog recently saying it was time for Brown to be sent packing.  Uh, I don't think so!

Johnny Cueto RHP- 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 9/1.  ERA= 2.06.  This one was close for 3 innings then turned into a laugher for Cueto who went to 11-1 on the season.

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Yesterday it was Steven Strasburg coming down with a stiff back 45 minutes before facing Clayton Kershaw.  Today it was Tanner Roark taking a 4 hit shutout and a 2-0 lead into the 8'th inning before giving up a 3-run HR to Yasmani Grandal.  The Win enabled the Giants to maintain their 5.5 game lead in the NL West as the Washington Nationals continue to show no heart against the Bad Guys.

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Jeff Samardzija tries to keep the winning ways going tomorrow evening against former Giants farmhand Francisco Liriano.  Hey! Anybody remember the AJ Pierzynski trade?  Just kidding!

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Down on the Farm: 6/20/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas 7-3:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .280.
Ruben Tejada SS- 2 for 4, 2 2B, SF.  BA= .188.
Mac Williamson RF- 1 for 3, HR(9), 2 HBP.  BA= .274.
Rando Moreno 2B- 2 for 3, SF.  BA= .248.
Clayton Blackburn RHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.50.

Tejada plays his first game since signing a minor league contract with the Giants.  Mac may be getting back on the shuttle.  Clayton Blackburn sez Hey!  Don't forget about me!

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels were idle.

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High A  San Jose Giants were idle.

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Short Season  Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Boise Hawks 7-2:

Zack Bowers 1B- 2 for 2.  BA= .462.
John Riley C- 5 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .538.
Gustavo Cabrera LF- 2 for 3.  BA= .400.
Melvin Adon RHP- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 0.00
Rayan Hernandez RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Huge night for Riley.  Can he find some consistency? Melvin Adon was signed as a 20 yo in 2014.  He pitched last year in the DSL with a line of 4-0, 2.28, 75 IP, 22 BB, 60 K's.  This year, he skips the AZL and starts in Salem-Keizer.  He's 6'3", 195 lbs.  An eyewitness report via Covechatter's twitter feed had his FB at 98-100 MPH last night.  Hello!  Major sleeper alert!  He won't stay asleep for long when word of that kind of velocity gets out.

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Rookie AZL  Giants stomped the D'Backs 6-3:

Mikey Edie CF- 2 for 4, BB, SB(1).  BA= .500.
Chris Denorfia LF- 1 for 3.  BA= .333.
Heath Quinn RF- 1 for 2, BB, HBP.  BA= .500.
Brandon Van Horn 2B- 1 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .500.
Sandro Cabrera LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 9.00.
Chris Falwell RHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Caleb Baragar LHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

I believe this was a rehab game for Denorfia who came out after 3 AB's.  Falwell is a 6'7" RHP drafted in the 16 round this year.  Baragar was the 9'th round pick.

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DSL  Giants edged out the Mariners1 3-2:

Jose Rivero SS(18 yo)- 1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .245.
Ismael Munguia LF(17 yo)- 2 for 4.  BA= .448.
Angeddy Almanzar 1B(17 yo)- 2 for 4.  BA= .347.
Miguel Figueroa RHP(18 yo)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 7.11.
Jesus Reyes RHP(19 yo)- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Jasier Herrera RHP(18 yo)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Game Wrap 6/20/2016: Pirates 1 Giants 0

6 different Giants hitters got 1 hit but in 6 different innings.  I guess you'd call those scattered hits.  Pirates catcher Eric Kratz hit a solo HR that Angel Pagan maybe should have caught, to mar another dominating performance by Madison Bumgarner and that was the difference in the game.  Key Lines:

Madison Bumgarner- 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 1.85.  Bumgarner had one pitch that did not quite get in far enough on the RH hitting Kratz and he jerked it.  He probably didn't even get all of it, but it carried to just above the LF fence.  Pagan jumped using 2 hands to catch it like it was no problem, except his momentum carried his glove over the fence and he apparently couldn't hang on.

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Steven Strasburg was scratched from his start against……oh, he was going against Clayton Kershaw?  Dang!  He was SO looking forward to that matchup!  Yusmeiro Petit took his place and was a gamer but a mere QS is not going to get it done against Kershaw these days.  Giants lead in the NL West shrinks to 5.5 games.

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Johnny Cueto tries to get the Giants back on the winning track tomorrow facing TBD.

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Matt Duffy missed his first game after 188 consecutive Games Played.  It was revealed after the game that an MRI showed an Achilles tendon strain and he was place on the 2-week DL.  Early speculation that the Giants might call up Christian Arroyo was quashed by Bobby Evans who said they might just bring up Mac Williamson and let Ramiro Pena and Conor Gillaspie platoon 3B, at least for now.  Duffy said he was surprised the MRI showed something bad enough for force him to the DL, but then went on to describe the whole recovery process and it sure sounded like this will take a lot longer than 2 weeks.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Down on the Farm: 6/19/2016

AAA  El Paso Chihuahuas defeated the Sacramento River Cats 7-1:

Ryan Lollis CF- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .259.
Joan Gregorio RHP- 1.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K's, 3 HR's.  ERA= 6.54.
Jake Dunning RHP- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.22.
Duke Welker RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.03.
Jean Machi RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.73.

The longball made this a rough appearance for Gregorio.  Glad to see the Giants giving Jean Machi a chance after he hit rock bottom.

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AA  Portland Sea Dogs beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 9-5:

Ryder Jones 3B- 1 for 3, HR(8), BB.  BA= .252.
Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .250.
Carlos Moncrief DH- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .244.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.95.
Ray Black RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.35.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.

I'm impressed with how well Ryder Jones is hanging with the EL.  Ray Black has 5 consecutive scoreless appearances with 11 K's and 1 BB in 4.1 IP.  Rogers runs his scoreless streak to 32 IP.

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High A  San Jose Giants topped the Ranch Cucamonga Quakes 5-3:

Jonah Arenado 3B- 1 for 4, HR(7).  BA= .263.
Chris Shaw 1B- 2 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .284.
Ty Ross C- 2 for 3, 2B.  BA= .236.
Phil Bickford RHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 13 K's.  ERA= 3.00.
Sergio Romo RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Rodolfo Martinez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(20).   ERA= 0.91.

You read that right, 13 K's for Bickford in his High A debut.  Yes!  Speaking of hanging, I'm also impressed with what Jonah Arenado has done so far with SJ.

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Low A  Lexington Legends edged out the Augusta Greenjackets 2-1:

Lucius Fox SS- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .210.
Dylan Davis RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .285.
Jake McCasland RHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.31.
Ryan Koziol RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.45.

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Short Season  Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Hillsboro Hops 11-2:

Zach Bowers C- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .364.
Jean Angomas LF- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .444.
Ashford Fulmer RF- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .500.
Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .500.
Raffi Vizcaino RHP- 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.00.
Cesar Yanez RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Yanez is 21 yo and 6'5".  He pitched sparingly for Rookie AZL the last two seasons.  His big issue is more walks than K's.  If he can get those under control, I'm guessing he may be a serious prospect.

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DSL  Giants were idle as usual on Sundays.

Game Wrap 6/19/2016: Giants 5 Rays 1

Jake Peavy pitched through 3 errors in the first 2 innings, including one of his own, to record a dominant start.  The Giants offense broke open a 1-1 tie in the 8'th inning to complete the sweeeeep of the weekend series.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, HR(10), BB.  BA= .305.  Belt has become the offensive leader of the team and came through again in this game.

Matt Duffy- 2 for 3, 2B.  BA= .253.  Duffy left the game early due to some Achilles pain.  This was reportedly in issue in spring training.  The early word is it was mostly precautionary.  He is DTD.

Conor Gillaspie- 1 for 1, 2B.  BA= .159.  Gillaspie broke out of his slump with a gap splitting 2-run double to R-CF.  He may have to fill in for Duffy at 3B for a few games, which makes the lineup even more LH heavy.  BTW, they will be facing 2 LHP's in Pittsburgh this week.

Jake Peavy- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 5.47.  Peavy's ERA over his last 7 starts is 2.82.  In 5 of those starts, he has pitched at least 6 innings and allowed 1 run or less.

Bullpen- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  Bullpen was the difference in both of the last 2 games.  Derek Law picked up the W as he pitched the 7'th inning when the score was still 1-1.

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The Win not only earned a sweep of the series, but extended the Giants winning streak to 8 games, equal to their previous longest win streak of the season.  Over their last 35 games, they are 28-7 which equals the Cubs best stretch of the season so far.  The Win also kept the Giants 6.5 games ahead of the Dodgers who topped the BrewCrew 2-1.

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The Giants now move on to Pittsburgh for a 4 game set with the top of their rotation teed up to take on the Bucs.  Madison Bumgarner takes on Jeff Locke in the first game tomorrow evening.

Down on the Farm: 6/18/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas 6-1:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .278.
Austin Slater RF- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .217.
Mac Williamson LF- 1 for 4, HR(8).  BA= .278.
Grant Green 2B- 3 for 4.  BA= .298.
Adalberto Mejia LHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

The big news of the day in the entire minor league system is obviously Mejia and his dominating AAA debut.   He may have suddenly jumped to the head of the line for a big league callup if an need should arise in the rotation.

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AA  Portland Sea Dogs smashed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 10-3:

Sam Coonrod RHP- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.75.

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High A  Rancho Cucamonga Quakes pounded the San Jose Giants 8-2:

Chris Shaw 1B- 2 for 2, 2B, HR(14), 2 BB.  BA= .278.
Jordan Johnson RHP- 6 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.13.
Jose Morel RHP= 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.03.

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Low A  Lexington Legends edged out the Augusta Greenjackets 6-5:

Miguel Gomez 3B- 2 for 4.  BA= .346.
Matt Pare DH- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .205.
Shawon Dunston Jr. LF- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .286.
Luis Pino RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 5.73.

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Short Season  Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Hillsboro Hops 14-3:

Manuel Geraldo SS- 3 for 6, 2B, SB(1).  BA= .455.
Juan Rodriguez CF- 2 for 5.  BA= .337.
John Riley C- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .250.
Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .500.
Hengerber Medina RHP- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.86.
Kendry Melo RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Rayan Hernandez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 B, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

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DSL  Mariners1 outscored the Giants 10-6:

Ismael Munguia LF(17 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .440.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Game Wrap 6/18/2016: Giants 6 Rays 4

Joe Panik stayed in the game after getting beaned on the helmet by a Matt Moore fastball and hit a 3-run homer in the top of the 9'th inning to give the Giants a commanding 3 run lead.  Cory Gearrin gave up a solo HR to Logan Forsythe, but held on for the Save.  Key Lines:

Joe Panik- 1 for 4, HR(7), HBP.  BA= .263.  The HBP drove in a run in the 5'th inning and the dinger gave him 4 on the day and thank God for the helmet!  Remember Matt Cain shattering David Wright's helmet?  These helmets seem stronger.

Matt Duffy- 1 for 3, HR(4), Sac.  BA= .248.  Duffy's HR in the second inning carried into the second section of the LF bleachers.  He was trying to bunt for  a basehit on the Sac.

Trevor Brown- 3 for 3, 2B, Sac.  BA= .244.  Brownie continues to make the most of his opportunities. He scored 2 runs in this game.

Gregor Blanco- 2 for 3, Sac.  BA= .260.  Blanco now has 9 hits in his last 20 AB over his last 5 games.  Who needs Ryan Braun?

Albert Suarez- 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.69.  Trop Field is a tough place to pitch.  Suarez was hardly lights out, but he kept the Giants in the game into the 5'th inning against a really good pitcher.

Bullpen- 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  No single outstanding performance here, but Bochy mixed and matched his way through the final 4+ innings and Panik came through in the nick of time.

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The Win was the Giants 7'th in a row, 1 short of their longest win streak of the season.  I also kept them 6.5 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West.

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It will be the battle of the Jakes tomorrow as Jake Peavy tries for another sweeeeep with Jake Odirrizzi trying to salvage one for the Rays.

Down on the Farm: 6/17/2016

AAA  Sacramento River Cats outlasted the El Paso Chihuahuas 5-4 in 11 innings:

Mac Williamson RF- 1 for 4, HR(7), BB.  BA= .279.
Grant Green 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .290.
Ryan Lollis PH- 1 for 1, HR(2).  BA= .259.
Ty Blach LHP- 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.41.

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AA  Portland Sea Dogs defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-1:

Ryder Jones 1B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .252.
Kyle Crick RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.20.

This was easily Cricky's best start in about 3 years.

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High A  San Jose Giants edged out the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2-1 in 11 innings:

Jonah Arenado 1B- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .264.
Robbie Garvey LF- 2 for 3, 2B, Sac.  BA= .255.
Jose Reyes RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.34.
Sergio Romo RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Garvey is hitting .346 over his last 8 games.  Romo begins another rehab assignment.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets outscored the Lexington Legends 6-5:

Miguel Gomez 3B- 3 for 4.  BA= .343.
Dominic Mazza LHP- 6 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.23.

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Short Season  Hillsboro Hops topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-5:

Manuel Geraldo SS- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .400.
Zach Bowers C- 3 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .750.
Juan Rodriguez CF- 1 for 4, 3B.  BA= .250.
Gustavo Cabrera LF- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .500.
Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .500.
Victor Concepcion RHP- 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 7.50.
Caleb Simpson RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Some of my favorite prospects here.  Geraldo skipped over the AZL after 2 seasons in the DSL.  He struggled early there and now surfaces in Salem-Keizer.  Love his size, switch-hitting and positional versatility.  Zach Bowers signed out of HS last year.  He may be a sleeper catcher in the system.  We all know about Gustavo.  Victor Concepcion skips over the AZL after 2 seasons in the DSL.  A bit of a mixed bag in his stateside debut.  Caleb Simpson is a 6'3", 220 lbs RHP drafted out of JC ball in 2013. He made a few appearances in the AZL that year and has no record since then.  I was not able to find any information on what he's been doing in the meantime except a note that the Giants signed him in June of this year.

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DSL  Cubs2 beat the Giants 9-6:

Diego Rincones RF(17 yo)- 1 for 1, BB.  BA= .361.
Ricardo Genoves 1B(17 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .343.
Brayan De Pena(DH)- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .150.

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My favorite prospect in the entire system, at least by name, Hengerber Medina, gets the start today for Salem-Keizer.

Game Wrap 6/17/2016: Giants 5 Rays 1

Jeff Samardzija came within 1 out of pitching a CG shutout and the Giants offense got some timely hits from Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco to give him the support he needed and then some.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(9), BB.  BA= .306.  Belt drew a walk with 2 outs in the first inning to start a 2 run rally.  Later he added in insurance run with a solo HR.

Buster Posey- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .275.  You know Buster is going good when he hits one into the RF corner which he did in the first inning to put runners at 2'nd and 3'rd for Brandon Crawford.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .264.  Archer threw Crawford 4 straight sliders in the first inning and Craw got called for 2 check swing strikes that looked like he actually did check his swing.  Archer then threw him a FB that was up and over the outer half of the plate.  Crawford drove it into the left-CF gap for a 2-out, 2-run double.

Jarrett Parker- 2 for 2, BB.  BA= .228.  Parker did not figure into the scoring but he had a nice night at the plate and seems to have calmed down since Pagan's return and his role is better defined.

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4.  BA= .252.  Blanco came up with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 4'th inning.   He dumped a single into CF driving in 2 runs to make it 4-0 Giants.

Jeff Samardzija- 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.14.  Shark seemed to have his mechanics back in order.  He pitched to contact, kept his pitch count down and ended up with a CG.  He gave up a solo HR to Brad Miller with 2 outs in the 9'th, but quickly recovered to get the final out.

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The Win kept the Giants lead in the NL West at 6.5 games over the Dodgers who squeaked out a 3-2 win over the BrewCrew in 10 innings.

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Jake Peavy's start is being pushed back a day to help him recover from some neck stiffness.  Albert Suarez takes the mound tomorrow facing his former organization.  He will be facing LHP Matt Moore who struck out 10 batters in his last start.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Scouting the Midseason Trade Market: Overview

We are now well into the middle third of the season when some teams, may fans and almost all baseball writers start thinking about the midseason trades and the Trade Deadline.  MLBTR recently posted their projected top 15 midseason trade targets.  There are even a few nascent trade rumors starting to sprout up including some speculation about the Giants possible interest in trading for Ryan Braun.

While the Giants have some fairly obvious areas which could be upgraded at the trade deadline, they are far from being in a desperate situation with a 24-16 record since April 21, a 6.5 game lead in the NL West and the Dodgers players holding each other accountable in the dugout, the Giants can afford to be patient and wait for the right deal or deals.  

Another factor to consider is there are not many teams who are completely out of contention for the postseason.  A quick perusal of the MLB Standings shows there are just 3 teams who are 10 games or more behind in the Wild Card race and just 8 teams that are more than 5 games out.  That could change between now and the trade deadline, but it's looking more and more like a fairly extreme seller's market.  One example is the aforementioned Ryan Braun.  Everybody seems to assume the Brewers can't wait to trade him and his contract so they can get on with their rebuild, but not so fast there.  The Brewers are currently just 5 games behind in the Wild Card race and were playing pretty good ball before running into the Giants and AT&T Park.  The Brewers have all kinds of reasons why they might not want to trade Ryan Braun, not the least of which is they are not out of the postseason picture by any means.

Turning to the Giants needs, were it not for the Giants tremendous starting pitching and almost as tremendous infield and catcher, the outfield would have been a full blow crisis.  Pagan and Pence were in the DL, Blanco was in one of his black hole slumps and neither Jarrett Parker nor Mac Williamson showed they were ready to stand in the gap.  That crisis has eased a bit with the return of Pagan and Blanco broke out of his slump against the Brewers.  That is not to say the Giants couldn't use a RH OF bat with some pop, but it's no longer the desperate situation it was 3 or 4 days ago.  Of course, we never know when Pagan is going to sproing his hammy again or when his spine will collapse in a pile of rubble, but yeah, it's not a current crisis.  One more thought.  While the market may open up a bit more as the trade deadline approaches, by that time Hunter Pence should be within a couple of weeks of returning, and do you really want to sell the farm system to fill a 2 week need?  One more:  While Pagan and Blanco may not fit your vision of corner OF's, all of the available better hitters are considerably worse defenders in the OF somewhat canceling out their upgrade potential.

Another obvious need is in the bullpen.  This is an area where the Giants have historically made their best under-the-radar deadline pickups.  Santiago Casilla has been shaky at closer at best while even Bruce Bochy has been unable to settle on roles for the 7'th and 8'th innings.  The Giants could use an upgrade at closer, 8'th inning setup  and lefty specialist.  Again, the problem is a relative lack of sellers. The potentially available closers all have warts of their own.  The Giants may be better off shopping for a setup arm, but the pickings are still mighty slim.

Finally, with Matt Cain seemingly unable to gain any traction before he gets injured again, the Giants could use another starting pitcher.  Again, the choices for a clear upgrade are few and the prices are likely to be high.

We will look at each area of need in more detail in upcoming posts.

Down on the Farm: 6/16/2016

AAA  Fresno Grizzlies shut out the Sacramento River Cats 4-0:

Chris Heston RHP- 7.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 14/5.  ERA= 3.96.

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AA  Binghampton Mets defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-1:

Christian Arroyo SS- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .285.
Tyler Beede RHP- 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.10.
Ray Black RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.65.

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High A  Rancho Cucamonga Quakes toppled the San Jose Giants 5-2:

Steven Duggar RF- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(5).  BA= .283.
CJ Hinojosa SS- 1 for 4, HR(5).  BA= .311.
Jason Forjet RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.36.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets outscored the Lexington Legends 11-10:

Jalen Miller 2B- 1 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .249.
Miguel Gomez 3B- 2 for 5.  BA= .333.
Dylan Davis DH- 2 for 4, HR(8), BB.  BA= .282.
Matt Pare C- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .200.
Johneshwy Fargas CF- 2 for 5, 2 SB(12).  BA= .246.

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DSL  Giants pounded the Cubs2 8-1:

Jose Patino CF(18 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .341.
Diego Rincones DH(17 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .343.
Angeddy Almanzer(17 yo)- 1B- 2 for 4, 2 BB.  BA= .341.
Ismael Munguia RF(17 yo)- 3 for 4.  BA= .500.
Johan Herrera RHP(17 yo)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.00.
Oliver Pinto RHP(19 yo)- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 1.04.

Patino was credited with 2 OF Assists both at 3B.  Looks like the Giants have a nice crop of 17 year olds this year on the DSL club.

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Salem-Keizer Volcanoes start their season tonight with Victor Concepcion on the mound.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Down on the Farm: 6/15/2016

AAA  Fresno Grizzlies edged out the Sacramento River Cats 4-3:

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .276.
Rando Moreno SS- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .250.
Clayton Blackburn RHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.55.
Jake Dunning RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA 4.71.

Blackburn gave up all 4 of his runs on a GSHR in the 5'th inning.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Binghampton Mets 4-2:

Hunter Cole RF- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(1).  BA= .256.
Matt Gage LHP- 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.25.
Tyler Mizenko RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.88.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's, Save(10).  ERA= 0.00.

Gage and Michael Connolly share strongest start of the night for the Giants minor league system.  Rogers runs his scoreless IP streak to 31.

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High A  San Jose Giants outscored the Inland Empire 66'ers 5-4:

Steven Duggar RF- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .275.
CJ Hinojosa SS- 1 for 4, 3B.  BA= .313.
Jonah Arenado 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .260.
Mark Reyes LHP- 7 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 11/2.  ERA= 3.74.
Rodolfo Martinez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(19).  ERA= 0.65.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets topped the Charleston River Dogs 3-2:

Lucius Fox SS- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 SB(15).  BA= .212.
Seth Harrison CF- 2 for 5, 3B.  BA= .272.
Michael Connolly RHP- 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 9/1.  ERA= 2.80.
Tyler Cyr RHP- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.14.

Cyr has 17 K's against just 1 BB in 10.1 IP over his last 4 appearances.  Connolly has a 1.52 ERA over his last 6 starts, 39.1 IP.

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DSL  Giants stomp on the Orioles2 12-3:

Jose Rivero SS(18 yo)- 2 for 5, BB.  BA= .278.
Diego Rincones RF(17 yo)- 3 for 5, SF.  BA= .333.
Angeddy Almanzer 1B(17 yo)- 2 for 6, 2B.  BA= 316.
Ricardo Genovese C(17 yo)- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .323.
Ismael Munguia DH(17 yo)- 3 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .429.
Norwich Gudino RHP(20 yo)- 5 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 2.08.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Game Wrap 6/15/2016: Giants 10 Brewers 1

Johnny Cueto pitched a dominant start while the Giants offense unleashed a relentless hit barrage as the Giants completed a series sweeeeeeep in dominant fashion.  Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 3 for 6, 2B.  BA= .252.  Blanco must have read my comment about not being able to hit his way out of a paper bag.  He was 0 for 23 over 9 games coming into this series and went 6 for 13. And who says Blanco can't hit leadoff?  He filled in for Denard Span who got a routine day off, playing Span's position in CF and batting in his leadoff spot.

Joe Panik- 3 for 3, BB, Sac, SB(5).  BA= .268.  Panik went 7 for 12 in the series and his hitting .458 over his last 7 games and .321 over his last 15 games.

Buster Posey- 3 for 5.  BA= .251.  Buster went 8 for 12 in this series and looks like he is close to fully recovered from the nerve problem in his thumb.

Matt Duffy- 3 for 5.  BA= .251.  Duffman was 6 for 12 in the series and is hitting .385 over his last 7 games.  He seems to be more relaxed at the plate letting the game come to him.

Angel Pagan- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .287.  Pagan is 4 for 9 in two games since his return from the  DL.  He's still a dynamic player when healthy.

Jarrett Parker- 1 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .200.  Maybe with Pagan back and Parker set in more of a utility role, he can relax and just play.  He was looking very anxious as Pagan's return date drew closer.  Maybe he thought he could win a starting job or maybe he was concerned he would get sent down instead of Mac?

Johnny Cueto- 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K's, GO/AO= 8/2.  ERA= 2.10.  Cueto toned down the shoulder shimmies, possibly in response to the balk call in the last game?  The results were still dominating!

Chris Stratton- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 4/0.  ERA= 1.80.  Ask and ye shall receive!  I wanted to see more of Stratton and Bochy obliged in a runaway win.  No K's here, but the 2 non-GB outs on Balls In Play were a lineout to RF and an IF pop-up.  5 of his 6 outs were on non-hard hit balls.

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With the Win, the Giants remained 6 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys topped the D'Backs 3-2.  The Giants also completed their 5'th series sweep of the season.  On April 21 after being swept at home in 4 games by the D'Backs, the Giants record stood at 7-10.  Since then they have gone 34-16.  In that time frame they have an 8 game win streak and a 5 game win streak with 1 loss in between for 13 wins in 14 games.  Their current win streak stands at 5 games.

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The Giants have a travel day before starting a 3 games series in Tampa against the Rays.  Jeff Samardzija tries to get on track against Chris Archer in Game 1 Friday.

Down on the Farm: 6/14/2016

AAA  Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Sacramento River Cats 6-3:

Austin Slater LF- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .244.
Joan Gregorio RHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.10.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels pounded the Binghampton Mets 8-1:

Christian Arroyo SS- 0 for 1, 4 BB.  BA= .285.
Ricky Oropesa 1B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .232.
Dan Slania RHP- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.46.
Preston Claiborne RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.40.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Rogers runs his scoreless innings streak to 29.2.

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High A  Inland Empire 66'ers outlasted the San Jose Giants 5-4 in 10 innings:

Ronnie Jebavy CF- 2 for 5.  BA= .249.
Steven Duggar RF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .269.
Brandon Bednar 1B- 3 for 5.  BA= .291.
Ty Ross C- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .241.
DJ Snelton LHP- 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.55.

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Low A Charleston River Dogs blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 3-0:

Miguel Gomez 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .333.
Cory Taylor RHP- 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 1.83.
Caleb Smith RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.66.

Taylor had the top pitching line of the night in the Giants minor league system.

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DSL  Giants outscored the Orioles 11-8:

Jose Rivero SS(18 yo)- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(2).  BA= .258.
Diego Rincones RF(17 yo)- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .280.
Angeddy Almanzer 1B(17 yo)- 3 for 4, BB.  BA= .313.
Brayan De Pena LF(18 yo)- 1 for 3, HR(1).  BA= .067.
Jasier Herrera RHP(18 yo)- 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.