The Giants came up short in their bid for a 4'th straight win to open the 2017 spring training exhibition season. Wouldn't you know it? The A's were the team to break up the win streak. Key Lines:
Christian Arroyo SS- 2 for 3. BA= .750. Arroyo won't make the team for Opening Day but look for a yuge season for Sacramento.
Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 2, HR(1). BA= .286. Will this finally be Belt's breakout season after we've all stopped expecting it?
Ryder Jones 3B- 1 for 2. BA= .500. The hit tool is underrated, I tell you!
Michael Morse PH-DH- 2 for 2. BA= .400. I'm not sure whether to root for Morse to have a good spring or not.
Jeff Samardzija RHP- 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 18.00. Getting his work in.
Chris Stratton RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Darkhorse for the swingman role?
Sam Coonrod RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Successful spring debut for Coonrod.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 9.00. Silver lining is he pitched his way out of it with only 1 run allowed. He took the loss, though.
Jose Dominguez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Dominguez is a flamethrower. Keep that in mind.
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Madison Bumgarner makes his second start of the spring tomorrow against the Padres in Peoria, AZ.
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Around the League:
Remember Lewis Brinson? We loved him in the 2012 draft when the Rangers made him the #29 overall selection. He's worked his way up the minors chain and was traded to the BrewCrew at the deadline last year. He proceeded to hit .382 with 4 HR and 4 SB's in 93 PA for the Colorado SkySox. Prior to that he hit .236 with 11 HR and 11 SB in 326 PA for the Rangers AA club. today he went 3 for 3 with a 2B while batting leadoff for the Brewers. He hit 2 dingers against Univ. of Western Michigan on Friday, but that game does not count as a Cactus League game.
Dansby Swanson who will almost certainly be the Braves starting SS went 3 for 3 with a 2B for ATL.
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"Remember Lewis Brinson?" No. In 2012 I was still on my multi-year Internet Sports Hiatus. So why did Giants fans like him so much?
ReplyDeleteBelt: Of the past four seasons, Belt has been healthy for three. In each of those healthy seasons he's been a 4.0 (or better) fWAR player. And even with that injury plagued 2014 season in there, he's 8th in fWAR and 8th in offense for 1B over the past 4 years, rising to 6th over the past two. I'm considering that 'broke out.' And the funny thing is, there are a lot of teams (and fan bases) that would love to have a 'scrub' like Brandon Belt.
Arroyo: Honestly, after getting so often in my life when getting excited about prospects, I made the rule -- until they prove in the majors, getting excited is pointless. But he's been working himself to acquiring an exception to that rule. Same with Beede.
Brinson 2012: Projectable 5-tool athlete with a nice swing. He was listed at 170 lbs back then. Now 195.
DeleteBelt: So tell me you've never dreamed about him hitting .300 with 30 dingers!
lol. I wouldn't turn it down! Production is production. But, for me, while he's not Goldschmidt, he sure as heck isn't Brandon Moss, Ryan Zimmerman or Albert Pujols. And he's closer to Goldschmidt than those three turkeys. And I can live with that without pining for the fjords.
DeleteWhen I said "breakout", I did not say I thought Belt was a bad player. I just think he has the potential to be a lot better, which may or may not ever happen.
DeleteWhy is Belt dinged on defense, with a consistently negative dWAR (except 2016)?
ReplyDeleteIs there a "saved error" stat for scooping balls on the bounce or reaching 10 feet in the air? He seems to be as good as there is, although he gets some errors trying to thread the ball to second to start DPs.
I suspect Brandon dreams about hitting .300 with 30 HRs, along with dreams of being Ted Williams!
Sorry, BB, you're no Ted Williams!
Unless consistent power metamorphosizes, he might do better taking the ball up the middle and hitting to all fields. He was only 13 hits short of .300 last year -- how many outs were to the 2nd baseman in right field? More hits will probably be more HRs, too.
I have the feeling that he is resistant to change. And getting more so with age.
Dr. B, what's your thought on CF? Heard Span is coming to camp healthy and doesn't have any physical restrictions like last year. can he be a .280 hitter again? or chances are the giants will try to platoon him more and gorkys playing against LHP?
ReplyDeleteI think at this point in his career, Span is a platoon CF, more because he needs more rest days than because he is bad against LHP's. So, I hope the Giants pair him up with a RH hitter who can also play CF. My choice is Gorkys because I was impressed by his D last year, but most any RH batter who can play at least average D in CF would be OK with me. Ruggiano?
DeleteWith Belt it's not so much his numbers as his demeanor in important at-bats. My evidence is entirely anecdotal and personal and so probably unreliable. But it almost always seems that, if he's up late in a game where a hit is needed to tie the game he's always looking for a walk rather than to drive the ball; he works the count two two strikes and then bites on an up-and-in FB or a scud at his left foot. Or walks. Drives my wife crazy. One can only defend him with the 18th-inning playoff HR so often.
ReplyDeleteIn my defense, a frustrated Sabean commented in an interview last year that it was clear that Belt couldn't hit in the 3-4-5 slots, as one would expect a big 1st baseman to do. He is, in fact, best in the 2d slot -- but the G's have others who can hit well there too.