Saturday, March 18, 2017

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/18/2017: Mariners 6 Giants 5

Two non-roster relievers hoping to make the Giants Opening Day team got bombed to spoil a terrific start by Matt Moore and a nice offensive game from the top 4 hitters in the Giants lineup.  Key Lines:

Denard Span CF- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .143.  Span's bat seems to be coming to life in the last several games.

Joe Panik 2B- 1 for 3, 2B.  BA= .290.  Panik has cooled off a bit, but drove in a run and scored one today.

Jarrett Parker LF- 2 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .333.  Pedal to the metal!  Parker just is not going to blow his big opportunity.

Chris Marrero 1B- 2 for 5, HR(4).  BA= .256.  Interesting battle between Marrero and Morse for RH bat off the bench.  Does Marrero have an advantage because he is a better fielder?  Grant Brisbee over at mccoveychronicles.com makes a case for Jae-Gyun Hwang competing for the same roster spot.

Matt Moore LHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 5/2.  ERA= 3.94.  Moore has come on strong in his last 2 starts.  The Giants need him to have a good season if they want to compete for a postseason spot and a shot at a championship.

David Hernandez RHP- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.79.  Early on, Hernandez was looking like a shoe-in for a bullpen gig, but he's been bombed in two outings in a row.  Chances not looking so good right now.

Jose Dominguez RHP- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.79.  Dominguez was always a longer shot than Hernandez, and he did not help his cause with this appearance.

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It's Jeff Samardzija's turn to start against the BrewCrew in Scottsdale tomorrow.

4 comments:

  1. A curiosity in today's game?
    There were 10 starters: 8 position players, the DH, and the pitcher.
    There were 9 subs in the batting order -- everyone except Marrero was replaced, and there were 5 relief pitchers.
    No player entering the game did as well as the starter (although an equivalence argument could be made for 3 pitchers who were in for an inning or less)!
    All 9 batting starters got at least one hit (collectively 12-34), their replacements were 0-6!
    There was an icy similarity to the end of 2016 losing a game that was all but won.



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    1. Schulman said Bochy was ticked off (something of a rarity for a pre-season game) about how this loss unfolded. The only consolation I took out of it was that the people who 'blew it' aren't exactly high on the depth chart.

      Anyway, this far into Spring Training, as I see it, I think the Bullpen is: Melancon, Law, Strickland, Smith, Kontos, Okert, Blach (at least early on), with a possible 8th man who I am completely at a loss to nominate... :) So that some guys I don't think are going to make the 25-man roster blew it isn't getting my panties in a bunch. Whereas if it were someone I projected, and they were scuffling already, I'd be worried...

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  2. I was at the Giants official site. They have a 5-man outfield in their roster section: Span, Hernandez, Pence, Williamson & Parker. I'm guessing/hoping that's what we'll take in this year and go with a 12-man pitching staff instead of 13.

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    1. They have a 5-man outfield in their roster section: Span, Hernandez, Pence, Williamson & Parker -- that's not a bad OF, 2 RHB, 2 LHB, and 1 real OFer!
      Mac waiting for either a slew of LHPs or Parker's inevitable slump seems a waste: he should play everydy.
      If Parker gets the nod, Mac goes to Sacramento. Until Parker is mired with his .220 and a high 20's K rate. 2 more today.
      There's talk about having the b/u catcher pinch hit which forgets about Bochy: he won't NOT have a C on the bench. Or at 1st base.
      12 pitchers work if Cain is #5 starter but not if he's mop-up. And if Cain is #5, Shark isn't exactly a great #4. Decisions, decisions.
      5 OFers without one being named Morse or Marreno? Then what does he with an M do?
      We know who 5 IFers (THE 3 + Gillaspe and Nunez) are, plus 5 OFers (Span, Pence, Hernandez, Parker -- this week -- and Mac -- last week when Parker wasn't hitting, and someone who is a legit OFer?), & 2 C leaves either another hitter or a pitcher.
      Hundley is a terrific backup catcher if you don't care if there isn't already a runner on 2nd. He couldn't throw out a reasonable quick grandmother! Hundley catching and a runner on first = a runner on 2nd.
      With all that, there are still M & M, Hill, Calixte, Hwang (maybe the best of the bunch!), Tomlinson (definitely the best of the bunch), a couple more worthy B/U catchers (among Brown, Garcia, Federowicz, or Winn), and assuming Beckham, Ruggiano, and Rollins are already toast.
      Beede and Arroyo show their stuff today! In April they'll be in Sacramento. Along with ???

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