The Giants scored at least 1 run in each of the last 5 innings while the bullpen stymied the Padres to overcome a 7-1 deficit for the Win. Key Lines:
Justin Ruggiano LF- 1 for 1, 2B, BB. BA= .229. Ruggy's bat has come to life after his BA hit a nadir of .067 on March 7'th. He's 7 for 20 over his past 10 games.
Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .279. Panik should not stay in slumps for too long because he makes so much contact.
Buster Posey 1B- 2 for 3, HR(1). BA= .353. Buster looks like he's slimmed down a bit, but still has the Popeye arms. He looks like he's in great shape!
Jae-Gyun Hwang 1B- 1 for 2. BA= .308. Hwang drove in the winning run with a bloop hit to RF. He also won the Barney Nugent Award for best first spring training. He's reportedly ticketed for Sacramento and is reportedly OK with that. He plans to work on his fielding and strike zone judgement(apparently the strike zone is different here than in Korea).
Brandon Crawford SS- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .174. The BA is deceiving as Crawford missed a lot of Cactus League games to play in the WBC and had a great run there.
Nick Hundley C- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .324. Hundley is definitely looking like an offensive upgrade over Trevor Brown so far.
Gorkys Hernandez CF- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .159. Gorkys sez, "Hey! Don't forget about me!"
Chris Stratton RHP- 3 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 3 K. ERA= 9.00. If this was an opportunity for Stratton, well, he didn't exactly take advantage of it. He basically threw batting practice for the Padres for 3 innings. I guess it's a positive that he completed the 3 innings.
Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. More boring baseball from Melancon. Boring is good!
George Kontos RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.50. Dominant inning from Kontos whose roster spot seems very safe. After giving up 3 ER in his second spring appearance on March 1, Kontos has allowed just 2 R over his last 8(1 inning each) for an ERA of 2.25 with 2 BB, and 13 K.
Josh Osich LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.40. Osich needs a strong finish to spring training. Today's appearance gives him a great start on that.
Cory Gearrin RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 9.00. Gearrin has scuffled so far. Can he hold off Neil Ramirez for the final bullpen spot?
Neil Ramirez RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.93. Ramirez and Gearrin are probably competing for the final bullpen spot, unless the Giants don't carry a long man.
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Ty Blach gets the start tomorrow agains the ChiSox. It does seem like the Giants are auditioning a backup plan for Matt Cain. According to Pavs, Tyler Beede has been tabbed to start next Saturday's game in Oakland for the Bay Bridge Series.
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Also according to Pavs, Michael Morse says he plans to rehab in Sacramento after his hammy heals. He is aware that if the Giants get off to a good start, they probably won't call him up when the rehab is over in which case it's Happy Trails.
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Josh Osich! Really would love to see him round into form just in time. I think he may have realized that the team REALLY needs him now and for the whole year, and it clicked something into place inside the kid. Hope Gorkys can come alive right here at the end, too. They could REALLY use his plus-plus defense and solid backup bat to give Span regular off time to start the season. I feel he's a much more interesting bet than Ruggiano - Gorkys is part of the family already after a great AAA->Majors showing last year.
ReplyDeleteGreat day for the G's Offense, awesome day for the Pen. Stratton will have other chances to prove out - Melancon is BOORING!
FWIW, Bags wrote that the Giants are very happy with Beede and they believe he will be ready if they call him up this year. Bags also reports that Pence 'is still looking lost' at the plate.
ReplyDeleteI was at the game yesterday (I saw the first 6 innings at Talking Stick Rockies vs. Cubs then zipped over to Scottsdale). Posey, Panik and Crawford all looked strong. Panik had a beautiful swing on the ball he crushed for a double. Experience at Scottsdale is by far the best of all the spring training parks. The atmo at the other parks all have a bit of a sleepy feel to them, filled with snowbirds wilting in the sun. The Dodger facility has a nice architectural feel, but the fans from the Bay, come to Scottsdale with a lot more enthusiasm. Hoping Hwang's stay at Sacramento is short and he opens a new chapter in the SF Giant playbook-bring in the Korean players.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the report. Panik looking like a changed man this year. Hope he knows he has something to prove.
DeletePS - I'll always be sentimental about the A's facility in Arizona, as I was able to get by camping out of the back of my car off the side of their facility's parking lot when I visited about 10 years back. Wasn't about paying $60+ per nite around the area, but couldn't find any easy camping in the area either.
DeleteLook forward to going back one of these years again when the Giants are just a scuffling team with a bus full of up-and-coming prospects to dream on. Ahhhh..those were the days. Cain and Lincecum, I will never forget my infatuation with thee back in days yore before we backed up the truck into the trophy case.