The Giants returned from their road trip on an up note…..and did a faceplant in AT&T Park as matt Moore again struggled with his command and Ervin Santana cut through the Giants lineup like a hot knife through butter. Oh, and Santana added a 3-run double adding on runs he ultimately did not need. Key Lines:
Matt Moore LHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K. ERA= 5.28. Moore was victimized by some bad BABIP luck, sequencing and what was probably a fluke hit by Santana, but he also had poor command of his pitches which is something that bites him way too often. And is it just me, or should a good CF have caught the ball Santana hit for a bases-clearling game-busting open double?
Ervin Santana RHP- 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 14/5. ERA= 2.20. I have both Santana and Matt Moore on my fantasy team, the Savvy Vets, and Santana is having a terrific season. He basically had two pitches in this game but they were both plus-plus, a FB that touched 95 MPH with good command and a tight slider that the Giants hitters were not picking up. While Matt Moore's signature moment in the game was allowing Santana's double after pitching around the 8'th batter, Santana's came after Aaron Hill's leadoff triple in the 3'rd inning. Slater hit a check swing grounder right to the 1B bag with no chance for Hill to score followed by a swinging bunt by Moore that got back to Santana in time for an easy assist at 1B and again no chance for Hill to score. Span then grounded out ending the Giants only scoring threat of the day.
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Jeff Samardzija tries to keep his string of dominant starts going today against a resurgent Jose Berrios.
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To answer your CF question, the answer is yes. Span is #35 (CFers with 300+ innings) in OOZ plays. In zone, he's a competent, average vet ranked #15. But if you need someone to cover a big CF... Span isn't it.
ReplyDelete"And is it just me, or should a good CF have caught the ball Santana hit for a bases-clearing game-busting open double?"
ReplyDeleteNo, it is not just you.
As I see it, the Giants have not had a natural, "go get 'em", CF that looks like he was born to play CF - and more importantly, young enough to build a team around, in at least 25 years. Their CF's included guys who were outstanding in the field but barely adequate (or less) at bat (Darren Lewis, Marvin Benard, Andres Torres), guys who were good to great once but past their prime when they got to SF (Brett Butler, Steve Finley, Marquis Grissom, Aaron Rowand, and, sad to say, apparently, Denard Span) and guys they gave up on who had some success elsewhere (Rajai Davis). Really, the best CF solution the Giants have had in recent years was a guy who was an outstanding athlete but who was not a natural CF - Angel Pagan (before injuries moved him to LF). And the last homegrown CF? Wow, if you discount Marvin Benard (perhaps the most unprepossessing Giant of the last 30 years), you would have to go back to Dan Gladden.
Do the Giants have a homegrown CF option waiting in the wings - they have a few possibilities (Austin Slater, Bryan Reynolds, Steven Duggar) but none of them looks like a natural CF, more a case of a good athlete who could be a corner OF, but who is being groomed as a CF. In truth, the only natural CF I see in the entire organization just got back on the field after a shoulder separation at the end of last year - Ronnie Jebhavy - a great natural CF if there ever was one (he is now playing CF in San Jose, moving Bryan Reynolds to RF), but with lingering questions about his bat.
No, I can see the Giants doing worse than drafting a CF early in the draft on Monday.
Chili Davis is the last actually-good home-grown CF I remember.
DeleteKingston Jamaica's own Charles "Chili" Davis. A very good outfielder, exceptional hitter. However, after playing 144 games in CF his rookie year, the Giants looked at his 16 assists to go with 12 errors, and saw a guy with a great arm who could catch what he could get to. As such, they gradually moved him to RF in the years that followed (with the emergence of Dan Gladden, also soon to leave SF for 2 WS rings in MIN - the latter of which he was joined by none other than Davis). Davis went on to the AL via FA at age 28 and in the remaining 12 seasons (winning 1 WS ring with MIN and 2 more with the NYY) of his career, he played a grand total of 3 games in CF. Great bat (2380 career hits and 350 career HR), great arm (77 career assists, 26 of them in CF), OK glove (80 career errors, 31 of them in CF) but more of a corner OF being asked to play CF early in his career than a natural CF.
DeleteWell, since we're talking about Monday's draft, let me throw out some personal projections, based on your (Dr. B's) own rankings, plus a little mlb.com and BA. The first couple rounds are estimates, the rest pure guesswork -- but I did throw some CFs in there:
ReplyDeleteROUND ONE TARGETS
Heliot Ramos (You like this guy. Callis/Mayo report G’s interest. Potential major RH power. G’s have history in PR. Great name. If they think he can consistently barrel it, I suspect he’s the guy, unless Astros take him first. All depends on whether he’s another HS guy who has to work on contact, which would be a problem this high.)
Sam Carlson (As you put it, a cookie-cutter perfect HS pitching prospect. But BA reports best HS changeup and plus command. He would be my choice if still there.)
Evan White (If G’s are convinced he can move from 1B to CF.)
David Peterson (If the stuff is good enough. Great control/command. They love their 6’6” lefties.)
Jake Burger (Big RH power; bad body. Interestingly, though, BA says he can stick at 3B. Could be it. “I’m not an athlete, I’m a baseball player!”)
ROUND TWO
Luis Campusano HS C (Molina clone from Augusta who loves G’s and whom G’s reportedly love. Got to think they are targeting him here. HS players at 1 and 2?)
ROUND THREE
Michael Gigliotti OF (Potential CF and leadoff hitter. Fast, slap hitter.)
Luis Gonzales OF (Potential CF and leadoff hitter. More walks than Ks. Ender Inciarte?)
ROUND FOUR
Colton Hock P (Another Stanford project – closer to starter)
ROUND FIVE
JJ Schwartz C (college player who slipped)
ROUND SIX
Charlie Barnes P (I love the changeup.)
ROUND SEVEN
Quinn Brodey OF (another Stanford project – worked with Slater, after all)
ROUND EIGHT
Brewer Hicklin OF (fast football-playing CF – going on your ranking)
Wow! I think that's better than I could do. Strong work! I'm would not be thrilled with Burger at #19 because of the body, but I would be A-OK with any of the other 4.
DeleteMy worry is that the Giants really want Campusano and aren't sure he'll still be there at #58 so they reach for him at #19. That would be a VERY Giants thing to do.
I'm going to throw one more name out there who is not getting any attention, possibly because he's too obvious. Brent Rooker! I mean, just look at those numbers! Average! Power! Gap power(30 doubles to go with the dingers)! Enough speed to steal 18 bases! SEC is an elite college conference! Has wood bat cred! And here's another angle. He's from Mississippi St. What great Giants hitter went to Mississippi St? That would be Will Clark who also happens to work for the Giants in their hitter development department. If Rooker is there at #19 and the Giants pass on him, OK, I'll respect Will Clark's judgment because I guarantee you Will Clark knows about Brent Rooker. I just think the Giants may be laying in the weeds for him and throwing other names out there to throw other teams off the scent.
Well, thanks. See, people really do read this blog!
DeleteI share your concern about Campusano.
Good point about Rooker. Interestingly, BA has him ranked at ... 58! They may have the Clark-SF axis in mind as well.
But as to Miss. St., just remember this: Chris Stratton.