Kyle Jensen, Pride of St. Mary's, blasted a grand slam walkoff HR to give the Giants a come-from-behind win in yet another ragged spring training contest. Key Lines:
Alen Hanson 2B- 2 for 3. BA= .417. Hanson is make an early case for a utility role at the plate and playing multiple positions in both OF and IF.
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 3, 2B, SB(1). BA= .500. Nice, busy line for The Belter.
Kyle Jensen 1B- 1 for 1, HR(2), 2 BB. BA= .600. Chris Marrero was last year's Randy Elliott. Is Jensen this year's?
Miguel Gomez PR/DH- 1 for 2, HR(1). BA= .556. Gomez can hit.
Chris Shaw LF- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .250.
Pablo Sandoval 3B- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .375. Thanks to Rainball for pointing out that Pabs might literally be in the Best Shape of his Life. Check out the video of his double linked in the boxscore. He also made 2 errors in the field.
Austin Slater RF- 2 for 3, HR(1). BA= .500. Slater seems to be fully healthy and picking up where he left off last season when he got hurt.
Ryan Howard SS- 1 for 2. BA= .429. Howard is getting quite a few AB's in the early going and making the most of them.
Jeff Samardzija RHP- 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 14.50. Veteran pitchers can get their work in early in spring training. Not necessary and probably not wise to come in and blow the doors down in your first spring appearance.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00. Not sure how Rogers had a GO/AO= 2/1 when he faced just 2 batters.
Hunter Strickland RHP/Sam Dyson RHP- 1 scoreless inning each.
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Kyle Jensen will hit lots of dingers (in Sacramento) but not much else. He's a RHed Parker who also plays 1B but -- why exactly did the Giants invite him? A 30-year old auditions for the River Cats?
ReplyDeleteThat was a surprise ending, that's for sure. As for Spring Training, I think there's a lot of positives, especially Sandoval's early showing, but there are some negatives so far this Spring Training:
ReplyDeleteParker: He's playing himself out of a roster spot with his .111 BA. He's got the defensive tools, but I've read a number of his interviews and I'm getting the impression that not as dedicated as he needs to be if he wants to stick at the MLB level.
Tomlinson: He may also be playing himself out of a roster spot. He didn't hit very well last year and he's not hitting well now. And now he's got competition at the utility infield role with Sandoval and Howard both showing out.
Shaw: .250 isn't going to get him past Williamson or get Pence benched.
Jones: Is he even in the big-league camp? Did last year's call-up doom him? At 3B we have Longoria, Arenado, Sandoval, D'Arnaud and Rutledge get ABs. I checked and he's still on the 4-man roster, so perhaps not. But I find it kind of strange that I see no line or any other information on him.
And, of course, the much more hopeful and interesting positives:
Howard: Pretty nice for a guy who was in A+ last year. (Hitting .306 at San Jose so perhaps there's a solid hit-tool there.) MLB calls hs range for SS 'fringy' but that he's got a good arm and gets a good jump on the ball.
Sandoval: Maybe the 'I need to be a FIT athlete' has finally penetrated his denial. I"m not holding out any real hope though as I've been burned way too many times. It'd be nice if he recaptured most his talent.
Williamson: While he was hitless yesterday, and he needs to keep hitting to keep Shaw out of his potential roster spot, he's still hitting well this spring and it'd be nice if he could graduate to majors and take over if Pence stumbles.
Blanco: Nice to see him doing well. I'd rather him than Hernandez as a back-up OFer.
Slater: The energizer bunny. He just keeps hitting and hitting and hitting and hitting. I'm hoping he takes one of the back-up OFer spots. Or even turns into a 'Super Utility' guy who spot starts everywhere.
I'll just never forget that incredibly fluid saying that Pablo Sandoval brought up with him in 2009, his swing is a classic look on par with the King, Barry Bonds... At least when it's going good. Just fluid & level and powerful.
DeleteSo, watching his double from yesterday's game had me smiling.
*Swing.
DeleteIncredibly fluid "Swing"! Damn this age of auto-correct..
Parker: aside for 7 Ks in 9 ABs this Spring, what happened to his POWER?
ReplyDeleteDid his injury last year wipe him out -- he had a total of 7 HRs in 282 ABs (combined Sac & SF)?
Are the Giants a little leery to let him go -- to become another Duvall in a live ball park somewhere?
What a waste of such athleticism!
He's a tweener! Duvall is a total aberration, not the norm, though it's a team's job to find those and let them play. Parker is and always WAS very unlikely to produce consistently in the MLB.
DeleteThat said, I've always rooted for him, but they need a better % chance of production than Williamson or Parker represent. I'm glad the Giants picked up Jackson, that's an excellent bet for bench/backup power and production.
Duvall could always hit for power. He just couldn't throw accurately which is a big problem in the infield. He was, at 1st & 3rd, a throwing error machine. But it's not like he's great shakes, just at Cincinnati the last three years:
Delete.244BA, .299 OBP, .782 OPS and one undeserved All-Star selection. Yeah, he hit 69 dingers in 1200+ ABs. But it's not that special considering his other numbers, and he's not exactly an All-Star or Gold Glover. Or even as WAR productive as Blanco was when he was the Giants.
People want to ritually sacrifice Belt who is a much better hitter.
Concerning Duvall playing in a live yard, his road splits are superior to his home splits.
DeleteAlso, using the low bar of left fielders (being the worst OFer defensively) his D is better than average.
RBIs have gone all out of fashion, but the last time a Giant had as many RBIs as Duvall in either of his last two seasons was back in 2013.
He was easily was more productive than any Giant outfielder in 2016 or 2017, and worked for pennies on the dollar. 5 WAR over the past two years.
I'm not a Duvall fan, but the man would have improved the Giants the last two years.
Williamson spent the offseason with Doug Latta, the hitting coach that turned Turner around for the Dodgers. What we're seeing might be real. From Pavs:
ReplyDelete"Williamson is trying to embrace many of the same markers in his revamped swing. The low hand placement. The high leg kick instead of the small step forward. The balance. The soft landing of his front foot. He’s trying to be shorter and more direct to the ball and keep his bat in the zone longer, which hopefully will allow his natural power to be on full display. "
I hope so, because he grounders 60% last year according to the article.
i see parker getting claimed if he's waived before opening day
ReplyDeleteWhatever Parker is or is not, the likelihood of his consistently exceeding a 2 WAR in a year (average major leaguer) is problematic, maybe once in a while, but he's 30 next year and unlikely to begin an ascent.
ReplyDeleteDuvall isn't a consistent 2 WAR either and may already be on a decline at 29.
The Giants would not have been a WINNNER in 2016 with Duvall (they lost because they couldn't close games) nor would even Stanton have helped them last year!