Friday, March 2, 2018

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/2/2018: Reds 3 Giants 2

The Reds and Giants played something resembling a MLB game with the Reds coming from behind to edge the Giants in scrub time.  Key Lines:

Steven Duggar CF- 1 for 3, HR(2).  BA= .286.  Just to be clear, I want Steven Duggar to win the starting CF job out of spring training.  He took another step toward that today.  He should be the best defensive option and in the long run, the best offensive option too.

Kyle Jensen 1B- 1 for 2, HR(4).  BA= .556.  Jensen is definitely this year's Randy Elliott.

Miguel Gomez 2B- 1 for 2, 2B.  BA= .400.  Gomez can hit.

Madison Bumgarner LHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.86.  3 perfect frames for Bummy with 4 K's.  Can't ask for much more than that.  Looking for a Cy Young contending season from the big guy.

Sam Dyson/Hunter Strickland RHP's- 1 scoreless IP each.  0.00 ERA's.

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Fantasy Watch- Amir Garrett LHP(Reds)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  Garrett had a couple of good starts last year then mysteriously fell apart.  Injuries may have been involved.  Pretty good bounceback candidate in 2018.

Other fantasy pertinent lines from around the league:

Garrett Richards(Angels)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 4/1.  ERA= 1.80.
Junior Guerra(Brewers)- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.50
Marco Gonzalez(Mariners)- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.  ERA= 0.00
Jake Odirizzi()- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Masahiro Tanaka(Yankees)- 1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 27.00.
Jordan Montgomery(Yankees)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Drew Pomeranz(Red Sox) exited his start early due to the dreaded forearm tightness.

Tom Koehler(Dodgers) is getting an MRI for shoulder pain.

21 comments:

  1. Kyle Jensen: How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after he's seen Pare-dise?

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    1. Jensen has over 5,000 minor league innings in the OF (corners). There's no Giant future for him at 1B but, for some reason, he's gotten little opportunity in the majors despite showing consistent power in all levels of the minor leagues.
      Unless he has an opt out in his 1-year contract, he will probably be assigned to Sacramento but if Pence falters and Mac doesn't step up, there's a spot for Jensen if he's caught some lightning at 29 -- a last chance after sitting out 2017.
      Ya gotta like his approach -- keep it UP!

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    2. jensen might be fools gold, remember marrero and maxwell?

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    3. AZ sold Jensen's contract to Japan’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in November 2016. He "played" 6 games in 2017 there and hit 1 HR. He was released November 2017 -- don't know why he didn't play.
      He really hasn't had a major league test so who knows. If he rakes in Sacramento, he should get a chance in the Giant OF -- unless he's not needed, wouldn't that be something.

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  2. Steve Duggar: It's a long way to Tip .. of baseball, it's a long way to go, Farewell to long bus trips, so long to 3-dollar meals, it's the sweetest gig I know

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  3. Miguel Gomez: there's no Panic at second, Giants thrive on defense, unless SF goes the LAD route and make room at 1B, Gomez has NO position.
    Giants have done worse in LF than Belt (or Gomez), this kid can hit: .305 at Richmond ant has some pop.
    Can he be worse than Pat Burrell or Mike Moore in LF?

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    Replies
    1. I've said that 'can he be worse...' before. The bitter answer is yes... As for Gomez, the rap on him has been 'all stick, no leather.' I'm thinking that, maybe, they should put him back to catcher since he has three years experience there.

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    2. Jesus Guzman had some good years in the minors but with the bat but "no leather" which wasn't his demise -- he couldn't hit when he got to the majors.
      That well could be Gomez.
      OTOH maybe he'll hit like Sandoval and end up a DH, and thus not a Giant.

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    3. Gomez. Current AA prospect. This guy:

      "Miguel Gomez | Rank: 23

      Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 35 | Arm: 50 | Field: 40 | Overall: 45

      Since batting .231 in his 2012 pro debut after signing out of the Dominican Republic, Gomez hit at least .305 in his next five years in the Minors. He didn't reach full-season ball until he was age 23 in 2016, but zoomed from low Class A at the beginning of that season to San Francisco last July. He played sparingly in his month with the Giants, though he did go 5-for-16 in the four full games he played.

      Gomez's simple swing from both sides of the plate and his tremendous hand-eye coordination make hitting a breeze. Besides his pure hitting ability, he also has the solid bat speed and strength to provide 15 homers per season. He's difficult to strike out but also to walk because he puts balls in play so easily.

      The drawback with Gomez is that he lacks a position because of his well-below-average speed and quickness. He debuted as a catcher, moved to third base three years later, shifted to second base in 2017 and also has seen action at first base and left field. He was too erratic at the hot corner and has substandard range at second, where the Giants will be happy if he can just make all of the routine plays."


      Not Guzman.

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  4. All of Jensen's HRs so far are just MONSTER shots. We've all seen this kind of thing before in early ST, but, man o man it is fun to watch him destroy these early fat pitches.

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  5. I'm rooting for Duggar. I've been rooting for him since we drafted him.

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  6. Hi Doc, thanks for this fabulous blog and all your insights. This is literally the first site I’d visit for my daily sfgiants fix.

    You mentioned Randy Elliot a lot recently. Could you do a story about him? Thanks.

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    1. The short story is (in 1977) he hit .547 (with a lot of bombs) in Spring Training. He was a really good talent (Round 1 Padres), but had a bad shoulder. During that Spring Training his should stayed healthy and he feasted on Spring Training pitching. It looked like he was going to become the guy the Padres thought he was going to become.

      Anyway, he made the opening day roster. Unfortunately, he got hit by a pitch on his first plate appearance and his shoulder went out again. From that point on, he was terrible.

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    2. Thanks for the details, I knew about his great spring, but didn't know what happened to him, or that ironically he was injured in his first plate appearance with us.

      Elliott, Herndon, Gladden, gave us hope and then fell back to Earth.

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  7. I was at the game
    Bumgarner looked sharp. His 3 innings went quick. Jensen’s HR was crushed. Over the lawn in LF. Duggar hit more of a line drive down the line but it was a nice line drive on a tough inside pitch.

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  8. According to gameday, Garrett struck out 6 on 18 pitches which would be amazing.

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    Replies
    1. During ST, gameday counts all strikeouts as 3-pitch Ks, all walks as 4-pitch passes and all hits and outs as first-pitch swings. You can’t rely on that data.

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    2. Yes, I get that, but watching it live while listening to the radio, I didn’t hear a ball until his 20th pitch. They could have missed one.

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