Giants pitching dominated the Mariners while the travel offense scratched out 4 runs. Got to watch it on the MLB channel. Key Lines:
Steven Duggar CF- 0 for 4. BA= .292. Duggar is 0 for 7 in his last 2 games. He made a nice running catch in R-CF on a moderately difficult ball to get to and made it look easy.
Kelby Tomlinson SS- 2 for 3, SB(1). BA= .238. Kelby also made a nice throw from the edge of he OF grass in the hole to nail a runner at 1B.
Chase d'Arnaud 3B- 1 for 2, BB. BA= .364. Does d'Arnaud have a chance at a roster spot with his ability to play multiple IF positions?
Jarrett Parker DH- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .192. Parker is out of options which may work in his favor on cut down day.
Johnny Cueto RHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.60. Cueto was shimmyin' and shakin' and quick-pitchin' and generally lookin' like he was in mid-season form while he was freezin' the Mariners hitters.
Derek Holland LHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 4/0. ERA= 3.52. Holland's stuff looked impressive and with good command. He was more dominant than the line looks.
Steven Okert- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.25. The O-boys are impressive so far. Is there room on the Opening Day roster for both of them plus Tony Watson?
Julian Fernandez RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 54.00. Wow! After a couple of rough early spring appearances, Fernandez showed why the Giants took a chance on him in the Rule 5 draft. 95 MPH out of bed, 97 on his second pitch. He finished his night with a curveball that I'm pretty sure passed over the Grand Canyon before dropping in on a helpless hitter. He's all arms and legs and elbows and knees with a loose, fluid delivery. Gotta think if there is any way for the Giants to hang onto him, they'll want to.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K. ERA= 7.71. The Mariners announcing team said he was throwing 96 MPH, but the ball looked like it was getting up there faster than Fernandez' 97 MPH. Maronta loaded the bases before finishing off the Mariners. The hit was really an error on Alen Hanson who mis-timed his jump on a soft liner. The announcers were critical of his pitch selection, messing around with breaking stuff with with a 4 run lead. Hey! Spring training is for working on stuff, right?
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Fantasy Focus: Around the League
Noah Syndergaard, SP, Mets: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 1.08. Thor hit 101 MPH and K'd 7 consecutive batters. Injury risk, but right now the most dominant SP in baseball.
Brandon Nimmo, OF, Mets: 3 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .385. Former first rounder. Is he ready to start in CF for the Mets?
Carlos Martinez, SP, Cardinals: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.38.
Aaron Altherr, OF, Phillies: 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .286. I have Altherr as a sleeper/breakout candidate, but can he beat out Nick Williams for the starting RF job or will he be on the short end of a platoon?
Didi Gregorius, SS, Yankees: 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .316. Gregorius is my SS target, but there's another guy in my league who loves to draft Yankees players, so I'll have to have a backup plan.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., DH, Blue Jays: 4 for 5. BA= .800. Junior is what, just 18 yo? How long are they going to be able to keep this kid down on the farm? What a force of nature!
Anthony Alford, OF, Blue Jays: 3 for 5, 2 2B, 3B. BA= .364. Alford is, like, 3'rd on the BJ's LF depth chart. Would they really rather play Randall Grichuk in RF?
Aaron Sanchez, SP, Blue Jays: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.86.
Ian Happ, CF- 1 for 3, 3B. BA= .429. Happ seems to be winning the starting CF job with the Cubs. He's also 2B eligible in most leagues.
Tyler Chatwood, SP, Cubs: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 5/0. ERA= 1.80. Chatwood won't give you a lot of K's, but he will put up solid numbers in other non-Save categories.
Danny Duffy, SP, Royals: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.60.
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Duggar: All I want is .250 with 10 HRs and his great defense. I mean, it's been close to a decade since we have had quality (and often even 'merely competent') defense in CF.
ReplyDeleteNow that you brought it up, when was the last good defensive starting CF that we have had? Torres as a quasi-starter, but as a full season starter, who? I'm blanking out.
DeleteIn more recent times, Roland had some moments his last two years. Torres was competent. Perez was great defensively but couldn't hit and couldn't stick because of that. Blanco was competent.
DeleteIn the older times, Brett Butler was pretty good. Especially how he could beat out those bunts and everyone knew he was going to bunt and they played the bunt. And Chili Davis was pretty good. He could be erratic with the bat, but he was pretty good.
And before that, though he was winding down in my early days, Willie Mays.
Now is when we see if Duggar is for real. Obviously he's come on strong and I think he's put himself in a position where CF is his to lose. The team is so much better with AJ as the 4th OF and Duggar starting. But now we need to see him show us he's got staying power. I would be ok with Parker as the last OF. Gives us some options and I think Parker has played CF in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteAs for d'Arnaud, he's had a great spring. Bochy sometimes gets enamored with the new guy and I could Kelby being sent down and keeping d'Arnaud and Panda. Hanson also fits in that category since I think he plays OF too? To me, though, Kelby has been consistently good and plugs in at 3b, SS and 2nd without any real downside. I'd prefer to keep him. I'm not really sold on Panda and I could see that as more trouble than worth but if he can back up belt, then he and Kelby make sense. If we think one of the other guys would be ok at 1b, I'd be fine without Panda (assuming that doesn't cause any payroll issues).
Pen is going to come down the wire. Two issues are Melancon and Smith. Obviously the latter won't be ready to go, and given what Melancon said after his first appearance, he may start the season on the DL. That gives you some room. As between Okert and Osich, I like the former better but it seems like the latter has pitched a tad more consistent. Coin flip there. Giants are going to have to work their magic to keep Fernandez. But I like the future with him and Maronta. Only things that seem settled to me are Watson and Holland as long man.
I want Pablo around because of what he did in the waning days of 2017, when he was hitting like Panda. If he can hit well again, he could give Longoria and Belt quality rest days in the hot days of August, plus be a great bat off the bench, which will be especially important if we make the playoffs. Plus, could be a trade piece in the off-season, if he hits really well.
DeleteParker has played CF in a pinch, but that's also why we got AJax. I think Parker is needed for power off the bench. Hopefully Duggar has staying power, 0-fers are okay if he's making good contact (don't know if he has been).
d'Arnaud has been getting a lot of press. Hanson, if I recall right, would give us speed off the bench. I think Kelby has options still, and so I expect him to be sent down to AAA to stay ready, while the Giants try out either d'Arnaud or Hanson, with the former making more noise so far.
Bullpen seems pretty settled. Melancon, Dyson, Watson, Strickland, Gearrin takes up 5 spots. I see the Giants wanting to keep Fernandez, but Rockies not cooperating, so they will keep him on 25-man and hope to work out trade one month in. I think Holland has edge for long relief too, plus I don't know his contract situation, I want to see if the Giants can get back the guy who had a 2+ ERA in the early part of the 2017 season, because if they can, he would be a huge plus to the pitching staff, especially since I'm not sold on Blach yet, he might slide in the #5 spot should Blach falters at some point. That freezes out Okert and Osich, but the way the MLB is today, with options, they will be taking the Sacto-SF shuttle often.
I'm willing to give Melancon the benefit of the doubt on that "part of the process" line the other day. They are all 'working on things' right now.
ReplyDeleteWhile the reserve infielder, Duggar for CF, and reserve OF chase is interesting I'm most excited for a rejuvenated Cueto. If his down year was 2017 and he can bounce back to a second Ace in two of his last four with SF that's a great deal for the opt-out contract that wasn't opted out. But there is still a lot of baseball and years to go on that thing. Cueto at 1.2 War last year from 5.5 in 2016 is a huge drop. His projections are in the 2s, but if he can shimmy to a 4+ WAR the Giants have something.
I agree with both. Until I hear otherwise, Melancon is just mild discomforts, which all pitchers deal with, especially in their 30's.
DeleteAnd yeah, Cueto being back is huge, we're not competing without him returning closer to 2016 than 2017. But yeah, with four years to go on that contract, we'll be seeing risks in the latter half of that contract. But looking good for 2018 at least, and since velocity is not his silver bullet, bodes better for the downside than it would say, with a Samardzija, who relies on mid-90's.