Saturday, March 7, 2020
Spring Training Game Wrap 3/7/2020: Giants 12 White Sox 7
The Core Four batted 1-4 in the lineup today and brought their hitting shoes as did most of the subs. Add in a dominant first three innings from Trevor Cahill and it was a successful spring game for the Giants. Key Lines:
Core Four- 6 for 8, 2B, BB. BA= .324. After a slow start, The Core has gotten hot. Their cumulative stat line is now 24 for 74, 4 2B, 4 HR, 2 BB. .324/.342/.541.
Donovan Solano PR/SS- 2 for 2, 2 2B. BA= .500. Solano never stopped hitting last season and is carrying that into the spring. He's got a guaranteed MLB contract, so have to believe he either makes the team or gets traded. He may have significant trade value at this rate.
Zach Green PH/3B- 2 for 2, HR(2). BA= .417. Green is quietly having a hot spring. Don't see how there is room for him on the team, though.
Darren Ruf 1B- 3 for 3, 2 HR(3). BA= .368. Ruf showing off his power. I believe he is the first Giant to reach 3 HR's this spring. Lack of position flexibility makes it tough to see how he makes the team. Might it come down to the speed and defense of Billy Hamilton vs Ruf's power for "26'th Man"? Giants are absolutely starved for RH power so I could see Ruf winning that battle.
Joey Bart C- 1 for 3, HR(2). BA= .438. If the spring Joey Bart is having doesn't make you excited for the future, you're probably not a Giants fan. Once again, he's not going to make the team, but his performance likely shortens the time between Opening Day and his ultimate promotion to the Giants. That won't happen until he can play every day and stay up for good. The looming question is how the Giants will handle the inevitable transition from Buster to Bart.
Jaylin Davis CF- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .182. Davis has struggled at the plate. Giants seem to be willing to give him time to get hot. Will he get over the AAA to MLB hump?
Billy Hamilton CF- 1 for 1. BA= .294. That's a decent BA for BHam but he has not drawn any walks and has not stolen a base. Is he auditioning for the starting CF job or "26'th Man?" Not sure he is winning either of those roles. His D in CF is the hardest for us to quantify as fans and that may be the deciding factor.
Trevor Cahill RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. Cahill pitches 3 perfect innings in dominant fashion. He may have just vaulted into the lead for 5'th starter.
Dany Jimenez RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.80. Jimenez gives up his first run of the spring. He still appears to be on track to make the team on the strength of his Rule 5 draft pick status.
Jerry Blevins LHP- 0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 18.50. With multiple LHP's fighting for roles, does Blevins' abysmal spring performance make any difference? He pitched effectively last season after posting a 21.60 ERA in spring training.
Wandy Peralta LHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Peralta would have a decided edge over Blevins for a lefty reliever role based on spring performance, but Wandy has an option.
Yapson Gomez LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 3/0. ERA= 0.00. The lefty with the different name and the funky delivery strikes again. Giants must be intrigued to bring him back for another look-see.
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Giants take on the Mariners tomorrow afternoon in Scottsdale with Jeff Samardzijia likely looking to stretch it out facing lefty Justus Sheffield.
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Looking at the recent MLB.com Giants top 30 prospect list makes me excited for the future. 4 out of the top 10 prospects are international signees during the Bobby Evens era: Luciano, Toribio, Matos, and Canero. I might be more excited reading about Marco Luciano then Joey Bart! 4 out of the top 20 were Zaidi trade deadline acquisitions: Dubon, Davis, Beck, and Teng. That's impressive, can Zaidi acquire more young talent if the mission is to sell again at the deadline? I'm surprised that another trade acquisition Will Wilson was rated #10, one spot higher then another good young prospect Mauricio Dubon #11. Don't forget due to extra picks the Giants will have 4 out the top 70 picks in this year's draft. Looks like Zaidi will have a great chance to add quality depth to the Giants minor league system in 2020. If fans and writers start to credit Zaidi with the big improvement in the Giants farm system, it will be well deserved, but hope fans won't forget that Bobby Evans had a big hand in it as well. I'm really excited about the high ceilings that Joey Bart and Marco Luciano seem to have as MLB prospects!
ReplyDeleteIf the resurrection of the Core-Four is for real, is it a blessing or a curse?
ReplyDeleteCertainly, continued production from them will make the team much much better, and with an outfield upgrade perhaps they can contend for a wild card, something that seemed an impossible dream.
The downside is 4 promising prospects are held down in Sacramento in order to get their ABs -- is that a good thing?
Calls to trade the C-4 are wishful -- 3 have no-trade restrictions and the 4th would have to carry a significant scholarship. Not to mention ONE is the FACE of the Giants, who is still a very good catcher and handler of pitchers but does not have the power and batting skills to fill in at 1B against tough lefties. More likely, when Bart is brought up, Buster will be the "26th man"!
No need for Buster to fill in at 1B, now we have super RH power Ruf who can platoon with Belt. Longoria seems like the odd one out, not really a 'Core' player - those teams that missed out on Donaldson and Rendon might take him off SF's hands. Flores, Solano, Z Green all can play 3B and all are hitting the lights out in ST.
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