Michael Conforto stayed hot and the Giants pitching continued to shine in their return to Cactus League action. Key Lines:
Michael Conforto RF- 1 for 2, HR(3), SF. BA= .313. Conforto not only returned to the field but played RF which is generally thought to require more arm strength than LF. I did read the initial plan is for him to throw only to the cutoff man while continuing to build arm strength. There are no questions with the bat as he answered Christian Yelich's leadoff HR with a leadoff HR of his own in the first inning. He drove in a second run with a SF.
Roberto Perez DH- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .200. Interesting choice for DH as Perez is generally a light hitting C. He got a bit of a later start than the other catcher candidates so maybe just needs more PA's? BTW, Joey Bart C worked an intrasquad scrimmage catching Logan Webb RHP who threw 50 pitches.
Bryce Johnson CF- 1 for 2, 2 SB(3). BA= .333. Again, Johnson is having a nice little spring. Gotta think there is going to be a need for his skills in CF before the season is over.
Stephen Piscotty LF- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .389. Piscotty continues to rake. Gotta think the only path to a roster spot for him is if Austin Slater OF starts the season on the IL but Slater reportedly is starting a throwing program and plans to be ready by Opening Day.
Sean Hjelle RHP- 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 5/0. ERA= 2.25. Hjelle gave up a leadoff HR to Christian Yelich then settled down. Those are dominant peripherals. Hjelle reportedly put on 15 lbs over the winter and is stronger and throwing harder. Despite his unique height, he's always had great control/command all the way back to college ball. He'll most likely get optioned in a numbers game but he sure is stating a case for himself to grab at least a swingman role. Could FZ leverage his pitching surplus into a favorable trade?
Ronald Guzman LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 9.00. Guzman said he was too amped up in his first pitching appearances. He was calm today and opened some eyes, not only with velocity that hit 98 MPH but with command of his offspeed stuff. With Thomas Szapucki LHP out with elbow soreness, there could be a roster opening for Guzman.
Alex Wood LHP makes the start tomorrow in a roadie against the Rockies who are just down the road in Scottsdale.
Nothing against Carlos Rodon LHP who pitched his heart out for the Giants last season, but FZ has an opportunity to say "I told you so" as the Yankees announced that Rodon has a forearm strain and will be shut down for 7-10 days and will likely start the season on the IL.
$!62,000,000!
ReplyDeleteA lot of money for a man with a lot of talent and a lot of trouble staying healthy
DeleteThere is a school of thought that 'a lot of trouble staying healthy' is less relevant than the fact that he is a pitcher, and big contracts for starting pitchers are best avoided.
DeleteNice find with Guzman. I liked this quote from John Brebbia: "Isn't that the guy who hit tanks for the Rangers a few years ago? Great. He hit homers off me and now he's going to take my job too?"
ReplyDeleteCarlos Rodon's UCL looks intact, which is a good thing. BTW, aren't teams insured somehow in case a big name free agent goes down due to injury? (I'm sure such insurance doesn't come cheaply)
Ah, Piscotty. There was a drama case. I don't mean Piscotty. I mean with the Cardinals fans who have been jawing at management for their OF problems.
ReplyDeleteFor years now, every year they have the new, hot OF prospect/Free agent that will solve their OF woes. Piscotty was one of the Chosen until he wasn't. Had two good years, his best two years. Had a small bounce after the Cardinals shipped him to Oakland because of his family problems. But he's been just a guy since then, and is one of the dozen-or-so saviors that weren't.
To that list you can add Randal Grichuk, Tommy Pham, Dexter Fowler, Harrison Bader, Mags Sierra, Tyler O'Neill and Lars Nootbaar. Some of them had a hot start or had some good months, maybe even a good year. But I've in St. Louis for 13 years now and since about 2015 they've had top-prospect after top-prospect come to the show and underperform.
So the Cardinals fans are grousing. They very unhappy with the lack of OF prospect development.
Hmmm.....so the Giants are not the only organization who can't develop OF's?
DeleteCards did get Jordan Montgomery for Bader, pitched well last year but got shelled in his only appearance this Spring - does he have a problem?
DeleteTough love: heralded Giant OFer and former top prospect becomes one of their first spring training cuts.
Delete"We need to see him perform at the minor-league level to earn another opportunity at the major-league level," Gabe Kapler said.
Sometimes it's hard to take Kapler seriously as he has said Mike Trout is ‘the best player ever’ - certainly a tribute to the 12-year player who will turn 32 this season and has already produced HOF statistics but has increasingly been side-lined by injuries. Although his current percentage numbers compare favorably with, say, Willie Mays, he is unlikely to reach any of Mays career numbers. Of course, Kapler never saw Willie play.
That Jordan Walker cat looks like the real deal and he will likely end up in RF. Hard not to be a little jealous of at least the hope of some of the Cards OF prospects even if they fizzle out. Can’t remember the last Giants homegrown OFer that I was truly excited about. Maybe Gary Brown for a minute. Giants need to trade an SP or TWO! At this point there are teams like the Yankees and even Padres that could use an arm and we have a few extras. If Conforto has a great year I hope we win something since he won’t be back next year. Guzman needs a roster spot. Not sure what to make of this team….
ReplyDeleteIf Conforto stays healthy, has a good/great year, leaves for a big contract, and then struggles to stay healthy, we can only look back and say we were lucky (unless, of course, our medical staff/advisors are really good). In that hypothetical case, just as likely, he could have had injury issues this year (instead of next year) and we wouldn't have lucked into a nice productive one year contract and a compensation pick.
DeleteIt all seems to depend on luck.
It's luck but FZ obviously thinks there is more upside and less risk in a short term contract for a player with an injury history than a longterm contract for a player who's always been healthy.
DeleteThat's an interesting proposition.
DeleteMaybe we examine the case of a pitcher missing a year, and not suffering a career ending injury. The former seems more common than the latter.
OK, here it goes.
In any given time period, say, 3 years, is it less risk (measured by one season lost due to injury) to have 3 different pitchers on one-year contracts or one pitcher on a 3 year contract?
On first thought, it would seem to be about the same, as far as having one season lost due to injury, if all 4 pitchers (3 from the former, one from the latter case) have similar healthy histories
At the end of 3 year period, either way, it is likely that one season would be lost due to injury.
It may even be less risky with the latter (one pitcher with a 3 year-contract), if he has a healthier history, or is younger.
Perhaps, if we have statisticians and mathematicians, or if we put those already on the team staff to work, with sufficient relevant data, we can get a better grasp of the betting strategy.
It's an easy enough study mathematically but very difficult find the sample populations. Probably start with lists of free agent pitcher signings over several years and compare performance of 1 year contracts vs 2-3 yr contracts vs 4+ year contracts.
DeleteScouting the 2020 Draft: Jordan Walker
DeleteJordan Walker 3B, HS. B-R, T-R. 6'5", 210 lbs.
One thing that makes draft scouting fun is finding unexpected things when you click on a name that shows up on a list. It's kind of like opening presents at Christmas. When you do it for awhile, a lot of these kids start to have a certain sameness about them. Then there are kids like Jordan Walker who make you almost gasp when you see the video. He's unusually tall for a left-sided infield prospect but athletic enough to stay at 3B long term. On the other hand he has enough speed to play CF with an arm good enough to pitch. He literally could play any position on the field except catcher.
By the numbers, Walker runs a 6.56 60-yd dash with 93 MPH FB velocity off the mound, 92 MPH IF velocity and 100 MPH Exit Velocity. PG describes him as "long and strong" with "plenty of room to get stronger." He's got a fairly simple set up and swing, but as with all tall hitters, the natural length could be a problem. I've read comps to Jayson Werth. He reminds me of Jo Adell from a couple of drafts ago. Love this kid.
I wonder if Farhan Zaidi's faith in player development might make him more likely to draft high upside kids like this? I mean, why invest in all those player development people if you aren't going to leverage that into drafting kids with sky high ceilings then trusting the development guys to get them there? If that's the strategy, I could see the Giants going against the grain and drafting a Zac Veen or Jordan Walker at #13 if they are there due to teams ahead of them taking safer college players. Walker could be a tough sign, though, as he is reportedly an excellent student with a verbal commitment to Duke.
Here is my predraft scouting report on Jordan Walker before the Cardinals took him in the 2020 draft. Giants coulda drafted him but then probably would have had to pass on Kyle Harrison.
Above is my predraft scouting report on Jordan Walker. Giants coulda had him but then would not have been able to draft Kyle Harrison.
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