Jordan Hicks had a terrific start in front of about 90 family members and friends in his hometown and Wilmer Flores' 3-run homer in the 6'th inning broke open a low scoring game. Key Lines:
Lamont Wade Jr 1B- 0 for 4, SF. BA= .000. LMWJ has not reached base this season but in the three games I watched, he has hit the ball hard several times, just right at fielders. He's hitting the ball hard and getting it in the air so I think he will be OK. He made several big league digs to get putouts at 1B in this game.
Jung Hoo Lee CF- 1 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .286. Lee seems to have a knack for scoring when he gets on base. He's scored 6 runs in 4 games. Of course hitting third in the lineup means he has some pretty good hitters behind him to drive him in.
Matt Chapman 3B- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(1). BA= .286. More scintillating defense from Chapman who was helped by LMWJ's scoops at the other end of his throws.
Heliot Ramos LF- 1 for 5, 2B, SB(1). BA= .294. Not much of a line but Ramos used his speed to create a run. He beat out the back end of a potential GIDP on a replay then stole 2B. He then scored the Giants first run on Wilmer Flores' single.
Wilmer Flores DH- 2 for 4, HR(3). BA= .267. I think it was worth keeping Wilmer around on his $3.5 M player option. OK, maybe a bit soon to judge but it sure looks good now. And when he came up with 2 on and 2 out I knew he was going to hit it out.
Mike Yastrezemski RF- 2 for 4, SB(1). BA= .444. YtY contributed to the scoring with a run to extend the Giants lead to 2-0. He singled, stole 2B, advanced to 3B on an odd bunt single by Tyler Fitzgerald and scored on LMWJ's Sac Fly.
Jordan Hicks RHP- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 0.00. Hicks fastball was electric reaching 100 mph several times and with command, sitting on the corners and inducing both swings and misses and freezing batters for called strikes. His command of the slider was less precise but he used it just enough to keep hitters from sitting fastball. He kept his pitch count down, throwing just 72 in 6 innings. At no point did he appear to be fatigued or laboring like he did frequently last season. He still has to prove he can keep this up deeper into the season but the early return is encouraging.
Logan Webb RHP pitches out of turn ahead of Landen Roupp RHP but on 4 days rest tomorrow evening in game 2 of the series facing Hayden Wesneski RHP.
so far so good for hicks, i'd still prefer him to develop some offspeed into the arsenal.
ReplyDeleteHe threw 70% fastballs which means he threw 30% non-fastballs.
DeleteOne thing I am excited about this giants season is the team has really good arms both in the infield and outfield!
ReplyDelete- Fan
The Giants positional arms have been game-changers so far.
Deleteso far, so good. Steady as she goes, captain.
ReplyDeleteMIght be worth mentioning that in 4 games Casey Schmitt has just 2 PA's and Christian Koss has not appeared in a game. I guess they are sometimes called bench players for a reason?
ReplyDeleteDoc, is there any chance you could include runs and/or RBIs in your write up? It's really the only summary I look at and I like to know how our situational hitting played out in runs. No worries if it's too much. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGood question. I have not used RBI's and Runs as part of my standard batting lines because those are more team efforts than individual. I do try to mention if something out of the ordinary happened with those metrics. I'll take your suggestion under further consideration. Thank you for reading and commenting.
DeleteOff topic, but a question to someone who most likely knows the answer: Doc — what's this all about?
ReplyDeleteJurickson Profar was suspended 80 games after a positive test for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) — a fertility drug often taken after steroids — what is this all about?
Of course, Profar should have known better.
AND, with a three-year, $42 million deal in his pocket, he can afford to talk to doctors, heck, he can ask the team trainer for free.
No excuses for being dumb before swallowing something.
Can a fertility drug "enhance performance"?
I am not an endocrinologist let along a sports endocrinologist but I am thinking hCG is probably used as a masking agent for people who are taking anabolic steroids. In other words, the hCG is not the enhancing agent itself but a biomarker.
DeleteMight also be worth mentioning that hCG was what Manny Ramirez was busted for back in 2011, which lead to him abruptly retiring rather than serving his full suspension. Not sure about the science behind the drug, but Manny supposedly took hCG to replenish testosterone levels at the end of a steroid cycle.
DeleteThe problem with almost any steroid is they not ony suppress the internal production of the supplemented chemical molecule, they cause the cells producing it to atrophy so you are basically F'd for life if you take them for too long.
DeletehCG is used by men to treat hypogonadism, raise testosterone levels, and treat infertility.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! The only connection I had to it in my practice was as a highly sensitive pregnancy test and a test for certain types of cancer. Endocrinology is wild because there are so many feedback loops. You have to be constantly thinking in terms of positive and negative feedback loops and it's very easy to inadvertently flip them.
Delete0-14 with stellar D: how long is LMWJ's lease?
ReplyDeleteMore than 5 games. As Kruk and Kuip also noted, he's been hitting the ball hard. He got lifted for a PH against a LHP and will understandably sit tomorrow against Framber Valdez, one of the best LHP's in the game. I am sure he will be back starting at 1B against the next RHP.
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