Justin Verlander cruised through an admittedly pathetic White Sox home lineup for 5 innings and with Spencer Bivens and Joel Peguero finishing off the shutout. Key Lines:
Grant McCray CF- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .297. McCray got his second start in a row due to Jung Hoo Lee's tight back. More on that later. McCray reached base twice in 4 PA's which is what he is supposed to do out of the leadoff position although he did not figure into the scoring. So far this spring he's managed to cut down in his K rated to 26% with a BB% of 17.4.
Casey Schmitt 3B- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .302. Schmitt continues to have a strong spring.
Luis Matos RF- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .380. Matos stays hot.
Sam Huff C- 2 for 4. BA= .333. Neither Huff nor Max Stassi are giving away the back up catcher job although you have to think it's more Huff's to lose since he is already on the 40-man roster.
Christian Koss SS- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .353. Another guy who is not giving in. Unfortunately he's in pretty much the same boat as Max Stassi since he would have to be added to the 40-man roster to make the team.
Sabin Ceballos 3B- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .556. Despite not being officially in camp, Ceballos has created some buzz for himself by making the most of very limited opportunities. He's 5 for 9 including a HR and at least 1 2B.
Justin Verlander RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.69. Verlander looked to be in midseason for which he has looked since the beginning of camp. This was the White Sox home lineup. If this is what their projected Opening Day lineup is, they could be in line to lose even more games in 2025 than their record-setting 2024. And whattheheck happened to the White Sox? It seems like just yesterday they had one of the most promising young rosters in all of baseball: Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito. Andrew Vaughn looked like he might be the best hitter in the draft. Now, their roster is basically a smoking ruin.
Spencer Bivens RHP- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's, 2/0 GO/AO. ERA= 3.27. Bivens shows he can go multiple innings. He showed he belongs in the majors last season and he is backing that up this spring.
Joel Peguero RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00. Is there room in the bullpen for both Bivens and Peguero? The numbers and tea leaves say no. Peguero has the elite, electric velocity. Bivens has the track record at the MLB level.
Tomorrow is a split squad day with Robbie Ray LHP pitching the home game against the Padres on NBCSBA TV. Keaton Winn RHP starts the road game against the Rockies.
The Giants announced that Jung Hoo Lee's back tightness did not improve as quickly as expected so he is scheduled for an MRI and a visit with Dr Akizuki. That gets a bit worrisome as we are down to less than 10 days to Opening Day. I am not hoping Lee misses time, they can replace him with the best defensive CF in the organization and one who may well have a higher ceiling although a healthy Lee looks like the better bet for production this season and McCray could probably benefit from some more seasoning.
Oh, and my man Enny Romero is not in camp due to personal/family issues.
Giants continue to have a great spring. Verlander's performance was outstanding, although I agree with you about how bad the White Sox' lineup is. I was at Talking Stick on Saturday watching the DBacks play the White Sox. The game got close after Corbin Burnes pitching and DBacks hiitting put them ahead until Trey Mancini hit a walkoff HR for Arizona.
ReplyDeleteThe bullpen keeps looking stronger. I am ready for the season to start!
I will be surprised if Giants are not involved in a trade before the season starts
ReplyDeleteWith the 5th rotation spot still up for grabs between Birdsong, Roupp and Harrison, why not trade Hicks and make room for more young talent? Also, trade Villar because they are just going to release him otherwise since he has no more options.
Delete...because the Giants believe they are more likely to get value from Hicks as a player for them than they would get in return from a trade. Villar might be traded before Opening Day but most likely for the proverbial cash considerations.
DeleteI'm sure you're right. On the face of it, Hicks has looked unreliable this spring and his stats are terrible. Unless he rights himself, he's gonna end up in the bullpen anyway, so the young guys may get a boost that way.
DeleteDon't get me wrong. I think there is plenty of reason to be concerned about Hicks too but as you say, the good news is there seems to be a robust number of options for a backup plan which is a big difference from recent seasons.
DeleteSI.com and bleacherreport think that Hicks' contract is bad ("nightmare" is the descriptor) so I'm not sure if the Giants will be able to trade him without sending along a good chunk of cash. I'm guessing he will be better when he gets back to sea level.
DeleteI wonder if we could get something of value for Ray? We have Webb and Verlander at the top of the rotation and some good young arms and depth on the back of it. Ray's looked good this spring and we would get some payroll relief to re-deploy or save for a rainy day.
DeleteBilly Baseball
At $12 M/yr, Hicks contract is hardly a "nightmare" but he has very little, if any, trade value right now. And yes, pitchers who are highly dependent on sinkers tend to have trouble outdoors in Arizona. This is a case of spring results being of some concern but way too early to give up on him. As for Robbie Ray, a conceivable scenario is Ray pitches well but the Giants struggling at the trade deadline and Buster grabs on opportunity to unload the last 1.5 years of his contract and maybe get a prospect or two in return. I don't see him trading Ray going into the season when he appears to be healthy and pitching back to his pre-injury form which....he was a darn good pitcher!
DeleteWe are constantly reminded that Dominance in the Spring does not translate to Regular Season Success:.
ReplyDeleteIt does work out that way sometimes, but not often enough for us reveling in the Giants success thus far.
Here is a link to a convincing article on the correlation:
http://www.espn.com/mlb/columns/bp/1518849.html
BUT, it does work out sometimes so we don't have to feel jinxed with the truly great start, and aren't we happy that our Giants beat the hapless White Sox 3-0 rather then the other way around!
Spring training stats are inherently unstable due to the relatively small samples and variability in quality of competition. That said I think there is a lot to be encouraged about the Giants spring in several areas: The relative health and effectiveness of the starting pitching and potential starting pitchers, Camilo Doval and some of the relievers who are competing for bullpen jobs, the performances of multiple position players. Also the general feel of the team, lack of drama and quiet confidence from management is noticeable. It's a long season and there are not guarantees but I just really like what I am seeing that goes deeper than the W-L record and the performances of a phenom or two.
DeleteWhile it may not mean anything, a winning spring just feels a lot better.
ReplyDeleteJH Lee's MRI came back with no structural damage but he may miss opening day.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the ire of Fandom if the Giants were losing 2 of 3 rather than winning 3 of 4?
ReplyDeleteThere would be gnashing of teeth and much more than "what's wrong with Hicks"!
Ahh, it feels so good ;)