The Giants took a tough loss with a makeshift lineup in extra innings to the Pesky Padres, who are threatening to become a lot more than Pesky as they surge up the leaderboard in the NL West. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt- 2 for 5, SB(3). BA= .255. Maybe Belt heard us talking about him? He was the linchpin of the Giants 3 run rally in the 4'th inning, the only runs they scored in the game.
Juan Perez- 2 for 5, Assist(Forsythe, 3B). BA= .438. Perez did not figure in the scoring, but made a sensational throw to nail Forsythe at 3B in the top of the 9'th. He also nearly won it with a drive to CF that Will Venable made a running, diving catch on to take away a walk-off hit with Belt on 2B. Hmmm.....maybe there is something to this notion that a hitting prospect needs 2000 minor league AB's to be ready for the big leagues. Perez has really acted like he belongs.
Barry Zito- 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.67. Zito continued his Jekyll-Hyde home-away act with a pretty good start that fell just 1 out short of a QS.
Sandy Rosario- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.24. After a rough first few outings, Rosario has settled down to pitch quite well. He has great looking stuff, can get K's and keeps the ball on the ground, plus he can go multiple innings at a time.
With the Loss, the Giants fell into 4'th place in the NL West just 1.5 games behind the leading D'Backs who lost to the Marlins 3-2. The winning Padres are now in 3'rd place 1 game behind the leaders while the Rockies remained in 2'nd place just 0.5 games behind with a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays. The last place Dodgers were idle and stand 7 games off the pace.
Matt Cain takes on Andrew Cashner tonight at 7:15 at AT&T Park.
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Perez looks like a keeper.
ReplyDeleteI hold off on any projections, but he's earned his stay for now. Good defense, decent pop for a CF, fast, and can play other positions in a pinch.
What happens when Panda and Pagan come back, though?
Obviously Noonan makes room for Pablo. But to clear space for Pagan? One of Sanchez / Quiroz or Perez, right?
Lucky
as hector looked a lot better last night, im guessing that quiroz goes back down to make room for pagan
ReplyDeletewere it not for venable's brilliant catch, the giants win
listened to most of last nite's game in my car, flipping back and forth between the giants and padre's feeds
good lord is ted baxter a terrible pbp guy
there are homers, and there are homers and then there is ted...who still cant pronounce affeldt
bacci
OMG, Padres games are difficult to listen to. Ted Leitner is the worst, and when you hear guys like him, you realize how lucky we are as Giants fans to have great announcers.
DeleteIF Perez can solidify Center, that moves Pagan to left where I think he'd be much better. That would also tie down the OF positions longer term, assuming we either sign Pence or Roger K can hold that position down (I'm hoping for the former since I think Preacher brings something to the table beyond the tangibles). We can then groom Brown, Pegs and Roger to step in longer term, and let some of the young guys move up in the system (like Mac).
ReplyDeleteI realize Panda's injury wasn't really weight related, but I'm begining to wonder if he's going to anchor the IF. I still think Belt is a keeper notwithstanding the frustration faactor and unless Angel V gets here quickly not sure why folks are ready to call it a day with Belt. We really don't have any other options unless you move Buster, and he's repeatedly said he doesn't want to do that (nor do we have someone ready to go to step in if he does). Just trading one problem for another. As for Panda though, it just seems like it is always something.
PiLamBear
I think the Giants think the same way, else they would have extended him into free agency by now. Panda is an enigna now, but maybe that's partly because he's been 25 or younger much of his career. With his brain solidifying, maybe he'll start making better decisions.
DeleteI'm still a Belt Believer, his overall numbers have been a team leader for two months now, it is only his cold first two weeks killing his overall numbers, much like Freddy Lewis' hot two weeks kept his numbers lofty for months, causing his MCC believers to be ready to lynch Sabean and Bochy when Lewis was removed from the lineup then traded. I've been a steady supporter through his ups and downs, I understand that some top prospects need time to figure it all out, leading to those ups and downs. He'll have to be pretty bad for a long while for me to give up on him in the near term.
I still think Buster's future position will be in the infield somewhere, before I was thinking 2B, but now I'm thinking 3B. Given his comment about his children and catching (No!), I have to think that he knows he'll have to move off the plate at some point in order to maintain his overall physical health enough to play baseball. But being a smart guy with an economics degree, he knew that staying at catcher maximizes the contract that he gets out of the Giants long-term. Now that he got the contract, he can wait for someone to step up, Sanchez or Susac or whoever, and move to a safer position at that point. Just because he might understand the need to move off catcher at some point does not mean that he can't enjoy playing an important defensive position while being one of the top hitters around.
Here's another good reason to move: he hasn't been very good defensively at catcher since he returned. His numbers were OK last season, around average, but this year he is in the negative region. His offensive value there is greatly lessened if his defense reaches the point where it costs the team one win per season. Even he wouldn't want to do that regularly.
I'd be ok with the scenario you present (Pagan in LF, Perez in CF), but I'm not sure Bochy would take the starting/platoon roles from Blanco and Torres at this point. At the same time, I'd also be ok with Blanco full time in CF (Pagan shifting to LF). Either way, it looks as if there could be a logjam with some of our young OFers in the future (Perez, Peguerro, RogerK, Brown). Ideally, one of them steps up and makes it obvious who should get the majority of playing time...though that might not happen until next year unless Pagan takes a while to get better.
ReplyDeleteAs for Panda, I'm sort of realizing he may not be our 3B of the future (simply because of his repeated health issues). If Duvall grows into a legitimate prospect, and Pablo can net us young ML talent and a couple prospects, it may be worth exploring after the season (no way does that happen during the season).
Lucky
I would really hate to see Perez get sent back down. At the same time, Posey has caught something like 55 games already this year. He is going to need to play some 1B in July and August so that he isn't wrecked by September. Might need 3 catchers on the roster. I love Andres Torres, but I don't see that the Giants truly need him. Once Pagan comes back, you could see if there is a trade market for Torres, perhaps package him with some of the minor league log jam at OF for a starter if needed.
ReplyDeleteCall me sentimental, and I suppose I'd be foolish if I thought the FO is too, but I have a hard time seeing Torres traded (again). At least not mid-season. If there wasn't a history, and they hadn't brought him back (again) after seeing his career slip away (again) in NY, then maybe. But—defensive woes not withstanding—he's performed better than I expected.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying I'd rather him over Perez or another player, but I just don't see him being moved. If anything, he'd be relegated to the bench in favor of something better.
I'm with you, though, Posey will need rest to stay fresh over the long haul. And I, too, don't want Perez sent back down.
Lucky