This game looked promising for the first 3 innings, but fell apart after a 14 pitch AB by Tommy Medica with 2 outs in the 4'th inning. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .283. Pagan and Pence make up 2/3's of a very dynamic OF and they will now be together for at least 3 more seasons. Pagan has had trouble staying healthy for a full season, a problem Pence has not had up to this point.
Hunter Pence- 1 for 4, HR(27). BA= .282. This is Pence's best HR season and he did it playing over 100 games in 4 of the toughest parks for HR's in baseball: AT&T, Dodger Stadium, Petco and Oakland, so this has probably been his career year, but average seasons for him are pretty good too.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .276. Sandoval will be playing for his big contract next year. As Sabes said, it's all up to Pablo!
Yusmeiro Petit- 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.56. You could tell his command was off as early as the second pitch of the game when a fastball caught way too much of the plate and Denorfia hit a 2-iron over the CF wall. He then proceeded to retire the next 11 batters, but you could see the impeccable command was not there, and there was a lot of BABIP luck involved. With 2 outs in the 4'th inning, he allowed a double to Headley and then Tommy Medica fouled off about 10 pitches before finally ending a 14 pitch AB with a single up the middle to drive in Headley. Petit did not record another out while giving up 4 more hits including a dinger to Jesus Guzman.
Heath Hembree- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Another impressive outing for Hembree. His speed gun readings only get up to about 93, but the ball seems to get in the batter as quick as a mid-high 90's FB. He also has nasty movement with good command. Looks like a keeper!
Mike Kickham- 1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 10.16. Kickham appeared to give up on himself until Sanchez came out and pointed out to him that nobody was warming up in the bullpen. To his credit, Kickham rallied to finally get out of the inning. I think the best place for him next season is staring in Fresno where he can hone his game some more. He's got good stuff. He just needs to learn how to pitch and how to pitch his way out of trouble.
Kruk and Kuip- Those two were on fire early in the game. They were talking about Bumgarner having pent up energy from being shut down and how he wanted to wrestle everybody in the clubhouse. I don't know if that strikes you as being a bit odd, but it does me. Anyway, Kuip said that come Tuesday, Bummy will be wrestling cattle on his property. The TV camera then focused on a fan wearing a rather ridiculous looking cowboy hat. Kuip: "I don't know if he has cattle." The TV then found another fan looking even more ridiculous in another cowboy hat. Kuip: "He definitely does not have cattle. He has cats and dogs!" LOL! Maybe it's just the end of ridiculous season, but I doubled over laughing for about 3 minutes!
It looks like the Giants are set for the 13'th pick in the 2014 draft barring the signing of a FA who received a QO. I think the chances of that are very slim. It's a deep draft. They should get a good player there.
PS: Sabes and a bevy of scouts are headed to the DR to take in a 2 day exhibition by Jose Abreu, the Cuban Slugger who was declared eligible to sign by MLB. Not sure how to square this with the lowered expectations Sabes threw out yesterday. Maybe it was just Sabes lowering expectations? At least one beat writer seems to think the Giants see Abreu as more of an AL/DH type of player and they aren't in love with his swing. If that is the case, they must have had plenty of time to settle on that opinion and a delegation of this magnitude would seem to be unnecessary, so there has to be more interest than what Sabes is letting on in his statements.
CSN Bay Area had a link to some video of Abreu. I did not find it very helpful because the one dinger came off a batting practice type hanging curveball off a Chinese pitcher. The other was from a Cuban league game, I think. In that one, he dropped the bathead quite nicely on a low-inside pitch and golfed it out of the park. The swing is ugly and he looks like he could get real fat real easily, but then again, I've always though Big Papi had the ugliest swing and he's hit a lot of 'taters in his career.
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I think Sabean will draft a pitcher with the 13th pick and trade a current prospect (who might be ready in 2015) the new pick replaces for a starter from another who will be ready in 2014 (hopefully not for a lesser talent but equal or more) with other players thrown in to make the equation work ('work' meaning either equal talent, or we give a little more to entice the other party).
ReplyDeleteOf course, ideally, the 'real' equation (or inequality, as the case may be) a few months or few years later, turns out, in fact, in our favor (reversing the inequality sign or replacing the equal sign), though at this time, it doesn't have to be.
Then we don't have to revisit that sad episode again, which is said to be closed, as Sabean has never in his tenure here, I recall and if wrong, I welcome the correction, contemplated a 'lost season' before it starts nor has his teams played to gain a higher draft slot. So, 2013 where our farm failed to deliver at least one possible future ace (and we could have really, really used it) - in time (timing being important here) - was unacceptable to him, and going with just Cain, Bumgarner and the currently available choices will not be either in 2014.
This draft is deep in pitching, particularly HS LHP's, so that is not a terrible guess.
DeleteIf we assume Crick is untouchable, the second tier of pitching prospects include: Escobar, Blackburn, Mejia, Stratton, and Agosta. There's a little dropoff after that, with the likes of Gregorio and Blach. So assume we keep Crick, and at least two of the second tier pitchers, we still have a lot to work with to orchestrate a trade. And assuming we use that first pick on a pitcher, like you suggest, this may be our best opportunity to get an upgrade in LF without tinkering with players' preferred/natural defensive positions.
ReplyDeleteLucky