Gregor Blanco- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB. BA= .237. Blanco has been heating up and setting the table at the top of the lineup.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .325. Sandoval looks ready for a big season. Hope so X 2. He's my fantasy 3B.
Buster Posey- 2 for 4, HR(2). BA= .364. Buster's dinger was a grand slam. He's looking ready to start the season too!
Hunter Pence- 3 for 4, SB. BA= .364. Pence and Posey with matching .364 BA's How great is that?
Hector Sanchez- 1 for 2, 2B. BA= .297. The Hector's double came with the bases juiced and he cleared 'em. Does he have a knack for the big knock, or what?
Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .231. Crawford has been hitting better in the last few games.
Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 0.00. Midseason form, baby! Bummy has yet to allow a run this spring!
Juan Gutierrez- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.29. Gutierrez keeps hanging around and quietly pitching very well. Is he a dark horse for a bullpen spot?
Marco Scutaro got an epidural injection for his aching back. Official line is he's 50-50 to start the season. I'll take the under on that.
Got a nice tip from Shankbone on Gotta Like These Kids. As if the Giants needed more pitching in their system, they landed another one from the IFA market, Kendry Melo, not to be confused with Kendry Flores or Keury Mella. Melo was originally signed by Toronto for $100 K. MLB voided the contract due to paperwork/age problems. While sitting out, Melo gained strength and velocity. Giants signed him for $500 K and Toronto is PO'd. Giants have lost a few signings for similar reasons, so I guess it all evens out in the end.
Also on Shankbone's site, a list of recent releases. I'll let you go look them up if you are interested. The most surprising to me was 1B Joey Rapp who I thought came on strong in the second half last year for Augusta. I had him on my Honorable Mention list. It is quite a long list and shows how strong the Giants system is that they can just let all those guys go.
Heard on the SJ Giants podcast that there are 177 players in the minor league camp, with only 100 or so spots available on the 4 minor league teams. I am not sure if they were counting the ones still in major league camp as well. Assuming the Giants keep about 30 to 40 players in extended spring training for SK and AZL, about 40 to 50 players should be cut loose. The 40 to 50 number makes sense since that about how many draftees and new IFA are signed each year. As Shankbone says "tough as ..."
ReplyDeleteAnon #1
Huge grind. You really have to appreciate how good each of these guys are, the best their HS team has ever seen, best college guy for years... It really is a numbers game. There are only so many spots, you do your job and hopefully move up to the next level.
DeleteContrary to what's spouted in some places, the Giants have excellent system depth.
Gotta join you on that Scoots odds. How much would a Daniel Murphy cost from the Mets again?
ReplyDeleteF/G is putting out a series of positional "power" rankings. The Giants are scoring extremely well. 2B was the hickup of course. But of course, they can't resist getting some silly knocks in. The 3B one - The Giants are "incredibly thin" behind 5th ranked Sandoval. Meanwhile, the A's have an unstoppable duo of Callaspo and Punto, those guys "are a pair of decent backups"... Hilarious.
It's downright comical!
DeleteWhat, no love for Arias, Abreu & Hicks? Must like that the A's guys have more pedigree.
ReplyDeleteSo if Machi and Petit are bullpen locks, who has their nose out front in the race for that last opening day gig?
Is there anything to read into Bochy putting Kontos in to nail down the last out of a blowout?
The biggest surprise cuts in my opinion were Houck and Cavan. I guess Hicks made Cavan expendable. No HUGE losses, but sad to see some stories end that we have been following for a few years.
ReplyDeleteI recently had the shots similar to those that Marco is getting for his back. My doctor told me the normal procedure is to do a set of three before it totally takes effect and even then is not a cure. They will have to be done again in the near future unless some type of surgery is done to correct the underlying problem. It is more of a pain management deal than a cure. I think this could plague Marco the rest of his contract with the Giants. we are going to need a Plan B soon.
ReplyDeleteShort term Plan B, I hope.
DeleteThere is no way we lose another World Champion second man to retirement again.
If Scoots makes only his final comeback and drives the Giants to winning the WS in 2014, then I'm down with that script. I think he will be lucky to sniff 24 Willie Mays plaza until mid-summer at best. Backs don't just heal. And what the hell did the Giants have him doing in the off-season, that's the time to heal up your back.
ReplyDeleteSo, they are saying this is the second epidural injection for Scutero. In my clinic we do epidurals, you can have up to 3 injections every 6 months or so. Sometimes one injection is a miracle, some times it takes all 3 in series to get some relief. If the problem is a disc herniation that is laying on the nerve root an epidural series will not touch the pain. In my experience if Marco's problem was a minor disc bulge the first injection would have alleviated the pain at least a bit. Considering the fac that he is still in pain you can bet he has a herniated disc that is hitting the nerve root or has an annular tear in the disc that is on fire.
ReplyDeleteI was with you until you got to the last 2 sentences. I would most definitely not jump to the conclusion that Scutaro has a herniated disk or an annular tear just because 1 injection was not completely successful. There are just too many reasons why he might be having back pain and too much variability in responses to make that conclusion, IMO.
Deletehembree got cut today
ReplyDeleteinteresting choice
i take it he is first in line should someone falter
petit is back to looking like petit....it takes some guys just a tad bit longer to adjust to az
and once again i learned...i know nada about college hoops....why i keep pretending i do is beyond me...although i did take harvard and dayton.....but mercer over duke?
in other news, the bums are currently pretending they actually enjoy being in aussieland....big mistake by the mlb to send those clowns
and if i were the commish, i would choose 6 teams...two to go to somewhere in asia. two to got to somewhere in central/south america and 2 to go to australia....every year....for a week of st...not for real
forget europe...although might try africa, once or twice
bacci