The Giants had several pitchers get torched in the first televised game of the spring, but Kruk, Kuip and Amy G were in mid-season form. Key Lines:
Andrew Susac- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .200. Susac roped a nice line drive double down the LF line that went to the wall and drove in 2 runs.
Ehire Adrianza- 1 for 2, 2B. BA= .286. Adrianza started the rally with a line drive double into the RF corner that hit the bottom of the fence on the fly and dropped straight down to the ground. Man, this kid looks good in a baseball uniform!
Ryan Vogelsong- 2.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 7.36. Vogey just didn't have it today. Said his mechanics were out of whack. Fell back into some bad habits that surfaced last year. Just have to hope he gets back on track.
Yusmeiro Petit- 2.2. IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 17.60. Petit pitched both better and worse than the line indicates. He pitched much worse in failing to put out the fire Vogey started in the 3'rd inning, but then settled down and pitched well over the next two frames.
Erasmo Ramirez(Mariners)- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.04. Fantasy Alert: Ramirez appears to be well on his way to making the Opening Day starting rotation in Seattle. If he does, he is definitely fantasy relevant and should be available at the very end of most fantasy drafts.
Michael Morse sat out the game with some calf tightness. These things always sound innocuous until the player misses a month of playing time. Hunter Pence has a sore left elbow that should not be a long term problem since it's his non-throwing arm.
After his most recent start, Timmy referred to Hector Sanchez in a way that made it sound like Hector is his catcher. Then there is an interesting interview with Heath Hembree up on sfgiants.com where he was asked what the coaching staff and catchers did to make him feel comfortable. He replied that Hector had caught him a couple of times in San Jose and and again in Fresno and that was a help. We all know the special relationship Hector had with Barry Zito. I don't think it's a huge deal and I'm not trying to imply that Buster is not liked by these pitchers or that they can't pitch just as well or better when he is behind the plate, but clearly, Hector has a way about him with the pitchers that is way beyond his years and MLB experience.
Giants send send their regular lineup on the road to face Clayton Kershaw tomorrow, while keeping Madison Bumgarner at home to face the "Futures" lineup. Seems like Bochy is up to his old tricks with the Dodgers and Donnie Baseball. Edwin Escobar gets a big start tomorrow against the Dodgers home lineup.
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Good luck to Esky tomorrow! Have to forget about this one. I didn't get to watch it (and am glad I didn't!), but I did see some highlights. Vogey didn't have perfect command, but I will say that both of those balls that went out in the 1st were wind-aided. I don't think either is a homer in quite a few MLB parks, but hey, that happens from time to time.
ReplyDeleteAdrianza does look good in a uniform, and I'm almost convinced that he'll be the opening day starter at 2B. Susac is swinging the bat very well lately too. A couple of nice RBI hits in the past couple games.
You guys need to stop checking out the players' glutes.
ReplyDeleteAmy G. was doing a great job of conducting an inane interview while a player was hitting a double in the corner. Who was that guy? Oh, Noonan.
Maybe some guys are more relaxed throwing to Hector, whereas they may get a little tense throwing to Johnny Bench/Carlton Fisk, I mean Buster Posey.
No glutes. The guy just looks so athletic.
DeleteWell he looks a lot better in a uni than I would! My take on the Hector situation: it's funny, there's a good chunk of the fan base that thinks Hector doesn't even belong behind the plate on a major league field. The guy just gets raked across the coals for his defense. Yet, numerous pitchers seem to have established rapport with him. Just goes to show how things can get so distorted from the fan perspective sometimes. Also, I don't think most people understand just what the Giants have in 3 catchers 27 or younger, all with solid offensive abilities (Posey, Sanchez, Susac). Some teams don't even have ONE catcher who fits that description!
DeleteAgree completely. The challenge will be to how to use these 3 extraordinary talents to maximize the overall talent on the team.
DeleteI think this is ultimately going to play into the situation of Sadoval's contract. The two options that seem to present themselves are these:
Delete1) Keep Pablo and extend him at around 5/90 a la Pence. I think the Giants understand at this point that Pablo's agents foresee that both the Yankees and the Dodgers - as well as nearly every other team - would do flips to try to obtain a young, power hitting, high average 3B/1B. They'll be throwing $18 AAV on the table to open the bidding, and it could easily go up from there.
2) Allow Pablo to depart with a QA, and utilize the STRENGTH of the Farm. I.e. Allow Sanchez and Susac to take over the starting and backup rolls, beginning next year, and swing Posey over to 3B earlier than intentioned. Sanchez, it seems to me, has developed already into an MLB quality catcher, and he has potential to dream on as well. Susac, with a good season in Fresno, will be a perfect backup catcher/pinch hitter. After a few years, his talent may place him above Sanchez, in which case we're flush with good options again.
Someone mentioned the other day that the Giants have the 2nd most money committed going forward. I think Brian Sabean is smart enough to realize a difficult situation in that, even when the money is committed well, and to guys who have no history of injury (Cain, Bumgarner, Posey - freak injury not withstanding - and Pence), you still need to draw the line somewhere before just dropping $18mil, 5 year contracts on every good player on your team.
If Sabes can coral Sandoval on a 4/$16AAV, they'll pull the trigger without hesitation and take the future as it comes. But if it gets well beyond that, which it very well may, then I think option #2 is a very good one to be sitting on, and might even be the best option for growing the team into the future.
Conner Penfold got footage of Luis Ysla in minor league camp this morning. Said he was 91-95 with a 3-pitch mix. VERY excited to see those clips!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is exciting!
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