AAA Salt Lake City Bees swarmed the Fresno Grizzlies 9-3 in 10 innings:
Gary Brown(CF)- 3 for 4, HR(6), SB(14). BA= .271.
Brandon Belt(1B)- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .500.
Travis Ishikawa(RF-1B)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .269.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .276.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.00.
Erick Cordier(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.24.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels edged the Bowie Baysox 4-3:
Matt Duffy(SS)- 2 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .337.
Tyler LaTorre(Catcher)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .177.
Ricky Oropesa(DH)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .235.
Ty Blach(LHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.75.
Not sure what more there is to say about Matt Duffy. He's having an amazing season.
High A San Jose Giants outpitched the Visalia Rawhide 2-1:
Antonio Robles(SS)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .207.
Joe Kurrasch(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.76.
Tyler Mizenko(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.66.
Low A Lexington Legends defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 3-2:
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 2 for 4. BA= .262.
Chase Johnson(RHP)- 6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 11/0. ERA= 4.91.
Johnson seems to have gotten himself back on track.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 5-3:
Ty Hollick(CF)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .259
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .171.
Rookie AZL Cubs beat the Giants 5-4:
Kevin Rivera(2B) 2 for 5. BA= .143.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.60.
Dylan Brooks(RHP)- 3.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB 3 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Game Wrap 6/29/2014: Reds 4 Giants 0
Homer Bailey held the Giants hitless through 6 innings and they ultimately managed just 4 base runners to ruin a strong pitching performance by Tim Hudson. Key Lines:
Tim Hudson- 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.59. Not much to say about this except it should have been good enough for a Win.
Jeremy Affeldt- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.98. It was not a Save situation, but the new closer platoon did not get off to an auspicious start as Affeldt gave up hits to LH batters Joey Votto and Skip Shumaker and hit Jay Bruce with a pitch. Casilla came in and committed an error on a comebacker to put another runner on base, but no further runs scored.
Homer Bailey(Reds)- 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.39. We all know Bailey is capable of pitching a no-hitter at any time, but his ERA also tells you that he can be hit. He may have been helped by the ump in this one. I did not see the whole game, but at one point Pablo Sandoval was called out on a pitch that was well above the letters.
The Loss completed a humiliating 4 game sweep, and dropped the Giants into a first place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys whitewashed the Cardinals 6-0 behind Clayton Kershaw.
The Giants get a day off to try to regroup before starting a 3 game series against those same Cardinals with Tim Lincecum facing another rookie the Giants have not seen before, Marco Gonzalez.
Tim Hudson- 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.59. Not much to say about this except it should have been good enough for a Win.
Jeremy Affeldt- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.98. It was not a Save situation, but the new closer platoon did not get off to an auspicious start as Affeldt gave up hits to LH batters Joey Votto and Skip Shumaker and hit Jay Bruce with a pitch. Casilla came in and committed an error on a comebacker to put another runner on base, but no further runs scored.
Homer Bailey(Reds)- 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.39. We all know Bailey is capable of pitching a no-hitter at any time, but his ERA also tells you that he can be hit. He may have been helped by the ump in this one. I did not see the whole game, but at one point Pablo Sandoval was called out on a pitch that was well above the letters.
The Loss completed a humiliating 4 game sweep, and dropped the Giants into a first place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys whitewashed the Cardinals 6-0 behind Clayton Kershaw.
The Giants get a day off to try to regroup before starting a 3 game series against those same Cardinals with Tim Lincecum facing another rookie the Giants have not seen before, Marco Gonzalez.
Down on the Farm: 6/28/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Salt Lake City Bees 3-2:
Brandon Belt(DH)- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .750.
Mitch Lively(RHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.67.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(15). ERA= 3.82.
Belt seems like he must be ready to go. Let's get him some reps at 1B already!
AA Bowie Baysox whitewashed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-0:
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Seems like maybe the Giants could have used Okert in the 9'th inning last night with Votto and Bruce 2 of the 3 scheduled batters. Maybe next year? 2016?
High A San Jose Giants outscored the Visalia Rawhide 7-5:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 5 for 5, 3B, 2 SB(23). BA= .291.
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .262.
Ydwin Villegas(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .169.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 4.84.
Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1). ERA= 1.64.
Big game for Galindo. Big month for Jones as he is hitting .333 for June. Dominant start for Flores by K and BB numbers.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets swarmed the Lexington Legends 11-3:
Ryder Jones(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .249.
Tyler Horan(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(9), BB. BA= .269.
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 1 for 4, HR(2), BB. BA= .254.
Gabriel Cornier(1B)- 2 for 2, 2B, BB. BA= .389.
Luis Ysla(LHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 2.09.
'Jackets broke out the dingers in this one. We'll see if Cornier can sustain his hot bat at 1B. He was a catcher in prior seasons. A dominant start for Ysla.
Short Season Eugene Emeralds topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 2-1:
Will Callaway(3B)- 3 for 3, HR(1). BA= .304.
Andrew Leenhouts(LHP)- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 3.44.
Dominant start for Leenhouts who I am trying to figure out why he is repeating short season ball.
Rookie AZL Giants defeated the Angels 5-4:
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 3 for 4, BB, SB(6). BA= .522
Rodney Price(1B)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .556.
Hector Mercedes(SS)- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .167.
Is Ortiz rehabbing? Otherwise, not sure what he is doing in rookie ball.
DSL Giants beat the Cardinals 4-3:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .269
Carlos Valdez(DH)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .400.
Victor Concepcion(RHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.44.
Eduin Villa(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 11.81.
Brandon Belt(DH)- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .750.
Mitch Lively(RHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.67.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(15). ERA= 3.82.
Belt seems like he must be ready to go. Let's get him some reps at 1B already!
AA Bowie Baysox whitewashed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-0:
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Seems like maybe the Giants could have used Okert in the 9'th inning last night with Votto and Bruce 2 of the 3 scheduled batters. Maybe next year? 2016?
High A San Jose Giants outscored the Visalia Rawhide 7-5:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 5 for 5, 3B, 2 SB(23). BA= .291.
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .262.
Ydwin Villegas(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .169.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 4.84.
Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1). ERA= 1.64.
Big game for Galindo. Big month for Jones as he is hitting .333 for June. Dominant start for Flores by K and BB numbers.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets swarmed the Lexington Legends 11-3:
Ryder Jones(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .249.
Tyler Horan(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(9), BB. BA= .269.
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 1 for 4, HR(2), BB. BA= .254.
Gabriel Cornier(1B)- 2 for 2, 2B, BB. BA= .389.
Luis Ysla(LHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 2.09.
'Jackets broke out the dingers in this one. We'll see if Cornier can sustain his hot bat at 1B. He was a catcher in prior seasons. A dominant start for Ysla.
Short Season Eugene Emeralds topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 2-1:
Will Callaway(3B)- 3 for 3, HR(1). BA= .304.
Andrew Leenhouts(LHP)- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 3.44.
Dominant start for Leenhouts who I am trying to figure out why he is repeating short season ball.
Rookie AZL Giants defeated the Angels 5-4:
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 3 for 4, BB, SB(6). BA= .522
Rodney Price(1B)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .556.
Hector Mercedes(SS)- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .167.
Is Ortiz rehabbing? Otherwise, not sure what he is doing in rookie ball.
DSL Giants beat the Cardinals 4-3:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .269
Carlos Valdez(DH)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .400.
Victor Concepcion(RHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.44.
Eduin Villa(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 11.81.
Game Wrap 6/28/2014: Reds 7 Giants 3
Sergio Romo blew his 5'th Save of the season to ruin a strong start by Matt Cain and the Giants went on to lose in extra innings. Key Lines:
Joe Panik- 2 for 4. BA= .200. Great to see the kid have a good game, but the Giants are currently running out half of a MLB lineup. The other half is a AAA lineup. Yes, the kids need their reps to get their feet on the ground, but when half your lineup is doing it, you're not going to win a lot of games.
Matt Cain- 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.38. I'm pretty sure Cain leads the universe in career starts in which he allowed 0 runs and came up empty.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 5.17. OK, I'm ready to say Romo needs to come out of the closer role, definitely temporarily and probably forever. Even at his best, he is just not good enough against LH batters. Once again, here is a perfect example of what drives me crazy about the closer role in the first place. Romo has a .262 BAA and a 1.59 WHIP against LH batters. Those are terrible numbers for a late inning reliever. His BAA against RH batters is .192 and his WHIP is 0.73. Those are excellent numbers. So, why would you use Romo for the entire 9'th inning when the scheduled batters are Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce with Votto and Bruce 2 of the more dangerous LH batters in the league? Now, I know it did not work out later in the game, but why not at least use your lefty specialist against Votto then bring in Romo to face Phillips and Bruce? Or you could use your lefty to face all 3 figuring the odds favor you in 2 of the 3 matchups then bring in Romo of the inning gets past Bruce? Arrrrgh!!!
With the loss, the Giants lead in the NL West was shaved down to 1 game over the Dodgers who blasted the Cardinals 9-1
Tim Hudson tries to salvage 1 win out of the 4 game series today facing Homer Bailey.
Joe Panik- 2 for 4. BA= .200. Great to see the kid have a good game, but the Giants are currently running out half of a MLB lineup. The other half is a AAA lineup. Yes, the kids need their reps to get their feet on the ground, but when half your lineup is doing it, you're not going to win a lot of games.
Matt Cain- 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.38. I'm pretty sure Cain leads the universe in career starts in which he allowed 0 runs and came up empty.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 5.17. OK, I'm ready to say Romo needs to come out of the closer role, definitely temporarily and probably forever. Even at his best, he is just not good enough against LH batters. Once again, here is a perfect example of what drives me crazy about the closer role in the first place. Romo has a .262 BAA and a 1.59 WHIP against LH batters. Those are terrible numbers for a late inning reliever. His BAA against RH batters is .192 and his WHIP is 0.73. Those are excellent numbers. So, why would you use Romo for the entire 9'th inning when the scheduled batters are Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce with Votto and Bruce 2 of the more dangerous LH batters in the league? Now, I know it did not work out later in the game, but why not at least use your lefty specialist against Votto then bring in Romo to face Phillips and Bruce? Or you could use your lefty to face all 3 figuring the odds favor you in 2 of the 3 matchups then bring in Romo of the inning gets past Bruce? Arrrrgh!!!
With the loss, the Giants lead in the NL West was shaved down to 1 game over the Dodgers who blasted the Cardinals 9-1
Tim Hudson tries to salvage 1 win out of the 4 game series today facing Homer Bailey.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/27/2014
AAA Salt Lake City Bees stung the Fresno Grizzlies 9-7:
Tony Abreu(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .296.
Travis Ishikawa(1B)- 3 for 5, HR(6). BA= .259.
AA Game 1 Bowie Baysox defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-1:
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 1 for 2, 2B, BB. BA= .233.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.73.
Mejia lasts less than 2 innings coming off his best start of the season.
AA Game 2 Bowie Baysox beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-3:
Devin Harris(RF)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .275.
Jose Casilla(RHP)- 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.00.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Jose Casilla has a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 IP, over his last 10 appearances.
High A San Jose Giants dropped the Visalia Rawhide 8-3:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 1 for 5, HR(7). BA= .255.
Brandon Belt(DH)- 2 for 3, HR(1). BA= .500.
Blake Miller(2B)- 3 for 4, SB(4). BA= .317.
Trevor Brown(Catcher)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .213.
Chris Stratton(RHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 4.79.
Mason McVay(LHP)- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. ERA= 3.68.
I would probably rather see Stratton with a line like this than giving up 0 runs with 2 or 3 K's. McVay has a 2.40 ERA over his last 10 appearances. He has 50 K's against just 14 BB in 44 IP on the season so far.
Low A Lexington Legends edged the Augusta Greenjackets 5-4:
Brandon Bednar(2B)- 2 for 4. BA= .275.
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 3 for 4. BA= .254.
Gabriel Cornier(1B)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .313.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Donald Snelton(LHP)- 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.33.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes outlasted the Eugene Emeralds 5-4 in 14 innings:
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 2 for 7, SB(1). BA= .185.
Ryan Jones(DH)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .310.
Craig Massoni(LF)- 1 for 5, HR(2). BA= .286.
Jason Forjet(RHP)- 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.20.
Armando Paniagua(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 6.14.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.00.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Rookie AZL Giants topped the Cubs 6-5:
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 2 for 5, 2 SB(5). BA= .474.
John Riley(Catcher)- 2 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .200.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .435.
Rodney Price(DH)-2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500.
Nick Vander Tuig(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Rayan Hernandez(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00
Luis Pino(LHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.
Greg Brody(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Price is a 22 yo OF listed at 6'3", 205 lbs out of Columbia SC. I cannot find any other information on him. Anyone got anything? Vander Tuig continues to take baby steps. Jonah Arenado stays hot.
DSL Nationals outscored the Giants 5-4:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 0 for 2, 2 BB, Sac. BA= .270.
Carlos Valdez(DH)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .381.
Olbis Parra(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.80.
Tony Abreu(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .296.
Travis Ishikawa(1B)- 3 for 5, HR(6). BA= .259.
AA Game 1 Bowie Baysox defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-1:
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 1 for 2, 2B, BB. BA= .233.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.73.
Mejia lasts less than 2 innings coming off his best start of the season.
AA Game 2 Bowie Baysox beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-3:
Devin Harris(RF)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .275.
Jose Casilla(RHP)- 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.00.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Jose Casilla has a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 IP, over his last 10 appearances.
High A San Jose Giants dropped the Visalia Rawhide 8-3:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 1 for 5, HR(7). BA= .255.
Brandon Belt(DH)- 2 for 3, HR(1). BA= .500.
Blake Miller(2B)- 3 for 4, SB(4). BA= .317.
Trevor Brown(Catcher)- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .213.
Chris Stratton(RHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 4.79.
Mason McVay(LHP)- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. ERA= 3.68.
I would probably rather see Stratton with a line like this than giving up 0 runs with 2 or 3 K's. McVay has a 2.40 ERA over his last 10 appearances. He has 50 K's against just 14 BB in 44 IP on the season so far.
Low A Lexington Legends edged the Augusta Greenjackets 5-4:
Brandon Bednar(2B)- 2 for 4. BA= .275.
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 3 for 4. BA= .254.
Gabriel Cornier(1B)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .313.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Donald Snelton(LHP)- 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.33.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes outlasted the Eugene Emeralds 5-4 in 14 innings:
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 2 for 7, SB(1). BA= .185.
Ryan Jones(DH)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .310.
Craig Massoni(LF)- 1 for 5, HR(2). BA= .286.
Jason Forjet(RHP)- 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.20.
Armando Paniagua(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 6.14.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.00.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Rookie AZL Giants topped the Cubs 6-5:
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 2 for 5, 2 SB(5). BA= .474.
John Riley(Catcher)- 2 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .200.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .435.
Rodney Price(DH)-2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500.
Nick Vander Tuig(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Rayan Hernandez(RHP)- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00
Luis Pino(LHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.
Greg Brody(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Price is a 22 yo OF listed at 6'3", 205 lbs out of Columbia SC. I cannot find any other information on him. Anyone got anything? Vander Tuig continues to take baby steps. Jonah Arenado stays hot.
DSL Nationals outscored the Giants 5-4:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 0 for 2, 2 BB, Sac. BA= .270.
Carlos Valdez(DH)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .381.
Olbis Parra(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.80.
Game Wrap 6/27/2014: Reds 6 Giants 2
You would not expect a team coming off a game in which they struck out 12 times against Mike Leake to put up much of a fight against Johnny Cueto……and the Giants indeed did not put up much of a fight and went quietly into the night. Key Lines:
Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.90. It was probably not a good sign that the first two batters of the game were retired on pickoffs after singling. Just wasn't Bummy's night.
Johnny Cueto- 8.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO=15/4. ERA= 1.88. I suspect Cueto was not at his best in this game, but he didn't have to be as lame as the Giants offense is these days.
Despite the Loss, the Giants remained 2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West after the Bad Guys lost to the Cardinals 3-1.
Matt Cain tries to get himself and the Giants back on track facing ex-Giants farmhand Alfredo Simon today.
Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.90. It was probably not a good sign that the first two batters of the game were retired on pickoffs after singling. Just wasn't Bummy's night.
Johnny Cueto- 8.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO=15/4. ERA= 1.88. I suspect Cueto was not at his best in this game, but he didn't have to be as lame as the Giants offense is these days.
Despite the Loss, the Giants remained 2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West after the Bad Guys lost to the Cardinals 3-1.
Matt Cain tries to get himself and the Giants back on track facing ex-Giants farmhand Alfredo Simon today.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/26/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies blanked the Salt Lake City Bees 8-0:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 3, BB, SF, 2 SB(13). BA= .270.
Tony Abreu(2B)-2 for 5, SB(1). BA= .293.
Andrew Susac(Catcher)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .276.
Darren Ford(RF)- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB. BA= .324.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 8.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.68.
Is it just me or does Gary Brown seem to be slowly getting his mojo back over the past couple of weeks? Mike Kickham has a dominant start. 7 of his last 10 starts have been QS with the last 2 dominant. Will the Giants try Abreu at 2B again?
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Bowie Baysox 4-2:
Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 3, BB, 2 SB(30). BA= .251.
Myles Schroder(Catcher)- 2 for 3, 2 2B. BA= .257.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.38.
Jose Casilla(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.30.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(8). ERA= 2.91.
High A Visalia Rawhide beat the San Jose Giants 6-2:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 2 for 5. BA= .256.
Brandon Belt(DH)- 1 for 3. BA= .333.
Stephen Johnson(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.28.
Tyler Rogers(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.56.
Tyler Mizenko(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.79.
Belt has a successful rehab debut.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets whitewashed the Rome Braves 7-0:
Ryder Jones(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(3). BA= .247.
Tyler Horan(RF)- 3 for 3, HR(8), BB. BA= .266.
Steven Messner(LHP)- 8 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 14/4. ERA= 3.44.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.20.
The big news here is that Keury Mella's turn in the rotation got skipped due to an undisclosed injury.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Eugene Emeralds 5-2:
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .150.
Ryan Jones(DH)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .308.
Jonathan Jones(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .179.
Ethan Miller(RHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K. ERA= 5.65.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.35.
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(1). ERA= 0.00.
Arroyo back from DL. He's gotten HBP on the same knuckle twice this season. Ouch!
Rookie AZL Giants were idle.
DSL Giants crushed the Nationals 19-4:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 2 for 4, HR(1), 2 HBP. BA= .276.
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 1 for 4, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .326.
Manuel Geraldo(SS)- 0 for 3, 2 HBP. BA= .187.
Kelvin Beltre(PH)- 1 for 1. BA= .224.
Prebito Reyes(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 6.23.
Deiyerbert Bolivar(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 3, BB, SF, 2 SB(13). BA= .270.
Tony Abreu(2B)-2 for 5, SB(1). BA= .293.
Andrew Susac(Catcher)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .276.
Darren Ford(RF)- 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB. BA= .324.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 8.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.68.
Is it just me or does Gary Brown seem to be slowly getting his mojo back over the past couple of weeks? Mike Kickham has a dominant start. 7 of his last 10 starts have been QS with the last 2 dominant. Will the Giants try Abreu at 2B again?
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Bowie Baysox 4-2:
Kelby Tomlinson(SS)- 2 for 3, BB, 2 SB(30). BA= .251.
Myles Schroder(Catcher)- 2 for 3, 2 2B. BA= .257.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.38.
Jose Casilla(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.30.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(8). ERA= 2.91.
High A Visalia Rawhide beat the San Jose Giants 6-2:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 2 for 5. BA= .256.
Brandon Belt(DH)- 1 for 3. BA= .333.
Stephen Johnson(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.28.
Tyler Rogers(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.56.
Tyler Mizenko(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.79.
Belt has a successful rehab debut.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets whitewashed the Rome Braves 7-0:
Ryder Jones(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(3). BA= .247.
Tyler Horan(RF)- 3 for 3, HR(8), BB. BA= .266.
Steven Messner(LHP)- 8 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 14/4. ERA= 3.44.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.20.
The big news here is that Keury Mella's turn in the rotation got skipped due to an undisclosed injury.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Eugene Emeralds 5-2:
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .150.
Ryan Jones(DH)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .308.
Jonathan Jones(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .179.
Ethan Miller(RHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K. ERA= 5.65.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.35.
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(1). ERA= 0.00.
Arroyo back from DL. He's gotten HBP on the same knuckle twice this season. Ouch!
Rookie AZL Giants were idle.
DSL Giants crushed the Nationals 19-4:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 2 for 4, HR(1), 2 HBP. BA= .276.
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 1 for 4, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .326.
Manuel Geraldo(SS)- 0 for 3, 2 HBP. BA= .187.
Kelvin Beltre(PH)- 1 for 1. BA= .224.
Prebito Reyes(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 6.23.
Deiyerbert Bolivar(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Game Wrap 6/26/2014: Reds 3 Giants 1
The euphoria from Timmy's no-hitter did not last long as the Giants offense laid down and died in front of Mike Leake wasting a solid effort from Ryan Vogelsong. Key Lines:
Adam Duvall- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .250. Duvall got the start at 1B when Morse was a last minute scratch. I didn't see most of the game, but I did see Duvall's HR. He was off balance on a pretty good breaking ball and was still able to hook it out of the park. he also lined out to 3B off Aroldis Chapman. Very impressive! My current comp for Duvall as a hitter is Tommy Medica of the Padres who I think is a good hitter with potential for more.
Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.96. One of Vogey's better efforts, but did not get the hitting support he needed.
Mike Leake(Reds)- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K's. ERA= 3.41. Leake is a good, consistent pitcher, but he generally does not put up lines like this. The Giants lineup had to have made it easy for him. On the other hand, I saw him spotting the FB and putting batters away with a wicked breaking ball with a sharp, downward bite, so maybe he was just this good last night.
The Dodgers edged the Cards 1-0 to move up to 2 games behind the NL West leading Giants.
Madison Bumgarner tries to be the stopper once again tonight facing Johnny Cueto.
Adam Duvall- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .250. Duvall got the start at 1B when Morse was a last minute scratch. I didn't see most of the game, but I did see Duvall's HR. He was off balance on a pretty good breaking ball and was still able to hook it out of the park. he also lined out to 3B off Aroldis Chapman. Very impressive! My current comp for Duvall as a hitter is Tommy Medica of the Padres who I think is a good hitter with potential for more.
Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.96. One of Vogey's better efforts, but did not get the hitting support he needed.
Mike Leake(Reds)- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K's. ERA= 3.41. Leake is a good, consistent pitcher, but he generally does not put up lines like this. The Giants lineup had to have made it easy for him. On the other hand, I saw him spotting the FB and putting batters away with a wicked breaking ball with a sharp, downward bite, so maybe he was just this good last night.
The Dodgers edged the Cards 1-0 to move up to 2 games behind the NL West leading Giants.
Madison Bumgarner tries to be the stopper once again tonight facing Johnny Cueto.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/25/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies were idle.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Harrisburg Senators 6-2:
Devin Harris(RF)- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .267.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .234.
Ryan Lollis(LF)- 2 for 3, 2B, SF. BA= .262.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 10 K. ERA= 3.52.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1). ERA= 0.00.
Ricky O is hitting .304 over his last 7 games. Big strikeout game for Crick but still too many BB's. Okert makes a seamless transition to AA.
High A Modesto Nuts topped the San Jose Giants 9-4:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .253.
Mitch Delfino(3B)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .282.
Blake Miller(2B)- 3 for 4. BA= .314.
Chuckie Jones is hitting .317/.345/.549 for the month of June.
Low A Game 1(completion of suspended game from 6/24) Rome Braves beat the Augusta Greenjackets 6-4:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 4 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .257.
Ryder Jones(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .245.
Jeremy Sy(DH)- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .237.
Carlos Diaz(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.92.
Low A Game 2 Rome Braves blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 4-0:
Christian Jones(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.60.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes edged the Everett Aquasox 5-4:
Travious Relaford(SS)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .264.
Shilo McCall(RF)- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB. BA= .178.
Brett Kay(2B)- 2 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .462.
Nick Gonzalez(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.45.
Cameron McVey(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
EJ Encinosa(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.59.
Rookie AZL Angels downed the Giants 4-2:
Michael Santos(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.90.
Santos seems to be yet another high ceiling arm in the system that nobody has heard about.
DSL Giants outscored the Mets1 9-8:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 3 for 5, 2B, Sac. BA= .265.
Kelvin Beltre(DH)- 0 for 2, 3 BB, SF. BA= .211.
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .330.
Miguel Geraldo(SS)- 2 for 4, 3 E(8). BA= .194.
Good to see Beltre back in the lineup if only at DH.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Harrisburg Senators 6-2:
Devin Harris(RF)- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .267.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .234.
Ryan Lollis(LF)- 2 for 3, 2B, SF. BA= .262.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 10 K. ERA= 3.52.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1). ERA= 0.00.
Ricky O is hitting .304 over his last 7 games. Big strikeout game for Crick but still too many BB's. Okert makes a seamless transition to AA.
High A Modesto Nuts topped the San Jose Giants 9-4:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .253.
Mitch Delfino(3B)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .282.
Blake Miller(2B)- 3 for 4. BA= .314.
Chuckie Jones is hitting .317/.345/.549 for the month of June.
Low A Game 1(completion of suspended game from 6/24) Rome Braves beat the Augusta Greenjackets 6-4:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 4 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .257.
Ryder Jones(3B)- 2 for 5. BA= .245.
Jeremy Sy(DH)- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .237.
Carlos Diaz(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.92.
Low A Game 2 Rome Braves blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 4-0:
Christian Jones(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.60.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes edged the Everett Aquasox 5-4:
Travious Relaford(SS)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .264.
Shilo McCall(RF)- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB. BA= .178.
Brett Kay(2B)- 2 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .462.
Nick Gonzalez(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.45.
Cameron McVey(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
EJ Encinosa(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.59.
Rookie AZL Angels downed the Giants 4-2:
Michael Santos(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.90.
Santos seems to be yet another high ceiling arm in the system that nobody has heard about.
DSL Giants outscored the Mets1 9-8:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 3 for 5, 2B, Sac. BA= .265.
Kelvin Beltre(DH)- 0 for 2, 3 BB, SF. BA= .211.
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .330.
Miguel Geraldo(SS)- 2 for 4, 3 E(8). BA= .194.
Good to see Beltre back in the lineup if only at DH.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Game Wrap 6/25/2014: Giants 4 Padres 0
The Giants needed a stopper, and oh boy! Did Big Time Timmy Jim ever show up and take responsibility? In addition to pitching the second no-hitter of his career, Timmy had 2 hits, reached base twice and scored 2 of the Giants 4 runs. Key Lines:
Buster Posey- 4 for 4, 2B. BA= .291. Buster is hot and his BA has climbed from somewhere around .250 to nearly .300.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .289. Sandoval stays hot.
Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .260. The triple was Crawford's 8'th of the season.
Tim Lincecum- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .120. Timmy decided he was not going to get Cained even if he had to deliver the runs himself.
Tim Lincecum- 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. ERA= 4.41. Timmy's second no-no was much cleaner than his first. He used just 113 pitches in this one as opposed to 148 in the first one in SD. His ERA dropped from 4.90 to 4.41. I've thought Timmy might be on the verge of putting it all together in his last few starts. His FB velocity has been a bit better and much more consistent.
So Timmy has 6 QS in his last 9 starts. In 2 additional starts, he allowed 0 runs in 5 IP, and 4 runs in 6 IP, so those were near-QS, one missing due to falling an inning short and the other allowing 1 run too many. His ERA over his last 9 starts, including the disastrous 8 runs in 4.2 innings 6/3 in Cincinnati, is 3.70.
The Win enabled the Giants to stay 3 game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys edged the KC Royals 5-4.
Tomorrow, the Giants start a 4 game series against the Cincinnati Reds with Ryan Vogelsong taking the mound to face Mike Leake.
Buster Posey- 4 for 4, 2B. BA= .291. Buster is hot and his BA has climbed from somewhere around .250 to nearly .300.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .289. Sandoval stays hot.
Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .260. The triple was Crawford's 8'th of the season.
Tim Lincecum- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .120. Timmy decided he was not going to get Cained even if he had to deliver the runs himself.
Tim Lincecum- 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. ERA= 4.41. Timmy's second no-no was much cleaner than his first. He used just 113 pitches in this one as opposed to 148 in the first one in SD. His ERA dropped from 4.90 to 4.41. I've thought Timmy might be on the verge of putting it all together in his last few starts. His FB velocity has been a bit better and much more consistent.
So Timmy has 6 QS in his last 9 starts. In 2 additional starts, he allowed 0 runs in 5 IP, and 4 runs in 6 IP, so those were near-QS, one missing due to falling an inning short and the other allowing 1 run too many. His ERA over his last 9 starts, including the disastrous 8 runs in 4.2 innings 6/3 in Cincinnati, is 3.70.
The Win enabled the Giants to stay 3 game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys edged the KC Royals 5-4.
Tomorrow, the Giants start a 4 game series against the Cincinnati Reds with Ryan Vogelsong taking the mound to face Mike Leake.
Down on the Farm: 6/24/2014
AAA Round Rock Express defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 4-1:
Adam Duvall(1B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .297.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 5.09.
Escobar has had good games before but then has 2-3 not so good ones. He needs to find some consistency. Games like this show the potential is there.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Harrisburg Senators 2-0:
Ryan Lollis(LF)- 3 for 3, 3B. BA= .252.
Jack Snodgrass(LHP)- 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 13/5. ERA= 2.81.
Snodgrass has quietly having a terrific season. His K rate could be higher, but he's a strong GB pitcher with an overall GO/AO= 1.66. His type of stuff often does not play in the PCL where sinkers don't sink.
High A San Jose Giants crushed the Modesto Nuts 15-3:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .285.
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(6), 2 BB. BA= .250.
Mitch Delfino(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .278.
Blake Miller(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .307.
Brian Ragira(DH)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .239.
Elliott Blair(LF)- 3 for 5, SB(6). BA= .286.
Matt Lujan(LHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Tyler Rogers(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.73.
Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.00.
Nice day for padding the stat line for the hitters. This was Bryce Bandilla's 10'th game since being sent back to San Jose from Richmond. Was that after an injury?
Low A Augusta Greenjackets vs Rome Braves Suspended after 2 innings with the 'Jackets leading 2-0.
Short Season Everett Aquasox topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-5 in 13 innings:
Shilo McCall(RF)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .171.
Fernando Pujadas(Catcher)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .324.
Jose Reyes(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.86.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.57.
Rookie AZL D'Backs beat the Giants 5-2:
Skyler Ewing(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .214.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 3, 2B, HBP. BA= .476.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 9.00.
Dylan Brooks(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 10.80.
Rayan Hernandez(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.00
Arenado stays hot. Blackburn makes a Blackburnish rehab start with great peripherals and too many hits. Brooks has a rough first outing. Hernandez has pitched to contact in two 1-inning appearances.
DSL Giants downed the Mets1 6-4:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 2 for 6. BA= .244.
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 2 for 4, 2 BB. BA= .310.
Jean Angomas(DH)- 3 for 6, 2B. BA= .265.
Still no Kelvin Beltre in the lineup.
Adam Duvall(1B)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .297.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 5.09.
Escobar has had good games before but then has 2-3 not so good ones. He needs to find some consistency. Games like this show the potential is there.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Harrisburg Senators 2-0:
Ryan Lollis(LF)- 3 for 3, 3B. BA= .252.
Jack Snodgrass(LHP)- 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 13/5. ERA= 2.81.
Snodgrass has quietly having a terrific season. His K rate could be higher, but he's a strong GB pitcher with an overall GO/AO= 1.66. His type of stuff often does not play in the PCL where sinkers don't sink.
High A San Jose Giants crushed the Modesto Nuts 15-3:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .285.
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(6), 2 BB. BA= .250.
Mitch Delfino(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .278.
Blake Miller(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .307.
Brian Ragira(DH)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .239.
Elliott Blair(LF)- 3 for 5, SB(6). BA= .286.
Matt Lujan(LHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Tyler Rogers(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.73.
Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.00.
Nice day for padding the stat line for the hitters. This was Bryce Bandilla's 10'th game since being sent back to San Jose from Richmond. Was that after an injury?
Low A Augusta Greenjackets vs Rome Braves Suspended after 2 innings with the 'Jackets leading 2-0.
Short Season Everett Aquasox topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-5 in 13 innings:
Shilo McCall(RF)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .171.
Fernando Pujadas(Catcher)- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .324.
Jose Reyes(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.86.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.57.
Rookie AZL D'Backs beat the Giants 5-2:
Skyler Ewing(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .214.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 3, 2B, HBP. BA= .476.
Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 9.00.
Dylan Brooks(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 10.80.
Rayan Hernandez(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.00
Arenado stays hot. Blackburn makes a Blackburnish rehab start with great peripherals and too many hits. Brooks has a rough first outing. Hernandez has pitched to contact in two 1-inning appearances.
DSL Giants downed the Mets1 6-4:
Mikey Edie(CF)- 2 for 6. BA= .244.
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 2 for 4, 2 BB. BA= .310.
Jean Angomas(DH)- 3 for 6, 2B. BA= .265.
Still no Kelvin Beltre in the lineup.
Game Wrap 6/24/2014: Padres 7 Giants 2
The Giants faced a pitcher they had never seen before for the second straight game. The results were pretty much the same as Jesse Hahn shut down the Giants offense and the Pesky Padres took advantage of 6 leadoff baserunners and a fielding mistake by rookie Joe Panik to easily put away the Giants in very similar fashion to Game 1 of the 3 game series. Key Lines:
Tim Hudson- 5.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.62. Huddy uncharacteristically put the leadoff hitter on in all 6 of his innings. He got 3 of them on DP ground balls, but the other 3 came around to score and helped set up 2 of the other 3 Padre scores. 2 of the runs were unearned when rookie Joe Panik missed a catch on a force attempt at 2B which led to the lead runner scoring as well as an additional run that scored after 2 were out. Panik's other error was on one of the leadoff runners and was erased by a DP.
Jesse Hahn(Padres)- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.38. I thought Hahn was an interesting draft prospect out of West Virginia in the 2012 draft. After a rough MLB debut on June 5, he has reeled off 19 consecutive scoreless innings with 22 K's against 6 BB's. He has a 4 seam and 2 seam FB with a curve and slider. I did not see any definite change ups, but he had the Giants reaching for his offspeed stuff all night, at least during the time I was watching. You could see why he would be very tough to hit until these MLB batters have seen him a time or two.
The Dodgers blanked the KC Royals 2-0 behind Clayton Kershaw so the Giants lead in the NL West shrinks to 3 games. At this point, though, it does not matter what the Dodgers do, if the Giants don't get their feet under them and fast, they are going to blow their lead in the standings. Right now, they are not just losing, they are getting dominated and by teams they should be beating. Again, a common denominator is the health and presence of Angel Pagan which is lacking at the moment.
Tim Lincecum tries to avoid another humiliating series sweep facing Ian Kennedy in an afternoon game.
Tim Hudson- 5.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.62. Huddy uncharacteristically put the leadoff hitter on in all 6 of his innings. He got 3 of them on DP ground balls, but the other 3 came around to score and helped set up 2 of the other 3 Padre scores. 2 of the runs were unearned when rookie Joe Panik missed a catch on a force attempt at 2B which led to the lead runner scoring as well as an additional run that scored after 2 were out. Panik's other error was on one of the leadoff runners and was erased by a DP.
Jesse Hahn(Padres)- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.38. I thought Hahn was an interesting draft prospect out of West Virginia in the 2012 draft. After a rough MLB debut on June 5, he has reeled off 19 consecutive scoreless innings with 22 K's against 6 BB's. He has a 4 seam and 2 seam FB with a curve and slider. I did not see any definite change ups, but he had the Giants reaching for his offspeed stuff all night, at least during the time I was watching. You could see why he would be very tough to hit until these MLB batters have seen him a time or two.
The Dodgers blanked the KC Royals 2-0 behind Clayton Kershaw so the Giants lead in the NL West shrinks to 3 games. At this point, though, it does not matter what the Dodgers do, if the Giants don't get their feet under them and fast, they are going to blow their lead in the standings. Right now, they are not just losing, they are getting dominated and by teams they should be beating. Again, a common denominator is the health and presence of Angel Pagan which is lacking at the moment.
Tim Lincecum tries to avoid another humiliating series sweep facing Ian Kennedy in an afternoon game.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/23/2014
AAA Round Rock Express edged the Fresno Grizzlies 5-4:
NTSH. With Joe Panik up in SF, Nick Noonan moves over to 2B and Chris Dominguez played SS. Matt Duffy did not appear in Richmond's game. Is he moving up?
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Harrisburg Senators 7-2:
Tyler Graham(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .286.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .263.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .232.
Devin Harris(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .255.
Ty Blach(LHP)- 6 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 9 K, ERA= 2.69.
Parker now has 5 consecutive multi-hit games. Big strikeout game for Blach, a part of his game that has lagged this year. As mentioned above, Matt Duffy DNP. Is he headed to Fresno?
High A Modesto Nuts blanked the San Jose Giants 2-0:
Joe Kurrasch(LHP)- 8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.82.
Stephen Johnson(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.55.
Kurrasch continues to quietly pitch very well. Johnson pulls off the relatively rare 4 K inning.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets beat the Rome Braves 7-5:
Lofton(.230), Bednar(.279), Ty Ross(.234), Eric Sim(.230)- 2 hits each, Sim- 2B.
Jeremy Sy(.237)- reached base 3 times.
Chase Johnson(RHP)- 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.33.
Carlos Alvarado(RHP)- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.25.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.35.
Not sure what to make of Alvarado. He's 24 yo, kicked around for years in the Tigers organization but never breaking out of the DSL/VSL despite putting up decent numbers. Signed by the Giants in 2012, he's pitched well for the DSL, AZL and now for Augusta.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Everett Aquasox 7-1:
Will Callaway(3B)- 4 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .296.
Andrew Leenhouts(LHP)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.76.
EJ Encinosa(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.93.
Rookie AZL A's topped the Giants 6-4:
Richard Amion(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .400.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .417.
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 2 for 5, SB(3). BA= .500.
Luis Pino(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Greg Brody(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Love what Amion is doing, but he needs to be doing it at a higher level. I will be tracking Jonah Arenado closely. Stay hot, kid! Greg Brody was the Giants 11'th round draft pick. He makes his pro debut.
DSL Giants outhit the Yankees1 8-7:
NTSH. Kelvin Beltre has now been out of the lineup for 3 or 4 games. Assume some sort of injury?
NTSH. With Joe Panik up in SF, Nick Noonan moves over to 2B and Chris Dominguez played SS. Matt Duffy did not appear in Richmond's game. Is he moving up?
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Harrisburg Senators 7-2:
Tyler Graham(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .286.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .263.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .232.
Devin Harris(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .255.
Ty Blach(LHP)- 6 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 9 K, ERA= 2.69.
Parker now has 5 consecutive multi-hit games. Big strikeout game for Blach, a part of his game that has lagged this year. As mentioned above, Matt Duffy DNP. Is he headed to Fresno?
High A Modesto Nuts blanked the San Jose Giants 2-0:
Joe Kurrasch(LHP)- 8 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.82.
Stephen Johnson(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.55.
Kurrasch continues to quietly pitch very well. Johnson pulls off the relatively rare 4 K inning.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets beat the Rome Braves 7-5:
Lofton(.230), Bednar(.279), Ty Ross(.234), Eric Sim(.230)- 2 hits each, Sim- 2B.
Jeremy Sy(.237)- reached base 3 times.
Chase Johnson(RHP)- 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.33.
Carlos Alvarado(RHP)- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.25.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.35.
Not sure what to make of Alvarado. He's 24 yo, kicked around for years in the Tigers organization but never breaking out of the DSL/VSL despite putting up decent numbers. Signed by the Giants in 2012, he's pitched well for the DSL, AZL and now for Augusta.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes buried the Everett Aquasox 7-1:
Will Callaway(3B)- 4 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .296.
Andrew Leenhouts(LHP)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.76.
EJ Encinosa(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.93.
Rookie AZL A's topped the Giants 6-4:
Richard Amion(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .400.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .417.
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 2 for 5, SB(3). BA= .500.
Luis Pino(RHP)- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Greg Brody(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Love what Amion is doing, but he needs to be doing it at a higher level. I will be tracking Jonah Arenado closely. Stay hot, kid! Greg Brody was the Giants 11'th round draft pick. He makes his pro debut.
DSL Giants outhit the Yankees1 8-7:
NTSH. Kelvin Beltre has now been out of the lineup for 3 or 4 games. Assume some sort of injury?
Monday, June 23, 2014
Game Wrap 6/23/2014: Padres 6 Giants 0
The Giants came of their just completed road trip on a high note with a win in Arizona and a successful debut for Joe Panik. They started a homestand tonight….by doing a face plant against the Pathetic Padres. Key Lines:
Matt Cain- 7.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.82. There is an obvious BABIP factor in this line as the K's and BB's would indicate a relatively dominant start. When you add in the fact that 4 of the 7 hits off Cainer were either of the slow infield variety or deflected off the gloves of infielders. Yeah, the deflections were probably hit harder than they should have been, but 3 deflected hits in 1start seems like a lot. A disappointing start, but with hope for better results in future starts.
Odrisamer Despaigne(Padres)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 11/3. ERA= 0.00. This was the MLB debut for the Cuban exile. Again, you see evidence of BABIP luck running in the opposite direction from Cain's. Add in that he had a 1-3 record with an ERA over 6 in the minors and This does not look like a sustainable line. It may have been because Giants hitters had never seen him before, but this was a weak performance against a pitchers who should be eminently beatable.
With the Loss, the Giants maintained their 4 game lead in the NL West after the Dodgers lost to the KC Royals 5-3.
Tim Hudson tries to even the series tomorrow facing rookie Jesse Hahn who is coming off 2 consecutive shutouts and who the Giants also have never seen before.
Matt Cain- 7.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.82. There is an obvious BABIP factor in this line as the K's and BB's would indicate a relatively dominant start. When you add in the fact that 4 of the 7 hits off Cainer were either of the slow infield variety or deflected off the gloves of infielders. Yeah, the deflections were probably hit harder than they should have been, but 3 deflected hits in 1start seems like a lot. A disappointing start, but with hope for better results in future starts.
Odrisamer Despaigne(Padres)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 11/3. ERA= 0.00. This was the MLB debut for the Cuban exile. Again, you see evidence of BABIP luck running in the opposite direction from Cain's. Add in that he had a 1-3 record with an ERA over 6 in the minors and This does not look like a sustainable line. It may have been because Giants hitters had never seen him before, but this was a weak performance against a pitchers who should be eminently beatable.
With the Loss, the Giants maintained their 4 game lead in the NL West after the Dodgers lost to the KC Royals 5-3.
Tim Hudson tries to even the series tomorrow facing rookie Jesse Hahn who is coming off 2 consecutive shutouts and who the Giants also have never seen before.
Down on the Farm: 6/22/2014
AAA Round Rock Express defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 2-1:
Nick Noonan(SS)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .260.
Gary Brown(RF-CF)- 1 for 1, HR(5). BA= .272.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.49.
Brown seems to have found something in the last few days. Heston is starting to look like his old self from SJ and Richmond days. Is there a cup of coffee waiting for him somewhere?
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie Seawolves 7-3:
Matt Duffy(SS)- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .341.
Jarrett Parker(CF)- 4 for 5, 2 2B, SB(6). BA= .258.
Mario Lisson(3B)- 1 for 5, HR(9). BA= .286.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.29.
Jose Casilla(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.45.
So, you think the Giants farm system is a "nuclear wasteland"? Matt Duffy would like a word with you! Jarrett Parker is 10 for 17 over his last 4 games including 4 2B, 1 3B and 1 HR. He is also quietly hitting for an OPS of .799 on the season.
High A Visalia Rawhide edged the San Jose Giants 2-1:
Brian Ragira(DH)- 1 for 3, HR(6), BB. BA= .235.
Blake Miller(2B)- 3 for 4. BA= .306.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 13 K's. ERA= 4.92.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.53.
Blake Miller is another somewhat unexpected bright spot in the Giants farm system this year. Flores had a dominant start. Unfortunately 2 of the 3 hits he allowed were dingers. Such is life in the Cal League!
Low A Asheville Tourists outpitched the Augusta Greenjackets 1-0:
Tyler Horan(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .263.
Luis Ysla(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 9 K's, WP, Balk, 2 HBP. ERA= 2.14.
A wild, but effective start for Ysla. That's quite the pitching line, eh?
Short Season Everett Aquasox topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-2:
Craig Massoni(1B)- 2 for 4. BA= .306.
Ryan Jones(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .275.
Fernando Pujadas(Catcher)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .286.
Jason Forjet(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.70.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.60.
Rookie Arizona Giants downed the D'Backs 9-5:
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 3 for 5, 2 SB(2). BA= .600.
Richard Amion(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .333.
Skyler Ewing(1B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .250.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .500.
Craig Lichtenthaler(SS)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .167.
Nick Vander Tuig(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Kendry Melo(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Rayan Hernandez(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Nice start to his pro career for Amion. Go Jonah Arenado! Baby steps for Vander Tuig. Melo is a bonus baby international prospect. Hernandez was one of the longshot HS draftees from last year's draft.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .260.
Gary Brown(RF-CF)- 1 for 1, HR(5). BA= .272.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.49.
Brown seems to have found something in the last few days. Heston is starting to look like his old self from SJ and Richmond days. Is there a cup of coffee waiting for him somewhere?
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie Seawolves 7-3:
Matt Duffy(SS)- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .341.
Jarrett Parker(CF)- 4 for 5, 2 2B, SB(6). BA= .258.
Mario Lisson(3B)- 1 for 5, HR(9). BA= .286.
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.29.
Jose Casilla(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.45.
So, you think the Giants farm system is a "nuclear wasteland"? Matt Duffy would like a word with you! Jarrett Parker is 10 for 17 over his last 4 games including 4 2B, 1 3B and 1 HR. He is also quietly hitting for an OPS of .799 on the season.
High A Visalia Rawhide edged the San Jose Giants 2-1:
Brian Ragira(DH)- 1 for 3, HR(6), BB. BA= .235.
Blake Miller(2B)- 3 for 4. BA= .306.
Kendry Flores(RHP)- 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 13 K's. ERA= 4.92.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.53.
Blake Miller is another somewhat unexpected bright spot in the Giants farm system this year. Flores had a dominant start. Unfortunately 2 of the 3 hits he allowed were dingers. Such is life in the Cal League!
Low A Asheville Tourists outpitched the Augusta Greenjackets 1-0:
Tyler Horan(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .263.
Luis Ysla(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 9 K's, WP, Balk, 2 HBP. ERA= 2.14.
A wild, but effective start for Ysla. That's quite the pitching line, eh?
Short Season Everett Aquasox topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-2:
Craig Massoni(1B)- 2 for 4. BA= .306.
Ryan Jones(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .275.
Fernando Pujadas(Catcher)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .286.
Jason Forjet(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.70.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.60.
Rookie Arizona Giants downed the D'Backs 9-5:
Randy Ortiz(CF)- 3 for 5, 2 SB(2). BA= .600.
Richard Amion(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .333.
Skyler Ewing(1B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .250.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .500.
Craig Lichtenthaler(SS)- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .167.
Nick Vander Tuig(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Kendry Melo(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Rayan Hernandez(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Nice start to his pro career for Amion. Go Jonah Arenado! Baby steps for Vander Tuig. Melo is a bonus baby international prospect. Hernandez was one of the longshot HS draftees from last year's draft.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Game Wrap 6/22/2014: Giants 4 D'Backs 1
Madison Bumgarner pitched like the ace he is, holding 1-0 lead through 8 innings. The Giants tacked on 3 insurance runs in the top of the 9'th and made is stand up. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 4. BA= .302. Pence can help you win in so many ways. I'm not sure how many other players could have scored from 1B on Buster Posey's double in the 9'th to score the first of the insurance runs. Wanna 5 tool player? Hunter Pence is a true 5 tool player!
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .257. The triple was great, but the true measure of how far Brandon Crawford has come as a hitter came in the 9'th inning rally when he hung tough against one of the meanest, nastiest, wiliest lefty specialists in the game, Joe Thatcher. The resulting single to right-center drove in Buster Posey from 2B for the second insurance run.
Joe Panik- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500. Panik got the endorsement of none other than Will the Thrill Clark who spoke glowingly of his strong front side. In the minors, Panik actually hit better off lefties, .359 in fact! Kruk and Kuip were having fun with all that, rooting for him to face Joe Thatcher in the 9'th inning. Their reasoning was that he may have faced some lefties in the minors but he had not faced anyone like Joe Thatcher, because well, there is a reason why Joe Thatcher is a major leaguer and not a minor leaguer!
They say a good scout only needs to see one AB to make a judgement on a hitter. I've read of one very successful scout who says that if he sees a batter flinch, he knows he'll never make it. Well, Joe Panik did not flinch against Joe Thatcher! He watched a called strike on the inside corner. He then fought off a couple of nasty sliders on the outside corner before putting a nice, easy, smooth swing on one that he sent over Cody Ross' head in left-centerfield for a double that drove in Brandon Crawford from 1B. In addition to the hitting, Panik looked completely comfortable in the field making several strong plays including a nifty glove flip on a slow dribbler to the right side.
OK, so the Giants Farm System as of a couple of days ago was a "nuclear wasteland" according to Chris Quick, writing for mccoveychronicles.com. OK, maybe it's just one game, but take THAT Chris Quick and a big F You to mccoveychronicles.com. Isn't it just rich that 2 days after posting that the Giants farm system is a "nuclear wasteland", the Giants graduate the guy who is probably going to be their starting 2B for the next 6 seasons minimum? If you don't believe that just ask Will Clark and who are you going to believe anyway, Chris Quick and Grant Brisbee or Will "The Thrill" Clark? The Giants farm system may not be a top 10 farm system, but rest assured, it is also NOT a "nuclear wasteland!" Seriously, it amazes me that anyone pays any attention to what they say over there anymore, and shame on me for going over there and caring enough to even post these comments!
Oh, and I see someone in the comments section over at mccoveychronicles.com apparently still thinks the Giants actually traded for Yuniesky Betancourt once upon a time! LOL!
Madison Bumgarner- 8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 11/2. ERA= 2.63. Totally dominating ace performance. Through 8 innings, the only hit allowed by Bummy was on an IF dribbler that he almost made an astonishing play on. In fact, if Joaquin Arias had come up with the scoop at 1B, the batter/runner would have been out and Bummy would have taken a no-no into the 9'th inning. Even the hit in the ninth was one that a play could have been made on. It was just so difficult, that Pablo was appropriately not charged with an error.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.75. Romo came on the the 9'th with no outs and runners on first and second thanks to an error by Crawford and the aforementioned IF hit off Pablo. Martin Prado greeted Romo with a scorcher up the middle for score the lead runner and once again put runners at first and second. The fearsome Paul Goldschmidt then hit another scorcher that Brandon Crawford somehow corralled with Joe Panik making a nifty relay on the DP. Romo then looked like his old self against Aaron Hill and struck him out on a vintage Romo slider. Hopefully, Romo found something in that AB he can carry forward.
With the Win, the Giants maintain their 4 game lead on the Dodgers who topped the Pathetic Padres 2-1. BTW, the Padres fired their GM Josh Byrnes. The interim GM is Omar Minaya? Got news for you, Padres owners. If you think Omar Minaya is an upgrade on Josh Byrnes, the problem ain't in the GM chair!
Speaking of the Padres, the Giants now go home to open a homestand against the Padres with Matt Cain facing TBD.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 4. BA= .302. Pence can help you win in so many ways. I'm not sure how many other players could have scored from 1B on Buster Posey's double in the 9'th to score the first of the insurance runs. Wanna 5 tool player? Hunter Pence is a true 5 tool player!
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .257. The triple was great, but the true measure of how far Brandon Crawford has come as a hitter came in the 9'th inning rally when he hung tough against one of the meanest, nastiest, wiliest lefty specialists in the game, Joe Thatcher. The resulting single to right-center drove in Buster Posey from 2B for the second insurance run.
Joe Panik- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500. Panik got the endorsement of none other than Will the Thrill Clark who spoke glowingly of his strong front side. In the minors, Panik actually hit better off lefties, .359 in fact! Kruk and Kuip were having fun with all that, rooting for him to face Joe Thatcher in the 9'th inning. Their reasoning was that he may have faced some lefties in the minors but he had not faced anyone like Joe Thatcher, because well, there is a reason why Joe Thatcher is a major leaguer and not a minor leaguer!
They say a good scout only needs to see one AB to make a judgement on a hitter. I've read of one very successful scout who says that if he sees a batter flinch, he knows he'll never make it. Well, Joe Panik did not flinch against Joe Thatcher! He watched a called strike on the inside corner. He then fought off a couple of nasty sliders on the outside corner before putting a nice, easy, smooth swing on one that he sent over Cody Ross' head in left-centerfield for a double that drove in Brandon Crawford from 1B. In addition to the hitting, Panik looked completely comfortable in the field making several strong plays including a nifty glove flip on a slow dribbler to the right side.
OK, so the Giants Farm System as of a couple of days ago was a "nuclear wasteland" according to Chris Quick, writing for mccoveychronicles.com. OK, maybe it's just one game, but take THAT Chris Quick and a big F You to mccoveychronicles.com. Isn't it just rich that 2 days after posting that the Giants farm system is a "nuclear wasteland", the Giants graduate the guy who is probably going to be their starting 2B for the next 6 seasons minimum? If you don't believe that just ask Will Clark and who are you going to believe anyway, Chris Quick and Grant Brisbee or Will "The Thrill" Clark? The Giants farm system may not be a top 10 farm system, but rest assured, it is also NOT a "nuclear wasteland!" Seriously, it amazes me that anyone pays any attention to what they say over there anymore, and shame on me for going over there and caring enough to even post these comments!
Oh, and I see someone in the comments section over at mccoveychronicles.com apparently still thinks the Giants actually traded for Yuniesky Betancourt once upon a time! LOL!
Madison Bumgarner- 8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 11/2. ERA= 2.63. Totally dominating ace performance. Through 8 innings, the only hit allowed by Bummy was on an IF dribbler that he almost made an astonishing play on. In fact, if Joaquin Arias had come up with the scoop at 1B, the batter/runner would have been out and Bummy would have taken a no-no into the 9'th inning. Even the hit in the ninth was one that a play could have been made on. It was just so difficult, that Pablo was appropriately not charged with an error.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.75. Romo came on the the 9'th with no outs and runners on first and second thanks to an error by Crawford and the aforementioned IF hit off Pablo. Martin Prado greeted Romo with a scorcher up the middle for score the lead runner and once again put runners at first and second. The fearsome Paul Goldschmidt then hit another scorcher that Brandon Crawford somehow corralled with Joe Panik making a nifty relay on the DP. Romo then looked like his old self against Aaron Hill and struck him out on a vintage Romo slider. Hopefully, Romo found something in that AB he can carry forward.
With the Win, the Giants maintain their 4 game lead on the Dodgers who topped the Pathetic Padres 2-1. BTW, the Padres fired their GM Josh Byrnes. The interim GM is Omar Minaya? Got news for you, Padres owners. If you think Omar Minaya is an upgrade on Josh Byrnes, the problem ain't in the GM chair!
Speaking of the Padres, the Giants now go home to open a homestand against the Padres with Matt Cain facing TBD.
Down on the Farm: 6/21/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the Round Rock Express 4-3 in 12 innings:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 6, 2 SB(11). BA= .270.
Adam Duvall(1B-3B)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .296.
Andrew Susac(Catcher)- 3 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .275.
Chris Dominguez(3B-RF)- 2 for 5, HR(9). BA= .270.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.19.
Erik Cordier(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.94.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(14). ERA= 3.45.
Maybe Gary Brown is not going to let Panik's callup bother him? He now has 4 successful SB's in 3 games. Is our beloved Melonhead Jr. getting a chance to start? Cordier has a 2.25 ERA over his last 10 appearances with a total of 43 K's against 18 BB's in 32 IP on the season. Hembree has a 1.64 ERA over his last 10 appearances with and overall line of 33 K's against 9 BB's in 28.2 IP.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Erie Seawolves 7-6:
Kelby Tomlinson(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .249.
Matt Duffy(SS)- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .340.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(7). BA= .247.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 5.46.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(7). ERA= 3.00.
Tomlinson is 5 for 11 over his last 3 games. Parker is hitting .314 over his last 10. Matt Duffy just keeps on raking!
High A Visalia Rawhide trounced the San Jose Giants 10-2:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 1 for 3, 2B, HBP, Assist(home). BA= .253.
Chris Stratton(RHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.75.
Not the start we were hoping to see from Stratton to build on his last dominant start. He apparently had some trouble out of the stretch in the first inning, then settled down. An eyewitness account over on Giants Extra made it sound like his stuff was pretty good.
Low A Asheville Tourists blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 4-0:
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .245.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB 2 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Donald Snelton(LHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.25.
A rare RafRod sighting!
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Everett Aquasox 3-2:
Craig Massoni(DH)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .281.
Ethan Miller(RHP)- 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 7.56.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.00
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.93.
Rookie Arizona Giants were idle.
DSL Giants pounded the Yankees1 10-2
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 2 for 3, 2 BB, SB(7). BA= .250.
Miguel Gomez(C, 21 yo)- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB. BA= .345.
Hengerber Medina(SS, 19 yo)- 3 for 4. BA= .250.
Olbis Parra(RHP, 19 yo)- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.80.
Deiyerbert Bolivar(LHP, 18 yo)- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 6, 2 SB(11). BA= .270.
Adam Duvall(1B-3B)- 2 for 6, 2B. BA= .296.
Andrew Susac(Catcher)- 3 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .275.
Chris Dominguez(3B-RF)- 2 for 5, HR(9). BA= .270.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.19.
Erik Cordier(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.94.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(14). ERA= 3.45.
Maybe Gary Brown is not going to let Panik's callup bother him? He now has 4 successful SB's in 3 games. Is our beloved Melonhead Jr. getting a chance to start? Cordier has a 2.25 ERA over his last 10 appearances with a total of 43 K's against 18 BB's in 32 IP on the season. Hembree has a 1.64 ERA over his last 10 appearances with and overall line of 33 K's against 9 BB's in 28.2 IP.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Erie Seawolves 7-6:
Kelby Tomlinson(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .249.
Matt Duffy(SS)- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .340.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(7). BA= .247.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 5.46.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(7). ERA= 3.00.
Tomlinson is 5 for 11 over his last 3 games. Parker is hitting .314 over his last 10. Matt Duffy just keeps on raking!
High A Visalia Rawhide trounced the San Jose Giants 10-2:
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 1 for 3, 2B, HBP, Assist(home). BA= .253.
Chris Stratton(RHP)- 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.75.
Not the start we were hoping to see from Stratton to build on his last dominant start. He apparently had some trouble out of the stretch in the first inning, then settled down. An eyewitness account over on Giants Extra made it sound like his stuff was pretty good.
Low A Asheville Tourists blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 4-0:
Rafael Rodriguez(LF)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .245.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB 2 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Donald Snelton(LHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.25.
A rare RafRod sighting!
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Everett Aquasox 3-2:
Craig Massoni(DH)- 2 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .281.
Ethan Miller(RHP)- 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 7.56.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.00
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.93.
Rookie Arizona Giants were idle.
DSL Giants pounded the Yankees1 10-2
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 2 for 3, 2 BB, SB(7). BA= .250.
Miguel Gomez(C, 21 yo)- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB. BA= .345.
Hengerber Medina(SS, 19 yo)- 3 for 4. BA= .250.
Olbis Parra(RHP, 19 yo)- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.80.
Deiyerbert Bolivar(LHP, 18 yo)- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Game Wrap 6/21/2014: Giants 6 D'Backs 4
The Giants got just enough pitching to support a sustained offensive attack and escape with their first win in 7 games. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, HR(11). BA= .299. Pence also threw out a runner at 2B and continues a typical Hunter Pence season. He's hitting .349 with 3 HR's over his last 10 games.
Buster Posey- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .284. Both of Buster's hits were smoked. He's hitting .351 over his last 10.
Pablo Sandoval- 3 for 5. BA= .272. Pablo stays hot hitting something like .350 over his last 38 games after starting the season hitting .172 or something like that over his first 33 games. Pabs is also hitting .471 over his last 10 games and .338 for the month of June.
Joe Panik- 0 for 0, BB. BA= .000. Joltin' Joe Panik makes his MLB debut and draws a walk. Very appropriate if you know the history of his peripheral stats.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K. ERA= 4.13. Not a great start for Vogey, but he was 1 run better than opposing starter Brandon McCarthy through 5 innings. The bullpen took over from there.
Jeremy Affeldt- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.44. Affeldt is having a great season since hitting the DL early on.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. ERA= 1.23. Casilla and Machi give the Giants 2 shutdown setup RHP's that help them shorten games they have the lead in.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(21). ERA= 4.91. OK, this was not a good performance by Romo. He was saved purely by the whims of the BABIP gods. With 1 out, Roger Kieschnick smoked a double up the right-centerfield alley. Didi Gregorious then squibbed an IF single to put 2 runners on. Parra's grounder to 2B moved the runners up. That brought Paul Goldschmidt to the plate with a dilemma. Do you pitch to the most dangerous hitter in the lineup, or put the lead run on base? Bruce Bochy came out, towering over Romo and put his hands on both of Romo's shoulders giving him a pep talk, or something. It was a very odd scene! Romo the proceeded to hang a slider right in Goldy's wheelhouse and it got smoked up the right-centerfield alley just like it should have been. Fortunately for Romo and the Giants, Hunter Pence was in a good position and caught the drive after a short run. Not sure what the deal is with Romo's slider, but right now it is not a good pitch!
The Win maintained the Giants lead over the Dodgers at 4 games in the NL West after the bad guys topped the Padres 5-2.
The Giants send their ace, Madison Bumgarner out to finish the series with a win facing Mike Bolsinger today.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, HR(11). BA= .299. Pence also threw out a runner at 2B and continues a typical Hunter Pence season. He's hitting .349 with 3 HR's over his last 10 games.
Buster Posey- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .284. Both of Buster's hits were smoked. He's hitting .351 over his last 10.
Pablo Sandoval- 3 for 5. BA= .272. Pablo stays hot hitting something like .350 over his last 38 games after starting the season hitting .172 or something like that over his first 33 games. Pabs is also hitting .471 over his last 10 games and .338 for the month of June.
Joe Panik- 0 for 0, BB. BA= .000. Joltin' Joe Panik makes his MLB debut and draws a walk. Very appropriate if you know the history of his peripheral stats.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K. ERA= 4.13. Not a great start for Vogey, but he was 1 run better than opposing starter Brandon McCarthy through 5 innings. The bullpen took over from there.
Jeremy Affeldt- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.44. Affeldt is having a great season since hitting the DL early on.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. ERA= 1.23. Casilla and Machi give the Giants 2 shutdown setup RHP's that help them shorten games they have the lead in.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(21). ERA= 4.91. OK, this was not a good performance by Romo. He was saved purely by the whims of the BABIP gods. With 1 out, Roger Kieschnick smoked a double up the right-centerfield alley. Didi Gregorious then squibbed an IF single to put 2 runners on. Parra's grounder to 2B moved the runners up. That brought Paul Goldschmidt to the plate with a dilemma. Do you pitch to the most dangerous hitter in the lineup, or put the lead run on base? Bruce Bochy came out, towering over Romo and put his hands on both of Romo's shoulders giving him a pep talk, or something. It was a very odd scene! Romo the proceeded to hang a slider right in Goldy's wheelhouse and it got smoked up the right-centerfield alley just like it should have been. Fortunately for Romo and the Giants, Hunter Pence was in a good position and caught the drive after a short run. Not sure what the deal is with Romo's slider, but right now it is not a good pitch!
The Win maintained the Giants lead over the Dodgers at 4 games in the NL West after the bad guys topped the Padres 5-2.
The Giants send their ace, Madison Bumgarner out to finish the series with a win facing Mike Bolsinger today.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Thoughts on Joe Panik
Joe Panik got the call to the major leagues today! To make room on the 25 man roster, Juan Perez is being optioned to Fresno. To make room on the 40 man roster, Jake Dunning is getting the DFA. The move makes a lot of sense. Panik has been on a sustained hot streak for Fresno that showed no signs of abating. He basically had nothing left to prove there unless you want to see more power out of him, but it is doubtful that he will ever be a significant power hitter. The Giants current MLB options at 2B were just not getting the job done and the current losing streak left them needing a shot in the arm. The Giants need to make a decision about trading for a 2B at the trade deadline. This gives them a month to evaluate whether Panik is the guy to take them down the stretch or not. If it turns out Panik is not quite ready, they still have 3 future options on him. He will definitely be ready or washed out by that time.
Joe Panik was a controversial first round draft pick by the Giants in the 2011 draft at #25 overall. He was a college SS for at St. John's who was widely seen as a future 2B. Scouting dogma says you just don't draft those types in the first round. The Giants insisted they were drafting him as a SS. Here are Panik's stat lines for his 3 college seasons:
2009 .332/.426/.513, 5 HR, 29 BB, 25 K, 187 AB.
2010 .374/.477/.621, 10 HR, 38 BB, 17 K, 227 AB.
2011 .394/509/.642, 10 HR, 44 BB, 24 K, 226 AB.
You can usually take college BA's with a grain of salt, but Panik's secondary stats showed a somewhat unusual phenomenon in that he walked almost twice as many times as he struck out over his last 2 seasons at St. Johns. Since Panik was drafted, the Giants have selected a number of other players with similar K and BB profiles leading me to suspect that the Giants do run an active statistical department and are willing to be innovative with it. Undervalued commodity? Moneyball? It does not seem to be so much the walk rate that they are looking at or necessarily the K rate by itself, but the ratio of BB/K that they deem to be an indicator of future success.
Panik signed immediately and was sent to Salem-Keizer for the Short Season. He got off to a rousing start with a line of .341/.401/.467, 6 HR, 28 BB, 25 K, 270 AB. Notice again the reversed K/BB.
He was rewarded with an assignment to the Arizona Fall League, usually reserved for top AA and AAA prospects. He again hit well: .324/394/.473, 2 HR, 9 BB, 10 K, 93 AB. In a small sample, the K/BB was essentially 1.
Next season Panik started off in High A San Jose, an aggressive assignment for his first full pro season. He got off to a slow start, but turned it on in the last 2 months and fell just short of the .300 BA mark. I remember the countdown to the end of the season to see if he would make it in my Down on the Farm segments. His final season line: .297/.368/.402, 7 HR, 58 BB, 54 K, 535 AB. Again, note the BB/K slightly greater than 1. He was again sent to the AFL where he hit just .205 in 78 AB but walked 10 times against 7 K's. Remember this was at the end of his first full pro season of playing every day for 5 months straight.
2013 found him in AA Richmond, a place of fear and doom for many a Giants hitting prospect. I can count the number of Giants hitting prospects who have thrived in the Eastern League on one hand and still have fingers left over! He started off OK, but went into a prolonged mid-season slump, coming part way back near the end of the season: .257/.333/.347, 4 HR, 57 BB, 68 K, 522 AB. For the first time in his career, Panik had more K's than BB's but by a remarkably small margin. Some observers were also non-plussed by the low power output. To make matters worse in many eyes, he was moved off SS to 2B as had long been predicted.
The Giants felt his performance in the pitching friendly EL was good enough to warrant a promotion to AAA Fresno. He again started off a bit slow, but not for long. Since the first couple of weeks of the season, he has seemingly had more multiple hit games than not and has produced a steadily climbing BA: .321/.382/.447, 5 HR, 27 AB, 33 K, 293 AB.
So, Joe Panik's time has come. This is the moment of truth for the Giants taking a risk on him in the 2011 draft and for Yeshaya Goldfarb and the stats department. Will Joe Panik be one of those prospects who hits out of the gate and never looks back, or will he be one who needs a few hundred AB's or so to get his feet on the ground? Unless the Giants precipitous slide continues, he will need to hit the ground running to avoid being replaced by a trade deadline acquisition.
Just for fun, I ran a ranking of MLB 2B by BB/K. There were 6 with ratios greater than 0.7 with the top number 0.89. Here's the list:
1. Jose Altuve
2. Dustin Pedroia
3. Robinson Cano
4. Brian Dozier
5. Daniel Murphy
6. Brian Roberts.
I also ranked all hitters in MLB by the same metric. There were 12 with ratios of 1.00 or greater. I guess it is not too surprising that 3 of those 12 are current Oakland A's and 1 is a former Athletic.
My closest comps out of all this for what I think Joe Panik can be are a LH Dustin Pedroia playing in a bigger home ballpark or Daniel Murphy, who has been discussed as a possible deadline trade target.
Joe Panik was a controversial first round draft pick by the Giants in the 2011 draft at #25 overall. He was a college SS for at St. John's who was widely seen as a future 2B. Scouting dogma says you just don't draft those types in the first round. The Giants insisted they were drafting him as a SS. Here are Panik's stat lines for his 3 college seasons:
2009 .332/.426/.513, 5 HR, 29 BB, 25 K, 187 AB.
2010 .374/.477/.621, 10 HR, 38 BB, 17 K, 227 AB.
2011 .394/509/.642, 10 HR, 44 BB, 24 K, 226 AB.
You can usually take college BA's with a grain of salt, but Panik's secondary stats showed a somewhat unusual phenomenon in that he walked almost twice as many times as he struck out over his last 2 seasons at St. Johns. Since Panik was drafted, the Giants have selected a number of other players with similar K and BB profiles leading me to suspect that the Giants do run an active statistical department and are willing to be innovative with it. Undervalued commodity? Moneyball? It does not seem to be so much the walk rate that they are looking at or necessarily the K rate by itself, but the ratio of BB/K that they deem to be an indicator of future success.
Panik signed immediately and was sent to Salem-Keizer for the Short Season. He got off to a rousing start with a line of .341/.401/.467, 6 HR, 28 BB, 25 K, 270 AB. Notice again the reversed K/BB.
He was rewarded with an assignment to the Arizona Fall League, usually reserved for top AA and AAA prospects. He again hit well: .324/394/.473, 2 HR, 9 BB, 10 K, 93 AB. In a small sample, the K/BB was essentially 1.
Next season Panik started off in High A San Jose, an aggressive assignment for his first full pro season. He got off to a slow start, but turned it on in the last 2 months and fell just short of the .300 BA mark. I remember the countdown to the end of the season to see if he would make it in my Down on the Farm segments. His final season line: .297/.368/.402, 7 HR, 58 BB, 54 K, 535 AB. Again, note the BB/K slightly greater than 1. He was again sent to the AFL where he hit just .205 in 78 AB but walked 10 times against 7 K's. Remember this was at the end of his first full pro season of playing every day for 5 months straight.
2013 found him in AA Richmond, a place of fear and doom for many a Giants hitting prospect. I can count the number of Giants hitting prospects who have thrived in the Eastern League on one hand and still have fingers left over! He started off OK, but went into a prolonged mid-season slump, coming part way back near the end of the season: .257/.333/.347, 4 HR, 57 BB, 68 K, 522 AB. For the first time in his career, Panik had more K's than BB's but by a remarkably small margin. Some observers were also non-plussed by the low power output. To make matters worse in many eyes, he was moved off SS to 2B as had long been predicted.
The Giants felt his performance in the pitching friendly EL was good enough to warrant a promotion to AAA Fresno. He again started off a bit slow, but not for long. Since the first couple of weeks of the season, he has seemingly had more multiple hit games than not and has produced a steadily climbing BA: .321/.382/.447, 5 HR, 27 AB, 33 K, 293 AB.
So, Joe Panik's time has come. This is the moment of truth for the Giants taking a risk on him in the 2011 draft and for Yeshaya Goldfarb and the stats department. Will Joe Panik be one of those prospects who hits out of the gate and never looks back, or will he be one who needs a few hundred AB's or so to get his feet on the ground? Unless the Giants precipitous slide continues, he will need to hit the ground running to avoid being replaced by a trade deadline acquisition.
Just for fun, I ran a ranking of MLB 2B by BB/K. There were 6 with ratios greater than 0.7 with the top number 0.89. Here's the list:
1. Jose Altuve
2. Dustin Pedroia
3. Robinson Cano
4. Brian Dozier
5. Daniel Murphy
6. Brian Roberts.
I also ranked all hitters in MLB by the same metric. There were 12 with ratios of 1.00 or greater. I guess it is not too surprising that 3 of those 12 are current Oakland A's and 1 is a former Athletic.
My closest comps out of all this for what I think Joe Panik can be are a LH Dustin Pedroia playing in a bigger home ballpark or Daniel Murphy, who has been discussed as a possible deadline trade target.
Down on the Farm: 6/20/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs 7-3:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 5, SB(9). BA= .269.
Joe Panik(2B)- 3 for 5, 2B, SB(3). BA= .321.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .236.
Travis Ishikawa(LF-1B)- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .264.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.07.
Brownie is now hitting .333 over his last 8 games. Panik keeps peppering the field with hits. Kickham follows up possibly his worst start of the season with possibly his best.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels edged the Erie Seawolves 4-3:
Tyler Graham(.284), Kelby Tomlinson(.244), Ryan Lollis(.236), Jarrett Parker(.243)- 2 hits each.
Myles Schroder(.251)- Solo HR.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.45.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.72.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(6). ERA= 3.09.
Graham and Tomlinson got picked off 3 times between them. It looks like Cody Hall has inherited the closer role in Richmond from the injured Derek Law.
High A Visalia Rawhide beat the San Jose Giants 5-3:
Brian Ragira(DH)- 2 for 4. BA= .233.
Elliott Blair(LF)- 2 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .292.
Alberto Robles(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .198.
Pat Young(RHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 5.57.
Low A Asheville Tourists defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 4-3:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA- .227.
Ty Ross(Catcher)- BA= .233.
Rando Moreno(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .226.
Keury Mella(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 3.93.
Carlos Diaz(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.11.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.51.
Does Mella have another double digit K game this year? I don't think so. Dominant secondary numbers for the young fireballer. It looks like Carlos Diaz is the odd man out of the rotation with Joan Gregorio taking his spot.
Short Season Hillsboro Hops outpitched the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 2-1:
Johnshwy Fargas(CF)- 3 for 3, 2B, HR(1), BB. BA= .381.
Nick Gonzalez(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.38.
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Huge game for Fargas who I am so darn excited to have the the Giants system. Nick Gonzalez, also a favorite of my from last year's draft, has a strong second start after a shaky first one.
Rookie Arizona Giants topped the D'Backs 5-3:
Richard Amion(CF)- 0 for 2, 3 BB. BA= .000.
Julio Pena(RF)- 3 for 4, HR(1). BA= .750.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .500.
Michael Santos(RHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Brandon Farley(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
I believe Amion is the first 2014 draftee to appear in a game. Pena is a holdover from last year. He is 21 years old. Michael Santos might have been the best pitcher from last year's DSL squad but was shut down after just 4 games. He is just 18 years old. Farley pitched last year for Augusta. He might be on an injury rehab.
DSL Giants outscored the Rockies 10-9:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 2 for 4, BB, SB(6). BA= .231.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .329.
Miguel Gomez(C, 21 yo)- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .333.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 5, SB(9). BA= .269.
Joe Panik(2B)- 3 for 5, 2B, SB(3). BA= .321.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .236.
Travis Ishikawa(LF-1B)- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .264.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.07.
Brownie is now hitting .333 over his last 8 games. Panik keeps peppering the field with hits. Kickham follows up possibly his worst start of the season with possibly his best.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels edged the Erie Seawolves 4-3:
Tyler Graham(.284), Kelby Tomlinson(.244), Ryan Lollis(.236), Jarrett Parker(.243)- 2 hits each.
Myles Schroder(.251)- Solo HR.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.45.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.72.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(6). ERA= 3.09.
Graham and Tomlinson got picked off 3 times between them. It looks like Cody Hall has inherited the closer role in Richmond from the injured Derek Law.
High A Visalia Rawhide beat the San Jose Giants 5-3:
Brian Ragira(DH)- 2 for 4. BA= .233.
Elliott Blair(LF)- 2 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .292.
Alberto Robles(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .198.
Pat Young(RHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 5.57.
Low A Asheville Tourists defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 4-3:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 3 for 4, 2B. BA- .227.
Ty Ross(Catcher)- BA= .233.
Rando Moreno(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .226.
Keury Mella(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 3.93.
Carlos Diaz(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.11.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.51.
Does Mella have another double digit K game this year? I don't think so. Dominant secondary numbers for the young fireballer. It looks like Carlos Diaz is the odd man out of the rotation with Joan Gregorio taking his spot.
Short Season Hillsboro Hops outpitched the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 2-1:
Johnshwy Fargas(CF)- 3 for 3, 2B, HR(1), BB. BA= .381.
Nick Gonzalez(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.38.
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Huge game for Fargas who I am so darn excited to have the the Giants system. Nick Gonzalez, also a favorite of my from last year's draft, has a strong second start after a shaky first one.
Rookie Arizona Giants topped the D'Backs 5-3:
Richard Amion(CF)- 0 for 2, 3 BB. BA= .000.
Julio Pena(RF)- 3 for 4, HR(1). BA= .750.
Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 4. BA= .500.
Michael Santos(RHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Brandon Farley(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
I believe Amion is the first 2014 draftee to appear in a game. Pena is a holdover from last year. He is 21 years old. Michael Santos might have been the best pitcher from last year's DSL squad but was shut down after just 4 games. He is just 18 years old. Farley pitched last year for Augusta. He might be on an injury rehab.
DSL Giants outscored the Rockies 10-9:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 2 for 4, BB, SB(6). BA= .231.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .329.
Miguel Gomez(C, 21 yo)- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .333.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Game Wrap 6/20/2014: D'Backs 4 Giants 1
Paul Goldschmidt did not hit a HR off Tim Lincecum, but he did get 2 hits with a double and a SB to lead the D'Backs. Meanwhile, the Giants failed to sustain an offense against Tomahawk Boy and a bevy of relievers. Key Lines:
Tim Lincecum- 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.90. Timmy is obviously pitching to contact more, and that might not be a good thing. Here he fell 1 run short of a QS but again, it did not matter with the sputtering Giants offense behind him.
The Loss leaves the Giants just 3.5 games ahead of the surging Dodgers pending the outcome of their game against the Padres.
Ryan Vogelsong tries to stop the bleeding against Brandon McCarthy tomorrow.
Tim Lincecum- 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.90. Timmy is obviously pitching to contact more, and that might not be a good thing. Here he fell 1 run short of a QS but again, it did not matter with the sputtering Giants offense behind him.
The Loss leaves the Giants just 3.5 games ahead of the surging Dodgers pending the outcome of their game against the Padres.
Ryan Vogelsong tries to stop the bleeding against Brandon McCarthy tomorrow.
Down on the Farm: 6/19/2014
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 7-5:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, HBP, SB(8). BA= .266.
Joe Panik(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .316.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(23). BA= .296.
Darren Ford(LF)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(11). BA= .316.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.31.
Panik and Duvall continue to lead the way for the Grizzlies. Brown needs to string a bunch of these games together. Esobar's line would indicate that he had good stuff and good command. 2 dingers is what did him in.
AA Binghampton Mets blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-0:
Jarett Parker(RF-CF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .238.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.88.
Cricky threw 100 pitches in the 4.2 IP. The 7 K's would indicate good stuff. The walks and pitch count poor command.
High A San Jose Giants topped the Visalia Rawhide 7-2:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 3 for 4, SB(21). BA= .291.
Joe Biagini(RHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.93.
Tyler Mizenko(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(5). ERA= 2.93.
Galindo probably has to be considered the top prospect in San Jose right now.
Low A Asheville Tourists edged the Augusta Greenjackets 1-0:
Christian Jones(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.72.
Short Season Hillsboro Hops topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3:
Kirk Singer(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
DSL Rockies outscored the Giants 6-5:
Kelvin Beltre(DH, 17 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(3), SB(6). BA= .218.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .319.
The BA might not look like much, but Beltre is showing a very nice combination of power and speed. He has an OBP over .400 with 18 BB's against just 8 K's in 55 AB's. I still really like Medrano as a prospect even though this is his second stint in the DSL. He's still young and I like his size for an OF prospect.
Arizona League starts tonight with last years HS draftees, Dylan Brooks, Rayan Hernandez, Jonah Arenado and John Riley of particular interest. I would also expect to see 2014 draftee Luis Lacen sometime during Rookie League.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, HBP, SB(8). BA= .266.
Joe Panik(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .316.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 4, HR(23). BA= .296.
Darren Ford(LF)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(11). BA= .316.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.31.
Panik and Duvall continue to lead the way for the Grizzlies. Brown needs to string a bunch of these games together. Esobar's line would indicate that he had good stuff and good command. 2 dingers is what did him in.
AA Binghampton Mets blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-0:
Jarett Parker(RF-CF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .238.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.88.
Cricky threw 100 pitches in the 4.2 IP. The 7 K's would indicate good stuff. The walks and pitch count poor command.
High A San Jose Giants topped the Visalia Rawhide 7-2:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 3 for 4, SB(21). BA= .291.
Joe Biagini(RHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.93.
Tyler Mizenko(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(5). ERA= 2.93.
Galindo probably has to be considered the top prospect in San Jose right now.
Low A Asheville Tourists edged the Augusta Greenjackets 1-0:
Christian Jones(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.72.
Short Season Hillsboro Hops topped the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4-3:
Kirk Singer(RHP)- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
DSL Rockies outscored the Giants 6-5:
Kelvin Beltre(DH, 17 yo)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(3), SB(6). BA= .218.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .319.
The BA might not look like much, but Beltre is showing a very nice combination of power and speed. He has an OBP over .400 with 18 BB's against just 8 K's in 55 AB's. I still really like Medrano as a prospect even though this is his second stint in the DSL. He's still young and I like his size for an OF prospect.
Arizona League starts tonight with last years HS draftees, Dylan Brooks, Rayan Hernandez, Jonah Arenado and John Riley of particular interest. I would also expect to see 2014 draftee Luis Lacen sometime during Rookie League.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/18/2014
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs defeated the Fresno Grizzlies 5-1:
Andrew Susac(Catcher)- 1 for 2, 2 BB, PB(7). BA= .273.
Susac's 7 PB's have come in 36 games. For comparison sake, Buster Posey has 3 in 50 games(420 innings) while Hector Sanchez has 4 in 34 games(233.2 innings).
AA Binghampton Mets beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-1:
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.15.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.19.
High A San Jose Giants and Low A Augusta Greenjackets were idle.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes outhit the Hillsboro Hops 8-6:
Travious Relaford(SS)- 1 for 4, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .192.
Ryan Jones(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(1). BA= .240.
Shilo McCall(RF)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .208.
Cameron McVey(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.91.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, Save(1). ERA= 4.91.
McVey now has a composite line of 6 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K's, the equivalent of a dominant start.
DSL Mariners downed the Giants 4-1:
NTSH.
Andrew Susac(Catcher)- 1 for 2, 2 BB, PB(7). BA= .273.
Susac's 7 PB's have come in 36 games. For comparison sake, Buster Posey has 3 in 50 games(420 innings) while Hector Sanchez has 4 in 34 games(233.2 innings).
AA Binghampton Mets beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-1:
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.15.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.19.
High A San Jose Giants and Low A Augusta Greenjackets were idle.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes outhit the Hillsboro Hops 8-6:
Travious Relaford(SS)- 1 for 4, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .192.
Ryan Jones(2B)- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(1). BA= .240.
Shilo McCall(RF)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .208.
Cameron McVey(RHP)- 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.91.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, Save(1). ERA= 4.91.
McVey now has a composite line of 6 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K's, the equivalent of a dominant start.
DSL Mariners downed the Giants 4-1:
NTSH.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Down on the Farm: AA Midseason Review
The 2014 season for the Giants AA affiliate, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, was greeted with a great deal of anticipation as a very strong contingent of young starting pitcher prospects was slated to move up from High A San Jose. While there have been some bright spots, the young pitchers have also had their share of struggles. Meanwhile, Matt Duffy has been the lone bright spot on the offensive side with a little Angel V thrown in for good measure. Mac Williamson was the anticipated offensive star, but was sent to DH back in San Jose due to an elbow injury. He eventually underwent Tommy John Surgery and is out for the remainder of the season.
Matt Duffy, SS, B-R,T-R. .344/400/.434, 2 HR, 17 SB, 25 BB, 41 K in 244 AB. Duffy has put up astonishing numbers while maintaining excellent K/BB ratios and has held down the SS position to boot. He may be turning himself into a top 10 Giants prospect, most definitely top 20 I would say.
Angel Villalona, 1B, B-R, T-R. .263/.323/.443, 8 HR, 15 BB, 61 K in 228 AB. Angel has maintained a decent BA considering the environment, Matt Duffy notwithstanding. He still has low walk rates and high K rates but is starting to show some small signs of better plate discipline. The Giants apparently have 3 more options on him, so have time for further development. He continues to have one of the highest ceiling bats in the organization. The question is if he ever reaches that ceiling.
Ty Blach, LHP. 4-4, 2.79, 67.2 IP, 17 BB, 39 K's. The ERA looks good, but the K rate has to give one pause.
Adalberto Mejia, LHP. 3-5, 5.61, 59.1 IP, 15 BB, 48 K. A disastrous season up until his most recent start in which he pitched 7 shutout innings with 7 K's, a dominant start. We'll see if it was a harbinger of his second half.
Kyle Crick, RHP. 4-2, 3.89, 44 IP, 29 BB, 43 K. Those are decent numbers for anyone not carrying the expectations that come with being Cricky. Hopefully he will come out stronger for the experience.
Clayton Blackburn, RHP. 2-5, 3.40, 42.1 IP, 9 BB, 32 K. Currently on the DL. Not sure what the injury is. Peripheral numbers continue to look better than the ERA.
Jack Snodgrass, LHP. 7-0, 2.53, 51 IP, 19 BB, 35 K. Again, the peripherals are not exciting for this soft-tossing lefty.
Cody Hall, RHP. 1-2, 3.30, 30 IP, 8 BB, 38 K, 5 Saves. Pretty good looking peripheral numbers for this future setup man.
Derek Law, RHP. 2-0, 2.57, 28 IP, 14 BB, 29 K, 13 Saves. A ton of preseason excitement for this guy. Has pitched well, but currently on the DL with the dreaded forearm strain.
Hunter Strickland, RHP. Just called up from San Jose where he started his rehab from TJ surgery. Gave up a couple of runs in his second appearance, but has not been scored on in his last 2. Could be a fast mover based on reports coming out of the organization.
Matt Duffy, SS, B-R,T-R. .344/400/.434, 2 HR, 17 SB, 25 BB, 41 K in 244 AB. Duffy has put up astonishing numbers while maintaining excellent K/BB ratios and has held down the SS position to boot. He may be turning himself into a top 10 Giants prospect, most definitely top 20 I would say.
Angel Villalona, 1B, B-R, T-R. .263/.323/.443, 8 HR, 15 BB, 61 K in 228 AB. Angel has maintained a decent BA considering the environment, Matt Duffy notwithstanding. He still has low walk rates and high K rates but is starting to show some small signs of better plate discipline. The Giants apparently have 3 more options on him, so have time for further development. He continues to have one of the highest ceiling bats in the organization. The question is if he ever reaches that ceiling.
Ty Blach, LHP. 4-4, 2.79, 67.2 IP, 17 BB, 39 K's. The ERA looks good, but the K rate has to give one pause.
Adalberto Mejia, LHP. 3-5, 5.61, 59.1 IP, 15 BB, 48 K. A disastrous season up until his most recent start in which he pitched 7 shutout innings with 7 K's, a dominant start. We'll see if it was a harbinger of his second half.
Kyle Crick, RHP. 4-2, 3.89, 44 IP, 29 BB, 43 K. Those are decent numbers for anyone not carrying the expectations that come with being Cricky. Hopefully he will come out stronger for the experience.
Clayton Blackburn, RHP. 2-5, 3.40, 42.1 IP, 9 BB, 32 K. Currently on the DL. Not sure what the injury is. Peripheral numbers continue to look better than the ERA.
Jack Snodgrass, LHP. 7-0, 2.53, 51 IP, 19 BB, 35 K. Again, the peripherals are not exciting for this soft-tossing lefty.
Cody Hall, RHP. 1-2, 3.30, 30 IP, 8 BB, 38 K, 5 Saves. Pretty good looking peripheral numbers for this future setup man.
Derek Law, RHP. 2-0, 2.57, 28 IP, 14 BB, 29 K, 13 Saves. A ton of preseason excitement for this guy. Has pitched well, but currently on the DL with the dreaded forearm strain.
Hunter Strickland, RHP. Just called up from San Jose where he started his rehab from TJ surgery. Gave up a couple of runs in his second appearance, but has not been scored on in his last 2. Could be a fast mover based on reports coming out of the organization.
Game Wrap 6/18/2014: White Sox 7 Giants 6
An expected pitcher's duel between Tim Hudson and Chris Sale failed to materialize as the White Sox jumped out to a 7-2 lead then held on in the late innings for the final score. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .263. Blanco played CF and hit leadoff in Pagan's absence. Can't ask for much more than this from a leadoff hitter. Blanco is hitting .314 over his last 10 games and .333 for the month of June after hitting .295 for the month of May, so he has been hot for a long time now.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 2B, SF. BA= .265. Pabs is hitting .424 over his last 10 games, .316 for the month of June after hitting .318 for the month of May.
Pence, Posey, Adrianza- 2 hits each. Adrianza is hitting .315 over his last 10 games and can we please get him some more playing time?
Tim Hudson- 4.2 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.39. US Cellular Field has ownage on Huddy. His career ERA there is over 9.
The Giants lead over the Dodgers in the NL West is now cut to 4.5 games pending the Dodgers-Rockies game tonight, and you knew they were going to need that cushion.
The Giants have tomorrow off before starting a 3 game series in another bandbox ballpark in Arizona against the D'Backs.
Gregor Blanco- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .263. Blanco played CF and hit leadoff in Pagan's absence. Can't ask for much more than this from a leadoff hitter. Blanco is hitting .314 over his last 10 games and .333 for the month of June after hitting .295 for the month of May, so he has been hot for a long time now.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 2B, SF. BA= .265. Pabs is hitting .424 over his last 10 games, .316 for the month of June after hitting .318 for the month of May.
Pence, Posey, Adrianza- 2 hits each. Adrianza is hitting .315 over his last 10 games and can we please get him some more playing time?
Tim Hudson- 4.2 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.39. US Cellular Field has ownage on Huddy. His career ERA there is over 9.
The Giants lead over the Dodgers in the NL West is now cut to 4.5 games pending the Dodgers-Rockies game tonight, and you knew they were going to need that cushion.
The Giants have tomorrow off before starting a 3 game series in another bandbox ballpark in Arizona against the D'Backs.
Down on the Farm: 6/17/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies edged the New Orleans Zephyrs 4-3:
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 4, HR(22). BA= .294.
Joe Panik(2B)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(2). BA= .314.
Travis Ishikawa(1B)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .256.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB 2 K's. ERA= 3.69.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(13). ERA= 3.38.
The Panik hit parade and the Duvall HR barrage continue.
AA Binghampton Mets defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-1:
Matt Duffy(SS)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, E(11). BA= .344.
Ty Blach(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.79.
For comparison, Brandon Crawford has made 9 errors in 67 games to Duffy's 11 in 63 games.
High A San Jose Giants were idle.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets were idle.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Vancouver Canadians 4-3:
Ty Hollick(CF)- 2 for 4. BA= .412.
Craig Massoni(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(1). BA= .353.
Johnshwy Fargas(LF)- 1 for 2, 2 BB, SB(1). BA= .400.
Jason Forjet(RHP)- 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
EJ Encinosa(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Again, Fargas is the dude I am excited about here.
DSL Giants beat the Mariners 4-2:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 0 for 3, BB, SB(5). BA= .231.
Kelvin Beltre(3B, 17 yo)- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .213.
Carlos Valdez(DH, 20 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500.
Victor Concepcion(RHP, 17 yo)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.79.
Olbis Parra(RHP, 19 yo)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Alvaro Diaz(RHP, 20 yo)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, Save(5). ERA= 0.00.
Since giving up 6 ER in 2 IP, in his first start, Concepcion has allowed just 2 ER in 17 IP over his next 3 with 12 K's and 3 BB's.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 4, HR(22). BA= .294.
Joe Panik(2B)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(2). BA= .314.
Travis Ishikawa(1B)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .256.
Chris Heston(RHP)- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB 2 K's. ERA= 3.69.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(13). ERA= 3.38.
The Panik hit parade and the Duvall HR barrage continue.
AA Binghampton Mets defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5-1:
Matt Duffy(SS)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, E(11). BA= .344.
Ty Blach(LHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.79.
For comparison, Brandon Crawford has made 9 errors in 67 games to Duffy's 11 in 63 games.
High A San Jose Giants were idle.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets were idle.
Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes topped the Vancouver Canadians 4-3:
Ty Hollick(CF)- 2 for 4. BA= .412.
Craig Massoni(1B)- 2 for 4, HR(1). BA= .353.
Johnshwy Fargas(LF)- 1 for 2, 2 BB, SB(1). BA= .400.
Jason Forjet(RHP)- 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.40.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
EJ Encinosa(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.00.
Again, Fargas is the dude I am excited about here.
DSL Giants beat the Mariners 4-2:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 0 for 3, BB, SB(5). BA= .231.
Kelvin Beltre(3B, 17 yo)- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .213.
Carlos Valdez(DH, 20 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500.
Victor Concepcion(RHP, 17 yo)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.79.
Olbis Parra(RHP, 19 yo)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Alvaro Diaz(RHP, 20 yo)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, Save(5). ERA= 0.00.
Since giving up 6 ER in 2 IP, in his first start, Concepcion has allowed just 2 ER in 17 IP over his next 3 with 12 K's and 3 BB's.
Game Wrap 6/17/2014: White Sox 8 Giants 2
The Giants were hoping that a change of scenery might give them better results on the field after a disastrous homestand. What they got was a bandbox ballpark that they appeared completely unprepared to play in and the result was one of the worse shellackings of the season. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, HR(10). BA= .299. Alex P over at Giants Extra has Pence hitting .340 over his last 52 games, so he is on a prolonged hot streak.
Matt Cain- 5 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.52. OK, here is my theory on what we witnessed here: Cain actually looked sharp in the first 2 innings. The first sign of trouble that I noticed was early in Gordon Beckham's AB in the 3'rd inning. He was taking some very healthy cuts and looked like he was right on the pitches. I thought to myself, if he gets ahold of one, it's going outa here. Makes me wonder if maybe Beckham knew what pitches were coming and the approximate locations? My second thought: Things completely fell apart after Hector Sanchez was knocked off his feet by a foul tip off the bat of Jose Abreu in the 4'th inning. This is the second time I've seen a pitchers completely fall apart right after Sanchez got his bell rung. I'm wondering if the near-concussions mess up his pitch calling and framing for a couple of innings afterward. Of course that does not explain why Petit came in and was terrific in mop-up time. Most likely it was just bad pitching on Cainer's part.
The Loss dropped the Giants lead in the NL West to 5 games over the Dodgers who topped the Rockies 4-2. The Rockies remain 9 games back after coming off their sweep of the Giants with 2 losses to the Dodgers. Durn Rockies!
It does not get any easier tonight as Tim Hudson faces one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not THE best, Chris Sale. Of course Huddy has been pretty sensational himself this season.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, HR(10). BA= .299. Alex P over at Giants Extra has Pence hitting .340 over his last 52 games, so he is on a prolonged hot streak.
Matt Cain- 5 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.52. OK, here is my theory on what we witnessed here: Cain actually looked sharp in the first 2 innings. The first sign of trouble that I noticed was early in Gordon Beckham's AB in the 3'rd inning. He was taking some very healthy cuts and looked like he was right on the pitches. I thought to myself, if he gets ahold of one, it's going outa here. Makes me wonder if maybe Beckham knew what pitches were coming and the approximate locations? My second thought: Things completely fell apart after Hector Sanchez was knocked off his feet by a foul tip off the bat of Jose Abreu in the 4'th inning. This is the second time I've seen a pitchers completely fall apart right after Sanchez got his bell rung. I'm wondering if the near-concussions mess up his pitch calling and framing for a couple of innings afterward. Of course that does not explain why Petit came in and was terrific in mop-up time. Most likely it was just bad pitching on Cainer's part.
The Loss dropped the Giants lead in the NL West to 5 games over the Dodgers who topped the Rockies 4-2. The Rockies remain 9 games back after coming off their sweep of the Giants with 2 losses to the Dodgers. Durn Rockies!
It does not get any easier tonight as Tim Hudson faces one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not THE best, Chris Sale. Of course Huddy has been pretty sensational himself this season.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Down on the Farm: AAA Midseason Review
We are right around the half way point in the full season minor leagues for 2014, so I thought it might be a good time to review the first half of the season for each level looking at what has gone well and what has not gone so well. We'll start with the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. Fresno actually has more legitimate prospects this year than most years as Fresno has historically been a place for the Giants to stash veteran backups to use in case of injuries and other needs that may arise during the season. Some people refer to these types of players as AAAA players and they are generally not considered true prospects.
One such player who got his callup and has made an impact is Tyler Colvin who was signed in the offseason but got off to a slow start in spring training. Other players riding the "Fresno Shuttle" are OF Juan Perez and relievers George Kontos and Jake Dunning.
With the AAAA players and "shuttle" riders out of the way, let's take a look at what some of the key prospects have done:
Joe Panik, 2B, B-L, T-R. .314/.375/.440, 5 HR, BB% 8.1, K% 10.7. Going into the season, Edwin Escobar was probably considered the top AAA prospect by most Giants prospect watchers. Panik was coming off a tough year in AA Richmond and his stock had fallen in most eyes despite maintaining an excellent K/BB. The good K/BB has continued in Fresno, but he has been peppering the field with basehits, albeit still without a lot of power. On the other hand, power is not a required element for a middle infielder and the Giants lineup currently does not lack for hitters with power, so Panik is still in good shape on that score. With the Giants second base situation somewhat unsettled and Brandon Hughes' strikeouts piling up, Panik could get the call anytime, but the Giants are also likely to look for a veteran 2B on the trade market as the trade deadline approaches. Depending on who they would acquire, Panik could compete for a starting 2B job next spring.
Adam Duvall, 3B/1B, B-R, T-R. .294/.358/.628, 21 HR, 13 E. Duvall has crushed it for Fresno this year, his first at the AAA level. Unfortunately, he is very much blocked at the MLB level barring injury. The 13 errors in just 59 games have almost certainly not gone unnoticed by the Giants brass. His first opportunity to compete for a MLB job would be next spring and only of Pablo ends up leaving via free agency. I believe Adam Duvall's bat will play at the MLB level, but possibly for another organization.
Andrew Susac, C, B-R, T-R. .278/.376.,487, 6 HR, 34 Games. Susac has hit very well when healthy, which unfortunately has not been often enough. His bat is good enough that the Giants might want to consider trying him at an alternate position if he continues to get beaten up behind the plate.
Gary Brown, CF, B-R, T-R. .267/.315/.383, 4 HR, 7 SB, 11 CS. Brown has been doing pretty much what he did last year, hacking his way to a mediocre average with little power while getting thrown out on the basepaths a lot. That is not a recipe for getting called up to the majors! It's not quite too late for Brownie, but the Fat Lady can be hurt warming up her vocal cords behind the stage. It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how he fits into the Giants plans even as a reserve OF.
Chris Dominguez, 3B/OF, B-R, T-R. .272/.295/.443, 8 HR, 13 SB. Dominguez is an interesting player. He appears to be consciously trying to hit for a higher average and is succeeding. He is still not drawing walks and striking out at a frightful rate. It is difficult to see him making enough contact at the MLB level to stay afloat. He might eventually have a Brandon Hicks type 2 months of success before the pitchers get a book on him and the strikeouts climb out of sight.
Edwin Escobar, LHP. 3-6, 5.26, 75.1 IP, 26 BB, 69 K. Escobar has had a few strong starts but has also had a lot of stinkers. Right now, he is not consistent enough to consider calling up even in case of injury to a MLB starter. He is still quite young, though, and has time to refine his game.
Mike Kickham, LHP. 5-5, 4.16, 71.1 IP, 32 BB, 58 K's. Kickham is an example of why the Giants might not be the Pitcher Whisperers everyone credits them with being. After a year and a half at AAA with a few MLB starts thrown in the mix, he has apparently made no progress in improving his command or approach to pitching out of trouble. He does have pretty good stuff, though, so there is always the possibility it would all suddenly come together for him.
Dan Runzler, LHP. 1-1, 1.15, 31.1 IP, 17 BB, 37 K's. Runzler is a AAAA pitcher who may also be a legitimate prospect. His numbers so far should give him consideration for a callup if another bullpen opening occurs.
Brett Bochy, RHP. 2-3, 3.03, 32.2 IP, 16 BB, 25 K. The soft-tossing Son of Melonhead, AKA Melonhead Jr. is more than holding his own in the very tough PCL environment. I'll be surprised if he gets called up this year, but next year is a possibility.
Heath Hembree, RHP. 0-1, 3.51, 25.2 IP, 9 BB, 28 K, 12 Saves. Fresno's principle closer has been a bit too inconsistent to merit a callup. He remains an option going forward if needs arise in the bullpen.
One such player who got his callup and has made an impact is Tyler Colvin who was signed in the offseason but got off to a slow start in spring training. Other players riding the "Fresno Shuttle" are OF Juan Perez and relievers George Kontos and Jake Dunning.
With the AAAA players and "shuttle" riders out of the way, let's take a look at what some of the key prospects have done:
Joe Panik, 2B, B-L, T-R. .314/.375/.440, 5 HR, BB% 8.1, K% 10.7. Going into the season, Edwin Escobar was probably considered the top AAA prospect by most Giants prospect watchers. Panik was coming off a tough year in AA Richmond and his stock had fallen in most eyes despite maintaining an excellent K/BB. The good K/BB has continued in Fresno, but he has been peppering the field with basehits, albeit still without a lot of power. On the other hand, power is not a required element for a middle infielder and the Giants lineup currently does not lack for hitters with power, so Panik is still in good shape on that score. With the Giants second base situation somewhat unsettled and Brandon Hughes' strikeouts piling up, Panik could get the call anytime, but the Giants are also likely to look for a veteran 2B on the trade market as the trade deadline approaches. Depending on who they would acquire, Panik could compete for a starting 2B job next spring.
Adam Duvall, 3B/1B, B-R, T-R. .294/.358/.628, 21 HR, 13 E. Duvall has crushed it for Fresno this year, his first at the AAA level. Unfortunately, he is very much blocked at the MLB level barring injury. The 13 errors in just 59 games have almost certainly not gone unnoticed by the Giants brass. His first opportunity to compete for a MLB job would be next spring and only of Pablo ends up leaving via free agency. I believe Adam Duvall's bat will play at the MLB level, but possibly for another organization.
Andrew Susac, C, B-R, T-R. .278/.376.,487, 6 HR, 34 Games. Susac has hit very well when healthy, which unfortunately has not been often enough. His bat is good enough that the Giants might want to consider trying him at an alternate position if he continues to get beaten up behind the plate.
Gary Brown, CF, B-R, T-R. .267/.315/.383, 4 HR, 7 SB, 11 CS. Brown has been doing pretty much what he did last year, hacking his way to a mediocre average with little power while getting thrown out on the basepaths a lot. That is not a recipe for getting called up to the majors! It's not quite too late for Brownie, but the Fat Lady can be hurt warming up her vocal cords behind the stage. It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how he fits into the Giants plans even as a reserve OF.
Chris Dominguez, 3B/OF, B-R, T-R. .272/.295/.443, 8 HR, 13 SB. Dominguez is an interesting player. He appears to be consciously trying to hit for a higher average and is succeeding. He is still not drawing walks and striking out at a frightful rate. It is difficult to see him making enough contact at the MLB level to stay afloat. He might eventually have a Brandon Hicks type 2 months of success before the pitchers get a book on him and the strikeouts climb out of sight.
Edwin Escobar, LHP. 3-6, 5.26, 75.1 IP, 26 BB, 69 K. Escobar has had a few strong starts but has also had a lot of stinkers. Right now, he is not consistent enough to consider calling up even in case of injury to a MLB starter. He is still quite young, though, and has time to refine his game.
Mike Kickham, LHP. 5-5, 4.16, 71.1 IP, 32 BB, 58 K's. Kickham is an example of why the Giants might not be the Pitcher Whisperers everyone credits them with being. After a year and a half at AAA with a few MLB starts thrown in the mix, he has apparently made no progress in improving his command or approach to pitching out of trouble. He does have pretty good stuff, though, so there is always the possibility it would all suddenly come together for him.
Dan Runzler, LHP. 1-1, 1.15, 31.1 IP, 17 BB, 37 K's. Runzler is a AAAA pitcher who may also be a legitimate prospect. His numbers so far should give him consideration for a callup if another bullpen opening occurs.
Brett Bochy, RHP. 2-3, 3.03, 32.2 IP, 16 BB, 25 K. The soft-tossing Son of Melonhead, AKA Melonhead Jr. is more than holding his own in the very tough PCL environment. I'll be surprised if he gets called up this year, but next year is a possibility.
Heath Hembree, RHP. 0-1, 3.51, 25.2 IP, 9 BB, 28 K, 12 Saves. Fresno's principle closer has been a bit too inconsistent to merit a callup. He remains an option going forward if needs arise in the bullpen.
Down on the Farm: 6/16/2014
All of the full season farm teams were idle.
Short Season Salem-Keiser Volcanoes outhit the Vancouver Canadians 10-9:
Johnshwy Fargas(CF-LF)- 3 for 5, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .375.
Travious Relaford(SS)- 2 for 6, BB. BA= .222.
Ryan Jones(3B-2B)- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .235.
Craig Massoni(LF-1B)- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .308.
Jacob McCasland(RHP)- 1.2 IP 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K. ERA= 3.38.
Fargas seems to really be the guy to watch on this team so far as none of the 2014 draftees have made it to the roster yet.
DSL Red Sox blanked the Giants 5-0:
Anthony Gomez(DH, 19 yo)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1). BA= .341.
The big news out of Giants Land yesterday was the signing of 23 yo Cuban exile Daniel Carbonell. Shankbone has an excellent rundown on Carbonell on his site, You Gotta Like These Kids linked to the left. My short take on Carbonell is he is a tremendous athlete. On videos he looks more like a football wide receiver than a baseball player. He has long arms and legs with a lean, muscular torso and raw-boned strength.
There is not a lot of excess movement in his swing, but with his long arms, it looks like it might be a tad on the long side. He gets tremendous leverage at the point of contact. The big question is how often he will square up the ball against live pitching. I guess my comp for him from the 2014 draft would be Jacob Gatewood with a filled out frame. He has a chance to be a true 5-tool player. As always, the big question mark is the hit tool.
He is currently in Mexico. It will probably take at least 3 weeks for him to get a work visa. He will most likely be assigned to High A San Jose for his initial stateside professional experience. The signing price is a $1 M bonus with a 4 year MLB contract which is apparently only activated if he is on the 25 man active roster. Otherwise, he gets paid minor league wages. Total value of the contract can range from approximately $1.4 M-$3.1 M. Low risk, high upside signing. I like it!
Short Season Salem-Keiser Volcanoes outhit the Vancouver Canadians 10-9:
Johnshwy Fargas(CF-LF)- 3 for 5, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .375.
Travious Relaford(SS)- 2 for 6, BB. BA= .222.
Ryan Jones(3B-2B)- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .235.
Craig Massoni(LF-1B)- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .308.
Jacob McCasland(RHP)- 1.2 IP 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K. ERA= 3.38.
Fargas seems to really be the guy to watch on this team so far as none of the 2014 draftees have made it to the roster yet.
DSL Red Sox blanked the Giants 5-0:
Anthony Gomez(DH, 19 yo)- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1). BA= .341.
The big news out of Giants Land yesterday was the signing of 23 yo Cuban exile Daniel Carbonell. Shankbone has an excellent rundown on Carbonell on his site, You Gotta Like These Kids linked to the left. My short take on Carbonell is he is a tremendous athlete. On videos he looks more like a football wide receiver than a baseball player. He has long arms and legs with a lean, muscular torso and raw-boned strength.
There is not a lot of excess movement in his swing, but with his long arms, it looks like it might be a tad on the long side. He gets tremendous leverage at the point of contact. The big question is how often he will square up the ball against live pitching. I guess my comp for him from the 2014 draft would be Jacob Gatewood with a filled out frame. He has a chance to be a true 5-tool player. As always, the big question mark is the hit tool.
He is currently in Mexico. It will probably take at least 3 weeks for him to get a work visa. He will most likely be assigned to High A San Jose for his initial stateside professional experience. The signing price is a $1 M bonus with a 4 year MLB contract which is apparently only activated if he is on the 25 man active roster. Otherwise, he gets paid minor league wages. Total value of the contract can range from approximately $1.4 M-$3.1 M. Low risk, high upside signing. I like it!
Monday, June 16, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/15/2014
AAA Omaha Stormchasers outhit the Fresno Grizzlies 10-7:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .267.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 5, HR(21), E(13, throw). BA= .294.
Darren Ford(RF)- 3 for 4, SB(10). BA= .306.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.16.
Dan Runzler(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.15.
Duvall is tearing up the PCL, but this was his 13'th error in 59 games. Just for comparison, Pablo Sandoval has made just 7 in 67 games at the MLB level.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels shut out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2-0:
Devin Harris(DH)- 1 for 3, HR(6). BA= .270.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.61.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.70.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(5). ERA= 3.30.
This was statistically Mejia's best start of the season so far.
High A San Jose Giants were idle.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 4-2:
John Polonius(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .255.
Chase Johnson(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 6/1. ERA= 5.21.
Luis Ysla(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.41.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.
Coming up on the SAL All-Star Break, the Greenjackets used 3 SP's for 3 innings each. Ysla had the best statistical line despite being the only one to allow runs. Polonius is hitting .455 over his last 10 games.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians downed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-1:
Shilo McCall(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .250.
Cameron McVey(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. ERA= 0.00.
The Volcanoes were swept and swept badly by the Canadians. Either the Canadians are really good or the Volcanoes are really weak. A couple of new names appeared in the S-K lineup: Johnshwy Fargas and Jonathan Jones. Surprised to see Jones at 2B as he has been strictly a 1B up to this point in his professional career.
DSL Giants were idle as usual on Sunday.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .267.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 5, HR(21), E(13, throw). BA= .294.
Darren Ford(RF)- 3 for 4, SB(10). BA= .306.
Mike Kickham(LHP)- 1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.16.
Dan Runzler(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.15.
Duvall is tearing up the PCL, but this was his 13'th error in 59 games. Just for comparison, Pablo Sandoval has made just 7 in 67 games at the MLB level.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels shut out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2-0:
Devin Harris(DH)- 1 for 3, HR(6). BA= .270.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.61.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.70.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(5). ERA= 3.30.
This was statistically Mejia's best start of the season so far.
High A San Jose Giants were idle.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 4-2:
John Polonius(SS)- 2 for 4. BA= .255.
Chase Johnson(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 6/1. ERA= 5.21.
Luis Ysla(LHP)- 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.41.
Joan Gregorio(RHP)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00.
Coming up on the SAL All-Star Break, the Greenjackets used 3 SP's for 3 innings each. Ysla had the best statistical line despite being the only one to allow runs. Polonius is hitting .455 over his last 10 games.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians downed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 6-1:
Shilo McCall(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .250.
Cameron McVey(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. ERA= 0.00.
The Volcanoes were swept and swept badly by the Canadians. Either the Canadians are really good or the Volcanoes are really weak. A couple of new names appeared in the S-K lineup: Johnshwy Fargas and Jonathan Jones. Surprised to see Jones at 2B as he has been strictly a 1B up to this point in his professional career.
DSL Giants were idle as usual on Sunday.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Game Wrap 6/15/2014: Rockies 8 Giants 7
Sergio Romo and Angel Pagan did not play in this game, but the outcome was the same as the Giants threw away a 4 run lead in ultimately lost the game for their 3'rd consecutive come-from-ahead loss to the Rockies to complete a humiliating sweep of the weekend series. Key Lines:
Hector Sanchez- 1 for 3, HR(3). BA= .226. Sanchez entered the game as a PH for Buster Posey who was hit flush in the face mask by a foul tip that shook him up pretty badly. Sanchez promptly hit out out of the park to LF for a go-ahead run at the time.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, HR(9), 2 BB. BA= .258. Sandoval followed Sanchez' blast with a rocket over the car sign in LF for back-to-back HR's.
Tyler Colvin- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1). BA= .263. Colvin got the start in LF with Blanco moving to CF with Pagan a late scratch. Nice game for Colvin.
Ehire Adrianza- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .190. Adrianza does look like he knows what he is doing at the plate and has a wiry strength about him. He kept the line moving today. He's struggled a bit on D at 2B, but should get better with experience.
Madison Bumgarner- 1 for 2, HR(2). BA= .242. I called Bumgarner's HR. He has swung really hard at a previous pitch and I commented to my daughters that he was trying for a HR. I explained that he figures as the pitcher, he doesn't have anything to lose, so he swings for the fences whenever he can and since he's such big guy, he has a chance to catch up to one and hit it out. Next pitch: Boom! Bummy also laid down a perfect Sac. Bunt that Nicasio messed up and drew Rosario off the bag on to set up the first 3 run rally.
Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 2.85. If you didn't watch the game, you might not appreciate this line, but Bummy was battling the conditions(the ball was carrying very well today) and a tight, rather creative strike zone by the home plate ump. He got a well deserved standing O from the crowd when he came off the field at the end of the 7'th inning.
Juan Gutierrez- 0.2 IP, 3 H 4 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 3.69. I think Bochy wass hoping to use Machi as the closer today. He could really have used Santiago Casilla in this one as Gutierrez, who has been so good, so far, coughed up the lead in the 8'th. Hey! At least it wasn't in the 9'th this time!
The Giants remain 6.5 games ahead in the NL West as the Dodgers lost to the D'Backs 6-3.
The Giants now go to Chicago for a tough 2 game interleague series against he ChiSox with Matt Cain facing John Danks in the opener on Tuesday.
Down on the Farm: 6/14/2014
AAA Game 1 Omaha Storm Chasers edged the Fresno Grizzlies 3-2:
Andrew Susac(DH)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .287.
Jason Berken(RHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.08.
Susac basically gets out of bed hitting. Maybe he hits well enough to move him off catcher where he seems to get injured a lot?
AAA Game 2 Omaha Storm Chasers blanked the Fresno Grizzlies 5-0:
Erik Cordier(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.80.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels shut out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1-0:
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.26.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(4). ERA= 3.41.
Marte's progress has been slowed by injuries, but I've seen him pitch and think he could be a 4'th or 5'th starter for somebody in the major leagues.
High A Stockton Ports whitewashed the San Jose Giants 3-0:
Ben Turner(Catcher)- 3 for 4. BA= .286.
Santiago Casilla(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00.
Is Ben Turner another emerging catching prospect? Casilla seems to be ready to rejoin the Giants for the upcoming road trip. Generally not a good day for Giants hitting prospects.
Low A DH between the Augusts Greenjackets and the Savannnah Sand Gnats rained out.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians defeated the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 3-1:
Tyler Hollick(CF)- 2 for 4. BA= .571.
Craig Massoni(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .400.
Jose Reyes(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.60.
Kirk Singer(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Singer seems to be a minor league FA signee. Drafted by the Pirates in 2011. Did not appear until 2013 and got into just 12.1 IP. Injury? Giants scouts must have seen something they liked. He's out of Long Beach St.
DSL Giants beat the Red Sox 6-5:
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .327.
Mikey Edie did not play, so I assume he was injured when he came out of the prior game.
Andrew Susac(DH)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .287.
Jason Berken(RHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.08.
Susac basically gets out of bed hitting. Maybe he hits well enough to move him off catcher where he seems to get injured a lot?
AAA Game 2 Omaha Storm Chasers blanked the Fresno Grizzlies 5-0:
Erik Cordier(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.80.
AA Richmond Flying Squirrels shut out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1-0:
Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.26.
Cody Hall(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(4). ERA= 3.41.
Marte's progress has been slowed by injuries, but I've seen him pitch and think he could be a 4'th or 5'th starter for somebody in the major leagues.
High A Stockton Ports whitewashed the San Jose Giants 3-0:
Ben Turner(Catcher)- 3 for 4. BA= .286.
Santiago Casilla(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00.
Is Ben Turner another emerging catching prospect? Casilla seems to be ready to rejoin the Giants for the upcoming road trip. Generally not a good day for Giants hitting prospects.
Low A DH between the Augusts Greenjackets and the Savannnah Sand Gnats rained out.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians defeated the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 3-1:
Tyler Hollick(CF)- 2 for 4. BA= .571.
Craig Massoni(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .400.
Jose Reyes(RHP)- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.60.
Kirk Singer(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Singer seems to be a minor league FA signee. Drafted by the Pirates in 2011. Did not appear until 2013 and got into just 12.1 IP. Injury? Giants scouts must have seen something they liked. He's out of Long Beach St.
DSL Giants beat the Red Sox 6-5:
Robinson Medrano(RF)- 2 for 4. BA= .327.
Mikey Edie did not play, so I assume he was injured when he came out of the prior game.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Game Wrap 6/14/2014: Rockies 5 Giants 4
Same song, second verse, could get better but it's gonna get worse. It was Deja Vu all over again in the 9'th inning with another Blown Save by Sergio Romo and another questionable OF play by Angel Pagan leading to the Giants 5'th loss in 6 games. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 4, HR(9). BA= .307. Pence got the Giants on the board first with a HR to the deepest part of left-centerfield. A fan reached over the field above the wall to catch it. The ball was clearly over the glove of Charlie Blackmon, but it looked like it may well have hit near the top of the wall instead of going over had the fan not caught it. Is that replayable?
Buster Posey- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(9), SF. BA= .269. Buster broke out of his slump with a hard hit double into the LF corner and a 2-run HR into the LF bleachers to tie to game at 3. Later he hit an off-balance fly that got deep enough to RF to score Pagan on a SF. Hopefully this leads to one of his prolonged hot streaks.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.94. Vogey battled it out for 5 innings. He gave up a lot of hard hit balls but enough found gloves to keep the game close. He allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in 3 of the 5 innings and a 1 out double to Morneau in another inning, so he was in the stretch for most of the 5 innings.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.08. OK, here we go. Romo got the first two outs quickly, although PH Troy Tulowitzki hit it deep to CF for the second out. Dickerson then poked a liner to LF to keep the inning alive bringing up Barrett Barnes. Barnes hit what looked like a soft liner to right-CF. Pagan rushed toward the ball and seemed to have things under control until the ball suddenly appeared to accelerate and shoot right past his glove all the way to the CF wall. By the time it was retrieved and thrown back in, Barnes had circled the bases for an inside-the-park HR that was ironically similar to Pagan's own inside-the-park walk-off against these same Rockies last year. It looked like Pagan might have thought the ball was more softly hit than it was and took too aggressive of an approach, but I'm not sure. It was very strange to watch because on the TV, it looked like a soft liner that would probably die once it hit the grass too.
As for Romo, he's not getting the strikeouts he's gotten in the past which is part of the reason he keeps getting BABIP'd. It might be time for him to get rested for 2-3 days, definitely tomorrow. If his struggles/bad luck continue after a couple of days off, Bochy might have to consider pulling him out of the line of fire.
That is part of what I don't like about the closer role in general. It's just so dogmatic that the closer has to pitch every 9'th inning he can in a Save situation. I know closer-by-committee seldom works, but in the Giants case, if they are facing 2 LH batters in a row in the 9'th inning, I would like Bochy to have the flexibility to use Lopez to face them rather than the knee-jerk that the closer has to pitch the entire 9'th inning with a 3 run lead or less and has to stay in there until the lead is lost. It's become such an iconic role with large amounts of money to say nothing of pride at stake that it becomes this huge deal to change closers or play matchups in the 9'th inning when it really should not be.
The Dodgers are now 7 games back of the Giants and play tonight. The 3'rd place Rockies gained a game to 9.5 back while the Padres won and are 13.5 back. The D'Backs play the Dodgers tonight.
Madison Bumgarner tries to avert a series sweep tomorrow afternoon facing Juan Nicasio.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 4, HR(9). BA= .307. Pence got the Giants on the board first with a HR to the deepest part of left-centerfield. A fan reached over the field above the wall to catch it. The ball was clearly over the glove of Charlie Blackmon, but it looked like it may well have hit near the top of the wall instead of going over had the fan not caught it. Is that replayable?
Buster Posey- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(9), SF. BA= .269. Buster broke out of his slump with a hard hit double into the LF corner and a 2-run HR into the LF bleachers to tie to game at 3. Later he hit an off-balance fly that got deep enough to RF to score Pagan on a SF. Hopefully this leads to one of his prolonged hot streaks.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.94. Vogey battled it out for 5 innings. He gave up a lot of hard hit balls but enough found gloves to keep the game close. He allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in 3 of the 5 innings and a 1 out double to Morneau in another inning, so he was in the stretch for most of the 5 innings.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.08. OK, here we go. Romo got the first two outs quickly, although PH Troy Tulowitzki hit it deep to CF for the second out. Dickerson then poked a liner to LF to keep the inning alive bringing up Barrett Barnes. Barnes hit what looked like a soft liner to right-CF. Pagan rushed toward the ball and seemed to have things under control until the ball suddenly appeared to accelerate and shoot right past his glove all the way to the CF wall. By the time it was retrieved and thrown back in, Barnes had circled the bases for an inside-the-park HR that was ironically similar to Pagan's own inside-the-park walk-off against these same Rockies last year. It looked like Pagan might have thought the ball was more softly hit than it was and took too aggressive of an approach, but I'm not sure. It was very strange to watch because on the TV, it looked like a soft liner that would probably die once it hit the grass too.
As for Romo, he's not getting the strikeouts he's gotten in the past which is part of the reason he keeps getting BABIP'd. It might be time for him to get rested for 2-3 days, definitely tomorrow. If his struggles/bad luck continue after a couple of days off, Bochy might have to consider pulling him out of the line of fire.
That is part of what I don't like about the closer role in general. It's just so dogmatic that the closer has to pitch every 9'th inning he can in a Save situation. I know closer-by-committee seldom works, but in the Giants case, if they are facing 2 LH batters in a row in the 9'th inning, I would like Bochy to have the flexibility to use Lopez to face them rather than the knee-jerk that the closer has to pitch the entire 9'th inning with a 3 run lead or less and has to stay in there until the lead is lost. It's become such an iconic role with large amounts of money to say nothing of pride at stake that it becomes this huge deal to change closers or play matchups in the 9'th inning when it really should not be.
The Dodgers are now 7 games back of the Giants and play tonight. The 3'rd place Rockies gained a game to 9.5 back while the Padres won and are 13.5 back. The D'Backs play the Dodgers tonight.
Madison Bumgarner tries to avert a series sweep tomorrow afternoon facing Juan Nicasio.
Down on the Farm: 6/13/2014
AAA Omaha Storm Chasers edged the Fresno Grizzlies 7-6 in 11 innings:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 6. BA= .264.
Joe Panik(2B)- 3 for 6, 2B. BA= .326.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .296.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 5 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.26.
Games like this certainly won't quiet the clamor for Panik to replace Brandon Hicks. I think it is becoming increasingly clear that if the Giants want to make a serious run at their 3'rd championship in 5 years, they can't ride out the season without upgrading 2B. They could bring up Panik now and see how he does between now and the trade deadline, but the Giants apparently believe he is not quite ready. Most likely solution is a trade for either Daniel Murphy or Ben Zobrist. Giants and their fans need to be ready to give up a lot for one of those two. Duvall is hopelessly blocked for this year, barring an injury to Pablo.
AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-3:
Angel Villalona(1B)- 3 for 4, 3B. BA= .265.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .237.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.89.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.40.
3 hits for Angel V? A triple? Man, I would have liked to see the triple! Strickland getting a rough introduction to AA. Anybody object to trading Crick for Daniel Murphy straight up?
High A Stockton Ports downed the San Jose Giants 3-1:
NTSH.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets beat the Savannah Sand Gnats 5-1:
Tyler Horan(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(7), BB. BA= .263.
Christian Jones(LHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.08.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.70.
Luis Castillo(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.29.
Not sure what point of keeping Black in Low A any longer is.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians pounded the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 11-2:
Tyler Hollick(LF)- 2 for 3, 3B. BA= .667.
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 1 for 3. BA= .333.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
No draftees on any roster as yet. Not sure where they are going to put them all after they sign. Seems like some current players are gonna have to go.
DSL Rojos(Reds) outhit the Giants 11-6:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 0 for 2. BA= .245.
Kelvin Beltre(3B, 17 yo)- 3 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .263.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .314.
Edie came out of the game early. Injury? Terrific game for Beltre.
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 6. BA= .264.
Joe Panik(2B)- 3 for 6, 2B. BA= .326.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .296.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 5 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.26.
Games like this certainly won't quiet the clamor for Panik to replace Brandon Hicks. I think it is becoming increasingly clear that if the Giants want to make a serious run at their 3'rd championship in 5 years, they can't ride out the season without upgrading 2B. They could bring up Panik now and see how he does between now and the trade deadline, but the Giants apparently believe he is not quite ready. Most likely solution is a trade for either Daniel Murphy or Ben Zobrist. Giants and their fans need to be ready to give up a lot for one of those two. Duvall is hopelessly blocked for this year, barring an injury to Pablo.
AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-3:
Angel Villalona(1B)- 3 for 4, 3B. BA= .265.
Jarrett Parker(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .237.
Kyle Crick(RHP)- 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.89.
Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.40.
3 hits for Angel V? A triple? Man, I would have liked to see the triple! Strickland getting a rough introduction to AA. Anybody object to trading Crick for Daniel Murphy straight up?
High A Stockton Ports downed the San Jose Giants 3-1:
NTSH.
Low A Augusta Greenjackets beat the Savannah Sand Gnats 5-1:
Tyler Horan(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(7), BB. BA= .263.
Christian Jones(LHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.08.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.70.
Luis Castillo(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.29.
Not sure what point of keeping Black in Low A any longer is.
Short Season Vancouver Canadians pounded the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 11-2:
Tyler Hollick(LF)- 2 for 3, 3B. BA= .667.
Christian Arroyo(SS)- 1 for 3. BA= .333.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00.
No draftees on any roster as yet. Not sure where they are going to put them all after they sign. Seems like some current players are gonna have to go.
DSL Rojos(Reds) outhit the Giants 11-6:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 0 for 2. BA= .245.
Kelvin Beltre(3B, 17 yo)- 3 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .263.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .314.
Edie came out of the game early. Injury? Terrific game for Beltre.
Game Wrap 6/13/2014: Rockies 7 Giants 4
Every baseball team, no matter how good, is going to have losses. Before this game, the Giants losses had been mostly ones that were not too surprising. Let-down games, games against superior pitchers, early blow-outs, if you are a longtime baseball fan, you learn to accept those kinds of losses as long as your team bounces back and avoids long losing streaks. This was not one of those losses. This was a game the Giants had won, a 2 run lead at home going to the 9'th inning. It wasn't so much that good teams never blow games in the 9'th inning. They do. It's the way this one was lost that makes it my candidate for Most Disappointing Loss of the Season so far. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .294. When Pence scampered home from 3B on a WP, my daughter, who was watching with me, said, "he's really fast!" Yes he is!
Michael Morse- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .292. Morse was working his 2-out hitting magic again tonight. I really think the Giants success with 2-out hitting is a direct result of having a longer lineup, but Morse has personally been a huge part of it.
Tim Lincecum- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's, ERA= 4.81. If you are looking for a silver lining in this loss, look no further than Timmy's performance. The fastball was back! Timmy dialed it up to 93-94 all night. One pitch that officially registered as 94+ was the highest velocity he's hit in 2 years, or something like that. It remains to be seen if this is a corner turned, but if Timmy can sustain that kind of velocity, we're in for a very nice ride the rest of the season.
Sergio Romo- 0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 4.61. OK, here we go. Personally, I don't think this is the worse Romo has pitched this year. He made some bad pitches, for sure, but lot of things went into this game unravelling on him. Let's just go through it batter-by-batter: Tulo was the leadoff batter. He reached a long way for a slider down and away, but managed to poke it over Hicks' head for a single. BTW, Tulo pulled up at 1B with a great toe injury and came out of the game. The Rockies already have CarGo, Cuddyer and Arenado on the DL for several weeks.
Justin Morneau also reached for a pretty good pitch at the knees on the outside part of the plate for another single putting runners at 1'st and 2'nd. Wilin Rosario then hit a flyball to medium CF. Charlie Culberson, the pinch runner for Tulo, tagged and headed for 3B. Pagan forgot that his primary responsibility at that point was to keep the tying run from advancing from 1B. His throw to 3B was late and skipped away from Pablo putting Morneau at 2B. Right at that point, you knew this one was not going to end well!
The next batter was Corey Dickerson who hits LH with a BA of over .340. Bochy elected to put him on to set up a potential force play at the plate and/or DP to end the game. LH batter Ryan Wheeler then pinch-hit for Josh Rutledge. Romo got the grounder he wanted, but it was hit hard and right back up the middle for a single to tie the ballgame and put runners on 1'st and 2'nd. OK, the Giants have been here before. The game is still tied and the the lead run is 180 feet away with RH batter DJ LeMahieu at the plate. Get out of the inning and win it in on a walk-off! Romo then threw a Wild Pitch that Sanchez did not block properly to advance the runners to 2'nd and 3'rd. You really knew it was over now! LeMahieu hit a line-drive single, the first non-BABIP hit of the inning to drive in the go-ahead run plus an insurance run. Adrianza botching a run-down play allowing yet another run to score was bad, but the game was over by then.
In summary, Romo got BABIP'd and the team made some mental mistakes behind him. It was not his best pitching of the season, but also not his worst, by far. Just have to put it behind and move on. There were some good things happening in this game and Timmy's performance bodes well for the remainder of the season. The mental mistakes have to stop here, though!
The Loss dropped the Giants lead in the NL West over the Dodgers to 7.5 games as the D'Backs rally fell short in a 4-3 Dodgers win. The Rockies gained a game to 10.5 games back in 3'rd place. The Padres lost again to remain 14.5 games back while the D'Backs stay in last place, 15 games off he pace.
Ryan Vogelsong tries to even the series against rookie Christian Bergman this afternoon.
Around the League:
The Padres ownership has gone public with their frustration at the team's performance. Expect some major changes in San Diego in the near future.
Gregory Polanco had 5 hits including a game-winning HR in the 13'th inning last night against the Marlins. Me? I'll just continue dreaming of the day the Giants bring up a 5-tool OF like that. I will admit it's a bit easier to watch it happen for another team when the Giants RF is Hunter Pence.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .294. When Pence scampered home from 3B on a WP, my daughter, who was watching with me, said, "he's really fast!" Yes he is!
Michael Morse- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .292. Morse was working his 2-out hitting magic again tonight. I really think the Giants success with 2-out hitting is a direct result of having a longer lineup, but Morse has personally been a huge part of it.
Tim Lincecum- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's, ERA= 4.81. If you are looking for a silver lining in this loss, look no further than Timmy's performance. The fastball was back! Timmy dialed it up to 93-94 all night. One pitch that officially registered as 94+ was the highest velocity he's hit in 2 years, or something like that. It remains to be seen if this is a corner turned, but if Timmy can sustain that kind of velocity, we're in for a very nice ride the rest of the season.
Sergio Romo- 0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 4.61. OK, here we go. Personally, I don't think this is the worse Romo has pitched this year. He made some bad pitches, for sure, but lot of things went into this game unravelling on him. Let's just go through it batter-by-batter: Tulo was the leadoff batter. He reached a long way for a slider down and away, but managed to poke it over Hicks' head for a single. BTW, Tulo pulled up at 1B with a great toe injury and came out of the game. The Rockies already have CarGo, Cuddyer and Arenado on the DL for several weeks.
Justin Morneau also reached for a pretty good pitch at the knees on the outside part of the plate for another single putting runners at 1'st and 2'nd. Wilin Rosario then hit a flyball to medium CF. Charlie Culberson, the pinch runner for Tulo, tagged and headed for 3B. Pagan forgot that his primary responsibility at that point was to keep the tying run from advancing from 1B. His throw to 3B was late and skipped away from Pablo putting Morneau at 2B. Right at that point, you knew this one was not going to end well!
The next batter was Corey Dickerson who hits LH with a BA of over .340. Bochy elected to put him on to set up a potential force play at the plate and/or DP to end the game. LH batter Ryan Wheeler then pinch-hit for Josh Rutledge. Romo got the grounder he wanted, but it was hit hard and right back up the middle for a single to tie the ballgame and put runners on 1'st and 2'nd. OK, the Giants have been here before. The game is still tied and the the lead run is 180 feet away with RH batter DJ LeMahieu at the plate. Get out of the inning and win it in on a walk-off! Romo then threw a Wild Pitch that Sanchez did not block properly to advance the runners to 2'nd and 3'rd. You really knew it was over now! LeMahieu hit a line-drive single, the first non-BABIP hit of the inning to drive in the go-ahead run plus an insurance run. Adrianza botching a run-down play allowing yet another run to score was bad, but the game was over by then.
In summary, Romo got BABIP'd and the team made some mental mistakes behind him. It was not his best pitching of the season, but also not his worst, by far. Just have to put it behind and move on. There were some good things happening in this game and Timmy's performance bodes well for the remainder of the season. The mental mistakes have to stop here, though!
The Loss dropped the Giants lead in the NL West over the Dodgers to 7.5 games as the D'Backs rally fell short in a 4-3 Dodgers win. The Rockies gained a game to 10.5 games back in 3'rd place. The Padres lost again to remain 14.5 games back while the D'Backs stay in last place, 15 games off he pace.
Ryan Vogelsong tries to even the series against rookie Christian Bergman this afternoon.
Around the League:
The Padres ownership has gone public with their frustration at the team's performance. Expect some major changes in San Diego in the near future.
Gregory Polanco had 5 hits including a game-winning HR in the 13'th inning last night against the Marlins. Me? I'll just continue dreaming of the day the Giants bring up a 5-tool OF like that. I will admit it's a bit easier to watch it happen for another team when the Giants RF is Hunter Pence.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Down on the Farm: 6/12/2014
AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Iowa Cubs 5-2:
Joe Panik(2B)- 1 for 3, HR(5), BB. BA= .322.
Mitch Lively(RHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.75.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(12). ERA= 3.80.
Panik's dinger was a grand slam in the 5'th inning.
AA Trenton Thunder edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-3:
Ricky Oropesa(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .246.
Ricky is hitting .294 over his last 10 games.
High A San Jose Giants blanked the Stockton Ports 3-0:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(20). BA= .284.
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 2 for 4, SB(6). BA= .254.
Brian Ragira and Ben Turner- 2 hits each.
Santiago Casilla(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's ERA= 0.00.
Joe Kurrasch(LHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.74.
I would think that if Casilla does not have any physical setbacks from this game, he will be ready to rejoin the MLB club after his next rehab appearance.
Low A(Game 1) Savannah Sand Gnats topped the Augusta Greenjackets 3-2:
Tyler Horan(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(6). BA= .258
Matt Lujan(LHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.19.
After starting the season out hot, Horan has cooled off considerably.
Low A(Game 2) Savannah Sand Gnats buried the Augusta Greenjackets 6-0:
NTSH.
DSL Giants pounded the Rojos(Reds) 10-4:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 1 for 5, BB, SB(2). BA= .255.
Jean Angomas(DH, 19 yo)- 3 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .429.
Kelvin Beltre(3B, 17 yo)- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .200.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 5. BA= .298.
Anthony Gomez(1B, 19 yo)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .333.
Alejandro Flores(RHP, 20 yo)- 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 1.80.
Joe Panik(2B)- 1 for 3, HR(5), BB. BA= .322.
Mitch Lively(RHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.75.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(12). ERA= 3.80.
Panik's dinger was a grand slam in the 5'th inning.
AA Trenton Thunder edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-3:
Ricky Oropesa(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .246.
Ricky is hitting .294 over his last 10 games.
High A San Jose Giants blanked the Stockton Ports 3-0:
Jesus Galindo(CF)- 1 for 3, BB, SB(20). BA= .284.
Chuckie Jones(RF)- 2 for 4, SB(6). BA= .254.
Brian Ragira and Ben Turner- 2 hits each.
Santiago Casilla(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's ERA= 0.00.
Joe Kurrasch(LHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.74.
I would think that if Casilla does not have any physical setbacks from this game, he will be ready to rejoin the MLB club after his next rehab appearance.
Low A(Game 1) Savannah Sand Gnats topped the Augusta Greenjackets 3-2:
Tyler Horan(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(6). BA= .258
Matt Lujan(LHP)- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.19.
After starting the season out hot, Horan has cooled off considerably.
Low A(Game 2) Savannah Sand Gnats buried the Augusta Greenjackets 6-0:
NTSH.
DSL Giants pounded the Rojos(Reds) 10-4:
Mikey Edie(CF, 16 yo)- 1 for 5, BB, SB(2). BA= .255.
Jean Angomas(DH, 19 yo)- 3 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .429.
Kelvin Beltre(3B, 17 yo)- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .200.
Robinson Medrano(RF, 18 yo)- 2 for 5. BA= .298.
Anthony Gomez(1B, 19 yo)- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .333.
Alejandro Flores(RHP, 20 yo)- 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 1.80.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Game Wrap 6/12/2014: Giants 7 Nationals 1
Tim Hudson held the Nationals at bay for the first 6 innings, then the Giants hitters came to life and broke the game open to stave off a 4 game series sweep. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 3 for 3, 2 2B. BA= .294. Pence had not seemed quite himself since taking a Zack Wheeler FB in the ribs on Sunday, so good to see him put together a strong game here.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, SF. BA= .257. Pablo had been under the weather for the first 3 games of the series, yet ended up going 5 for 10 in the 4 games.
Michael Morse- 3 for 4. BA= .287. Morse just keeps on hitting.
Tyler Colvin- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .254. Colvin had been in a pretty deep slump so this line is welcome sight from him. Giants need his power bat off the bench.
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .260. Crawford is red hot, hitting .394 over his last 10 games. His fWAR was up to 1.4 prior to putting up this line. He remains in positive territory defensively.
Hector Sanchez- 1 for 1. BA= .224. The 1 hit was a 2 run single. He does seem to have a knack.
Tim Hudson- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.81. Nice bounceback from a subpar prior start, and at an opportune time!
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.00. Not a Save situation, but very encouraging to see the 3 K's.
With the Win, the NL West leading Giants regained a game on the Dodgers to 8.5 as the Despicable ones lost to the Reds 4-1 as Alfredo Simon outpitched Zach Greinke. The Rockies beat ATL 10-2 to remain 11.5 games out. The Padres lost to fall into a last place tie with the D'Backs at 14.5 games out, pending the outcome of the D'Backs game as they trail the 'Stros 4-3 in the 7'th inning.
The Rockies now come to town for a weekend series with Tim Lincecum facing Jorge De La Rosa in Game 1 tomorrow night.
Hunter Pence- 3 for 3, 2 2B. BA= .294. Pence had not seemed quite himself since taking a Zack Wheeler FB in the ribs on Sunday, so good to see him put together a strong game here.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, SF. BA= .257. Pablo had been under the weather for the first 3 games of the series, yet ended up going 5 for 10 in the 4 games.
Michael Morse- 3 for 4. BA= .287. Morse just keeps on hitting.
Tyler Colvin- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .254. Colvin had been in a pretty deep slump so this line is welcome sight from him. Giants need his power bat off the bench.
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .260. Crawford is red hot, hitting .394 over his last 10 games. His fWAR was up to 1.4 prior to putting up this line. He remains in positive territory defensively.
Hector Sanchez- 1 for 1. BA= .224. The 1 hit was a 2 run single. He does seem to have a knack.
Tim Hudson- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.81. Nice bounceback from a subpar prior start, and at an opportune time!
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.00. Not a Save situation, but very encouraging to see the 3 K's.
With the Win, the NL West leading Giants regained a game on the Dodgers to 8.5 as the Despicable ones lost to the Reds 4-1 as Alfredo Simon outpitched Zach Greinke. The Rockies beat ATL 10-2 to remain 11.5 games out. The Padres lost to fall into a last place tie with the D'Backs at 14.5 games out, pending the outcome of the D'Backs game as they trail the 'Stros 4-3 in the 7'th inning.
The Rockies now come to town for a weekend series with Tim Lincecum facing Jorge De La Rosa in Game 1 tomorrow night.
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