Friday, April 27, 2018

Down on the Farm: 4/26/2018

AAA  Sacramento River Cats pounded the Reno Aces 8-3:

Alen Hanson 2B- 1 for 3, HR(3), BB.  BA= .424.
Chris Shaw LF- 2 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .247.
Austin Slater RF- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .358.
Kyle Jensen 1B- 2 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .197.
Jeff Arnold C- 2 for 4.  BA= .133.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K.  ERA= 1.08.

Alen Hanson is dangerously close to being a AAAA player, so some caution about his future may be in order.  Dilemma for the Giants:  Austin Slater is much more ready for a promotion than Steven Duggar, but their potential opening is in CF.  Slater played CF in AAA last year, but Duggar is playing there this year.  Duggar is clearly the better defensive CF but maybe Slater would be passable or like the Pirates last year maybe the Giants accept Cutch's defensive shortcomings in CF to make room for Slater in RF?

*********************************************************************************

AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels were idle.

*********************************************************************************

A+  San Jose Giants were idle.

*********************************************************************************

Low A  Augusta Greenjackets outscored the Greenville Drive 8-7:

Heliot Ramos CF- 1 for 4, BB.  BA= .274.
Jacob Gonzalez 3B- 3 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .243.
John Riley C- 1 for 2, 3B, 2 BB.  BA= .400.
Aaron Phillips RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.60.
Olbis Parra RHP- 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(2).  ERA= 3.09.

Gonzalez slumped to .214 coming into this game.

11 comments:

  1. Excited for Suarez 2nd big league start.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tyler Beede may ultimately have a higher ceiling, but Suarez appears to be ready now. Beede is definitely not.

      Delete
  2. Defense and offense, always the trade off, no?
    That said, Jackson brings neither to the table, Blanco is not a positive OFer, and Herandez (probably) isn't a positive hitter.
    How to position Slater/McCutchen is a tough choice -- there will be some slippage either way, but Cutch's experience if not ability might tilt toward him in CF.
    With positive pitching it wouldn't matter as much but Giants don't have the K-pitching threat that would make a leaky CF comfortable.
    Anyway, it would require letting someone face waivers -- who might that be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jackson is really a 4th OFer. His defense isn't bad, but it's not great. His bat isn't horrible, but it's meager.

      McCutchen is a bad fielder and was, over the last two years, the worst starting CFer (fielding) in the majors. Even worse than Span. And last I checked the advanced stats, he was a bad fielder in RF. He's a LFer, nothing more. And he's not worth resigning in my book. Not with Williamson, Slater, Duggar and Shaw in the pipeline.

      Delete
    2. Cutch's UZR/150 is +13.2 so far this season.

      Delete
    3. Austin Slater may get his chance sooner than later. Mac is in the concussion protocol from the tumble he took Tuesday night.

      Delete
  3. "Alen Hanson is dangerously close to being a AAAA player" -- he's never been quite this good in the minors but it's such a SSS.
    He's young enough -- 25 -- that he could have picked something up in the Spring with new coaches that he didn't get with Pittsburgh.
    But you don't learn (pure) speed, and he has a full deck of that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cutch May be able to cover enough ground to help Slater be passable in CF. Unfortunately, it means a DFA for Jackson or Blanco.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ramos: After being a bit over-whelmed his first 9-games at Augusta, has hit his stride with the bat the last 9 games. Over these last nine games he's hitting .303 (10-for-33) with one double and two home runs. He cut his SOs in half and drew 4 walks.

    I saw a clip of him hitting one of his two HRs at Augusta. His hands are so fast the bat was a blur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b350qSiKfbQ It's amazing. I see why he's the Giants' #1 prospect.

    In this clip, he's so fast he actually over-runs the ball hit to the gap and has to knock it down. THen he guns the runner advaning to 2B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xhb_i-ultY

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is there some buzz about converting Alen Hansen to CF? He's got the speed AND the bat and switch hits ... if you have to DFA between Blanco and Jackson it'd have to be Jackson -- the OF is all RH hitters as it is so keep Blanco.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Easy for us, Jackson is substantially the least talented OFer on the roster but he is also a FA signee that the FO is unikely to ditch.
    Blanco, being the only LH batter, is probably safe.
    Thus Gorkys is the odd-man out.
    For the Giants to admit that Jackson was a mistake is so improbable it is incomprehensible to even imagine. Who ever thaough a guy would blossom at 30+?

    ReplyDelete