The Giants got terrific pitching from Drew Pomeranz, Derek Holland and Trevor Gott to overcome more weak hitting and shutout the Indians in Goodyear. Key Lines:
Steven Vogt DH- 2 for 2, BB. BA= .500. Has Vogt done any catching this spring? If he can play C defensively, he would seem to be winning the backup catcher job. If not, look for him to start the season on the DL.
Cameron Maybin RF- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .208. Bochy keeps writing Maybin's name into the starting lineup, which would seem to point to him having some sort of a leg up on a roster spot which would seem to be bad news for Drew Ferguson fans.
Joey Bart C- 0 for 1, BB. BA= .400. Bart drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the Giants second run.
Drew Pomeranz LHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.00. Pomeranz pitched 4 dominant innings which would seem to put him in the driver's seat for a rotation spot.
Derek Holland LHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.38. Holland came in and pitched another 4 dominant innings. The NL West is a very left-leaning division. Great to see the lefty pitchers doing well.
Trevor Gott RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Probably still too early to read anything into this, but look who got to pitch in the Save situation. He closed it out too!
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The Giants host the Cubs in Scottsdale today with Dereck Rodriguez facing Cole Hamels.
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The Giants continued to whittle down the spring roster exercising options on RHP Logan Webb and RHP Merandy Gonzalez. They also reassigned OF John Andreoli, RHP Jandal Gustave(who?), SS Ryan Howard and C Hamlet Marte to minor league camp. Farhan traded C Cameron Rupp to the Tigers for cash. BTW, trades for cash are probably sometimes smart, but they sure are boring!
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The Independent Atlantic League and MLB announced a collaboration to pilot some rule changes in 2019:
1. Electronic assistance for the umpires on balls and strikes(yes please!).
2. No mound visits by players or coaches except to change pitchers and evaluate medical issues.(Possible safety issue if pitcher and catchers aren't on same signals?).
3. Pitchers must face a minimum of 3 batters or reach the end of the inning except for injury(I guess if you are so bad you can't face another batter, a trip to the DL to regroup might be in order anyway?).
4. Increase size of bases from 15 square inches to 18(safety issue but may possible increase SB's?).
5. Require 2 infielders and each side of 2B when a pitch is released. Penalty is ump calls a ball.(I'm OK with this. Extreme shifts have made the game more boring).
6. Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2.05 to 1.45.(I'm OK with this. Should speed up game and pitchers should already be warmed up).
7. Distance from pitching rubber to home plate extended to 62.5 ft and increase of 2 feet(I am in favor but maybe in increments of 6 inches over a 10 year period?). This one is by far the most controversial rule change. It could have profound unintended consequences ranging from pitcher injuries to changes in pitching repertoires. It will give hitters more time to read and react to a pitch but will also tend to increase late movement on pitches which could actually negatively impact contact. Yeah, 2 feet is a lot here!
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Which would shock proverbial Abner the most: a rule defining where players may be or the extreme shift?
ReplyDeleteHow about defensive shifts set for the AB, no shift changes between pitches.
What makes the shift boring is batters hitting into it. What makes it interesting is crossing it up.
What's wrong with "hit 'em where they ain't"? That's skill.
The homerun may be the most exciting (normal) single play in the game, but beating the defense always brings a smile.
Want more offense? Eliminate huge fielders' gloves.
Extending 60'6" will mandate head gear for the pitcher.
Bases are inherently dangerous and also create weird and unnatural play: eliminate them with nonskid embedded base plates.
How about spikes? They hurt players all the time. Ban 'em!
More rules -- let's go!
Every team should have a female player -- one born female.
The problem with hitting 'em where they ain't, is it is extremely difficult hit the ball HARD where they ain't. Very few players are capable of doing it consistently.
DeleteLimiting the size of fielder's gloves is not a bad idea.
I have long advocated for pitchers wearing protective headgear.
Agree on metal spikes.
The last one is obviously silly.
Oh, and embedded bases flush with the dirt would pretty much eliminate SB's or taking the extra base because slides would just go right on past the base. Players would have to always go in standing up.
DeleteI don't agree it would eliminate SB's and extra bases.
DeleteIt would make sliding a skill, though. Maybe it would have to be combined with automatic pinch runners for pitchers.
It would eliminate the hard late slide which is an injury wanting to happen, and it would make sliding an art, a skill.
One CAN slide to a stop, but it takes practice.
How about a short rope/knot on the CF corner of the bag where it could be grabbed but not be stepped on.
The indecision to slide can cause injuries, also, as well as hard slides.
Many injuries occur lunging to 1B, often a batter/runner slips on the bag.
Sorry, but that is a ridiculous take. No way will anybody be sliding with bases flush with the ground. Just too hard to find it and stop the slide in the exact right spot.
DeleteChanging the distance from the rubber to the mound even incrementally will lead to more problems than it solves, especially when current players have spent their entire amateur, minor league and major league careers trying to master 60'6". I can understand some of the reasoning behind moving the mound back but that would mean every pitcher in baseball would automatically lose two feet off his fastball. That could lead to a lot of power pitchers trying to throw even harder, leading to increased risk of injury. Furthermore, pitchers' motions and repertoires are so finely tuned for the current situation that even a small change would wreak havoc. Control and command guys would be thrown off. Those struggling with control and command may never find enough to make it. Please, MLB, do not make this change!
ReplyDeleteIf that is true it should become obvious quite quickly in the Atlantic League trial. I agree that 2 ft seems like a big jump to take all at once, though.
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