Thursday, May 2, 2019

Down on the Farm: 5/1/2019

AAA  Albuquerque Isotopes outscored the Sacramento River Cats 6-5:

Austin Slater 1B- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .288.
Mike Gerber RF- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(6).  BA= .346.
Mac Williamson LF- 0 for 1, 3 BB, Assist(3B).  BA= .373.
Henry Ramos 2B- 1 for 4, HR(5).  BA= .256.
Fernando Abad LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.04.

Austin Slater says, "Hey!  Don't forget about me!"  Mac Williamson says, "You want walks?  I'll give you walks!"  Mike Gerber just keeps on raking.  I believe Fernando Abad is on some sort of suspension.  He may be a lefty reliever replacement later in the season if the Giants sell off their pending free agents.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Bowie Baysox 7-3:

Jacob Heyward RF- 3 for 5, 2 HR(3).  BA= .351.
Chris Shaw LF- 1 for 3, HR(4), HBP.  BA= .265.
Garrett Williams LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.30.
Melvin Adon RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(2).

Jacob Heyward comes back raking after being out since 4/22.

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A+  San Jose Giants beat the Inland Empire 66'ers 6-3:

Manuel Geraldo SS- 2 for 4, 3B, BB.  BA= .178.
Logan Baldwin RF- 2 for 4, SB(3).  BA= .262.
Trent Toplikar RHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.93.
John Gavin LHP- 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.57.
Raffi Vizcaino RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.88.

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A  Augusta Greenjackets topped the Lexington Legends 4-2:

Wander Franco 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(4).  BA= .189.
Jeffry Parra C- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .171.
Seth Corry LHP- 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 1.83.
Luis Amaya LHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Jesus Tona RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Luis Amaya makes his 2019 season debut.

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As you all now know, Logan Webb got hit with an 80 game suspension after testing positive for dihydrochlorotestosterone(Turinabol) a synthetic anabolic steroid developed by the East Germans back in the 70's and 80's.  Turanibol is taken orally and apparently has a very short half life which helps avoid detection.  New testing methods are able to detect metabolites which have a longer half-life.  In a long and somewhat convoluted statement, Webb denies knowingly taking the substance and seems to imply, without directly saying so, that he thinks it was a contaminant in a supplement he thought was legal. The part I thought was most interesting is he seems to imply that he was taking numerous supplements.

Just my opinion, but the most likely explanation is he had a supplier who was giving him the "good stuff" on a schedule without explicitly telling him the ingredients.  Also just my opinion, but use of anabolic steroid PED's is likely still widespread and chances of getting caught are low enough that players are willing to take the calculated risk.

More opinion:  Either those supplements Webb seems to be taking contain anabolic steroids or they are not doing him a darn bit of good.  The single biggest scam in history is the nutritional supplement market.  People spend $ billions if not $ trillions on substances for which there is not a shred of evidence of any efficacy and significant evidence of potential harm.  Take something as seemingly beneficial as multiple vitamins.  There are good studies on multiple vitamins.  If you have any semblance of a balanced diet, they are not beneficial and quite possible a small net harm.  Multiple vitamins are some of the more innocuous examples.  Just say no to nutritional supplements!

14 comments:

  1. A tidbit on why Mac isn't up already, from NBC Bay Area:
    https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/giants/farhan-zaidi-explains-why-mac-williamson-not-giants-right-now
    Doc, do you think if the Giants stay in the cellar with about 50-60 games played they start trying to trade and bring guys like Mac, Gerber, and Slater up for a run to see what they have before 2020? Or will it take until closer to the trade deadline?

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    1. TY for posting the link. Very encouraging - seems like Z. will recall Mac when he a) proves himself a little more and 2) team can find someone to DFA. I'm relieved to hear this. Keep it up Mac !!

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    2. Dear Farhan Zaidi -

      Presently your organization is 29th out of 30 teams in baseball in hitting average, 28th in SLG, and DEAD LAST in OPS. You've hit fewer HRs than any organization not named the Marlins, Tigers or Pirates - and total about 1/3 of the HRs of the top team in the league.

      With all that, even having a starting rotation with the 8th best ERA, and a very solid stable of relief pitchers, your Giants are the 5th worst team in baseball.

      To echo Doc - WHO CARES ABOUT SOLARTE/PARRA? Absolutely nobody, and their max contributions would pale in comparison to what Mac's potential could be, both offensively and defensively.

      Drop the charade and bring Mac up to the Bigs. When a guy is hot, let him keep that momentum as he makes the leap. Don't give me the "can't figure out who to drop" BS. When you're one of the worst teams in the league 3 seasons running, there isn't an issue with dropping dead weight.

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    3. I think they can DFA Kratz now, can't they? Over last 7 games Duggar, Posey and Austin are all above .800 OPS -- Parra the weakest hitting link in the OF .397 OPS, should be Gerber having a go instead.

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  2. Doc, thanks for your interesting medical opinion on nutritional supplements!

    I would agree that we'll see young players like Mac come up when the time is right, regardless of whether the team is winning or not. It sucks that Bart and Ramos are injured now, but looking on the bright side, I'm glad the injuries were not serious enough so they'll be back playing with a lot of season still left in June.

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    1. Can someone please recap the injury to Ramos here? I know Bart is out with a broken wrist...

      When are these dudes due back to the SJ Team?

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    2. Sprained knee ligaments, I believe. Out 6 weeks.

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  3. I came here to say one thing:
    MAC IS BACK

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  4. PS - Doc, thanks for getting the word out there about the BS farce that is the nutritional supplement market.

    "Take something as seemingly beneficial as multiple vitamins. There are good studies on multiple vitamins. If you have any semblance of a balanced diet, they are not beneficial and quite possible a small net harm."

    Eat right = your body will take care of all the "critical nutrients" you need. Milk/Calcium is a sham. B-12 is a sham. All of these nutritional fads are billion dollar industries, and they're taking your dang milk money! (Pun intended!)

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  5. BA/OBP: Mac .373/.434, Slater .288/.453, Gerber .346/.395, Solano .338/.390
    Dear Z: if you wait long enough the Giants will be out of it and Mac will be dejected and the problem takes care of itself.
    Just how good have Parra, Solante, Pillar, Joe, Kratz, Austin, and Reed made the Giants? The only one of them who is hitting over .230 doesn't have a position.

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    Replies
    1. While Gerber has earned a chance to show that maybe one out of 10 of Farhan's idiotic dumpster dives can work out, I'm not holding my breath.. WHile MAc did himself no favor with his spring, the best thing for Mac is to keep hitting and hopefully get traded to another orgnaization where he's not the red headed step kid..

      SteveVA

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  6. So many comments abt zaidi acquusition.. the problem is crawford, panik, belt and posey.. they can't hit and way past their prime since 2 years ago they have one of the worst losing record.

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  7. Gerber is starting tonight. It appears that Parra is no longer on the 40 man. No official word, yet.

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