Just one game on tap for Labor Day.
A: Fresno Grizzlies defeated the San Jose Giants 5-1:
Lisbel Diaz RF- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .268.
Walker Martin SS- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .183.
Ryan Reckley 2B- 1 for 3. BA= .212.
Ryan Vanderhei RHP- 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.63.
Brayan Palencia RHP- 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.08.
Lisbel Diaz continues to show impressive extra-base power. 33% of his hits have been for more than singles both for San Jose and the ACL. For reference, MLB average is under 10%.
....and just like that, Bryce Eldridge gets the late-season promotion to AA Richmond. I am generally in favor of giving prospects who are in line for a next-season promotion a head start by giving the some exposure to what they can expect to see next season and possibly what they need to work on during the offseason. My hesitation with Eldridge is he's already had a tremendous season with a midseason promotion. Why take a chance on messing with his head? I just hope the coaches have admonished him to look at is as a learning experience and not stress over results. But yes, I am very happy and excited for him.
eldridge is gonna be fun to watch in richmond and hopefully sacramento in 2025. there could also be some growing pains in richmond. i'm open to the idea of blake sabol maybe being a bridge option at first base for the giants in 2025.
ReplyDeleteWhy Blake Sabol when they have LMWJ who is a much better player?
Deletehealth wise, i'd prefer LWJ to DH full time in 2025.
DeleteTo me, if the Giants care about contending rather than the middle of the road mediocrity that is FZ's ceiling, they need a full time 1B and another full time OF... (I am not buying McCray yet, have questions on both Lee and Ramos and faggedabout the rest)..Anyways, Wade or Sabol are not an answer. I do admit that the readiness of ELDRIDGE complicates things...It may be by 2026...WIll that be FZs excuse for inacticvvity caused failure next year on top of the horrendous pre-season and mid-season job he did this year?
DeleteAll that said, ELDRIDGE in RICH will be exciting....The kid may have to adjust this year or next but I have no worries, he already seems like a very professional hitter with Power and eye/control who doesn't go into long funks like most kids. He is needed desperately.
SteveVA
Late-night LaMont appears to have no legs. I suspect one or both of his knees are shot. He can't run and appears to have no base in the batter's box. Which is heartbreaking because I love the guy, his approach, and his discipline. I doubt there is a magical cure because this issue has been getting worse over the last couple of years. So I doubt he'll be with the team next year.
DeleteWith that in mind, yes, I probably would rather see Sabol at 1B for a while. You never know.
Heck, I'd like to see them sign Johnny C, who just got released again. I keep feeling like he may yet have a little late-career Luis Tiant in him.
On an unrelated note, is Lisbel Diaz for real? He's doing really well for an 18-year-old (I see he just turned 19), and from the clips I've seen he has an MLB-ready build. If he is, he should shoot out of nowhere to the top 10 in their prospect lists.
DeleteOn the other hand, I can't help but wonder if he has a little David Green in him ....
I am excited for Lisbel Diaz and an pretty sure I will rank him in my top 10 Giants prospects for 2025.
DeleteIsn't Eldridge from Virginia? Might be nice to play in front of family for a couple weeks. He is only 19.
ReplyDeleteRob in Vancouver
LaMonte would eventually make a great bench option, assuming Eldridge keeps ascending fast. He's an elite hitter with some defensive versatility.
ReplyDeletePremise: The Giants management and ownership made a sincere effort to put together a team in the 2023-2024 off season to compete in 2024.
ReplyDeleteEntering Tuesday night's contest the Giants are 6½ games out of the NLDS.
The following analysis is simplistic, but it suggests what SF would have had to do at the trade deadline to be a qualifying team at this point:
In order to be one of the playoff teams now, they would have had to add, at the trade deadline, players with a cumulative 6.5 WAR in August to do better than what they had, but, the players being replaced are not 2 WAR players, so they would have had to add more WAR than 6.5!
That could not have happened.
The 2024 Giants did not play up to expectations for a lot of reasons, but it wasn't because they had "bad" players, it's because the team did not play up to expectations.
That is Farhan Zaidi's failure.
A couple of flaws in this argument: 1. How is it Farhan's failure if players failed to play up to expectations? Seems like that would be the players fault or possibly the manager or coaches. 2. Sometimes adding a good player, like say a legitimate cleanup hitter, not only adds their WAR but boosts the WAR of the players around them in the lineup.
Delete