Victor Bericoto homered and drove in 4 runs as the Giants routed the Dodgers spring training travel squad in Scottsdale. Key Lines:
Willy Adames SS- 1 for 3, HR(1). BA= .083. Adames homered to lead off the Giants half of the first inning. It was his first hit of the spring on a pitch he reached for. Might not have gone out in Oracle Park.
Patrick Bailey DH- 2 for 4, R, RBI. BA= .400. Almost any amount of improvement at the plate for Bailey will make him uber-valuable. Looking great in the early spring but he somehow needs to avoid the 3-month slump.
Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 2, 2 2B, R. BA= .556. I'm calling it now. Breakout season for Ramos.
Jared Oliva LF- 2 for 3, R, 4 RBI. You can drive in a lot of runs by hitting singles with RISP. Oliva looks good in a baseball uniform.
Victor Bericoto RF- 2 for 3, HR(2), R, 4 RBI. Bericoto is a physical monster. Looks like a clone of Jerar Encarnacion except with a bulked up upper body. He also looks to me like he has Encarnacion's power with a better hit tool.
Daniel Susac C- 2 for 3, 2B, RBI. BA= .500. The Giants have to be hoping Susac wins the backup catcher job. He appears to have a solid lead for that at this point. He's not just hitting, he's hitting rockets. The single was a 103 MPH ground ball and the double was 99.5 MPH.
Robbie Ray LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.00. Ray's second spring start.
Matt Gage LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. ERA= 0.00. Gage is probably favored to win a roster spot in the bullpen.
Gregory Santos RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Santos looks fully healthy and is throwing Hundos. The Giants need more hundos out of the bullpen.
Greg Farone LHP and Marques Johnson RHP added scoreless frames.
There were a total of 4 ABS challenges in the game with just one successful.
Tyler Mahle RHP makes his first spring start today facing the A's in Hohokam Stadium.
This is way too early to call, but it will be interesting to see who the Giants keep in the outfield for the Opening Day roster. Matos and Encarnacion are out of options. Bericoto can play 1st base and RF. (It looks like Bericoto is eligible for the Rule 5 draft-not sure how that works). It seems clear to me that Drew Gilbert should start at the minor league level. In fact Gilbert has only had real success batting with a few short stints in the minors. The decision will be easier if they put Bryce Eldridge at AAA.
ReplyDeleteRule 5 already happened. Bericoto isn’t on the 40 man. They don’t need a further jam. He’ll be at AAA.
DeleteThe Susac thing strikes me as some serious insider trading (in a good way) on the part of Buster Posey. I would be willing to bet that at some point the elder Susac said to Buster, “hey man, I’m pretty good but you should see my kid brother.”
ReplyDeleteMaybe kid brother hung around abit or took some BP sometime with the team (total conjecture on my part). Buster filed it away and then years later, tried to acquire him away from the A’s who were being the A’s and wanted too much. So he waited for someone else to get him and made the deal he wanted.
He is likely to stick, given more than adequate performance and that they lose him completely if they send him down.
All that aside, thanks Doc for all your work on this Blog. Truly sorry for your loss.
Is it just me, or does it look like we're seeing some real organizational depth this spring? It sure feels different, although going with so many young starters sure is raising a lot of questions about where the rotation is going to be at to start the season. I guess most of the youngsters can keep refining their mechanics in Sacramento, as long as long as Mahle, Houser and Roupp hold steady.
ReplyDeleteInteresting draft note- BA #4 draft prospect UCSB SP Jackson Flora pitched a 7 inning shutout with 10ks. His record 3-0 with 0.82 era. His fastball reached 100 mph, wow! Try to follow big west teams since Hawaii also in big west. I don't know if he doesn't project to be like Paul Skenes, they shouldn't draft him at #4. Rather they draft a position player. Do you have a preference right now in the early season.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, condolences to you Doc, on your loss. May you find peace and comfort in this difficult time and know you have the support of friends and family, including the extended “family “ you have built over the years through your wonderful blog.
DeleteMuch can change over the course of the current college and prep seasons and some recent scouting reports on the top position prospects have not been as positive as previous reports. I would be happy with the Giants taking Flora, but think he could very well be picked by the Twins at #3. That would mean Lebron projects to be available at #4, which would be also a great pick.
Both Susac and Haase are making strong statements to being the backup catcher. Good thing that they let Murphy walk in the offseason.
ReplyDeleteLOL Giants paid him to go
DeleteApropos of nothing, Giants are, at the end of Saturday, 1st in the Cactus League, ahead of you-know-who...
ReplyDelete