minor lines, 9/10/08

by steve S on Sep 11, 2008 10:24 AM PDT

AAA: Fresno finished its season on Labor Day

AA: Connecticut finished its season on Labor Day

A+: San Jose lost to Stockton 9-4
(falling behind 7-3 after two innings in the decisive fifth game of the best-of-five division championship series)

San Jose: LF Bobby Felmy: 1 for 4, 2B, SO, GiDP
San Jose: 3B Matt Downs: 2 for 4
San Jose: 2B Brad Boyer: 0 for 2, 2 BB, SO
San Jose: CF Mike McBryde: 1 for 4, 2B
San Jose: RF Tylor Graham: 2 for 4
San Jose: PH Buster Posey: 0 for 1
Stockton: SS Josh Horton: 1 for 3, 2 BB, E
Stockton: 3B Chris Carter: 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB, SO
Stockton: C Josh Donaldson: 2 for 3, 2B, 2 BB, IBB, SO

San Jose: LHP Jesse English: 1.0+ IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 1 K--1 IBB
San Jose: RHP Taylor Wilding: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K--1 E
San Jose: RHP Steven Edlefsen: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB
San Jose: LHP Joe Paterson: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K
Stockton: RHP Graham Godfrey: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

With two singles each, Downs and Graham accounted for half of the Giants' eight hits, finishing with post-season AVGs of .250 and .333, respectively. Boyer also reached base twice. Felmy, who had a 2-RBI double in the 2nd inning, and McBryde, who threw out another runner at the plate, each had their second double of the series, providing the Giants' two XBHs in the series' finale. After starting four straight games, Posey didn't start the final game, but did appear as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning. For the A's affiliate, Donaldson reached base four times, helping to keep his post-season AVG above .400. Horton and Carter reached base three times each.

Two weeks since his last start, English was not up for the challenge of a decisive fifth playoff game. He retired just three of the eight batters he faced. Wilding provided long relief. He allowed all three inherited runners to score but otherwise provided four scoreless innings, but his playoff ERA was still over 5.50. Edlefsen and Paterson each allowed an earned run in two innings of work. Two nights earlier the Giants pitching staff had tied a season high by issuing nine walks. They nearly matched that total once again, but Paterson pitched the final two innings without a walk. Godfrey had an ERA over 5.00 during the regular season but an ERA of just 1.38 in his two playoff starts.

A-: Augusta had a an off-day for travel before the third game of the SAL championship series

ssA: Salem-Keizer lost the NWL championship series on Sunday

R: Giants won the AZL championship on August 31st

DSL: Giants lost the championship series last Friday

Here is a list of the 37 hitters who had 200+ AB with a full-season affiliate for the Giants this year, sorted by affiliate and sorted by AB within each affiliate.

Fresno (9):
.300/.388/.553 in 477 AB by Scott McClain
.245/.301/.323 in 436 AB by Clay Timpner
.251/.363/.461 in 358 AB by Justin Leone
.315/.338/.577 in 352 AB by Brett Harper
.320/.363/.594 in 350 AB by Nate Schierholtz
.318/.399/.445 in 292 AB by Ivan Ochoa
.277/.353/.405 in 264 AB by Brian Horwitz
.250/.303/.286 in 224 AB by Julio Cordido
.282/.373/.468 in 220 AB by Travis Denker

Connecticut (10):
.298/.333/.469 in 420 AB by Olmo Rosario
.253/.326/.392 in 411 AB by Carlos Sosa
.238/.345/.443 in 400 AB by Adam Witter
.298/.387/.381 in 396 AB by Eddy Martinez-Esteve
.261/.334/.417 in 372 AB by Ben Copeland
.230/.274/.383 in 366 AB by David Maroul
.241/.356/.329 in 365 AB by Antoan Richardson
.226/.302/.312 in 349 AB by Simon Klink
.261/.366/.328 in 348 AB by Kyle Haines
.291/.382/.462 in 234 AB by Travis Ishikawa

San Jose (10):
.283/.340/.385 in 481 AB by Bobby Felmy
.261/.309/.436 in 459 AB by Andy D'Alessio
.266/.321/.395 in 458 AB by Brett Pill
.304/.357/.494 in 437 AB by Matt Downs
.295/.368/.383 in 420 AB by Mike McBryde
.246/.305/.349 in 398 AB by Sharlon Schoop
.264/.324/.330 in 303 AB by Tyler Graham
.285/.368/.419 in 277 AB by Ryan Rohlinger
.359/.412/.597 in 273 AB by Pablo Sandoval
.348/.436/.511 in 264 AB by Brad Boyer

Augusta (8):
.279/.315/.415 in 499 AB by Nick Noonan
.263/.312/.435 in 464 AB by Angel Villalona
.253/.303/.351 in 439 AB by Andrew Davis
.253/.355/.299 in 438 AB by Shane Jordan
.264/.329/.414 in 435 AB by Garrett Baker
.276/.359/.444 in 428 AB by Thomas Neal
.232/.277/.325 in 354 AB by James Simmons
.234/.290/.319 in 282 AB by Charlie Culberson

Comments/observations:
a) Among Fresno's five busiest hitters, three had SLGs better than .550.
b) Despite a MLB callup early in the season, Timpner had a disappointing season.
c) EME lead the team in OBP, but his SLG was lower than his OBP.
d) Copeland's numbers don't stand out at all in comparison to his teammates.
e) Chicks dig the long ball? How about blog commenters? How does D'Alessio generate more prospect discussion than McBryde?
f) Downs and Boyer, as well as Sandoval, had breakout type numbers in San Jose, but can they sustain their performance at higher levels?
g) Aside from Jordan (who had a sub-.300 SLG) and Neal (who was primarily a DH after all), avert your eyes from those OBPs. Maybe OBP is not a prerequisite for a league champion at all. Only Brock Bond (in 150 AB) managed an AVG above .285.
h) With Noonan's second-half slide, how much separation is there between him and Culberson?

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Comments

Thanks, Steve.

Ouch, poor Jesse.

Some of your comments Steve:

c) I think EME is essentially done. He’s Juan Pierre without a defensive position. It looks like he’s lost all ability to drive a baseball for power.
e) I don’t like D’Alessio at all. He’s old for his level and is striking out tremendously. Not seeing a future.
h) I don’t think Noonan is that bad, yet, but his season has been semi-disappointing.

Thanks for another year of minor lines. I think we all appreciate them greatly.

Michael Ambort: Dude hits TATERS.
My favorite pie is (name of pie flavor)
Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Sep 11, 2008 10:34 AM PDT 0 recs

Juan Pierre who takes walks..

But isn’t as speedy.

But yeah, thanks Steve. I look forward to these lines everyday, and love getting to know the players (their stats at least) before they get to the big show.

proud father of the newly acquired Brandon Crawford..

by Azmanz on Sep 11, 2008 11:19 AM PDT up 0 recs

But does he play with his heart like Juan Pierre? Does he do all the little things right like Juan Pierre? Does he wear his baseball cap under his batting helmet like Juan Pierre? Does he show up every day to the park ready to DO HIS JOB like Juan Pierre?

These questions must be answered.

Michael Ambort: Dude hits TATERS.
My favorite pie is (name of pie flavor)
Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Sep 11, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up 0 recs

lol.. Because I've never watched him actually play

Yes to all those.

proud father of the newly acquired Brandon Crawford..

by Azmanz on Sep 12, 2008 12:23 AM PDT up 0 recs

Piling on

with mad props for Steve. I really appreciate the work you do in compiling all this data in one place. It’s an awesome service!

Also piling on about D’Alessio. Bye bye, Andy. Nice knowing you.

Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.

by delorean on Sep 11, 2008 11:34 AM PDT up 0 recs

/ Shamelessly joins the standing "O" As Steve leaves the field towards the showers.

Ivan Ochoa - Heir to the legacy of Rob Andrews & Rikkert Faneyte!

by daveinexile on Sep 11, 2008 12:09 PM PDT up 0 recs

Noonan has little chance of ever being an above average 2B if he doesn’t improve his plate discipline – BB% of 4.4% this year. 11 players in the majors currently have a BB% of 4.4% or lower: Yuniesky Betancourt, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Jose Guillen, Bengie Molina, Freddy Sanchez, A.J. Pierzynski, Miguel Tejada, Carlos Gomez, Cristian Guzman, Jose Lopez, and Robinson Cano.

Out of these players, only 3 have an EqA of .263 (the average EqA for a 2B in 2008) or higher: Lopez, Guzman, and Kouzmanoff. In other words, out of 152 qualifying major leaguers, only three players put up BB numbers that were as bad as Noonan’s, and still managed to hit as well as an average 2B.

I still like Noonan as prospect. He’s very young, and is pretty solid on most aspects of the game – good defense, good speed, good contact (though he struck out too many times this year), reasonable power. But he needs to learn to take more BB’s, and I’m not sure that the Giants have the guys to teach him how to do that. Hopefully I’m wrong.

..so allow me to present Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain as two sweet, sweet bottles of warming hooch.

by Cookyman on Sep 11, 2008 11:55 AM PDT up 0 recs

Oh yeah

And Steve is awesome.

..so allow me to present Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain as two sweet, sweet bottles of warming hooch.

by Cookyman on Sep 11, 2008 12:28 PM PDT up 0 recs

I agree he needs to work on his discipline..

but 3 out of 11 isn’t horrible. I woulda guessed it was 1 out of 11 max.

proud father of the newly acquired Brandon Crawford..

by Azmanz on Sep 12, 2008 12:25 AM PDT up 0 recs

McBryde really did have an impressive year

Great to see him make strides as a hitter. His trouble really is (stop me if you’ve heard this before) that most of his value is tied to playing CF and there’s some blockage in his way at that spot.

Get the hell out the way Bengie, Pablito's hit the show!

by Roger on Sep 11, 2008 10:55 AM PDT 0 recs

Thomas Neal

I really hope Thomas Neal can go back to playing a corner OF spot.

The Giants system (like any I suppose) is full of 1B candidates, and he’d obviously profile better in an OF corner.

Has anyone heard any updates on his injury, and the probability of him making it back to the OF?

by aGIANTfan on Sep 11, 2008 11:31 AM PDT 0 recs

When I spoke with him in Augusta, it sounded like first base is his future. He does have a thick lower body already, so that may be a part of it. He can run alright, though.

This is all before the injury…I have no updates since that.

SFDugout.com is BACK! See the Top 50 Giants Prospects!

by BruteSentiment on Sep 11, 2008 2:57 PM PDT up 0 recs

McBryde

Good question regarding McBryde. He is a great player and had an awesome year. Threw out tons of base runners, especially at home plate – great arm as well as speed.
Off the subject, but on the game recaps if you’re going to include Posey going 0-1 last night, need to include 1B Brett Pill 1-4.

by flyonthewall on Sep 11, 2008 11:53 AM PDT 0 recs

I don’t think McBryde has received enough positive attention in this space, and I wanted to give more of his due. I don’t think I would suggest yet that he projects as a major league starter, but the raw tools are still there if he ever figures it out at the plate. He didn’t show much power this year at all, but his performance still exceeded my expectations. I wonder if I might compare him to the A’s Richie Robnett, who was described a couple years ago as a prospect who seemed unlikely to ever be a MLB bench player, i.e., he would either figure it out enough to become a major league starter or he wouldn’t figure it out enough to get out of the minors. I also wonder perhaps about comparing him to Rajai Davis, a below-average right-handed hitter who can start on occasion for you because of his defense. Of course, Brute rightly points out that he has not been as effective a basestealer yet as Rajai has been.

Why should I mention Pill’s 1 for 4 as a 1Bman? I thought it was worth noting that arguably the top prospect in the organization did not start the final game of the series, given the night off? I hadn’t thought about it too much until now. While I agree with the decision not to start him at catcher for five consecutive games, I wonder about not starting him at DH in the final game.

by steve S on Sep 12, 2008 8:53 AM PDT up 0 recs

I agree with you on McBryde. I want to see what he’ll do at the upper levels next season and I hope he does well there.

"While conservatives tell you 'leave things alone and no one will lose,' and liberals tell you 'interfere a lot and no one will lose,' baseball says 'someone will lose.' Not only says it - but insists upon it! ... Democracy is lovely, but baseball's more mature." BVCE supports SF Dugout and Manny Burriss.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Sep 12, 2008 9:28 AM PDT up 0 recs

Wow, I didn’t realize D’Allessio ended up that poorly.

Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.

by jponry on Sep 11, 2008 1:27 PM PDT 0 recs

/strikes out

Michael Ambort: Dude hits TATERS.
My favorite pie is (name of pie flavor)
Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Sep 11, 2008 1:29 PM PDT up 0 recs

Thanks

Thanks Steve for all the work you do and thank also to the occasional pinch hitters – Baron, et al.

Why not start Tim A in the fifth game rather than Jesse? It does not pay to hold him back in a decisive game.

EME is disappointing – no power at all.

I don’t see any other real prospects in position players at San Jose other than maybe Sharlon and that is due to his age – not performance.

Nick has time to learn to take walks. Nate has improved the past year or so.

Hopefully, it is time to say goodbye to some AAA players – Julio Cordido, Justin Leone, Clay Timpner.

by APGiantsFan on Sep 11, 2008 1:47 PM PDT 0 recs

Nate has improved the past year or so.

Hmmm… let’s check the record on that.

2003 Rk League Walk Rate of .088
2004 Sally .077
2004 Cal .058
2005 Cal .063
2006 EL .057
2007 PCL .041
2008 PCL .063

I guess if you turn your head right and squint your eyes a certain way there’s some improvement there. But 21 walks in an abbreviated AAA season isn’t exactly a breakthrough.

Get the hell out the way Bengie, Pablito's hit the show!

by Roger on Sep 11, 2008 2:07 PM PDT up 0 recs

As the most egregious offender of the 'Chicks Dig...' line...

…I’ll say this. It’s all about ‘Perspective.’

Before this season, D’Alessio did more than expected for a player old for his level, he dominated and hit more than twice as many home runs as all but one other player in his league, and then hit very well in a short callup at the next level. That, added with a surprisingly low pick level (19th round) for the rarest tool to find in the draft, had a lot of excitement.

For McBryde, you’re talking about a player who many think was already playing the wrong position (as many thought he should’ve been pitching with his arm), and who had a pretty wretched year for a player of his type in the SAL. Don’t forget, he had 100 K’s and just 27 walks in 417 at-bats last season…and that’s for a speed-first player. Add to that he stole 14 bases in 25 attempts, and that negates the one clear tool he had to promote on.

I’d stand by being more excited with D’Alessio than McBryde at the start of the season, but agree that McBryde should be talked about more, and that the heat has come off of D’Alessio since then.

SFDugout.com is BACK! See the Top 50 Giants Prospects!

by BruteSentiment on Sep 11, 2008 2:55 PM PDT 0 recs

Chicks dig the fastball?

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Sep 11, 2008 4:17 PM PDT up 0 recs

You tell us.

Hector Sanchez: really getting tired of playing baseball in foreign countries...

by tedfordfan on Sep 11, 2008 5:03 PM PDT up 0 recs

Olmo Rosario

I’ve been wanting to type his name for some time now. Granted he’s no Spring chicken, but couldn’t be Bococked next year into the starting 2B job in SF?

And like APGiantsFan, I’m looking forward to some deadwood-clearing this winter. Simon Klink and David Maroul, I’m looking at you.

Thanks again, Steve, for the hard work!

your 2008 SF Giants: this isn’t totally insane, just really stupid

by Lyle on Sep 11, 2008 5:05 PM PDT 0 recs

Thanks Steve! Great work as always.

by North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan on Sep 11, 2008 9:38 PM PDT 0 recs

Steve S

Great poster or the greatest poster?

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Sep 12, 2008 9:29 AM PDT 0 recs

Steve S

HELLUVA GUY!

#1 JUDY STEFFES FAN
My favorite pie is (name of pie flavor)
Bay City Ball

by xanthan on Sep 12, 2008 9:59 AM PDT up 0 recs

I'm going with greatestest

even tho he refuses to lose the yelling guy (no, I don’t mean xanthan).

Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.

by delorean on Sep 12, 2008 10:26 AM PDT up 0 recs

3rd best poster!

Just kiddin steve

The Basil Fawlty Moderating Strategy:
"We could run a nice blog here if we didn't have all these members getting in the way."
How is my adopted son almost twice as old as I am? Nevermind...Go Omar! Warm the Bench!

by WalrusMan on Sep 12, 2008 6:01 PM PDT up 0 recs