minor lines, 9/15/09

by steve S on Sep 16, 2009 8:22 AM PDT in They Might Be Giants Comment 18 comments

Both Giants' affiliates still seeing post-season action lost last night, with no individual lines really standing out as highlight-worthy, although an honorable mention would go to Eddy Martinez-Esteve for his home run while reaching base twice.

AAA: Fresno ended its season on Labor Day

AA: Connecticut lost to Akron 7-2
(in game 1 of the best-of-five EL championship series)

Connecticut: DH Eddy Martinez-Esteve: 1 for 3, HR, BB
Connecticut: SS Brandon Crawford: 2 for 4, E
Connecticut: C Jackson Williams: 1 for 2, BB, SO
Akron: 1B Beau Mills: 2 for 5, HR, 2B, 2 SO
Akron DH Matt McBride: 3 for 4, HR, HBP, SO

Connecticut: LHP Ben Snyder: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K--1 HR, 2 HB
Connecticut: RHP Geivy Garcia: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K--1 WP
Connecticut: LHP Alex Hinshaw: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Connecticut: RHP Craig Whitaker: 0.2 IP
Connecticut: RHP Garrett Broshuis: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER

Crawford had two of the Defenders' six hits, raising his post-season AVG to .227; but he also committed his 3rd error in six post-season games. EME homered to lead off the 7th inning. He and Williams drew the Defenders' only two walks as they also reached base twice. Mills, whom the Indians selected 13th overall in 2007, had two XBH, including a two-run, one-out HR in the 4th inning to give the Aeros a 5-0 lead. I believe most McCovey Chronicles commenters were upset that the Giants selected Madison Bumgarner over Mills, who hit .267/.308/.417 in 516 AB this year. How many are still upset about that choice? McBride, the 75th overall pick a year earlier in 2006, reached base four times, including his 8th inning HR. After an early May promotion to the Eastern League, he hit just .247/.301/.427 in 361 AB.

After dominating in his previous post-season start, Snyder was roughed up in this start. He retired just 11 of the 24 batters he faced, inflating his post-season ERA to 5.40. Garcia retired seven of the eight batters he faced in long relief. Hinshaw and Whitaker allowed an unearned run in the 7th inning. Making his first post-season appearance, Broshuis pitched the final two innings.

A+: San Jose lost to Bakersfield 11-4
(tying the best-of-five semifinal series at 2-2)

San Jose: DH Darren Ford: 0 for 2, BB, HBP, SO
San Jose: 2B Nick Noonan: 1 for 3, BB, SF, SO
San Jose: SS Brian Bocock: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, SO
Bakersfield: 1B Ian Gac: 2 for 4, HR, SF, SO, E

San Jose: RHP Kyle Nicholson: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 6 K--1 HR, 1 WP
San Jose: RHP Ryan Shaver: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K--4 WP
San Jsoe: RHP Trey Webb: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER--1 HB
San Jose: LHP Ryan Verdugo: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 K
San Jose: RHP Rafael Cova: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 3 K
Bakersfield: RHP Michael Main: 2.0 IP, 3 K

Bocock had the Giants' only XBH. Along with Ford and Noonan, he reached base twice. The Rangers' 24-year-old Gac, who had 22 regular season HRs but also a SO/AB ratio above 30% and an OBP below .300, had a three-run, two-out HR in the 3rd inning and 6 RBIs overall for the game.

Nicholson was roughed up in his post-season start. If I recall correctly, he pitched the AZL championship game a year ago, and although he pitched well in that game, he came up short in that pitcher's duel. Shaver managed to throw four wild pitches in less than two innings. Webb was ejected from the game after hitting the third batter he faced. Verdugo and Cova each had 3 K in their appearances. Main, the Rangers' first rounder a couple years ago, also had 3 K in his 2.0 perfect IP relief appearance. He has come back strong in a few relief appearances to end the season after struggling in the first half of the season as a starter. Mid-season he was diagnosed with an "unidentified viral infection" that had adversely affected his physical strength.

A-: Augusta ended its season on Labor Day

ssA: Salem-Keizer won the NWL championship series on September 10

R: Giants lost AZL championship game on August 31

DSL: The Gigantes finished their DSL championship series sweep on August 31

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Bumgarner over Mills

I am definitely not upset about the Giants’ choice of Bumgarner over Mills. When are the Giants going to take a look in their own back yard for future prospects? Especially first basemen? They need another first baseman like I need a hole in my head. Wow, that Garko trade was a real winner! Check out the Eastern League stats – Brett Pill led Mills in EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY this year. Oh, except for strikeouts – Pill had 72, Mills had 95. Mills was a 13th round pick in 2007, Pill was a 7th round pick in 2006. I would have taken a pitcher like Bum any day over ANOTHER first baseman, especially when you have a better one in your own organization. Yeah, yeah, here I go about Pill again, but this is ridiculous.

by flyonthewall on Sep 16, 2009 2:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They need another first baseman like I need a hole in my head.

I think you are confused with what this expression means because I don’t think you desperately need a hole in your head. Either that, or you’re confused with the Giants first base situation. Pill’s best case scenario is probably a right handed version of Ishikawa.

Proud father of Juan Carlos Perez. Think Albert Pujols at a position to be determined.

@#$% Juan Uribe. Dios es grande.

by marcello on Sep 16, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe he’s into trepanation.

Utter frustration and futility.

by Johnny Disaster on Sep 16, 2009 6:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just to be clear, Mills was not a 13th round pick. He was the 13th overall pick (in the 1st round).

by steve S on Sep 17, 2009 8:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Steve, Thanks for the clarification. Mills being a first round pick makes all the difference in the world regarding why he is considered a top prospect. You get a lot more love when they have given you the big bucks.

by flyonthewall on Sep 17, 2009 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, I think I understand what that expression means. Of course I don’t need a hole in my head, and I also don’t think the Giants need to “acquire” another first baseman. Why do they talk so much about “player development” and overlook players that are doing awesome. You tell me, why is Pill’s best case scenario a right-handed version of Ishikawa? Don’t the Giants need a big RBI hitter (109 this year), who just happens to be the best defensive first baseman in the Eastern League? Oh yeah, maybe it’s because he is too old at 25. How old is Garko, by the way?

by flyonthewall on Sep 16, 2009 3:35 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

RBI’s aren’t a good predictive measure. They tell you something about what happened, but they don’t really give you good insight into what will happen in the future.

And age, relative to league, is important. 25 and putting up ok numbers in AA is not good. At Pill’s age, Garko was putting up basically the same line in the AL and Garko is nothing special.

Proud father of Juan Carlos Perez. Think Albert Pujols at a position to be determined.

@#$% Juan Uribe. Dios es grande.

by marcello on Sep 16, 2009 5:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pill had a very good year

However, it’s his first very good year. His previous years in the organization:
2008, SJ: .266/.321/.395
2007, Aug: .269/.321/.416
2006, S-K: .220/.296/.359

Those are not numbers that scream “future MLB first baseman”. Or even murmur it softly.

Finally, consider what minorleaguesplits.com gives as major league equivalent for Pill’s 2009 stats:
.256/.296/.407

That’s a .703 OPS. Roughly, Travis Ishikawa with a lower OBP. That’s not gonna cut it. Pill is gonna have to move up to Fresno and continue to improve as he did this year before anyone’s going to consider him anything more than organizational filler.

Meet my new son: Sundrendy Windster, on the Curacao-SF express (via Arizona).

by EliminateMe on Sep 16, 2009 5:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still think you have to SEE what a player does to help his team in certain key game situations. His average with runners in scoring position, etc. There are a lot of things that the basic stats don’t tell you. Just my obviously “uneducated” opinion.

by flyonthewall on Sep 16, 2009 6:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you that you can't tell that much from basic stats.

Unfortunately for your argument, the people who actually have seen both Pill and Mills in person (I’m not one of them) all pretty much consider Mills the better prospect.

Meet my new son: Sundrendy Windster, on the Curacao-SF express (via Arizona).

by EliminateMe on Sep 16, 2009 10:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting, seeing that Pill was chosen as THE first baseman for the post-season all-star team, had the lowest fielding percentage of all first baseman, and was named by Baseball America as the Eastern League’s best defensive first baseman. Just goes to show you how stupid people are. Even looking at the basic stats, Pill was above and beyond Mills. To each his own. Question – what do “these people” see in Mills to make him the better prospect? Inquiring minds want to know……

by flyonthewall on Sep 16, 2009 11:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pill had the better year, but it doesn’t make him a better prospect. Mills is two years younger than Pill, that’s about it. You can dismiss this if you want, but it’s proven to be a very important indicator for ML success. Mills isn’t even much of an interesting prospect anymore, so that should tell you plenty about Pill.

Proud father of Juan Carlos Perez. Think Albert Pujols at a position to be determined.

@#$% Juan Uribe. Dios es grande.

by marcello on Sep 17, 2009 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m totally managing to bite my tongue this whole time on how I actually wanted Heyward with that pick. La la la, not saying anything controversial, la la la.

My Bucardo is better than yours.

A hot August weekday, before a small crowd, when the only thing at stake is the tissue-thin difference between a thing done well and a thing done ill. Insofar as the clutch hitter is not a sportswriter's myth, it is a vulgarity, like a writer who writes only for money.

by Roger on Sep 17, 2009 3:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

Heyward would have been nice, and at this point I’d much rather have him than Bumgarner.

Proud father of Juan Carlos Perez. Think Albert Pujols at a position to be determined.

@#$% Juan Uribe. Dios es grande.

by marcello on Sep 17, 2009 3:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pill with RISP

.321/.368/.462 – So about the same as his overall line.

Proud father of Juan Carlos Perez. Think Albert Pujols at a position to be determined.

@#$% Juan Uribe. Dios es grande.

by marcello on Sep 17, 2009 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Defenders Lose Game 2 -- 7-6

The Defenders just lost game 2 of the EL playoffs and now travel to Akron. Doubt if they can win 3 there. (Pill did have an HR, by the way.) Good luck to all of the players as they move up – or not. I will keep track of some of them, but will be rooting for whatever team replaces the Defenders at Dodd next year.

by flyonthewall on Sep 16, 2009 7:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Will there be another team in Dodd if the Defenders leave? Given the attendance issues and the success of New Britain down the road, I’d assume they’re going to have a tough time getting another team in there if they lose this one, won’t they?

My Bucardo is better than yours.

by Roger on Sep 17, 2009 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I believe they are trying to get a short-season team here. Makes sense, as the weather is terrible in the months before June. The Defenders leaving is a done deal – they will be in Richmond next year. At least that’s my understanding.

by flyonthewall on Sep 17, 2009 4:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs