minor lines, 4/26/10

Let’s get it out of the way: you all want to know what left-hander Aaron King throws and his velocity. He went 85-89 MPH on the fastball, 77-85 on his curveball, 70-76 on the changeup, and around 86 on his slider. His slider runs away from right handed hitters. He worked it for called strikes. King can hang the curve, a dangerous trait for a pitcher who can give up runs in a big inning.

He cruised through the first three innings, retiring nine of the 11 batters he faced, though missed low in the zone early on. He fell apart after he hit a batter on the back foot. King walked the next batter and never recovered. The final damage charged to his record was five runs on four hits and two walks. King allowed three straight base hits before being pulled in the fourth inning.

Right-handed Ben Wilshire relieved King, throwing a consistent fastball at 88-91. There’s a biting downward motion on his slider, though I didn’t catch the velocity on the pitch. The changeup comes in at 73-75. Wilshire will pitch inside to left-handed hitters and he followed his groundball tendencies nearly to a T. Wilshire recorded 55 percent of his outs via the ground ball in 2009 and tonight kept the ball down through most of his 3 1/3 innings. He pitched three nearly flawless innings until he hiccuped and allowed two runs on three hits in the seventh. Stockton hit him hard in that frame. Neither Wilshire nor King could hold runners on well. Wilshire has allowed seven runs in his last 9 1/3 innings.

Now for the hitters. Juan Perez led off the game with a home run, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. The rest of his at-bats didn’t go as well. Perez struck out looking in he third inning and departed quickly after looking at strike three; he knew he had a bad at-bat from his body language. He had a better time at the plate in the sixth, fighting off pitches and worked a three-ball count, though the ultimate result was a flyout to right.

Ehire Adrianza’s first two at-bats were disappointing. I have to admit to being tough on him, since he shot up the prospect lists this winter with little justification (in my eyes). He wasn’t patient, grounding out to second the first time up and chasing low pitches before popping up to center the second time up. Adrianza worked the count full, then grounded out to first in his third at-bat. He broke through with a hit up the middle on a two-ball count in the eighth inning and would score on a Ports error.

Francisco Peguero was hitless on the night. He’s in a 2-for-23 slump since April 19. He’s fast as we all know, and I got a reading on his speed down the first base line: 4.05 seconds.

Brandon Belt doubled in his third at-bat and reached base on an error in the eighth inning. He scored in both trips to the plate. He’s doing the leg kick again, which I saw in his swing at U of Texas, something I greatly disliked. Still, Belt is on a 13-game hitting streak and hitting the ball hard every time he stands in, so if the kick works, don’t fix it. (or something)

Wendell Fairley looks big, like he’s bulking up, but not with muscle. Looks like he’s using Ben and Jerry’s instead of Myoplex.

Charlie Culberson had a hit and reached on an error late in the game. He motored around the bases, stealing two bags to advance to third and scored on Joel Weeks’ hit. He’s looking better on defense. He made a quick play on a grounder and got the runner at first by a step.

Drew Biery was throwing seeds from third all night. He also hit a long fly off the wall in left with two outs and drove in a run. Biery reached base three times on the night, via the hit, a walk, and an error. He looks healthy again, fresh off the DL last week.

Unfortunately, poor defense was a theme for the night. A blooped ball fell between Culberson, Peguero, and Perez in shallow centerfield. Three fielders couldn’t figure out how to make the play.

Peguero bobbled a ball in center and couldn’t make the play on the hit up the middle. Nobody was covering second on the hit, though it didn’t matter as the runner was safe by a lot anyway. Just not having anyone near the bag on the throw back in was a disappointment.

Overall, Giants batters chased low throughout the night. I knew this would happen with a team stocked with young hitters. Last week I saw them going after high pitches.

Is there any reason why JCP and Peguero rotate playing CF?

Damn! Maybe my Bucardo ISN’T better than yours! Come on Jorge, don’t make me come up there!

BELT

Alfredo Simon just got called up to the Orioles: Link

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=CF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=519317