minor lines, 5/9/10

So what is the knock on Belt? Didn’t he go to UT? Good baseball school, So, what’s the deal?

POSEY NOT READY

All I hear is blah blah blah

0-3 with a K and a BB

All the pitchers are shit, and all the hitters are not ready for MLB. Why bother even p[aying attention to them.

Yay Brian!

and that has been the Buster Posey Show on KNBR 680, THE SPORTS LEADER

Mother’s Day in Fresno was full of unusual happenings for the Grizzlies. Winning is a new look for the team in 2010. They took sole possession of the best record in the Pacific Coast League with a 12-4 win over Salt Lake Sunday. Fresno leads the Southern Division by 3 ½ games with a record of 19-11.

Another weird development: it rained at the end of the game. It was pouring by the top of the ninth inning, and the rain came down in sheets while patrons left the ballpark.

The Grizzlies cruised as long as the weather cooperated. Joe Martinez took the mound and turned in the longest start for a Grizzlies pitcher this year at seven innings. Martinez gave up a solo home run with two out in the first inning but settled in from there. The right-hander worked the outside corner of the plate, getting calls and swingthroughs on low pitches to left-handers.

Martinez worked quickly all day and stayed ahead of batters. His fastball was at 87-89 MPH and he was mixing in offspeed stuff in the low 70s. He was also working inside for strikeouts, getting a batter to chase high and busting another high and inside for called strike three. Martinez displayed excellent control throughout his start, hitting spots and getting calls. He retired the side in the fifth inning on groundouts.

He went 12 innings without allowing a walk over his last two starts, before he walked Peter Bourjous in the seventh inning. Martinez allowed three runs in the frame and then was pulled. A bloop single fell in right field and scored two runs.

Steve Edlefsen has been one of the best arms out of the bullpen for Fresno this year, sporting a 1.52 ERA in 10 appearances. He came out throwing 91-93 right away and racked up three strikeouts in one inning of work. Edlefsen used the heat once for a strikeout, turning to his offspeed stuff to get hitters out. The right-hander threw 73-78 on the changeup and it worked; he got two more strikeouts on those pitches.

Edlefsen established the outside corner for strikes against right-handed hitters. It’s no surprise that he commands that side of the plate so well. Edlefsen is murder on right-handed hitters with a .162 batting average against.

Waldis Joaquin returned to Fresno this week after San Francisco sent him back down. Joaquin hasn’t allowed a run or a walk in two innings in three appearances with the Grizzlies. He fell victim to the rains, pitching in the top of the ninth inning when it really started coming down. His velocity did not suffer. Joaquin came inside to batters at 92-93 consistently and got calls on the high heat, especially to righties on the inside corner.

The hitters were also on top. Brock Bond doubled twice to extend his on base streak to 16 games. Bond parked a ball inside the left field line in his first at-bat and roped a double to right field in the eighth inning. He scored both times. Bond has decent speed, but is held back by his below average acceleration. He had no problems making it around the basepaths today because he clobbered the ball, but his so-so pushoffs are a cause for concern.

Buster Posey had a huge day at the plate with two hits, a walk, and three RBIs. Posey blasted a pitch in the first inning way out to left field, good for a three run homer. The catcher has four home runs and 20 RBIs this year. Posey singled in the third inning, an opposite field liner, but was caught stealing for the first time in 2010. He was out by a mile.

Brett Pill doubled to deep center to drive in two runs in the fifth inning. He grounded out and popped out foul in two other at-bats, not waiting for pitches.

Ryan Lormand is getting a look in Fresno for what figures to be a short call-up, starting at shortstop in the suddenly thin Fresno infield. Lormand went 0-for-4 with a sacrifice bunt.

Jesus Guzman started at third for the Grizzlies, signaling that the first base experiment is over for him. He’s played most of his games in left field in 2010 and has started at third the last two games for Fresno. Guzman botched two plays; one was on a slow bouncer that was a tough play already, and the other was a ball that simply went under his glove. Guzman also made a baserunning gaffe in the second inning, trying to stretch a single into a double. He was caught between the bases, and just froze.

It wasn’t all bad for Guzman. He made a good pick at third base on a grounder to throw out the runner at first and later sent a ball out of the yard. The wind had picked up in the last two innings of the game and the breeze helped the ball get out.

Steve Holm tripled in the fourth inning and scored on Tyler Graham’s sacrifice fly. It was the first triple for Holm since 2003 when he played for Class-A Hagerstown in the Giants organization, and the third triple of his career.

Brandon Belt, 1B, Giants (High-A San Jose)

A fifth-round pick last June out of Texas, Belt presents a bit of a conundrum for scouts. When one sees Belt’s 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame as a first-baseman, one expects power, but that’s not really his game. He is a line-drive hitter who focuses on contact and using all fields, though his long arms alone lead to a few balls carrying over the fence. He hasn’t gone deep for 13 games and has just three over 86 at-bats in the power-friendly California League, but his pure hitting ability has been the talk of the league so far, as with a 5-for-10 weekend, he’s now at .407/.514/.628 in 27 games. He needs to keep his batting average way up there to keep his prospect status as a first baseman without big-time power, but the early results are impressive.

Guzman playing third is an amusing mental image.

Nice to see he was able to make it back. Good luck.

So who is this Brian Anderson and what is his story?

I stop worrying about prospects while in college.

/proud father