Daily Winter Baseball results - Part the IVth
by Fla-Giant on Dec 1, 2011 8:46 AM PST
Email
PrintHere we gio again. Time for another re-up to keep this thread in plain sight. The AZ Fall League has been over for almost 2 weeks, but the other 4 leagues are in their stretch drives. Several Giants that had been playing in leagues that are still active have shut it down and gone home for the rest of the year or gone back to Scottsdale to train at the Giants year-round camp. Those players include Brandon Belt, Francisco Peguero, David Quinowski (and there's some question on whether or not he is still property of the Giants), and Edwin Escobar. On the other hand, veteran SF Giant Andres Torres has recently started playing in the Puerto Rican League, and Panda, our favorite animal ballplayer, is still scheduled to play a handful of games for the Magallanes Navegantes down in Venezuela later this month has just tweeted that he won't be playing winter ball this year after all. Just a reminder on which Giants we're still following this winter. Just click on each name to see their daily updated milb.com stat page.
Venezuelan Winter League:
Dominican Winter League:
Mexican Winter League:
Australian Baseball League:
Puerto Rican Baseball League:
This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.
148 comments
|
4 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Winter lines - Wed. 11/30
Once again the star attractions on the day were down in Venezuela. Gregor Blanco extended his hitting streak to 12 games while reaching base in 2 of his 5 PAs (incuding his 33rd BB of the season!). His teammate, Hector Sanchez, reached base in 2 of his 3 PAs and drove in 3 runs. Hector appered to be on his way to another monster offensive game, but he was replaced after only 3 PAs in the 5th inning. He did get hit by a pitch in his 2nd PA, so he might have been feeling some pain from that incident.
Hector Sanchez: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 HBP, 3 RBI
Gregor Blanco: 1-4, 1 1B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (12 for 14 in SB attempts on season)
Ehire Adrianza: 0-3, 2 K
Max Ramirez: 1-5, 1 1B, 1 K, RBI
JC Perez: 0-2, 1 K, Sac Bunt
O. Matos: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Tyler Graham: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 Assist
Justin Christian: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 K
Johnny Monell: 0-4, 1 K
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Gregor Blanco is on a pace that would give him 133 BBs over a 150 game season. In looking at his stats from past years it appears to me that he’s always had the knack for working a walk, although he’s also showed an even greater knack to strike out at an alarming rate. During his 2011 season in AAA, he was able to get his BB:K ratio down to a more respectable rate that was just over 1:1 and he’s been able to drop that just below 1:1 in his first 37 games this offseason. If he has reached a breakthrough on this front, he can be a very effective leadoff hitter – a guy with a high OBP that makes the opposing pitcher throw a lot of pitches and who puts up a high percentage of successful stolen base attempts. It’s not very liekly, but it’s just possible that Blanco is one of those late-bloomers (he’ll turn 28 the day before Christmas) who takes a few years longer to finally put things all together.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
What are they feeding Hector back home?
Dude is in serious BEASTMODE this Winter.
Andres, Fontenot, and Jonny Sanchez
are/were my favorite non-super stars of the franchise.
I also love Guillermo Mota.
Guillermo Mota has been a hugely underrated part of this team over that last two years
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
I will never forget his masterful mop-up performance after the MadBum BABIP-implosion against the Twins
That was amazing.
I never want to see him pitch in the 8th or 9th in a close game, but Mota should be a package deal with Barry Zito.
OT
If you find yourself getting depressed by Sabes’ offseason moves so far, just read this sentence to yourself:
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has committed about $15MM so far this offseason to free agents Mark Ellis, Juan Rivera, Matt Treanor, and Adam Kennedy – and he signed Matt Kemp to an 8 year $160M extension.
Secret Agnet Ned, the gift that keeps on giving. Is there anyway that the new Fodgers ownership team even considers keeping him on as GM?
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
if sabean had done that...
this site would be in total freakout mode. the holidays would be ruined.
A thought
According to Fangraphs, Pat Venditte is available in the Rule V draft. Now, I don’t know how the minor league sections of this draft work, but if Venditte is available in the AAA portion of the draft he has to be worth a flyer, right? I mean look at these stats:
Career: 264.2 IP, 2.28 ERA, 306 K, 67 BB, 10.4 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 0.4 HR/9
AA (2011): 90 IP, 3.40 ERA, 88 K, 34 BB, 8.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9
Also, the best line from his BB-ref page:
Bats: Right, Throws: Right ,
Venditte typically throws with the hand needed to gain the platoon advantage
And a picture:
How can you not love this guy?
Very nice numbers
Important to note he hasn’t pitched above AA and he took a pretty sharp dive (into just being quite good instead of excellent) when he got there. Not sure I’d put him on the ML roster for this team, but if we can stash him in AAA I like it and for a rebuilding team he could be worth a roster spot.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
DO NOT WANT
KIDS THESE DAYS MAKE ME SICK WITH THEIR AMBIDEXTERITY AND SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT. PICK A FUCKING HAND AND THROW WITH IT.
2010 World Series Champions!
Adopted 'nephew' to the ever avuncular and always awesome Jon Miller
by Johnny Disaster on Dec 1, 2011 8:50 PM PST up reply actions
Pablo could catch him, also amby.
I want to see LH catchers again. against a RHP, you wouldnt be backhanding the hard slider going to your right. seems like an advantage.
throwing to 2nd, there’s as many LHHs as RHHs these days, thats not an issue
the glove is basically round, will look normal to the pitcher.
Is baseball bound by traditions or some crap like that?
Marvin Barrios, come on I'll show you your bedroom. Don't stay on the phone too long to Panama, please.
by foothillsfan on Dec 2, 2011 12:04 PM PST up reply actions
You shouldn’t be backhanding anything as a catcher anyway.
2010 World Series Champions!
Adopted 'nephew' to the ever avuncular and always awesome Jon Miller
by Johnny Disaster on Dec 2, 2011 1:17 PM PST up reply actions
there’s as many LHHs as RHHs these days
Math is hard.
Gigante. Campeón. Pumpkin. Andrés Torres.
Dursh nerf darsh narf. Poop.
He's really good! He's an injury risk! But he's really good! But he'll be expensive! But he's really good! But he's an injury risk!
Winter lines - Thursday 12/1
Very short schedule yesterday, with only 2 Giants seeing action. Hector Sanchez sat out his team’s game, so it’s likely that the HBP that he incurred in Wednesday’s game caused enough damage to keep him off the field for a while. Gregor Blanco’s hit streak finally came to an end, although he did manage to get on base once with his 34th BB of the season. Alex Burg reached based in 2 of his 5 PAs while playing 2B for the first time (he had been splitting his starts pretty evenly between C and 3B).
Gregor Blanco: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K
Alex Burg: 1-4, 1 1B, 1 BB, 1 K
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Alex Burg,
world’s greatest super-utility sleeper prospect.
he's not from australia, as far as i know
all his bio information show he was born in Washington and went to WSU.
he might’ve just wanted to spend the offseason in Australia. you know, drink some beers, meet some blondes, hit some dingers
Yeah, he’s an American. Cameron Lamb, on the other hand is an Aussie – and Burg’s teammate down under.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
My Bad
I am still shell shocked from the departure of Clayton Tanner. I must have assumed Aussie connections. I really like Burg as a sleeper – a catcher utility guy can be a very nice piece.
Burg is more than a sleeper, though. He has a 29% K rate in his minor league career despite never having played above A ball at advanced ages (22 and 23). His career prior to the Cal league was certainly unimpressive as well: not even assigned to a league after signing in 2009. Kept in XST in his first full year (when he was 22) and then put up a very poor half season in Salem Keizer and Augusta (.774 OPS). And again, even with the good slash line at SJ, he still K’d 80 times in 296 PA.
“Sleeper” vastly understates Alex Burg’s prospects for becoming a major leaguer, I fear.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
+1
His D also needs work. One thing that is promising his the power that he displayed in the Cal last year – although many, many hitters do seem to display previously undiscovered power in the CAL.
On the other hand, in his defense (and you may not remember this, Roger), Burg already had a serious knee injury when he was drafted by the Giants in June 2009. This kept him off the field for the rest of 2009 and it’s possible to imagine that he was still rehabbing and feeling the deletrious effects of the injury during the 2010 season. Maybe 2011 is closer to the real Burg? Not likely, but his injury history at least makes it more plausible.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
His contact issues are a huge red flag—I pointed this out in another post where I mentioned how useful he could be if he could play a decent catcher and maintain a good ISO and OBP.
If he hits for a .200+ ISO and walks at a rate >10-12%, a 25-30% strikeout rate might be acceptable for a utility C/1B/3B/LF/RF bat off the bench. Actually, that would make a pretty good player. But the odds are surely stacked against him given his age and contact issues, and especially that he raked to the tune of a .250+ ISO in the Cal League, which is not quite so remarkable.
But Fla-Giant’s mention of his injury history do carry some weight as they explain why he’s played so little over the past two years and been held at levels where he is old for the competition.
I still call him a sleeper though because there is enough potential to see a useful MLB player if he can answer his doubters and shed some warts. I consider a sleeper to be a guy that’s not a real prospect who’s stats you still like to watch and look forward to checking on to see if he’s making progress. If he goes to AA and hits for power and gets on base, it would be a little easier to believe that he might have a future.
At this point, his dream-scenario means more to me as a blueprint for the sort of player that might go unnoticed but could provide a lot of value to a major league team: a guy who can play a mediocre catcher when needed as well as the other corner positions, while hitting for power and a knack for taking a walk. That’s about as ideal of a bench player as I can imagine.
Can you find any comps? Useful major leaguers who put up near 30% k rates in A ball at 23?
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Unlikely
the one mitigating factor is his injury history and lack of playing time so far. I will keep an eye on him as much as I doubt anything coming of him, but there is very much a possibility that he can improve. Also worth noting that he’s only struck out a couple times in the ABL so far, albeit against very weak competition.
Winter lines - Friday 12/2
Hector was back in action on Friday, after a 1.5 game absence, catching and getting another XBH and RBI. In the same game, Greogor Blanco reached base in 2 of his 5 PAs – lowering his OBP for the season to only .475. Playing alongside Hector and Gregor, Ehire Adrianza again went hitless. He started out the league as a very hot hitter, but has really struggled at the plate since his manager started playing him only about once a week (as opposed to about 3 times a week to begin the season). It must be difficult for Ehire to maintain any offensive consistency while seeing only 3 or 4 ABs per week. On the opposite side of the globe, the Perth Heat lost for the 2nd straight day (after starting out the season 11-0). They must be feeling the hangover from their abyssmal showing in the Asian Series in South Korea last week (where they lost all 3 games and finished in last place). In yesterday’s game, Cameron Lamb started out his relief appearance like a ball of fire – striking out the first 3 hitters he faced and setting the second 3 hitters down in order. Then he got sabotaged by a leaky defense in his 3rd inning of work and ended up getting 5 unearned runs charged to his name. His teammates committed 2 errors behind him and he gave up 3 singles to force 3 runs across – and the guy that relieved him gave up 2 hits to allow Lamb’s last 2 baserunners to score. Alex Burg again played at 2B, but he had 2 errors – including one of the errors that victimized Lamb in the 8th inning.
Hector Sanchez: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Gregor Blanco: 1-4, 1 1B, 1 HBP, 1 K
Ehire Adrianza: 0-4, 1 K
Max Ramirez: 1-3, 1 1B, 1 BB, 1 K
Tyler Graham: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB
Alex Burg: 1-4, 1 1B, 3 K, 2 Errors (field, throw)
Cam Lamb: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
AnVil looks in decent shape
Here’s a recent photo of him:
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Wow
That’s actually not bad. And given all the possibilities over the past two(?) years, this is an excellent starting point. I’m actually encouraged.
Paying Willie Bloomquist $4.6 million, the rumored amount of the Giants' offer, is a bad idea. The whole idea of letting Bradon Crawford run free at shortstop, bat be damned, is to get top-notch defense at rock-bottom prices and spend the cash on offense. Not on Willie Bloomquist.
-El Lefty Malo
He looks in better shape than when he was in SJ.
Wilber Bucardo: Missing?
by gianator on Dec 4, 2011 5:58 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
He's been running like mad and killing it down there
Obviously any links in the above post are probably NSFW
The baseball gods do not always punish the wicked but they will not just allow people to spit in their faces -- Joe Posnanski
Kudos, You are a sick, sick man, but you are very good at it -- wcw
can of corn
Still too soon.
Paying Willie Bloomquist $4.6 million, the rumored amount of the Giants' offer, is a bad idea. The whole idea of letting Bradon Crawford run free at shortstop, bat be damned, is to get top-notch defense at rock-bottom prices and spend the cash on offense. Not on Willie Bloomquist.
-El Lefty Malo
Still looks pretty fat
but really not so bad, especially given how rotund he looked while he was a teenager in San Jose. It’s nice to see that his frame seems to have thinned a little bit while away from professional ball instead of getting rounder and rounder.
If he’s to play 1B, it’s at least a positive that he’s closer to the normal 1B body type than the that of the Fielder family.
Hector Sanchez hits HR in Venezuela
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
One more of Hector, el Tiburone
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Is that really his nickname?
Get Better Travis! Ishikawa - 2009 Tops All-Star Rookie and World Champ 2010!
No
The name of the team that he’s playing on down in Venezuela is the Sharks (el Tiburones).
I’m about to start lobbying for the nickname “Little Panda” for Hector. I’d love to see him follow in Panda’s footsteps – and he clearly idolizes Pablo.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
But I still call Pablo “Pablito”. This could get confusing. I’m somehow suddenly reminded that Bobby Bonds had a brother named Robert.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Those are cool lookin' unis.
Gigante. Campeón. Pumpkin. Andrés Torres.
Dursh nerf darsh narf. Poop.
He's really good! He's an injury risk! But he's really good! But he'll be expensive! But he's really good! But he's an injury risk!
Wow
He looks like he’s in pretty good shape—seems a good bit slimmer than he was when he was with the big club last year. If he takes the Pablo path and gets on the offseason workout regimen and year-round dieting a couple years earlier, we might just have found something here with good contact, switch hitting catchers from Venezuela.
Speaking of nicknames, Hector does need one, and other than being an animal, it shouldn’t be too conflated with Pablo’s names.
I also really would cringe if another player gets a Dirty Sanchez-esque nickname. I always hated that one and it really made me cringe. It didn’t only seem disrespectful, but racist too.
El Tiburone isn’t bad. Bullfrog? Toady?
or the bear thing to reference panda: Grizzly (especially if he has a beard to go with his mohawk), Red Panda, Brother Bear?
My favorite is Bullfrog.
Winter lines - Sat. 12/3
Saturday was an uneventful day for Giants prospects, with most of them not playing at all. Of note, Alex Burg played catcher and 3B down in Perth and his bat has cooled off after his hot start.
Jose Flores: 1-5, 1 1B, 2 K, RBI, 1 SB, Sac Fly
Max Ramirez: 0-3, 1 BB,
Jean Machi: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, GO/AO=4/0
O. Matos: 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Alex Burg: 1-4, 1 1B, 1 K, Passed Ball
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
It’s nice when “cooled off” means reached base twice.
Get Better Travis! Ishikawa - 2009 Tops All-Star Rookie and World Champ 2010!
My mistake
I see, I was reading it as “1-4, 1 BB, 1K.”
Get Better Travis! Ishikawa - 2009 Tops All-Star Rookie and World Champ 2010!
Winter lines - Sunday 12/4
Hector, Gregor and Ehire all saw action in both halves of a doubleheader down in Venezuela (both games only went 7 innings). Gregor was the only one of the 3 to reach base in both games, and he ended up with 2 hits and 2 BBs in 7 PAs. He continues to maintain an elite BB-rate on the season (19.5%). Hector’s offensive stats have been off-the-charts good this offseason – except for one category. He has a K-rate of almost 18% and a BB:K ratio of only .44.
Hector Sanchez: (Game 1) 1-3, 1 1B, 1 BB, 1 HBP, Passed Ball
Hector Sanchez: (Game 2) 0-4, 2 K
Gregor Blanco: (Game 1) 0-2, 1 BB
Gregor Blanco: (Game 2) 2-3, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Ehire Adrianza: (Game 1) 0-0, 2 BB, Sac Bunt
Ehire Adrianza: (Game 2) 0-0
Max Ramirez: 0-3, 1 K
JC Perez: 1-4, 1 1B, 2 K, RBI
Johnny Monell: (Game 1) 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Johnny Monell: (Game 2) 2-3, 1 1B, 1 K, RBI, 1 SB
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Gregor Blanco walks into Mordor.
Gigante. Campeón. Pumpkin. Andrés Torres.
Dursh nerf darsh narf. Poop.
He's really good! He's an injury risk! But he's really good! But he'll be expensive! But he's really good! But he's an injury risk!
by GiantPain on Dec 5, 2011 8:16 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Winter lines - Monday 12/5
No updates because only 1 game was scheduled and played yesterday, and no Giants were involved. That was easy.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Winter lines - Tuesday 12/6
Hector Sanchez had another monster day at the plate down in Venezuela – slamming 2 HRs and knocking in 3 runs. The longer he keeps up his torrid pace the more optimistic I become that he may be much closer to being a productive major league hitter than I thought as little as 30 days ago. It’s possible that Hector may be able to supply a much-needed boost to the Giants moribund offense after a mid-season callup next year. Here’s another feel good stat:
Hector is batting .449/.487/.720/1.207 with 7 HRs in 107 ABs versus RHP this offseason.
Gregor Blanco is another guy that may end up saving Sabean from his crappy offseason trades and free agent signings by providing a shot in the arm for the offense in SF at some point during the 2012 season. His previous professional stats don’t look very promising, but if his eye-popping stats this offseason are signalling the fact that he’s finally found the secret of success at the plate then he could end up taking over CF from Angel Pagan at some point in 2012 (a la Andres Torres in 2009).
Hector Sanchez: 3-5, 1 1B, 2 HR, 3 RBI >>> .385/.434/.631/1.065 and 8 HR in 37 games
Gregor Blanco: 1-4, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SB >>> OPS over 1.000, 38 BBs and 13 SBs in only 42 games
Ehire Adrianza: 1-2, 1 1B, 1 K
Jean Machi: 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, GO/AO=3/1
O. Matos: 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 K, GO/AO=2/1
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Tyler Graham and Justin Christian haven’t played in the Mexican League for about 1 week. I’m guessing that they’ve both shut it down and have returned to the States for a much-deserved time off for the December holidays.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
SSS called.
He wants his mediocre production and journeyman prospects back.
3 vet Giants back in the fold
According to Joe Ritzo:
Minor league free agents that have recently re-signed with the San Francisco Giants include former San Jose players Jose Flores, Chuck Lofgren, Wilmin Rodriguez and Craig Whitaker.
We already knew about Rodriguez, but the other 3 signings are new news.
Just to summarize, the following minor league free agents have signed with other teams:
Alex Hinshaw, Darren Ford, Sharlon Schoop
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Not by me.
2010 World Series Champions!
Adopted 'nephew' to the ever avuncular and always awesome Jon Miller
by Johnny Disaster on Dec 7, 2011 8:43 AM PST up reply actions
The vroom will be, maybe not the whole package.
How can you not look back fondly on some of the highlights? I think Grant had a great post with some vids earlier this year.
Admittedly, he has had a few entertaining highlights, and he seems like a nice enough guy, but he really was not a good player. He also only managed a 66% steal rate with the Giants, so I’m not going to miss the vroom much either.
2010 World Series Champions!
Adopted 'nephew' to the ever avuncular and always awesome Jon Miller
by Johnny Disaster on Dec 8, 2011 5:16 PM PST up reply actions
Winter lines - Wed. 12/7
Gregor Blanco reached base in all 4 of his PAs yesterday. He has been the epitome of a leadoff hitter down in Venezuela this offseason, averaging nearly 1 BB per game played and reaching base in nearly half of his PAs. I wonder what his D is like in CF? The other notable performance was supplied by Cameron Lamb down in Australia. Cam pitched a perfect 3.1 innings in relief – striking out 3 of the 10 hitters he faced and getting the save.
Hector Sanchez: 1-4, 1 1B, 1 K
Gregor Blanco: 2-2, 2 1B, 2 BB, 1 CS >>> .340/.492/.527/1.019 with 40 BBs in 43 games
Ehire Adrianza: 0-2
Johnny Monell: 1-3, 1 1B, 1 BB
Alex Burg: 1-4, 1 1B, 2 K, RBI
Cam Lamb: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 K
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
If Blanco keeps walking, he’ll never make the Giants.
Still the father of two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum.
"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be." - John Wooden
You can't walk off the continent!
Well, unless he wants to walk through Colombia and then go over the isthmus with Panama and walk all the way up through Mexico to Scottsdale.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Rule 5 Major League draft results
As expected, it was a very underwhleming draft this year. Only 10 guys got picked and the Giants didn’t draft anybody – or lose anybody.
The minor league portion of the draft will be today and I could see the Giants taking somebody.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Here’s the major league results:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/2011-rule-5-draft-results.html
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Baggs is reporting that the Gaints took RHP Luis Rojas from the Mets in the Triple-A phase. He’s a 22 year old relief pitcher from the Dominican Republic who pitched in the Sally the past 2 seasons, so the Giants got to see him in person several times:
Luis Rojas: RHP (5’10", 185), DOB=7/29/89
Stats-wise there’s not much to like about Rojas. He has a K/9 of around 6 and he walks as many guys as he stirkes out. Here’s the link to his milb.com stat page:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=521060
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Mike Newman likes the pick:
Posted this on the main thread, but prospect stuff tends to get lost there.
Luis Rojas is one of the hardest throwers I’ve ever had the opportunity to scout. This is not to say he’s a particularly good prospect, but kudos to the Giants organization for taking a shot on a guy the Mets organization really never gave a legitimate shot to.
As somebody who watched the Savannah Sand Gnats roll out reliever-after-reliever with fastballs upper-80s and no upside, a young righty pumping 96 MPH should have been granted consistent innings and the opportunity to work through his serious command issues. It’s more than likely Rojas will amount to little in the end, but he was all but guaranteed that outcome until yesterday.
Thanks
I figured that Rojas had to be a power arm for the Giants to take him even with his obvious control issues.
It’s good to remember that all the Giants have to do is keep him on the Fresno roster all season in order to retain him for the future. It should be easy to carry him with what will likely be a very strong pen in Fresno next year (Hembree, Correa, Otero, Edlefsen, Matos, Rodriguez, Machi, …).
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
The guy on the bucs site
who did a rule 5 draft guide previewed almost all the guys drafted. He didn’t preview the one guy the bucs actually drafted, kind of funny. Mets got Rheiner Cruz peeled off as well as this guy Rojas. When do we get to peel off our ptbnl on the Torres/Ram Ram trade?
Winter lines - Thursday 12/8
The Giants’ dynamic duo down in Venezuela both had strong days at the plate on Thursday. Hector and Gregor both had 2 hits in 4 ABs, including a double and 2 RBI for Hector. On the mound, Jean Machi had another strong relief outing – retiring all 3 hitters he faced to get the save. Machi has had a very strong offseason, with an elite groundball ratio of 4.4 and a K/BB of 7.5, and I think that he’ll be given a chance to compete with Runzler in spring training for the final major league bullpen spot. It’s a SSS and his advanced age (turns 30 in February) and minor league record are strikes against him, but you can always find a spot in the pen for a guy that throws strikes and gets a ton of groundballs.
Hector Sanchez: 2-4, 1 1B, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Gregor Blanco: 2-4, 2 1B, 2 K
Ehire Adrianza: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 K
Jean Machi: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, Save, GO/AO=2/0 >>> season GO/AO=4.4 in 22 innings
Alex Burg: (GAME 1) 0-3, 1 K, RBI, Sac Fly
Alex Burg: (GAME 2) 2-3, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 HBP
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
typo? no walk for Gregor Blanco?
if he makes the bigs he can bleach his hair and be Whitey Two.
Marvin Barrios, come on I'll show you your bedroom. Don't stay on the phone too long to Panama, please.
Maybe we can put both Blanco and Hector Sanchez on the 25 man roster and only take up 1 spot by telling the league that we signed Hector Blanco!
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
I'm trying to decide how encouraging these Venezuelan numbers are...
Sanchez’ line in AAA was really disappointing, after such a strong showing in the Cal. These VZL numbers are eyepopping, however. How much of this is SSS, how much is the league just having a lot of variability in talent, and how much is Hector making adjustments from AAA and recovering his A+ swing?
Blanco, otoh, looks encouraging, but he would’ve been blocked by Pagan anyways. His talent sets are weird for a 4th OF’er. Pinch walker, anyone?
He's 21
Putting up good numbers in Fresno would be gravy. Just being in Fresno is ahead of schedule. I don’t think the VSL is as good as AAA, but it’s not terrible enough that him hitting well is meaningless. He could spend a couple years in Fresno to get in the groove and still be a young major leaguer after that.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
He turned 22 about 3 weeks ago, but your point remains valid – especially for a catcher. I hope the Giants don’t mess up his development by putting him on the major league roster out of ST and then only giving him limited PT just because he’s might already be better than Stewart. Hector needs to catch every day down in Fresno for the first couple of months (at a minimum) and learn how to hit advanced offspeed piching.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Agree 100%
It would be a terrible idea if they made him the backup catcher out of ST. If he gets a midseason call-up b/c he’s killing the ball in Fresno, that would be awesome, but only if he will be starting at least 3/4 of the time (say if Huff and Pill played themselves out of the starting lineup and Buster and Hector could share 1B/C duties).
Pitching is down in all the winter leagues this offseason. For a variety of reasons, there just wasn’t many good pitchers around this offseason. I would say that the pitching in the VWL this season would put it somewhere between A+ and AA – but closer to AA. Still, IMO, you have to give strong credence to Hector’s numbers because he’s been consistently raking the entire time, and he’s outperforming a bunch of major league hitters and highly-rated minor leaguers. His k-rate is a thing to be cautious of, though. I wouldn’t put a lot of emphasis on Hector’s AAA stats this summer. It was a SSS and he was being moved between SJ, Fresno and SF over a 3 month period. His scouting reports say that he has the tools to hit for average and power in the majors (certainly above average for a catcher) and to be an above average to plus defensive catcher. His ability to make consistent contact, to remain in good physical shape, and to remain focused for an entire season are the main question marks.
As for Blanco, his VWL stats are much more in doubt due to his advanced age, past results, and the streaky nature of his offseason. It’s hard to imagine that Boch will give him a real shot to make the major league roster out of ST, but he could get a mid-season call-up if he goes down to Fresno and continues to get on base at an advaced rate.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Thanks for all the great replies
From everyone in this thread…
Next question: Does his VWL performance change his ranking on people’s top-10 charts? If so, from what to what?
Good question. I already had him at #6 on my list, but numbers 4 through 7 (Surkamp, Crick, Hector, Joseph) were all pretty much even in my mind. I have to say that Hector’s being able to repeat the great offensive numbers he put up in 2+ months in the Cal League this season does make me want to jump him up over Surkamp and Crick to #4. I’ll have to think a bit more and decide when we start the CPL voting next week.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Yah, I want to move him up on my list, too.
I had:
Brown,
Panik,
Surkamp,
ToJo,
Crick,
Peguero,
Sanchez,
Susac,
Hembree,
Osich
I want to jump him up to #5 now.
Hmmm
I already really like Sanchez, so I don’t know if I would move him up anymore than he already is. I think I would have had him between 4 and 7 already, and now I would put him in at #5. I’ve said before that I believe within a few years he will be a starting C for somebody, and a good one at that. I do believe he will be eventually traded and will get back a good player/prospect at a position of need, either a SS or SP. Of course, we might just keep him since a BHH catcher with good defense and a good bat is a pretty nice thing to have.
My top 10:
1. Gary B
2. Panik
3. ToJo
4. Hembree (BA’s ranking influenced me. I think he will be a pretty valuable player, and pretty soon, especially considering how much closers are getting paid)
5. Hector
6. Susac
7. Surkamp (I think he will be at least a good #5, which is a pretty valuable player, but I just happen to like the potential of the guys above him more. Hembree will be worth less in WAR in all likelihood, but will save us far more money—we wont need a multi-year guaranteed contract for Willy or some other “proven closer.” #5 SP are pretty easy to come up with, although having one very cheap from the farm is nice. Meanwhile, even a good-to-very-good up-the-middle regular at CF, C, and 2B is much more valuable.)
8. Blackburn (could actually imagine him being #1 by the end of next year)
9. Crick (this guy could too)
10. Ehire or Peguero. Can’t quite pick one. Also tempted to put Mejia here.
Ok, yes, I will move him up.
I would switch him with Hembree and put him at #4. Given that they are both about the same distance from being on the big league club and how much more valuable a catcher is than a reliever (even an impact reliever), I have to move him up a slot.
I really can’t imagine having my view of a prospect affected by winter league play.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Why is that?
Considering you have two prospects which are basically neck and neck. You’ve flip-flopped them in rankings several times and think they both have equal potential moving forward. If one of them dominates in 150 winter PA and the other flops in 100 winter PA, you wouldn’t use that to place the former above the latter? You would still go into the next season thinking they had equal potential as prospects?
For several reasons, but the biggest one is that the level of competition is way too variable in the winter leagues. That’s true between leagues, but it’s also true within leagues and even within the roster of individual teams (which changes all the time). I don’t think winter leagues come close to ST in terms of level of competition and they’re generally no longer (shorter for most players). There’s also lots of ancilliary issues: is the player going to a foreign country or his home, how tired out are they from the long season, etc etc etc.
No in answer to your question those 250 winter league PAs would have no impact on me at all. Without Fla around I wouldn’t even be noticing them and I barely am at that. It’s a total non-factor to me. (the stats that is, I can see where it can be beneficial to players development wise).
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Those are good points
But how can you discount the importance of the value that the FO puts on winter league performance?
For crissakes, they’re given Brandon Crawford the starting job in part based on his AFL performance (which is insane, in my opinion although I do prefer they start him than pay for a veteran who would be equally mediocre).
Hector, Belt, and Crawford are all looked upon better by the Org based on their winter league performance, and are more likely to play in SF as a result.
Isn’t proximity to the majors and chances of playing time fairly important to a prospect’s value? And while it may not be fully rational to do so, I do believe that the Giants organization knows far, far more about all of these guys (and about evaluating talent in general) than I ever will. If they like what they see, that means more than any of our opinions.
Proof of your point:
"We’re not ruling out that he might choose to come back under a separate deal," Evans said. "For the time being, we felt with what (Chris) Stewart accomplished last year, and still having another year (until arbitration eligibility), that was an advantage for us. And then there’s the emergence of Hector Sanchez and the great Winter Ball he’s had (in Venezuela). It gave us the confidence we have some depth."
from Baggs.
The Giants FO clearly gives weight to winter ball. If he had tanked in VWL, we might have seen a backup C signed via FA.
Sometimes it seems like the Giants are the Inspector Clouseau of player development.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
I don't care as long as they keep finding diamonds
Preferably on their fingers.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
All due respect...
Are you serious?
I’m sure you in some part evaluated Hector based on his performance in the PCL, right? Or if he had hit in the PCL similar to how he hit in the Cal League or VWL, you would have thought more highly of him, right?
He had 153 ABs in the PCL, 149 in the VWL so far. I don’t think his VWL numbers can be completely discounted as they have come over 42 games (or 1/3 a normal minor league season or 2/3 that of short-season ball, which influences our rankings of younger prospects). Moreover, as I stated below, I have to give credit when the sample size is this large and:
1) The player in question is without doubt the best player in the league. In other words, if WAR were tallied for the league, he would be likely be ahead of everybody else. Actually, scratch that. He’s the likely front-runner for the MVP of the league. Point stands: Hector has been playing better than everybody else in the VWL. Dominance = the best thing possible.
2) The player is at least age appropriate, if not significantly younger than his competition. While I don’t know the average age of the VWL, going by the average age range of most players whose bios I have checked, Hector, having just turned 22, is 3-8 years younger than most of the guys playing everyday.
And finally, I object to (what I perceive as) derision in your comment as it doesn’t quite fit the reasoning I gave.
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2011/10/16/2494376/mcc-community-prospect-list-2011-revisited#80482528
Here I gave a wild and long-winded ranking and explanation, with my top 5 as: Brown, Panik, Tojo, Susac, and Hector.
So I was already really high on him, like I said above. I moved Hembree up in part b/c BA was so high on him and because his MILB numbers actually look much better than most elite closing prospects we’ve seen recently, including Kimbrel and Wilson. I also realized I was penalizing Hembree as a prospect for being a reliever even though he is one of the most likely prospects we have to be an effective big leaguer. Also, the FA $$$ being given out to closers this winter also influenced my ranking, as having a guy from the farm fill that role will keep the team from overspending on it.
But I gave more thought to the issue and moved Hector back to #4, dropping Susac because he hasn’t played pro yet (but could easily be #1 by the end of next year), and my reasoning was that:
1) Any guy who can be a big league catcher is worth more than even the best relievers
and, this is where his VWL performance comes in to play, 2) He is nearly as close to the big leagues as Hembree is. In fact, because he has played in SF, he is closer as it stands. His MVP-level performance in the VWL no doubt has impressed the Giants FO to the point where Fla-Giant and I (and others) both HOPE that he doesn’t get put on the 25-man going into the season because it would hurt his development as a starting big league catcher. Bochy very recently had complementary words about Hector and his likelihood of making an impact soon and the value of him being a BHH.
So, yes, his VWL number influenced my rankings (slightly), but in larger part because they are likely to influence how quickly the FO may move Hector into a big-league role. He is very close to providing big league value. That’s the whole point of being a prospect. Hopefully he can do so while being an everyday player.
The point stands: Hector, Hembree, and Surkamp are the three guys closing to the 25 man. Hector has the highest ceiling of all three in my opinion.
Well, I apologize for the derision and I certainly have no issue with your rankings of any of those players (though I wouldn’t put them in the same order). But I did want to state my feelings plainly: I wouldn’t ever consider performance in a winter league in a prospect ranking and the reason for that to me is pretty simple: a significant+ percentage of the players that they’re competing against in winter leagues aren’t what we would consider professionals — they aren’t playing (currently) in US pro baseball leagues. This is why I said above that I don’t think it’s as worthwhile as spring training — at least everybody a player faces in ST is a US pro baseball player, and usually from the upper levels. This just isn’t true in winter leagues, so to me it’s just best to ignore it.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t be re-evaluating your position on the Giants prospects or that you shouldn’t put them in your preferred order (my feeling is that the order of the Top 10 doesn’t matter that much, it’s pretty clear who the top group is and I don’t think any of them are that far separated from each other so the specific ranking isn’t that important).
As for the question you raised above:
But how can you discount the importance of the value that the FO puts on winter league performance?…Isn’t proximity to the majors and chances of playing time fairly important to a prospect’s value? And while it may not be fully rational to do so, I do believe that the Giants organization knows far, far more about all of these guys (and about evaluating talent in general) than I ever will. If they like what they see, that means more than any of our opinions.
I guess I agree and disagree. I don’t think that getting a chance to play in the majors is as important as: do I believe this player is going to succeed in the majors once they get their chance? If we look back in time, should it have affected one’s view of say Lance Niekro or Dan Ortmeier when the Giants announced that they were getting starting shots, or should I have (as I did) look at their career numbers, shrug, and say “this is going to go well?”
And while i agree with you that the Giants do know their own players much better than I do and their views should be taken into account, there’s also the issue that I don’t really know how much of what they say publicly reflects their true feelings. Do they really believe Brandon Crawford is a good prospect or do they look and him and see pretty much the same thing, but then look at their budget and their system and say: “well this is the best we got so we may as well pump in up in the press and start praying”?
Exigency is always much much more on their minds when looking at prospects (and players in general) then it has to be for me when evaluating a prospect. I was watching the Woody Allen documentary on PBS not long ago and at one point he was talking about how much more he likes writing his screenplays then he does actually making his movies, because when writing them everything is perfect and beautiful, while the process of filming them is “my god I’ll prostitute myself in every way possible just to survive this horrible experience and get back home.”
Having some familiarity with that process I understand exactly what he means: production always ends up a unending series of problem-solving and typically they’re problems to which nearly every conceivable answer is awful and that’s what you do to get your product finished and out there. I imagine roster construction for the Giants is a lot like that. I don’t think they’re as influenced by Crawford’s AFL (which, by the way, I also don’t think of as a winter league) performance as they are just hemmed in by the facts on the ground as they say.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Thank you for your reply
And of course, I do have a lot of respect for you and your opinions regarding prospects. Your post about teenagers in the Sally league and your obsession with contact rates for hitters have been influential in the development of my own opinions regarding prospects.
I understand your point with the Winter Leagues being highly variable in terms of the level of competition. I am impressed with Hector though because he has been, from start to finish, the best player in the league. And this is one of my funny biases: the guys who play like the most valuable player in their league or on their team get a bit of a bonus in my mind. I think dominance is the best thing possible, so even if a guy is age appropriate and expected to do well in his league like Gary Brown, I still think a bit more highly of him and see him as a future impact player because he was easily the most valuable player over the course of the year in the Cal League. Similar with Adam Duvall in Augusta, although his age and lack of pedigree are issues.
As for Brandon Crawford, I do not think the Giants really see anything different than us. His bat is slow and they know it too. But I was impressed when he hit a 95MPH fastball for a triple against Colorado, and that gives me some hope. But I think more importantly is that even with a slow bat, it should play up because he has shown a good batting eye and good contact rates at the MLB level.
Im inclined to think the Giants see him in a similar way as I do. SS is a wasteland, and to get a guaranteed upgrade would cost a lot of money as only Jimmy Rollins, Rafael Furcal, and Jose Reyes seemed like sure bets to outperform him. His defense is good enough to provide some positive value even if his bat is terrible, and that’s better than paying $2-7m for a guy with only slightly greater upside. Also, if he can manage to hit near league average or even just hit 40 XBH (25 2B, 3 3B, 12HR) with a .300 or so OBP, that is better than most of the alternatives available, especially when he will only cost $500k each of the next three years.
Yeah, and Brandon does look like he can sit on a curve ball and do damage to it, and his walk and contact rates were good last year so I can see why they’d think he could hold his head above water, especially if they’ve ruled out paying for anything really impactful at the position.
I like your notion of the importance of being a dominant player. I’ll mull that over for awhile. Though I’d still like to see that league that someone’s dominated be a high level of top competition. So dominating a highly competitive league (say in Division1 college ranks) is more of a plus than dominating some NAIA league.
Anyway, I’m off for some more positivity training. I think it’s really going to help me survive the winter.
Wednesday is the day of Baggs’ Giants chat on BA, so I’m sure he’s going to get peppered on the relative merits of the three catchers and some of these other issues.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
My "dominance" fetish comes from also being a fan of college football
The NFL is filled with the biggest, meanest, fastest, and strongest men around, so finding guys who can play against that kind of incredible competition before they have faced anything of the same caliber requires a bit of projection, and thus the guys who play like men amongst boys at the college level—or in other words, can win through sheer dominance of the competition—are the most attractive prospects.
So that’s where the interest in part lies. But of course, Baseball and Football are about as different as any two sports can be. But I think there is a comparable in terms of the hitter/batter battle where one who has far more natural talent than the other can beat him despite having less polish. However, since baseball is often a mental game, I am more inclined to believe in players who show that they are of the mind determined to win and to be the best.
(Side note: I have some feeling that the Giants might be drafting players with this personality type, although saying so is completely speculative. But Gary Brown, Joe Panik, Buster Posey, MadBum, Timmy, and Matt Cain are all extremely competitive guys whose lives have revolved around baseball and their desire to be the absolute best at it from a very young age. None have a “showboat” or “attention-seeking” personality, and seem to care about little other than playing baseball and getting better at it. Selection bias of course—these guys generally have been the best as they’ve gone up the ladder. So this isn’t especially verifiable, but I do still have the feeling that the Giants have lately spent their 1st round picks on a certain personality type: gamers with talent and a track record of maximizing it).
I guess I like to look at “expressed dominance” in a league with an appropriate level of competition as indicating a couple things:
1) that the player has a far greater amount of ability than most of his competition, or if he is at a similar level of talent, he is maximizing his compared to the competition;
2) that the player sees himself as dominant in comparison to the competition (or at least that he should be) and will work to rise to the level of dominance.
3) the player is dominant without major deficiency. For example, Gary Brown was probably the most valuable player in the Cal League, although Jedd Gyorko was a better hitter. The difference is that Gary played an elite defensive CF while Gyorko played a terrible 3B and has revealed himself as a great bat without a position. Conclusion: Gary is a more complete baseball player.
So I see it as a mix of personality and physical ability. I think Bryce Harper is the perfect case in point. He dominates physically and expects himself to, although his immaturity and perceived entitlement is a bit of a red flag in my mind to maximizing his talent as he transitions to the pros. Meanwhile, Mike Stanton was light years ahead of the competition in his minor league career as well. On the pitching side, Madison Bumgarner’s minor league career is similar too. These guys have tremendous ability and are ferocious competitors: they were men amongst boys, and their performance revealed as much. I feel like Stanton and Bumgarner have been able to make the transition into being MLB impact players by having dominant talent and being fearless in imposing that talent.
So I like to see dominance any time a player is at a level where it should be possible for him to dominate, as long as he shouldn’t be expected to dominate (like the 24 year olds in the Sally in their 2nd or 3rd pro season—don’t project much for them).
While few if any talents can ever do that at the big league level—vintage Pujols and Bonds aside—it is a trait I look for at other levels. Does this kid see himself as the best and will he grit his teeth and work and sweat to be the best? I’m inclined to favor those kind of players over the toolsy guys that scouts project to realize their potential later.
And that is something I liked in Hector while he was in the Cal League, and now with what he’s doing in the VWL. These guys in the VWL are older for the most part, but Hector has more natural talent than many of them, and is forcing his will upon them as a result. I see a kid with a lot of very good tools in Hector, and, as stated before, his primary red flags are concerns about his work ethic/body type/etc. Seeing him take on the attributes of a dominant player is exactly what I wanted from him. Moreover, that Pablo had some of the same concerns and then turned the switch gives me a little bit of hope. If Hector is going to be an impact player, I’d expect to see him do what he is doing now: showing grit, determination, and talent as he realizes that his opportunity to impress and earn a chance at a major league career is now. He also looks like he had dropped excess weight in those photos Fla-Giant posted compared to how he looked during his big-league call-ups.
Of course, I do not consider “dominance” to be of prime importance over other factors in prospect evaluation. It’s just something I see as a small bonus for most guys; Gary Brown, Tojo’s 2nd half, and Adam Duvall’s seasons all earned them a bit of favoritism in my mind due to their ‘dominant’ performances. I wouldn’t go about making wagers on it though.
I have to think that, SSS and all (153PA)
does mean something when a player is 1. Head and shoulders the best hitter in the league and 2. Very, very young compared to the average age of the league. I think we can assume that Hector is pretty talented and advanced for his age.
His VWL numbers are outrageous: .380/.427/.613. It’s not the same as if he raked after his promotion to Fresno, but I have to feel optimistic that he should do well there next year.
Yeah
Hector’s certainly a very nice prospect, and his similarities to Pablo are rather striking. Of course, we can’t expect lightning to hit twice, but the fact that he’s shown the ability to not only hit, but hit for power and get on base, as well as possess the tools to be a true catcher, make me feel good about his future. He’s still a couple years away from really contributing IMO, but if he manages to become 50% of the player he could he’ll be a very strong backup C or a great trade chip as a starter. I do think he has All-Star potential, though I doubt he’ll get there.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
I don’t really expect him to be as good as Pablo, at least hitting wise. But given his age, performance, position, and lack of red flags other than his body type/perceived work ethic, he’s a pretty damn good prospect in my mind. I think it’s possible that he could put up a 5WAR season, but I wouldn’t count on it.
I think if he were to be just a good regular at C he would be extremely valuable. Say 5 runs on D and a 110 OPS are possible; that’s worth a lot given how bad the C that most teams run out is.
I think in a year or so, he will realistically be the best non-essential trade chip we have, and we will probably have to use him for something.
Maybe when Jurickson Profar is knocking at the door of the Rangers starting lineup, Sanchez might be able to get us Elvis Andrus.
Of course, this assumes that Buster will still be an all-star/franchise catcher going into 2013 and beyond, and that one or both of Susac and Joseph look like strong options to make the big league club in 2013 or 2014.f
Winter lines - Friday 12/9
Gregor Blanco got 2 hits in his first 2 ABs to raise his average above .350 – and then was taken out of the game in the 5th inning. In reading the game recap, there was no obvious play that pointed to an injury issue, but the opposing team did hit a lot of balls to the gaps in the first 5 innings (and had already scored 10 runs) so we’ll have to keep an eye on Gregor for now. Jean Machi gave up his first run (on a walk-off solo HR) in a long time. He entered the game in the bottom of the 9th with the scored tied, 2 runners on base and 2 outs and proceeded to get a strike out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 10th, he struck out the first batter he faced, but gave up the HR to the 2nd batter. That’s the life of a closer – always on the edge.
Hector Sanchez: 1-4, 1 1B, 2 K
Gregor Blanco: 2-2, 1 1B, 1 3B, RBI
Max Ramirez: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 K, RBI
Jean Machi: 0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 K. GO/AO=2/0
JC Perez: 1-3, 1 1B, 1 BB, 1 K, RBI, SB
O. Matos: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 K, GO/AO=0/2
Alex Burg: 1-5, 1 HR, 2 K, RBI
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Your GO/AO confuse me
How did Machi get two K’s and two groundouts in 0.2 IP? And how did Matos get only 1 K and 2 AO in 1.2 IP?
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
2013 1B/OF
According to FLA’s other thread the 2013 Giants will need a starting OF. Assuming Belt is flexible enough to play either corner OF or 1B, is there anyone in the org who might be ready to start 1B/OF in 2013?
just to live in the past
I used to have Thomas Neal slotted
Marvin Barrios, come on I'll show you your bedroom. Don't stay on the phone too long to Panama, please.
by foothillsfan on Dec 11, 2011 10:31 AM PST up reply actions
I had him slotted for 2012
I haz a sad
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of Cabrera.
I don’t guess that was likely to have a happy ending for you even if he was still around, Lyle.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
Kieschnick can play RF and 1B if his bat wakes up. Frankie Pegs and/or Gary Brown may be ready to take over in CF by then, letting Pagan (or Melky) take over in LF or RF. It’s also possible, although not highly likely, that either Hector or Tommy Boy will be ready by 2013 – in which case they could be a part of a C & 1B position share with Buster. Finally, even longer shots in 2013 could see Jarrett Parker finding his batting stroke and taking over in RF; Ricky Oropesa doing his best BBelt imitation and being ready to take over 1B after only 1 full year in the minors; or Chris Dominguez being moved over to 1B to get his power bat in the lineup.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Parker didn't hit that badly
He just needs to make more contact or hit for more power to become a pretty nice player. The Isolated OBP is already insane.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
I won't say I've given up on Parker
But I have little faith he will be a major league regular.
A 25.2% K-rate and a 102 wRC+ in the Cal League as a 22 year old college player is a pretty big red flag. His walk rate, defense, and power/speed potential is really nice, but unless he makes an adjustment to his swing or develops insane power, it is hard for me to believe in him as even a future big-league platoon bat, let alone become a regular. Given his pedigree and age, he should have been a much better than league average bat in the cal league to project him to succeed further up the ladder. It’s possible that he changes his stance or some minor tweak in his swing to reduce his K-rate, but as long as it stays above 20% with an iso less than .200, I have a hard, hard time believing in him.
And I have defended Alex Burg as a sleeper because as a C/corner utility bat with HUGE power, his K-rate is much more acceptable in my eyes since he wouldnt be a starter and most of his value would be in plugging holes and being able to hit for some power. In other words, a lousy avg with a decent OBP + good power is more acceptable if he’s your backup catcher/power bat off the bench. Of course, this also assumes that he maintains his power stroke as he advances (> .200 iso) and can play at least below-average but better-than-terrible defense at C. I also have some hope that his K-rate was in part influence by his almost complete lack of ABs vs quality competition for nearly two years due to a knee injury and thus hope for some positive regression closer to a 20% than a 30% k-rate as he advances.
With both of his teammates (Hector and Gregor) having rare hitless days (Gregor didn’t even get a BB), Ehire Adrianza took up some of the offensive slack by getting 2 hits in 4 ABs – including his 1st HR of the season and 2 RBI. After a hot start through the first 2 weeks of the VWL season (while playing about 4 times a week), Adrianza has struggled to keep his batting average up and retain his hitting stroke while only getting about 1 start per week during a 6-7 week stretch. He’s starting to get more regular playing time the past week, so let’s hope he ends on a hot streak and uses that as a springboard for a good 2012 season in Richmond or Fresno.
Hector Sanchez: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K
Gregor Blanco: 0-3, 1 K, Sac Bunt
Ehire Adrianza: 2-4, 1 1B, 1 HR, 1 K, 2 RBI
Max Ramirez: 1-5, 1 1B, 1 K
JC Perez: 0-4, 2 K
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
CPL voting
I am now off for winter break from school, so I can start the Community Prospect List voting whenever you guys want. The previously agreed upon date was this Wednesday, 12/14, but since we have the BA top 10 list already we could probably start earlier if we wanted. Thoughts?
ASAP
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
Winter lines - Sunday 12/11
Once again all the action was down in Venezuela. Gregor Blanco rebounded from a rare off-day at the plate on Saturday by reaching base in 3 of his 4 PAs – including a single and a triple. Jean Machi also had a good bounce-back game with another strong scoreless outing. His ability to throw strikes and induce groundballs at an elite rate has been a constant this offseason.
Hector Sanchez: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Gregor Blanco: 2-3, 1 1B, 1 3B, 1 BB
Ehire Adrianza: 0-2, 1 RBI, Sac Fly
Jean Machi: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 1 BB, GO/AO=3/0
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Blanco has definitely not hurt his chances at 4th OF if they decide Belt needs seasoning. Nice to not have him on the 40 man yet. You commented on Sabean’s not being a long-term thinker in another thread Fla, when I look at some of his 40 man moves, I tend to lean that way myself. He reacts to things, throws stuff against the wall (hey sometimes necessary) and generally favors mix and match. Still, some of his best moves are these types of players so I think we should look at Blanco pretty closely. I saw some threads on Royals Review at the start of the season, they seemed to like him and his defense well enough. Lots of making fun of his choke-up job on the bat too.
OT
Baggs just tweeted that Ishikawa signed a minor league deal with the Brewers. I wish him luck (not against the Giants) and think that he has a good chance to hook on as a reserve with the Brewers.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
+1
and hey, he has a world series ring, and a pretty memorable, possibly series saving, at bat from the NLCS from his time with the Orange and Black.
Good luck Ishi, I shall remember you fondly.
Mr. Flibble is very cross.
You know with the Aramis Ramirez signing, saving them from the putrid production they got out of 3B last year, maybe they’ll give Ishi a shot to man 1B for them! I too, will always be rooting for Ishi, though I’m still at a loss to figure out why his power vanished so thoroughly without a trace upon reaching the major leagues. Used it all up in that one ST I guess.
MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!
I wonder if they move Casey Magahee (sp?) to 1B now that AmRam is signed?
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Winter lines - Monday 12/12
No games scheduled in any league on Monday.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Winter lines - Tuesday 12/13
The VWL and DWL are both on a 3-day break and both held their All-Star Games on Tuesday. I’m trying to get some info on how the Giants performed in the VWL ASG. Only 1 Giant prospect played an official game yesterday – and he only got in the game as a pinch-hitter. Monell hasn’t gotten very much PT in Puerto Rico (Pudge Rodriguez is the starting catcher on his team), but he has held his own at the plate:
.293/.356/.512/.868 in 41 ABs >>> 7 of his 12 hits have been for extra-bases (6 doubles and 1 HR)
Johnny Monell: 0-1
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Monell's always interested me
Too bad he can’t play defense – otherwise he could be a decent backup C for a couple years.
Seth Rosin can hit the side of a barn with a baseball. From space.
Giants baseball: We're stupid enough to WIN that (TM)
Max Ramirez signed a minor league deal with the Royals
He’s dead to me now.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Winter lines - Wed. 12/14
Johnny Monell was the sole Giant in action for the 2nd day in a row. He went hitless but did manage 1 BB. He also was subjected to the ignominy of being replaced by a pinch-runner who is almost 15 years older than him – a 40 years man and a veteran of 20 years catching in the majors.
Johnny Monell: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on McCovey Chronicles
Related FanShots on McCovey Chronicles
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Eric Hosmer redefines the Baltimore chop with infield double (Video)
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
