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The scary collision between OF Starling Marte and SS Erik Gonzalez last night has led to the call-ups of switch-hitters: the Pirates first round draft pick of 2014, Cole Tucker, and the Giants’ second round draft pick of 2016, Bryan Reynolds, whom they traded to the Pirates (along with Kyle Crick) for Andrew McCutchen last offseason.
Could the Giants have used someone like Bryan Reynolds right now instead of, say, Gerardo Parra? Yes! Of course! But he was the only way they were going to acquire Andrew McCutchen, and the Giants really needed to acquire Andrew McCutchen after a 98-loss season in 2017. They definitely, absolutely, had to try to refresh the roster that had lost 98 games instead of radically rethink or overhaul it. 100%. There should be no regrets for that strategy.
Reynolds had 18 hits in 13 games in Triple-A Indianapolis, including 5 home runs (yes, they’ve really changed the make of the baseball at all levels) and a 7:11 walks to strikeout ratio, good enough for an OPS of 1.181 — yes, small sample sizes and all. He had an .819 OPS in Double-A last year.
Meanwhile, the 22-year old Tucker has had a nice start to his Triple-A season (.985 OPS) after a lackluster 2018 in Double-A (.689 OPS). He’ll be leading off for the Pirates today:
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 20, 2019
Here’s our lineup for today, presented by @Honda.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/TnrheOZ6uM
Tucker did have five successful steals in six attempts in Triple-A in his 13 games so far this year and 131 in 177 attempts (74% success rate), so watch out, Derek Holland!
Meanwhile, Jameson Taillon, the #2 overall pick of the 2010 draft really did make that big step forward last year. At age 26, he pitched 191 innings, with two complete games (1 shutout), a 3.46 FIP (3.20 ERA), and a 179:46 strikeouts to walk ratio. Great stuff. These Giants are doomed:
RF — Steven Duggar
LF — Gerardo Parra
C — Buster Posey
1B — Brandon Belt
3B — Evan Longoria
SS — Brandon Crawford
CF — Kevin Pillar
2B — Joe Panik
SP — Derek Holland
Same rules apply. If there’s a rain delay, this is the thread. If the game is postponed, this is the thread. If the game happens to be postponed, please consider turning this into a cooking thread, posting or requesting recipes. Why that? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just hungry.