Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/23/2016: D'Backs 10 Giants 6

Brandon Belt had another big day but the Giants pitchers got knocked around again and the D'Backs won by another football score.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 3, 2B, 2 HR(4).  BA= .448.  Belt continues to look like he is going to have a true breakout season.  Both dingers came off a pretty good lefty in Robbie Ray.

Jarrett Parker RF- 2 for 4.  BA= .228.   Can Parker put on a late push for the 5'th OF spot?

Ehire Adrianza 2B/3B- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .333.  The double was Adrianza's 6'th of the spring.  He made a couple of nifty plays at SS too.  He's had a better spring than Kelby Tomlinson although Kelby got a hit today also.  Could the Giants keep both?

Trevor Brown C- 1 for 3, HBP.  BA= .370.  Brown comes back from a forearm bruise from a backswing of a bat.  So, the kid is tough too?  I'm guessing that wins him a point or two with the manager.

Matt Cain RHP-  4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 6/0.  ERA= 12.15.  Cain got some swing throughs and his velocity was reportedly good too.   Both Peavy and Cain have said they aren't sequencing the way they would in a regular season game.  As I said at the beginning of spring training, the big thing for Cain is him making his starts and hitting his pitch counts.

Chris Heston RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 BB, GO/AO= 3/0.  ERA= 5.65.  The 3 runs scored on an inside-the-park HR by Jason Bourgois.  Baggs was critical of Gorkys Hernandez' effort in not cutting off the ball in the gap and indicated this was not the only time it's happened this spring.  No word on Bochy's or the coaches opinions.

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Marquee matchup tomorrow evening with Madison Bumgarner facing the Cubs and Jake Arrieta.

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Just a thought on the Giants poor pitching and great hitting.  I wouldn't get to down or up about either one.  I'm pretty sure that if the entire regular season was played in these parks and in these conditions, league average ERA would probably hover right around 5 if not higher.

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Dan Farnsworth has his Giants prospect list up over at Fangraphs and has some surprisingly positive, almost downright effusive things to say about the Giants farm system.  Turns out he is also impressed by the depth and number of potential breakouts/sleepers in the system.  Ch-ch-check it out!

7 comments:

  1. Tomilson hasn't looked like a guy fighting for a job, he's playing like one of the 25 man roster guys pacing themselves. I can't imagine they told him he had a slot going in though - even Duffy had to fight for a spot after a WS.

    Gorky has hustled like Blanco, but he's also goofed a few plays in CF, like Pagan at his worst. That said, Greenwald didn't think it was a fielding error.

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    1. From what I've seen, mostly in highlights, but some in game, Tomlinson is hustling. He's also played 3 positions -- 2B, SS & 3B that I've seen. OTOH, I was less than impressed by the effort Hernandez put in running down the in-the-park-homerun once it got past him; there was no way it was a 'hustle' or 'full effort.'

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    1. At the end of Farnsworth's prospect list is a section called Cistulli’s Guy in which someone named DJ Snelton is extolled. Giants have a Donald Snelton (2013 9th round) in A ball (no MI "J")-- I don't think he's mentioned in your exhaustive prospect list, not in the top 50 or honorable mention. I might have missed him.
      Is he a comer? Or a sleeper? Lots of K's so I assume he throws hard. A starter last year at Augusta and SJ.

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    2. Snelton was in my HM list Part I. Here's my brief summary: Tall lefty with upside. He's taking the Jason Forjet route as he got sent down to Augusta after pitching not terribly in San Jose. He should get another shot at San Jose in 2016.

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  3. Just because a player isn't getting results, he isn't fighting for a job?

    I assure you that Kelby wants a spot on the 25-man just as bad as EA. The beauty is that the coaches always look at the big picture- with a player like Kelby, they won't weight their decision too heavily on negative Spring performance in a certain area, realizing his bat just needs to come around. He's made some head turning plays at multiple positions this Spring. With his athleticism and especially his game changing speed, my money says he makes the Opening Day roster with ease.

    Jumping with judgment at every turn in a player's performance, up or down, doesn't take into account how difficult it is to play the game at a consistently high level.

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    1. I agree with you about Kelby's desire and hustle. I have not seen or heard of any issues there. I do think there is a legitimate competition between Kelby, Adrianza, Conor Gillaspie and Grant Green for 2 IF bench spots. Now, the Giants may well keep both Kelby and Adrianza, but if it comes down to a choice between them, I tend to believe Adrianza has pulled ahead based on performance.

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