Sunday, April 30, 2017

Game Wrap 4/30/2017: Padres 5 Giants 2

An error by SS Eduardo Nunez allowing the leadoff batter in the 9'th inning to reach base set up Mark Melancon's second Blown Save of the season to ruin a splendid start by Ty Blach.  Key Lines:

Buster Posey C- 3 for 5.  BA= .354.  Still no power from Posey.  The first 3 batters in the Giants lineup reached base a total of just twice in 15 PA's so there was nobody for Buster's basehits to drive in. Just not gonna score many runs when your 1-3 reach base just 2 out of 15 times.

Michael Morse 1B- 1 for 3, 2B.  BA= .200.  Morse doubled in Hunter Pence for the Giants second run of the game, which should have been enough.

Ty Blach LHP- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.53.  Blach has never been a big strikeout pitcher, even in the minor leagues.  His game is keeping hitters off balance and inducing weak contact.  Whether that will hold up after  the league has seen him a couple of times remains to be seen, but he's been wonderful so far.  Oh, and he can swing the bat too.  He drove in the first run with a SF.

Derek Law RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.92.  Law did his usual tightrope act allowing two hits but striking out the side.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, BS(2).  ERA= 2.79.  The leadoff error by Nunez was not Melancon's fault, but you expect more out of a $60 M closer.  Wouldn't you know it would be Hector Sanchez who drove in the run that reached on an error and himself with the tying run!

Hunter Strickland RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  Is it just me or has Boch kind of forgotten about Strickland?  He's been lights out!

George Kontos RHP- 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 6.30.  Kontos gave up the 3 run blast by Myers to put the game away for all practical purposes.

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The Giants conclude their Monthus Horribilis with another improbable loss.  If the same thing goes wrong every game, it's not hard to pinpoint the cause and fix it.  In the Giants case, they have found a new way to lose almost every game which makes it more difficult.  You can't change out the entire team!  The Giants finish April 7 games behind the Raging Rockies who lost to the Dangerous D'Backs who are just 0.5 games behind in 2'nd place.  The Bad Guys beat the Phillies 5-3 and are 2 games behind in 3'rd place while the Pesky Padres are in 4'th place, 5.5 games off the pace.

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I am sure the Giants are thrilled to be starting a new month but start it in Los Angeles with Johnny Cueto facing Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the series.

Down on the Farm: 4/29/2017

AAA  Tacoma Rainiers topped the Sacramento River Cats 7-4:

Orlando Calixte SS- 3 for 5, 2 HR(3).  BA= .264.
Mac Williamson LF- 2 for 5.  BA= .217.
Austin Slater RF- 2 for 4, SB(2).  BA= .288.
Dan Slania RHP- 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 9.17.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 1.93.
Kyle Crick RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 2.70.

Big day for Calixte but overall does not seem like an upgrade for the current Giants roster.  Well, maybe he could play CF instead of Drew Stubbs?  Slania had a great season last year but has struggled out of the gate in 2017.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels squeaked by the Hartford Yard Goats 5-4:

Slade Heathcott CF- 2 for 4, HR(3), BB.  BA= .282.
Miguel Gomez 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .315.
Matt Lujan LHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.60.
Carlos Alvarado RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.04.
DJ Snelton LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(4).  ERA= 3.24.

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High A  Stockton Ports defeated the San Jose Giants 8-4:

Dillon Dobson 2B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .352.
Matt Winn C- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .333.
Daniel Carbonell RF- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .259.
Yordy Cabrera RHP- 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.57.
Dusten Knight RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 1.10.

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Low A  Greenville Drive beat the Augusta Greenjackets 4-1:

NTSH.

Game Wrap 4/29/2017: Padres 12 Giants 4

After the Giants took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 5'th inning, I decided to take the dog for a walk.  When I returned about 30 minutes later, the game was still in the top of the 6'th inning and the Padres were leading 9-3.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt LF/1B- 1 for 4, BB.  BA= .264.  The hard single up the middle came with the bases loaded in the 5'th inning to give the Giants the lead.

Conor Gillaspie 3B- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .207.  Gillaspie ignited the 3-run rally in the 5'th with a leadoff double down the LF line.

Eduardo Nunez RF/LF- 2 for 4.  BA= .253.  So far there have not been any Nunez disasters in the OF, at least that I am aware of.

Matt Cain RHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 5/1.  ERA= 2.30.   Cain had a great curveball going which he paired up with a nice sinking two-seam FB to get K's and GB's.  Bochy made the right move to pinch-hit for him with Kelby who kept the bottom of the 5'th going which led to a 2-run lead.  Unfortunately, the bullpen did not do it's job.

Chris Stratton- 0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 13.50.  I watched Stratton's first couple of pitches before taking the dog for a walk.  He looked fine with a FB that hit 93 MPH on the TV gun.  Whahoppened?

Neil Ramirez RHP- 1.2 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K's, 2 HR.  ERA= 13.06.  By the time Ramirez came in the game, Bochy just wanted to preserve the rest of his bullpen so let the carnage continue.

Cory Gearrin RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.08.  Gearrin's immediate future availability was sacrificed just to get the Giants out of this game.

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The Loss dropped the Giants back not last place in the NL West, 7 games behind the Rockies to topped the D'Backs 7-6.  The Rockies lead the Snakes by 1.5 games.  The 3'rd place Dodgers hit 3 consecutive HR's in the 9'th inning to beat the Phillies 6-5 and remain 3 games behind the Rockies.  The Pesky Padres are in 4'th place, 6.5 games behind.

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Ty Blach goes for a series win today facing lefty Clayton Richard.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Scouting the 2017 Draft: David Peterson

David Peterson, LHP, College(Oregon).  6'6" 235 lbs.

2017:  9-2, 1.94, 74.1 IP, 6 BB, 107 K's.

Peterson is a big college lefty who has been on scouting radars since HS.  He put up modest numbers his freshman and sophomore seasons for Oregon, but has really broken out big time this year with some eye-popping strikeout numbers with a miniscule walk rate.  Peterson has a 4-pitch mix that includes a FB that averages 92 and hits 94 MPH with nasty tailing action to RH batters.  He backs that up with a slider, curve and changeup, the latter of which he seldom uses because he doesn't have to.  Earlier this season, Peterson fanned 17 batters in one game and last night he fanned an astonishing 20.  He was not on most pre-season draft boards but his stock is on the rise with current projections in the late first round with a chance to go higher.  I could see the Giants being very interested in a college LHP like him as they have always like size in their pitchers.  He has enough stuff to have a high ceiling with enough polish to move fast in the system.

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DrB's Updated 2017 Draft Board:

1.  Brendan McKay LHP/1B, College(Louisville).
2.  JB Bakauskas RHP, College(North Carolina).
3.  Hunter Greene RHP/SS, HS.
4.  Adam Hasely, OF, College(Virginia).
5.  Jordan Adell, OF, HS.
6.  Ricardo De La Torre, SS, HS.
7.  Austin Beck, OF, HS.
8.  Heliot Ramos, OF, HS.
9.  Jeren Kendall, OF, College(Vanderbilt).
10. Shane Baz, RHP, HS.
11. Brady McConnell, SS, HS.
12. Mark Vientos, SS, HS.
13.  Alex Faedo, RHP, College(Florida).
14.  Royce Lewis, SS/OF, HS.
15.  DL Hall, LHP, HS.
16.  Trevor Rogers, LHP, HS.
17.  Mackenzie Gore, LHP, HS.
18.  Wil Crowe, RHP, College(South Carolina).
19.  Brendon Little, LHP, JC(State College of Florida).
20.  David Peterson, LHP, College(Oregon).
21.  Kyle Wright, RHP, College(Vanderbilt).
22.  Alex Scherff, RHP, HS.
23.  Hans Crouse, RHP, HS.
24.  Jacob Heatherly, LHP, HS.
25.  Logan Warmoth, SS, College(North Carolina).
26.  Brewer Hicklen, OF, College(UAB).
27.  Calvin Mitchell, OF, HS.
28.  Conor Uselton, OF, HS.
29.  Garrett Mitchell, OF, HS.
30.  Keston Hiura, 2B, College(UC Irvine).
31.  Pavin Smith, 1B, College(Virginia).
32.  Jake Burger, 3B, College(Missouri St).
33.  Cole Brannen, OF, HS.
34.  Colton Hock, RHP, College(Stanford).
35.  Alex Lange, RHP, College(LSU).
36. Griffin Canning, RHP, College(UCLA).
37.  Brian Miller, OF, College(North Carolina).
38.  Quentin Holmes, OF, HS.
39.  Nick Allen, SS, HS.
40.  Blayne Enlow, RHP, HS.
41.  Hagen Danner, RHP, HS.
42.  Alejandro Toral, 1B, HS.
43.  Nick Pratto, LHP/1B, HS.
44.  Corbin Martin RHP, College(Texas A&M.
45.  Tanner Houck, RHP, College(Missouri).
46.  Evan Skoug, C, College(TCU).
47.  Michael Gigliotti, OF, College(Lipscomb).
48.  JJ Schwarz, C, College(Florida).

Comments:

Clarke Schmidt, RHP, College(South Carolina) drops off the list after tearing his UCL.

The more I think about it, the more I think an AL team could decide to develop McKay as both a hitter and pitchers utilizing the DH.

I looked up Jeren Kendall's stats and that K/BB is just ugly.  A .303 BA is not too impressive for a college hitter either.  I am not sure he should even be ranked in the first round, let along top 10.  I'll have to give that more thought.

All of the top 10's have their warts.  Since this is my board and not necessarily where I think they will be drafted, I am tempted to move Hasely up to #1.  He just seems like a carbon copy of Andrew Benintendi and I don't see anyone else in this draft with his combination of ceiling and safety.

If I was ranking by ceiling alone, Jordan Adell would be #1.  The track record of athletic HS OF's hitting in the pros is daunting, though.

Down on the Farm: 4/28/2017

AAA Tacoma Rainiers edged out the Sacramento River Cats 2-1:

Jae-Gyun Hwang 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .303.
Bryan Morris RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.
Josh Osich LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 7.71.

Hwang continues to be steady, but not spectacular.   Osich again tries to find traction.

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AA Hartford Yard Goats downed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 2-1:

Dylan Davis LF- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .200.
Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .206.
Sam Coonrod RHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 3.15.
Christian Jones LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.40.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.68.

Cole has a 7 game hit streak and is 10 for 25(.400) in that stretch.

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High A San Jose Giants blasted the Stockton Ports 11-4:

Ryan Howard 3B- 2 for 4.  BA= .330.
Gio Brusa LF- 1 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .188.
Dillon Dobson 2B- 4 for 4, 3 HR(4).  BA= .340.
Michael Connolly RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 1.69.
Dylan Rheault RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.69.

Dobson was the Giants minor league star of the day hitting HR's RF, LF then CF for the first 3-homer game for the SJ Giants in 7 years.

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Low A Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Greenville Drive 3-2:

Sandro Fabian RF- 2 for 4.  BA= .263.
Kevin Rivera 2B- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .280.
Melvin Adon RHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 2.55.
Sandro Cabrera LHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.54.
Jeff Burke RHP- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.84.

The 0 BB's for Adon are most encouraging. Since his first start which lasted just 1.2 IP, Adon has made 3 starts with a 20/3 K/BB in 16 IP.

Game Wrap 4/28/2017: Giants 4 Padres 3

Christian Arroyo smacked a leadoff HR in the bottom of the 8'th inning to break a 3-3 tie and Mark Melancon shut it down in the top of the 9'th as the Giants took the first game of the weekend series agains the Pesky Padres.  Key Lines:

Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .320.  I love Panik in the leadoff spot!  He's a basehit machine with a strong OBP.  Don't care about SB's.  Gotta get on base!  He also made a sensational diving catch going away on a pop up in shallow CF in the 9'th inning that prevented a leadoff single.

Brandon Belt LF- 3 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .265.  Talk about machines!  Belt raised his OBP to .390.  He and Panik reached base 6 out of 8 times in this game.  They have OBP's of .367 and .390 at the top of the order and now the Giants are cooking with gas up there!  This was also Belt's second consecutive game in LF with Michael Morse getting the start at 1B and against a RHP.  That is interesting.  Belt had one ball skip under his glove and go to the wall then didn't seem to quite know what to do as he kind of jogged after it allowing Cory Spangenberg to reach 3B right after Ryan Schimpf's 2-run dinger.  Spangenberg scored on a Sac Fly to tie the game in a 3-run 5'th inning.

Christian Arroyo SS- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .250.  Arroyo was sitting on a first pitch FB from Ryan Buchter leading off the 8'th inning and timed it perfectly to pull it into the LF seats.  He also reached base on a throwing error by Padres SS Erick Aybar which kept the first inning alive. The BA may not impress you but it comes with a .550 SLG%.  Since going 0 for 4 in his first game, Arroyo is 5 for 16 with 2 dingers which comes to a BA of .3125.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA- 6.32.  Shark sailed into the 5'th inning with a no-no, but he started the inning with an HBP and Schimpf followed with a 2-run blast to CF.  Then Belt did his thing in LF to turn a Spangenberg's single into a triple and Samardzija was in a tie ballgame.  He pitched 2 more scoreless innings for the QS.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(5).  BA= 2.08.  Melancon is not a strikout pitcher and BIPs can do weird things.  Panik prevented the leadoff batter from reaching base with his tremendous effort in shallow CF and the next two were easy.

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The Win got the Giants out of the NL West cellar by 0.5 games over the Pesky Padres.  The Rockies topped the D'Backs 3-1 to move back into first place by 0.5 games over the Snakes.  The Giants trail the division leaders by 6 games.  The Dodgers beat the Phillies 5-3 to even their record at .500 and sit in 3'rd place, 3 games out of the lead.

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Matt Cain is set to test his hammy tonight facing Jhoulys Chacin.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/27/2017

AAA  Tacoma Rainiers blanked the Sacramento River Cats 4-0:

NTSH.  The game was called after 5 innings apparently due to weather.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels were idle.

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High A  San Jose Giants staved off a 4 game sweep beating the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 5-2:

Gio Brusa LF- 2 for 4.  BA= .180.
Matt Winn C- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .375.
Jonah Arenado 1B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .261.
Conner Menez LHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 10 K.  ERA= 2.78.
Ryan Halstead RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(3).  ERA= 0.79.

Menez is emerging as the top SP prospect from the 2016 draft class.  Halstead makes progress on the Closer Track.

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Low A  Greenville Drive defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 8-5:

Ashford Fulmer CF- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(2).  BA= .304.
Frandy De La Rosa 1B- 1 for 3, 2 BB, 2 SB(2).  BA= .188.
Cameron Avila-Leeper LHP- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 9.82.
Nolan Riggs RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.73.

Game Wrap 4/27/2017: Dodgers 5 Giants 1

The Giants sputtering offense wasted a strong start by Matt Moore as this time the Dodgers bullpen outlasted the Giants relief corps in a 10-inning loss.  Key Lines:

Christian Arroyo 3B- 2 for 4.  BA= .250.  After going 1 for 8 in the first 2 games of the series, Arroyo went 3 for 8 with a HR in the last 2.  The Dodgers intentionally walked Buster Posey with a base open in the 6'th inning to pitch to Arroyo and the kid responded by rapping a single up the middle for the only Giants RBI of the game.

Kelby Tomlinson 2B- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .400.  Can someone please explain again why Kelby was not on the Opening Day roster?

Matt Moore LHP- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K, GO/AO= 7/1.  ERA= 4.80.  Nice bounceback start after 2 bad ones.  After a dinger by the second batter of the game, Corey Seager, Moore shut down the Dodgers for the next 6.2 IP.  The only thing missing was some runs by the offense.

Steven Okert LHP- 0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 6.75.  Okert showed he might not be ready for consecutive appearances after a  shut-down multi-inning outing the night before.  One of the hits was a squibber off the bat of Chase Utley, but the no excuse for the walk and LD basehit.

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The Loss dropped the Giants to 6.5 games behind the D'Backs who climbed over the Reeling Rockies into first place in the NL West with a 6-2 Win over the Pathetic Padres.  The Rockies pitching got exposed for the 3'rd consecutive game agains the Nationals who crushed the Rocks 16-5.  The Nationals scored a total of 40 runs in the 4-game series and 36 over the last 3 games.  The Bad Guys sit at 3.5 games behind the Dangerous D'Backs and the Padres are in 4'th place 6 games off the pace.

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The Pesky Padres come to town for a weekend series with Jeff Samardzija getting the ball in game 1 against Luis Perdomo.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/26/2017

AAA  Sacramento River Cats were idle.

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AA  Bowie Baysox crushed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 13-2:

Ali Castillo DH- 3 for 4.  BA= .375.
Hunter Cole RF- 1 for 1, 3 BB.  BA= .186.

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High A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes edged out the San Jose Giants 3-2:

Ryan Howard SS- 2 for 4.  BA= .325.
Jake McCasland RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.50.
Conner Kaden RHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.42.

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Low A Augusta Greenjackets pounded the Lexington Legends 10-3:

Ashford Fulmer CF- 3 for 6.  BA= .279.
Sandro Fabian RF- 4 for 5, 2B, 2 HR(2), SB(1).  BA= .268.
Tyler Brown 2B- 3 for 4, 3 2B.  BA= .333.
Manuel Geraldo 3B- 1 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .162.
Brandon Van Horn SS- 1 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .206.
DJ Myers RHP- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.72.
Jeff Burke RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.25.

After making 2 great catches in the OF in Mazza's perfecto, Fabian is looking like a true 5-tool prospect.

Game Wrap 4/26/2017: Giants 4 Dodgers 3

Christian Arroyo ignited a moribund Giants offense in the 7'th inning with his first MLB HR.  Michael Morse made a dramatic, triumphant return to AT&T Park with a PH, game-tying HR in the 8'th inning. The Giants went on to Beat LA in 10 innings.  Key Lines:

Buster Posey C- 2 for 4.  BA= .370.  Buster's 1-out single in the 7'th set up Arroyo's 2-run dinger to bring the Giants to within 1 run.  Up to that point, the Giants had managed just 1 hit on the night.

Christian Arroyo 3B-SS- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .167.  So in 1951 on May 24, Willie Mays was called up to help a Giants team off to a slow start.  He went 0 for his first 12 then homered in his 13'th MLB AB.  In 2017, Christian Arroyo was called up on April 24 to help a Giants team off to the same 6-13 start as the 1951 Giants.  He went 1 for his first 10, then homered in his 11'th MLB AB.  See, Christian Arroyo is going to win NL ROY and the Giants are going to win the Pennant on a walk-off 3-run HR. It is written!  Oh, and Arroyo's dinger came off Sergio Romo.

Michael Morse PH- 1 for 1, HR(1).  BA= 1.000.  The lasting memory that most Giants fans had of Michael Morse was a game-tying PH HR in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Cardinals.  Well, he came back and did it again, this time against the Dodgers in a regular season game, but it's the Dodgers, after all.  Make no mistake, Michael Morse has a permanent place in Giants lore.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.10.  It looked like once again 1 bad inning would ruin an otherwise good start for the Giants.  This time, Arroyo and Morse were able to pick Cueto up.

Steven Okert LHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.69.  Looks like Okert has picked up Jeremy Affeldt's mantle and doesn't want to let it go.  1.2 shutdown innings against the Dodgers!

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After the Win, the Giants remained in last place in the NL West with an 8-14 record, but gained a game on the pack and are now 6 games behind the Raging Rockies who lost to the Nationals 11-4.  The Dangerous D'Backs also lost to the Pesky Padres 8-5 to remain 0.5 games behind the Rockies in 2'nd place.  The Dodgers remain 4 games behind in 3'rd place while the Padres are 5.5 games behind the leaders in 4'th place.

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Matt Moore tries to put his last awful start in Coors Field behind him as he tries to secure a series win for the Giants this afternoon facing young lefty Julio Urias making his 2017 season debut for the Dodgers.

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The Giants made several roster moves prior to the game.  Michael Morse rejoined the Giants replacing Denard Span who went on the 10 day DL with a shoulder sprain.  Brandon Crawford went on the 3-day bereavement list and will have his groin strain re-evaluated after that.  Replacing him on the Active Roster is Kelby Tomlinson.  Jarrett Parker was moved from the 10 day DL to the 60 day DL to make room on the 40 man roster for Morse.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/25/2107

AAA  Sacramento River Cats blasted the Las Vegas 51's 11-1:

Orlando Calixte 2B- 4 for 4.  BA= .262.
Jae-Gyun Hwang 3B- 1 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .300.
Mac Willamson LF- 3 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .250.
Tim Fedorowicz C- 3 for 5. BA= .316.
Carlos Moncrief PH-RF- 2 for 2, SB(2).  BA= .342.
Joan Gregorio RHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.42.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.15.

Lots of good stuff here, not the least of which is Mac's big game which may show he is getting close to being ready to come back and take over LF duties in SF and it can't come soon enough!  With Nunez having to fill in for Crawford at SS, the Giants may not have much choice but to push it with Mac.  Strong start for Gregorio who gives the Giants a bit of pitching depth that is close to being MLB ready. Hwang has been more steady than spectacular.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels topped the Bowie Baysox 2-1:

Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .172.
Carlos Garcia LF- 3 for 4.  BA= .250.
Matt Gage LHP- 4.1 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.00.
Jordan Johnson RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.25.

Not sure how you give up 10 hits and a walk in 4.1 IP and only give up 1 run, but we'll take it.  Jordan Johnson's 4 IP were much more dominant.

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High A  Rancho Cucamonga Quakes destroyed the San Jose Giants 9-1:

Bryan Reynolds CF- 3 for 4.  BA= .309.
Jose Vizcaino Jr 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .200.

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Low A Augusta Greenjackets rode the first Perfect Game in SAL history to a 9-0 whitewashing of the Lexington Legends:

Ashford Fulmer CF- 2 for 5, 3B.  BA= .243.
Kelvin Beltre 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .286.
Jacob Heyward LF- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .259.
Will Albertson C- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .259.
Dominic Mazza LHP- 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 3.48.

There it is!  The first 9 inning complete perfect game in SAL history!  Mazza didn't just get BABIP lucky, he dominated with the 9 K's too, although he benefitted from a couple of great catches by Sandro Fabian in RF in the 8'th and 9'th innings. Beltre continues his strong season.  He got tossed after exchanging words with the opposing catcher after his dinger.

Game Wrap 4/25/2017: Dodgers 2 Giants 1

Ty Blach was a gamer in his rematch with Clayton Kershaw, but a sputtering Giants offense came up short.  Key Lines;

Christian Arroyo 3B- 1 for 4.  BA= .125.  Arroyo gets his first MLB hit and against Clayton Kershaw, but is off to a slow start to his MLB career.

Buster Posey 1B- C- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .360.  Brandon Belt sat on the bench against Clayton Kershaw.  Buster has hit in 7 straight since coming off the Concussion DL but without power.

Ty Blach LHP- 1 for 2, 2B.  BA= .500.  Maybe the Giants need to find alternate positions for Ty Blach and Madison Bumgarner when they face Kershaw.  Blach not only goes toe-to-to with the great one on the mound, he seems to see him darn well at the plate too!

Ty Blach LHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 8/0.  BA= 4.22.  The Dodgers dinged him for 2 runs in the 4'th inning, but another strong effort by Blach against the arch rivals.  The challenge will be to pitch as well against other opponents in the days and weeks ahead.  He'll definitely have some rope for more reasons than the Giants don't really have anyone else to plug in.

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With the Loss, the Giants remained in last place in the NL West, 7 games behind the leading Rockies who lost a slugfest to the Nationals 15-12.  The D'Backs smacked the Padres 9-2 and trail the Rocks by 0.5 games.  The third place Dodgers remain 5 games off the pace while the Pathetic Padres remain 0.5 games ahead of the Giants, 6.5 out of first place.

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Johnny Cueto goes against Alex Wood in a contest that should favor the Giants tonight in game 3 of the series.

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The Giants injury problems mounted as Brandon Crawford pulled up with a groin strain after running out a single in the 8'th inning.  He was about to start a bereavement leave tomorrow.  Nunez will play SS in his absence.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/24/2017

AAA  Las Vegas 51's outscored the Sacramento River Cats 7-6:

Kelby Tomlinson 2B- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(3).  BA= .218.
Jae-Gyun Hwang 3B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .303.
Ryder Jones 1B- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .361.
Austin Slater LF- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .305.
Tyler Beede RHP- 4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.29.
Kyle Crick RHP- 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.18.

Ryder Jones stays hot.  Austin Slater gets his BA over .300.  Beede sailed into the 5'th inning, then the wheels fell off.

*********************************************************************************

AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Bowie Baysox postponed.

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High A  Rancho Cucamonga Quakes pounded the San Jose Giants 10-2:

Jonah Arenado 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .246.
Jose Vizcaino Jr. 1B- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .174.
Matt Krook LHP- 3 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 5 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 15.58.
Carlos Diaz LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.57.
Caleb Simpson RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 9.00.
Ryan Halstead RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 0.87.

Note Arenado played 3B and Viz Jr 1B.  Giants might need to go back to the drawing board with Krook.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets edged out the Lexington Legends 2-1 in 10 innings:

Jacob Heyward LF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .162.
Stephen Woods RHP- 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 K.  ERA= 2.16.
Nolan Riggs RHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 6.30.
Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

I guess you could say Woods was effectively wild.

Game Wrap 4/24/2017: Giants 2 Dodgers 1

Matt Cain pitched 6 shutout innings and the Giants offense scored twice to eke out a narrow win over the Bad Guys.  Key Lines:

Hunter Pence RF-  2 for 4.  BA= .315.  Pence is basically a slap hitter right now, but that can be useful at the top of the order and nobody else was getting leadoff done.

Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .246.  Not sure what Belt has become other than a walk machine, but an OBP of .360 will play in the 2-hole.

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .264.  Crawford had the only XBH in the game for the Giants.

Christian Arroyo 3B- 0 for 4.  BA= .000.  OK here it comes!  In 1951, the New York Giants started the season 6-13.  On May 24, they called up a rookie named Willie Mays who was hitting .477 in AAA.  The Giants assigned him #24 and Mays went 0 for 4 that day.  In fact, he went 0 for his first 12 after the callup.  He went on to win Rookie of the Year and the Giants won the NL Pennant.  On April 24, 2017, the Giants record sat at 6-13.  They called up a rookie named Christian Arroyo who was hitting .446 in AAA.  He went 0 for 4, but the Giants beat the Dodgers that day….OK, you get the picture!  It's not quite a complete parallel but there are too many #24's and the number 4 and 0 for 4's going on here to be just a coincidence, right?

Joe Panik 2B- 1 for 2, SF.  BA= .339.  Panik just keeps chugging away.  I've said he's a future batting champion.  I'll stick with that.

Matt Cain RHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.42.  Matt Cain has always struggled against the Dodgers, even when he was the ace of the staff. Not in this one! The downer in this one is Cainer came out of the game after his hammy started barking at him again.  Stay tuned on THAT front! We may see Tyler Beede in the rotation sooner than later.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(4).  ERA= 3.18.  The ERA is whittling down and Melancon is back on the Save track.

*********************************************************************************

With the Win, the Giants improved their record to 7-13 but they remained in last place, 7 games behind the first place Roaring Rockies who beat the Nationals 8-4.  The Dangerous D'Backs kept pace in second place with a 7-6 win over the Pathetic Padres.  The D'Backs remain 1.5 games behind the Rocks while the Padres slipped to 6.5 games back in 4'th place.  The Dodgers Loss left them 5 games off the pace in 3'rd place and the Rockies and D'Backs already have some pretty serious separation from the rest of the NL West.

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Ty Blach tries to reprise his end-of-season start against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in Game 2.

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In other pre-game roster moves, the Giants DFA'd Chris Marrero and placed Aaron Hill on the DL with a forearm strain.  They also recalled OF Drew Stubbs who started in CF and batted 8'th in this game.  I presume Will Smith went on the 60 day DL to create the second open roster spot.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Scouting the 2017 Draft: Logan Warmoth; Brian Miller

Logan Warmoth, SS, College(North Carolina).  B-R, T-R.  6'0", 190 lbs.

2017:  .345/.425/.560, 11 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 15 SB, 20 BB, 25 K, 168 AB.
2016:  .337/.402/.481, 14 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 8 SB, 21 BB, 24 K, 208 AB.
2015(Cal Ripken):  .330/.419/.359, 21 SB, 17 BB, 13 K, 103 AB.
2016(Cape Cod):  .270/.330/.450, 6 2B, 4 HR, 7 BB, 15 K, 100 AB.

As preseason favorite college hitters largely struggled, Warmoth's stock rose with consistent hitting and a nice power/speed combo from a major college program and conference.  He is now being projected into the mid-late first round by multiple analysts.  He's a very similar player to Christian Arroyo and a RH hitting version of Joe Panik, so the Giants could be interested at #19.  He's a college SS but may not quite have the arm to stick there.  More likely he's a 2B in the pros.  While he is a fairly safe pick in that range, I see his ceiling as quite limited and would prefer the Giants look at pitching or a high-ceiling HS hitter.

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Brian Miller, OF, College(North Carolina).  B-R, T-R.  6'1", 186 lbs.

2017:  .315/.397/.497, 11 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 16 SB, 24 BB, 26 K, 173 AB.
2016:  .345/.440/.469, 12 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 21 SB, 34 BB, 29 K, 226 AB.
2015(Coastal Plain):  .389/.476/.429, 6 2B, 3B, 38 SB, 30 BB, 21 K, 198 AB.
2016(Cape Cod):  .327/.369/.387, 7 2B, HR, 15 SB, 10 BB, 31 K, 168 AB.

Miller was a walk-on at North Carolina who stuck as a freshman and has battled his way into late first round consideration for the 2017 draft.  He has more speed than power but is a true CF and has shown excellent plate discipline except for the 2016 CCL but he performed well there in every other way.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/23/2017

AAA  Sacramento River Cats walked off a 7-6 win over the Las Vegas 51's in 10 innings:

Christian Arroyo SS- 4 for 6, 2B, SB(2).  BA= .446.
Michael Morse LF- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .250.
Jae-Gyun Hwang 3B- 2 for 5, SB(1).  BA= .295.
Austin Slater PH-LF- 1 for 1, BB.  BA= .273.
Dan Slania RHP- 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 7.36.

Arroyo had the walk-off hit.  He continues to be red hot, but the beats seem to think the Giants have no intention of calling him up anytime soon or of moving him to LF.  Sounds like they are aiming for him to be their starting 3B in 2018.  Alex P speculated that Morse could be called up soon to play 1B with Brando Belt playing more games in LF.

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AA  Reading Fightin' Phils blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-0:

Cory Taylor RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 6.75.

Taylor was a relative bright spot in a dismal game for the Squirrels.

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High A  San Jose Giants outslugged the Stockton Ports 12-8:

Jalen Miller SS-2B- 3 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .306.
Bryan Reynolds CF- 3 for 5, 3B, HR(1).  BA= .300.
Daniel Carbonell LF- 2 for 5.  BA= .273.
Heath Slatton RHP- 2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 16.20.
David Owen RHP- 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.00.
Conner Kaden RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.
Dusten Knight RHP- 2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.35.

Don't know if he can keep up this pace, but Miller looks like he may be breaking out.  Slatton looked great in a few starts at the end of last season for Augusta.  He seems a bit overmatched in the Cal League so far.

*********************************************************************************

Low A Augusta Greenjackets vs Greensboro Grasshoppers cancelled.

Game Wrap 4/23/2017: Rockies 8 Giants 0

The Giants suffered their second lopsided defeat in as many days and return from a 5 game road trip with their tails as far between their legs as I can recall.  If they are looking for rock bottom, the last 2 games would definitely qualify.  The Giants were never in this game as Jeff Samardzija got pummeled early and often and lefty Kyle Freeland scattered 6 hits, 5 singles and Nick Hundley's double.  Even moving Brandon Belt to LF and putting Buster Posey at 1B did not energize this offense.  Key Lines:

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 7.40.  The starting rotation was supposed to be the strength of the team.  They rank dead last in MLB with a combined ERA of 5.02.

*********************************************************************************

The Loss dropped the Giants season record to 6-13, tied for the worse start in franchise history.  It's happened several times in the past, the most recent being 1983.  Most of those teams were not good, but one of them was the 1951 team that went on to win the pennant on Bobby Thomson's famous HR.  The last place Giants record mirrors the first place Rockies who are 13-6 which puts the Giants 7 games off the pace.  The Dodgers topped the D'Backs 6-2 to drop Arizona 1.5 games behind the Raging Rockies while the Dodgers are in 3'rd place, 4 games back at 9-10.  The Padres lost to the Marlins 7-3 and are in 4'th place, 5.5 games behind the leaders.

*********************************************************************************

The Giants return home to AT&T Park to tace the Dodgers in a 4-gamer with Matt Cain taking the hill tomorrow night against Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Down on the Farm: 4/22/2017

AAA  Las Vegas 51's edged out the Sacramento River Cats 3-2:

Drew Stubbs CF- 1 for 3, HR(2), BB.  BA= .265.
Christian Arroyo SS- 1 for 3, 2B, HBP.  BA= .424.
Michael Roth LHP- 4.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.26.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.70.

At the rate OF injuries are piling up, wouldn't be shocked to see Drew Stubbs starting in CF for the Giants one of these days.

*********************************************************************************

AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Reading Fightin' Phils postponed.

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High A  Stockton Ports blanked the San Jose Giants 7-0:

Michael Connolly RHP- 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.26.
Carlos Diaz LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 3.00.

Sonny Gray made a rehab start for the Ports and allowed just 1 hit in 5 IP.  Giants mustered just 2 hits in the game.

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Low A  Greensboro Grasshoppers defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 4-1:

Sandro Fabian RF- 1 for 2, 2B.  BA= .246.
Caleb Baragar LHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.21.

The game was called after 6 innings due to rain.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Game Wrap 4/22/2017: Rockies 12 Giants 3

This one got away early as Matt Moore was pummeled by the Rockies for 3 runs in the first inning and 4 more in the 4'th and that was pretty much the ballgame.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .254.  Belt continues to thrive in the 2-hole.  He played pepper with the RF wall for 2 doubles in this one.

Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .333.  Bochy moved Panik into the 3'rd spot in the lineup behind Belt and he hit like a third hitter in the lineup should.

Matt Moore LHP- 4 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 5.87.  Matt Moore hasn't figured out Coors Field as his ERA in 2 starts there is over 11.

Chris Stratton RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  I didn't see Stratton pitch, but Kruk and Kuip were impressed and said he hit 96 on the FB.  I think Stratton's MLB calling is multi-inning reliever where the FB can play up.

*********************************************************************************

With the Loss, the Giants fell 6 games behind the first place Rockies in the NL West.  The D'Backs beat up the Dodgers again, 11-5 to remain 0.5 games behind the Rocks.  The Dodgers fell 4 games off the pace in 3'rd place while the Padres lost to the Marlins 6-3 and dropped 4.5 games behind the leaders.

*********************************************************************************

Jeff Samardzija tries to salvage a win in the series tomorrow afternoon facing LHP Kyle Freeland.

*********************************************************************************

Stratton was called up to replace Madison Bumgarner on the active roster.  Hunter Pence did not start the game after slipping on wet OF grass Friday night.  He did appear as a PH and drew a walk.  He then ran from first to home on Belt's second double, but appeared to be limping a bit as he crossed home plate.  The list of Giants wounded players kept expanding as Denard Span hurt his shoulder crashing into the CF wall after making a catch.  He left the game.  No word on the seriousness of the injury.

Down on the Farm: 4/21/2017

AAA  Salt Lake City Bees swarmed the Sacramento River Cats 9-5:

Ryder Jones 1B- 3 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .391.
Jae-Gyun Hwang LF- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .286.
Ricky Romero LHP- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.85.

Jones started the season a couple of weeks late, but is off to a great AAA start.  Hwang is showing why he needed some adjustment to American baseball.  Hopefully he starts to get some traction.

*********************************************************************************

AA  Reading Fightin' Phils downed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-2:

Slade Heathcott CF- 1 for 3, HR(2), BB.  BA= .327.
Sam Coonrod RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.21.
Carlos Alvarado RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.29.

Coonrod's start was cut short by a rain delay.  Is there hope for Heathcott?  He's a tremendous athlete but was never able to put it all together in the Yankees organization.

*********************************************************************************

High A  San Jose Giants topped the Stockton Ports 4-2:

Ali Castillo 2B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .400.
Ryan Howard SS- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .328.
Daniel Carbonell RF- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .278.
Conner Menez LHP- 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.70.
Conner Kaden RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.
Ryan Halstead RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2).  ERA= 0.96.

*********************************************************************************

Low A  Greensboro Grasshoppers devoured the Augusta Greenjackets 7-2:

Sandro Fabian RF- 1 for 2, 2B, SF.  BA= .236.
Kelvin Beltre 2B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .300.
Brandon Van Horn SS- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .188.
Kevin Rivera 3B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .270.
Melvin Adon RHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 3.09.

This could be a breakout season for Beltre if he can just stay healthy.  He reaches the .300 BA mark.  I don't know about you, but I still think a .300 BA means something.

Game Wrap 4/21/2017: Rockies 6 Giants 5

If you already had an uneasy feeling that this season was headed south for the Giants, that feeling likely mushroomed into a full-scale panic attack after the day started with Madison Bumgarner injuring his throwing shoulder in a dirt biking accident of all things, and ended with the Giants blowing yet another lead in an awful 6-run 4'th inning and falling short in yet another comeback attempt.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, HR(4), BB.  BA= .238.  Belt leads the team in HR's and his OBP is .351.  He's helping my OBP/SLG% fantasy baseball league.

Eduardo Nunez 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(6).  BA= .300.  Nunez and 3B are not why this team is struggling.

Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 3, 2B.  BA= .321.  Joe Panik and 2B are not why this team is struggling.

Chris Marrero LF- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .152.  If the Giants don't have someone ready to plug into LF, they might as well put Marrero out there every day for awhile and see if consistent AB's can light a fire under his bat.  The 8-hole is kind of a tough place for a struggling hitter to get it going, though.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R. 2 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 9/2.  ERA= 5.25.  You live by contact, you die by contact.  Cueto sailed into the 4'th inning and got Arenado on a groundout for the first out.  Then, single, single, single, dinger, single, sac, inside-the-park HR.   6 hits and a sac in 6 batters.  Not that Blackmon's tour of the bases was weak contact or anything, but it should have been out #3.  Hunter Pence lost it in the lights and lost his base in the wet grass as the ball screamed past him into no-man's land.  That was the ultimate difference in the game as the Giants rally fell short.

Ty Blach LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 4.76.  Blach is Bumgarner's replacement in the rotation.  He gave up 3 runs in 1 IP on 4/6 in Arizona.  He's had 4 scoreless appearances since with a 4/1 K/BB.  He'll face the Dodgers in Bummy's spot on Thursday, 4/27.

*********************************************************************************

The Loss dropped the Giants 5 games off the pace of the Roaring Rockies in the NL West.  The D'Backs crushed the Dodgers 13-5 to remain 0.5 games behind the Rockies in 2'nd place.  The Dodgers are 3 back in 3'rd place.  The Pesky Padres topped the Marlins 5-3 to remain 3.5 games behind in 4'th place.

*********************************************************************************

Matt Moore faces the red hot Antonio Senzatela in Game 2.

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As previously mentioned, the Giants lost their ace pitcher, Madison Bumgarner for an indefinite period of time after a dirt bike accident in which he suffered bruised ribs and a "grade 1-2" separation of his left shoulder acromioclavicular joint.  Initial estimates are a minimum of 6-8 weeks.  Ty Blach is going to get is big chance to step up and shine.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Scouting the 2017 Draft: BA's Mock Draft 2.0

BA has a new mock draft up with a complete first round prognostication.  Let's review them and I will offer some comments.  Overall, I would characterize this draft as terrible at the top but reasonably deep with interesting players looking like they will fall into the 2'nd round.  Here's BA's mock:

1.  Twins:  Brendan McKay, LHP, College, Louisville-  McKay is a great 2-way college player, but strikes me as being not great on either side of the ball.  I actually like him a bit better as a hitter, but he's limited to 1B on offense.  Pitchers who can hit and play some in the field seem to be the wave of the future, but not sure how that helps an AL team.  If I am the Twins GM, I have Hunter Greene and JB Bakauskas ahead of McKay on my board with Adam Hasely sneaking into the mix.

2.  Reds:  Hunter Greene, RHP, HS- Reds reportedly desperately want McKay.  Twins will be doing them a favor if they take him at #1.  If you are not scared off by hard throwing HS pitchers, Greene is the real deal.  He reaches triple digits with the FB and looks a lot like Bob Gibson when he delivers the ball.  Greene reportedly wants to fall to the Padres which is why he has scaled back his pitching and is showcasing at SS lately.  He's going to be drafted as a pitcher.  Reds could also consider Bakauskas, Jeren Kendall or Hasely here.

3.  Padres:  Royce Lewis, SS/OF, HS- If Greene is off the board, the Padres could look to the toolsiest player in the draft.  Personally I have questions about the hit tool which makes Lewis a high risk/high reward pick.  If they want tools and a questionable bat, Kendall would be a safer pick here and I like Adam Hasely a bit better than Kendall.

4.  Rays:  Kyle Wright, RHP, College, Vanderbilt- The scouts seem to love his stuff, but it hasn't translated to dominant starts in the college season.  BA has Bakauskas falling to #6.  I take him over Wright and again, I love me some Adam Hasely.

5.  Braves:  Austin Beck, OF, HS- Beck has caught helium during the HS season.  Braves aren't afraid to gamble on high upside HS talent.  This seems like a good spot for both Beck and the Braves.

6.  A's:  JB Bakauskas, RHP, College, North Carolina- I think Bakauskas should be a top 3 pick, but if he is still on the board, the A's get a steal.

7.  D'Backs:  Mackenzie Gore, LHP, HS- Gore seems to be shooting up draft boards with scouts raving about his stuff.  Unless his velocity has taken a big jump, I'm not seeing it.  Shane Baz, for one, would be higher on my board.  They could also consider one of several HS SS's and here comes the broken record…..Adam Hasely seems like a D'Backs type of pick.  Have I said how much I like Adam Hasely?

8.  Phillies:  Pavin Smith, 1B, College, Virginia- The Phils are known for drafting toolsy HS players, but they are under new management.  Pavin is stuck at 1B, but he's a good hitter.  If they want a college hitter, they would be better off taking Hasely if he's on the board.

9.  Brewers:  Jeren Kendall, OF, College, Vanderbilt- IDK if Kendall will fall this far, but his college K rate give saber oriented analysts the jitters.  Brewers seem to like toolsy OF's and don't seem to care about K rates, so this would be a nice fit if Kendall is on the board.  Brewers should consider pitching here and Shane Baz would be a nice fit.

10.  Angels:  Alex Faedo, RHP, College, Florida- I see Faedo as being more of an innings eater than an ace.  Angels seem to like that kind of pitcher.  The Angels might swing for the fences and try for another Mike Trout with any number of HS OF's or SS's.

11.  White Sox:  Jordan Adell, OF, HS- Highes ceiling/highest risk player in the draft IMO.  If he can hit, he'll be a superstar.  That's a big question though.  Sox are known for taking toolsy HS players.  They have a new guy in the GM chair, though.

12.  Pirates:  Adam Hasely, OF, College, Virginia- Here's my guy!  If Hasely is still on the board, the Pirates have the steal of the draft.

13.  Marlins:  Seth Romero, LHP, College, Houston- Romero has talent but also has 2 suspensions by his college coach on his record and a history of conditioning issues.  I would have him on my draft board at all.

14.  Royals:  Shane Baz, RHP, HS- Dayton Moore loves him some HS talent and Baz would be a great choice here if he's on the board.  Again there is a nice stable of HS SS's and OF's that should be available here too.

15.  Astros:  Clarke Schmidt, RHP, College, South Carolina- High floor/low ceiling college pitcher.

16.  Yankees:  Nick Pratto, 1B/OF, HS.  Pratto has a sweet swing, but he looks like a 1B to me and I don't see the power although he is a LH batter and there's that short porch in Yankee Stadium.  He also pitches but will be drafted as a hitter.

17.  Mariners:  Alex Lange, RHP, College, LSU- Throws hard, but limited repertoire and inconsistent college performance.  Keith Law thinks he's a reliever in the pros.

18.  Tigers:  Griffin Canning, RHP, College, UCLA- pitchability guy.  I just don't see him as having first round stuff.

19.  Giants:  DL Hall, LHP, HS-  Hard throwing HS lefty.  I personally like Trevor Rogers' projectability more, but Hall seems to be higher ranked by most scouts.  If the Giants are not dead set on pitching with this pick, Logan Warmoth, SS for North Carolina seems like a perfect Giantsy pick.

20.  Mets:  Keston Hiura, 2B, College, UC Irvine- Hiura his hitting up a storm for UC Irvine but has a weak arm and a bum elbow and is going to be limited to 2B or 1B going forward.  You have to really love the bat to make him a first rounder.

21.  Orioles:  Logan Warmoth, SS, College, North Carolina- I haven't profiled him yet, but he rising on draft boards.  Think a switch-hitting Joe Panik with a lot more speed.  Giants need more pitching in the organization but Warmoth seems like the perfect Giants pick at #19.

22.  Blue Jays:  Jake Burger, 3B, College, Missouri St.- Good hitter, bad body.  OK pick for an AL team.

23.  Dodgers:  Heliot Ramos, OF, HS(PR)- Dodgers can afford to take a risk with the pick and Ramos has as high a ceiling as anyone in the draft.

24.  Red Sox:  Hagen Danner, C/SS/RHP, HS- Danner seems like a tweener to me, but the scouts seem to really like him, more as a pitcher than position player.

25.  Nationals:  Brady McConnell, SS, HS- McConnell's stock seems to have slipped, but he reminds me of a young Tulo.  He would be a steal at #25, IMO.

26.  Rangers:  David Peterson, LHP, College, Oregon St.-  Peterson has emerged as the second best performing college LHP in the draft.  Not sure about his stuff.

27.  Cubs:  Tanner Houck, RHP, College, Missouri- Houck's velocity has tailed off and so has his performance.  Not sure the Cubs would take him even at #27.  I guess it depends on whether they think he can regain velocity and if they can fix his mechanics.

28.  Blue Jays:  Wil Crowe, RHP, College, South Carolina- I actually like Crowe more than Clarke Schmidt who BA has much higher in this mock draft.

29.  Rangers:  Mark Vientos, SS, HS- Vientos has great size which will probably move him off SS in the future, but I really like his power upside and this would be a great pick for the Rangers.

30.  Cubs- Nate Pearson, RHP, JC- Pearson would likely be a project but has been hitting triple digits with some regularity.

Players I like who are not in this mock draft:  Ricardo De La Torre SS HS, Trevor Rogers LHP HS, Conor Uselton OF HS, Calvin Mitchell OF HS, Garrett Mitchell OF HS, Alex Scherff RHP HS, Brendon Little LHP JC.


Thursday, April 20, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/20/2017

AAA  Salt Lake City Bees stung the Sacramento River Cats 5-2:

Joan Gregorio RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.93.
Chase Johnson RHP- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.72.

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AA  Richmond Flying Squirrels destroyed the Bowie Baysox 12-2:

Slade Heathcott DH- 3 for 4, BB.  BA= .327.
Miguel Gomez 2B- 3 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .346.
Chris Shaw 1B- 2 for 5.  BA= .333.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.18.
Carlos Alvarado RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.50.

The game was called after 8 innings due to rain.

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High A  Visalia Rawhide whipped the San Jose Giants 5-1:

Jalen Miller 2B- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .296.
Carlos Diaz LHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.60.

Miller continues to more than hold his own after an aggressive placement in SJ.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Greensboro Grasshoppers 5-3:

Skyler Ewing C- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .200.
Manuel Geraldo 3B- 2 for 4.  BA= .154.
Jacob Heyward LF- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .154.
Matt Solter RHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 2.93.
Jeff Burke RHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.45.
Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Save(2).  ERA= 0.00.

Disappointing start to the season for Heyward but he is showing some power.

Down on the Farm: 4/19/2017

AAA  Salt Lake City Bees stung the Sacramento River Cats 7-4:

Christian Arroyo SS- 4 for 5, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .479.
Jeff Arnold C- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .182.
Jae-Gyun Hwang 3B-2 for 4.  BA= .286.
Tyler Beede RHP- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.78.

Stay hot, Arroyo!  Gotta say, it sure seems like Arroyo could be helping the Giants right now in LF, but he's playing SS in Sacramento.  Per Covechatter's Twitter feed, Bobby Evans says the Giants want him to force his way onto the team. Not sure what their criteria are, but Evans said they want to see more than a 2 week sample size.  I'm guessing he'll stay on the farm at least until they are comfortable that he'll achieve "Super 2" status.  Beede's development is less urgent now that Cain seems to have found his stride.

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AA Richmond Flying Squirrels downed the Bowie Baysox 4-2:

Miguel Gomez 2B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .319.
Chris Shaw LF- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .326.
Hunter Cole RF- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .118.
Matt Lujan LHP- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.08.
DJ Snelton LHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Tyler Cyr RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.26.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, Save(3).  ERA= 0.00.

Note that Chris Shaw played LF.

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High A(Game 1)  Visalia Rawhide whipped the San Jose Giants 9-3:

Jalen Miller 2B-SS- 2 for 4.  BA= .271.
Mac Williamson LF- 1 for 3.  BA= .333.
Aramis Garcia C- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(4).  BA= .364.
Dusten Knight RHP- 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.87.

Mac Williamson starts his rehab assignment.  Again per Covechatter, he reportedly looked fast running the bases.

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High A(Game 2)  Visalia Rawhide blanked the San Jose Giants 3-0:

NTSH

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets defeated the Charleston River Dogs 5-3:

Kelvin Beltre 2B- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .283.
Skyler Ewing C- 1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .154.
DJ Myers RHP- 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 5.11.
Nolan Riggs RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 8.22.

Beltre is hitting .343 over his last 10 games.

Game Wrap 4/19/2017: Royals 2 Giants 0

Whew!  A loss like this is tough to take and tough to write about.  The Giants offense failed to mount so much as a threat against junkballer Jason Vargas.  A moment's hesitation by Madison Bumgarner breaking to cover 1B on a hot grounder that bounced away from Brandon Belt may have been the difference in this game.  At least you knew the game was over when that miscue plated the go-ahead run for the Royals because it was pretty clear by then the Giants were not going to score a run in this one.  Key Lines:

Aaron Hill LF- 0 for 3, BB.  BA= .130.  When Aaron Hill and Gorkys Hernandez start in LF and CF respectively and bat 1'st and 9'th in the lineup, you know your team is in a lot of trouble.  And if you can't just send Chris Marrero out there everyday, especially against a LHP, why is he on the team?

Gorkys Hernandez CF- 0 for 2, 2 K.  BA= .067.  See Aaron Hill above.  It probably requires a bit of bad luck to hit .067, but make no mistake, Hernandez is overmatched at the plate.  The Giants are going to have to address their OF situation and soon.

Madison Bumgarner LHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K, GO/AO= 8/2.  ERA= 3.00.  Bumgarner wasn't at his best all night, as Jeremy Affeldt kept reminding us, and the 1 run scored when he was late breaking for 1B on a grounder to Belt, but remember when Matt Cain used to get "Cained?"  I think Bumgarner is getting "Bummed."  You can't win if your team fails to score any runs.

Jason Vargas LHP(Royals)- The FB averaged 86.6 MPH but he moved it around the edges of the strike zone and paired that up with a terrific changeup that kept Giants hitters off balance all evening.  The delivery is awkward looking but seems to hide the ball well and 86 MPH FB's looked a lot faster.  Vargas is currently a hot commodity in fantasy baseball leagues.

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The Dodgers topped the Rockies 4-2 behind Clayton Kershaw and Jhoulys Chacin and the Padres shutout the D'Backs 1-0.  The current standings in he NL West are symmetrical with the D'Backs and Rockies tied at the top at 10-6.  The Dodgers are 2 games back at 8-8 while the Giants and Padres bring up the rear, 4 games back, at 6-10.

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The Giants get a travel day they probably don't want and start a 3 game series in Denver against the Rockies on Friday with Johnny Cueto facing Giants killer, Tyler Chatwood.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/18/2017

AAA  Salt Lake City Bees swarmed the Sacramento River Cats 8-2:

Christian Arroyo SS- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .442.
Ryder Jones 3B- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .385.
Dan Slania RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 7.45.

Shouldn't Arroyo be getting some innings in LF?  The K's look good for Slania, but not the BB's.

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AA  Bowie Baysox downed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-1:

Slade Heathcott CF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .289.
Jordan Johnson RHP- 7 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.00.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 0.00.

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San Jose Giants edged out the Visalia Rawhide 3-2:

Bryan Reynolds CF- 3 for 4.  BA= .375.
Aramis Garcia C- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .341.
Ryan Howard 3B- 2 for 3.  BA= .367.
Matt Krook LHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 11.12.
Bryan Morris RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.
Carlos Diaz LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.70.
Ryan Halstead RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, Save(1).  ERA= 1.23.

Krook was more successful in this start than his first in Lancaster, but the BB's are still an issue.  Bryan Morris and Michael Morse begin rehab assignments.  Reynolds was back in CF.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets topped the Charleston River Dogs 3-2:

Anthony Marks CF- 2 for 4, SB(4).  BA= .200.
Kelvin Beltre DH- 2 for 2, 3B, BB, SF.  BA= .265.
Frandy De La Rosa- 2B- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .333.
Dominic Mazza LHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 6.17.
Cameron Avila-Leeper LHP- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 11.57.
Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(1).  ERA= 0.00.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Game Wrap 4/18/2017: Giants 2 Royals 1

The Giants got a huge boost from Matt Cain who pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball.  The Bullpen held on into the 11'th inning when the Giants were able to push across with winning run.  Mark Melancon held on for the Save.  Key Lines:

Hunter Pence RF- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .310.  Pence has not been a big power threat so far but he's been peppering the field with hits.  He drove in Joe Panik with the first Giants run to get them the 1-1 tie they took to extra innings.

Buster Posey DH- 3 for 5.  BA= .385.  Buster's 3 hits did not contribute to the scoring, but sure is good to see the Big Guy back in the lineup and apparently not suffering any lingering effects from the concussion.

Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .319.  It wasn't quite as dramatic as in the 2014 WS, but Panik started a key GIDP off the bat of the same Eric Hosmer to keep the tie alive.  He then singled in Nick Hundley for the winning run after Hundley had hit a soft liner down the LF line for a double.

Matt Cain RHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.31.  The big story of this game is the start Matt Cain registered.  This comes on the heels of a strong 5 innings in his prior start and we may be seeing the renaissance of Matt Cain.  Stay healthy, Hoss!

Derek Law RHP- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.68.  There were times when Law looked like he was about to blow it, but Ron Wotus stuck with him and Law worked his way out of it.  The home plate ump was squeezing him to boot.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(3).  ERA= 3.86.  Melancon definitely did not make it boring in this one.  2 hits and 3 K's?  That is not a typical Melancon Save!  We could use a bit more boring.

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The Win improved the Giants record to 6-9 and got them out of last place in the NL West by 0.5 games over the Pathetic Padres who lost to the D'Backs 11-2 to drop their record to 5-9.  The Rockies held on to top the  Dodgers 4-3 and are tied for first place with the D'backs at 9-5.  The Dodgers drop to 7-7, 2 games behind the two leaders.  The Giants remain 3.5 games behind in 4'th place and the Padres bring up the rear, 4 games off the pace.

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Madison Bumgarner tries for a sweep of the 2 game series tomorrow against lefty Jason Vargas.

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Manager Bruce Bochy missed the game and will be out until Friday, 4/21 after undergoing an ablation procedure to control an cardiac arrhythmia, Atrial Flutter.  Long time Bench Coach, Ron Wotus, managed the team and will continue to until Boch gets back.  Get well, Boch!!

Prospect Retrospective: Clayton Blackburn

Clayton Blackburn is well known to Giants prospect watchers.  He was drafted by the Giants in round 16 of the 2011 draft out of Edmonds, OK, warming the hearts of Giants draft and prospect watchers who had long criticized Brian Sabean and Co for not taking enough chances on the upside of HS prospects.  His pro debut with the rookie ball Arizona Giants was impressive to say the least:  3-1, 1.08, 33.1 IP, 0.81 BB/9, 8.10 K/9, GO/AO= 2.58.  Scouting reports cautioned that his raw stuff was marginal and might not play at higher levels.  Saber enthusiasts liked him better and thought maybe his stuff would develop as he got older and stronger.  The one problem with that thinking was his already big body might not have any room to develop!

His first full season with the Low A Augusta Greenjackets in 2012 was almost as impressive:  8-4, 2.54, 131.1 IP, 1.13 BB/9, 9.80 K/9, GO/AO= 2.32.  The K/9 was good, check.  The BB/9 was excellent, check.  The groundball tendency was also excellent, check.  The Sabers were winning this one!  2013 found him in San Jose where he put up a line of 7-5, 3.65, 133 IP, 2.37 BB/9, 9.34 K/9, GO/AO= 1.54.  The ERA was disappointing and the groundball rate took a hit, but the K's and BB's were still solid and the Cal League is a whole lot tougher for pitchers than the SAL.

He was plagued with some minor injury issues in 2014 but his numbers slightly rebounded in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League:  5-6, 3.29, 93.1 IP, 1.94 BB/9, 8.23 K/9, GO/AO= 1.95.  Scouting reports continued to question his raw stuff and there were whispers of conditioning issues.  The Giants promoted him to AAA for the 2015 season.  He was roughed up early in the season but was dominant in the last 2 months and ended up with the best ERA for qualified pitchers in the PCL:  10-4, 2.85, 123 IP, 2.34 BB/9, 7.24 K/9, GO/AO= 1.59.  Clayton attributed his success down the stretch to improved conditioning.  He appeared to be nearing the top of the Giants SP depth chart.  Sabers continued to like him better than the scouts.

He got a long look in spring training of 2016 but was ultimately sent back to AAA where his numbers slumped.  When the Giants needed a starter to replace Matt Cain, Albert Suarez got the call.  The stretch run of 2015 never materialized for Blackburn and he was clearly passed on the depth charts by Ty Blach even Chris Stratton with Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez coming up fast from the lower minors.  Clayton got hit hard in spring training of 2017 and his first start for Sacramento did not go well.  When the Giants needed a 40 man roster spot for Tim Federowicz, they chose to DFA Blackburn, an move that ended with a trade to the Rangers for a low level IF prospect named Frandy De La Rosa.  On social media, Clayton was happy to get a chance to pitch for the organization he rooted for as a kid.

So what happened here?  Were the scouts right all along and his stuff just not quite good enough?  Did his conditioning regress from 2016?  Did he go into an emotional funk when his terrific 2015 in AAA did not translate into an immediate MLB job?  Perhaps it was all of the above, or just a big fat dose of bad luck.  Hopefully he puts it back together in the Rangers organization and has some great experiences pitching for his dream team.

Down on the Farm: 4/17/2017

AAA  Las Vegas 51's came from behind to defeat the Sacramento River Cats 7-5:

Christian Arroyo SS- 2 for 5.  BA= .462.
Ryder Jones 1B- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .444.
Drew Stubbs CF- 2 for 5.  BA= .273.
Carlos Moncrief RF- 2 for 4.   BA= .360.
Orlando Calixte 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(3).  BA= .250.
Chris Stratton RHP- 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 13/3.  ERA= 7.84.

Giants continue to rotate their infielders through multiple positions putting a premium on versatility.  Ryder Jones is hot out of the gate.

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AA  Bowie Baysox edged the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-2:

Carlos Garcia 2B- 3 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .261.
Rando Moreno SS- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .238.
Matt Gage LHP- 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.38.
Jose Flores RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K.  ERA= 0.00.

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High A  San Jose Giants vs Visalia Rawhide Postponed.

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Low A Charleston River Dogs mauled the Augusta Greenjackets 7-2:

Sandro Cabrera LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.  ERA= 1.00.
Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

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The Giants traded RHP Clayton Blackburn, who they had DFA'd to make room on the 40 man roster for Tim Federowicz, to the Rangers for infielder Frandy De La Rosa.  I'll do a prospect retrospective on Clayton Blackburn, and you all pretty much know about him already, but you may be wondering whotheheck Frandy De La Rosa is.

Frandy De La Rosa was originally signed as an international FA in 2012 by the Chicago Cubs for a $600 K signing bonus, so he has some prospect pedigree.

2014 DSL:  .281/.336/.402, 12 SB, 6.8 BB%, 14 K%, 278 PA.
2015 SS:  .273/.315/.367, 11 SB, 5.4 BB%, 223 K%, 278 PA.

He was traded to the Rangers in the fall of 2015 for someone named Spencer Patton.

2016  Low A:  .250/.330/.351, 7 HR, 19 SB, 23 CS, 9.3 BB%, 19 K%, 483 PA.
2017  High A:  .107 in 33 PA.

De La Rosa started his minor league career as a SS but moved over to 2B the last couple of years and was actually playing 1B this season.  The Giants have a surplus of middle infield prospects so I'm not sure when, where or how much Frandy is going to play in the Giants system.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/16/2017

Just 2 game to report from Easter Sunday.

AAA  Las Vegas 51's topped the Sacramento River Cats 6-4:

Drew Stubbs CF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .235.
Justin Ruggiano RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .214.
Ryder Jones 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .500.
Orlando Calixte SS- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .214.
Kyle Blanks PH- 1 for 1, HR(2).  BA= .241.
Kraig Sitton LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.13.
Josh Osich LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.80.

Was Ryder Jones nursing an injury in extended spring training?  This was his first appearance in 2017.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets outscored the Columbia Fireflies 7-6:

Sandro Fabian RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .238.
Manuel Geraldo 3B- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .167.
Caleb Baragar LHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.00.
Matthew Pope RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00.

Game Wrap 4/16/2017: Rockies 4 Giants 3

The Rockies and Giants traded 3-run rallies in the first inning. The Rockies took a 1 run lead in the top of the second inning……and that was the last run scored in the game!  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .216.  Belt hasn't been hitting much, but has been drawing enough walks to be valuable in the 2-hole in the lineup.  Maybe this is the start of more?

Brandon Crawford SS- 1 for 4, 3B.  BA= .298.  Crawford drove in a run with the triple down the RF line in the first inning then scored on a sac fly.  That was the last run the Giants scored in the game.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 7/1.  ERA= 6.16.  Shark started the game by giving up homer, single, double, double.  He got a visit from Rags and settled down to retire then next 3 batters.  He got dinged for another run in the 2'nd.  From then on, he allowed just 2 more hits and no runs, but the Giants offense failed to score another run after a 3-run first inning and Shark was saddled with his 3'rd loss of the season.  If you looked at the BB's, K's and GB rate, you'd think this was a dominant start.  Let's just hope the turnaround bodes well for the future.

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The Loss dropped the Giants farther into the cellar of the NL West at 5-9, 4 games behind the 9-5 Rockies.  The D'Backs got the Dodgers 3-1 behind Taijuan Walker and are 0.5 games behind the Rockies at 8-5.  The Dodgers are 1.5 games back at 7-6.  The Padres got pounded by the Braves 9-2 and are 3.5 games back in 4'th place.

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The Giants have a travel day tomorrow and start a series against the Royals in KC on Tuesday, 4/17 in a rematch of the 2014 WS with Matt Cain facing Jason Hammel.

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Jarrett Parker underwent surgery to stabilize his clavicle and will be out an estimated 8-10 weeks.  The Giants called up LHP Steven Okert to take his place on the active roster.

Down on the Farm: 4/15/2017

AAA  Las Vegas 51's defeated the Sacramento River Cats 4-1:

Kelby Tomlinson SS- 2 for 5, SB(2).  BA= .333.
Christian Arroyo 2B- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .471.
Jae-Gyun Hwang 3B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .278.
Joan Gregorio RHP- 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.74.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.50.

Tomlinson may be the most likely to get the call to replace Parker as he is already on the 40 man roster, although the Giants could also go with another pitcher, Steven Okert.

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AA  Reading Fightin' Phils outscored the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-6:

Slade Heathcott CF- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .286.
Chris Shaw 1B-  3 for 5, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .382.
TJ Bennett 3B- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .217.
Cory Taylor RHP- 3.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 9.72.

Chris Shaw is on fire!  A lot of people wrote him off after looking at his overall line from Richmond last year, but if you broke it down, he had a 1 month adjustment  but his August numbers looked pretty much the same as his SJ numbers.

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High A  Stockton Ports beat the San Jose Giants 6-3:

Ryan Howard 3B- 3 for 5.  BA= .348.
Brian Reynolds LF- 3 for 5, 2 2B, 3B.  BA= .333.
Jonah Arenado 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .263.
Daniel Carbonell RF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .296.
Mike Connolly RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.74.
Dusten Knight RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.35.
Carlos Diaz LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 6.35.

Gotta make a note that Reynolds played LF with Fargas in CF in this one.

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Low A  Columbia Fireflies blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 1-0:

Melvin Adon RHP- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 5.14.
Jose Morel RHP- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.35.
Sandro Cabrera LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.29.

The GJ's are having trouble hitting their way out of a paper bag.  Nice bounceback start by Adon.

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Game Wrap 4/15/2017: Rockies 5 Giants 0

The Giants offense mustered just 2 hits off Rockies SP Tyler Chatwood who cruised to a CG 2-Hit Shutout.  Key Lines:

Tyler Chatwood RHP(Rockies)- 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, GO/AO= 17/3.  ERA= 3.54.  This is the only line that matters in this game. Chatwood, who graduated from Redlands East Valley HS in my hometown, is a good pitcher who is underrated because he has to pitch half his games in Coors Field, but against the Giants he might as well be Walter Johnson reincarnate.  Chatwood has made 12 career starts against the Giants, more than against any other MLB team, and holds a 2.91 ERA in those 12 starts.

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With the Win, the Rockies take over first place in the NL West with a record of 8-5 while the Giants drop 0.5 games farther behind in last place with a 3.0 game deficit at 5-8.  The D'Backs lose to the Dodgers 8-4 to fall 0.5 games behind the Rockies in second place. The Dodgers are now tied with the D'Backs at 7-5.  The Padres lose again to the Braves 4-2 and are 0.5 games ahead of the Giants at 5-7.

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Jeff Samardzija tries to tie the 4 game series tomorrow facing Antonio Senzatela, a rookie RHP who sports a 1.50 ERA after 2 MLB Starts.

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Jarrett Parker made a nice running catch in LF before running into the padded LF wall.  Unfortunately it wasn't padded enough to keep him from breaking his right clavicle.  He is headed to the DL and will likely miss at least 2 months.  No word on who the Giants might call up to replace him.

Down on the Farm: 4/14/2017

AAA  Sacramento River Cats outscored the Salt Lake City Bees 12-10:

Kelby Tomlinson 2B- 3 for 6, 2B.  BA= .320.
Drew Stubbs CF- 2 for 5, BB, SB(1).  BA= .222.
Carlos Moncrief RF- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .368.
Austin Slater LF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .345.
Christian Arroyo PH-SS- 3 for 3.  BA= .467.
Tyler Beede RHP- 4 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 6.30.
Chase Johnson RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 2.70.
Josh Osich LHP- 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.25.
Kyle Crick RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(1).  ERA= 0.00.

SLC can be a nightmare for pitching and this was a game to pad the offensive stat sheet.  Arroyo did not start the game and it's a hitter's park and all, but my goodness!  This kid is so hot he's melting the beeswax in the Beehive!  How're you gonna keep 'em down on the farm?!  Look at you, Kyle Crick!  Cricky gets the Save Op and cashes it in!  In a slugfest no less!

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AA Richmond Flying Squirrels defeated the Reading Phillies 5-3:

Miguel Gomez 2B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .324.
Chris Shaw 1B- 3 for 3, 2B, HR(2), BB.  BA= .345.
Sam Coonrod RHP- 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 3.00.
DJ Snelton LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Reyes Maronta RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(2).  ERA= 0.00.

Predict Gomez and Shaw will be getting national attention before the season is over.  Dominant start for Coonrod.  We could see Maronta in the Giants bullpen this season.

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High A  San Jose Giants edged out the Stockton Ports 3-2:

Aramis Garcia C- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .382.
Gio Brusa LF- 1 for 3, HR(3), BB.  BA= .212.
Johneshwy Fargas CF- 2 for 3.  BA= .200.
Conner Menez LHP- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 2.31.
David Owen RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 0.96.

The Giants have plenty of catching depth at the MLB level, but longterm they need Aramis Garcia to step up.  Menez is showing promise as a LHP SP prospect.

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Low A  Augusta Greenjackets blanked the Columbia Fireflies 7-0:

Kelvin Beltre 2B- 2 for 5.  BA= .237.
Ryan Kirby 1B- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .207.
Brandon Van Horn SS- 2 for 4.  BA= .172.
Kevin Rivera 3B- 2 for 4.  BA= .250.
Matt Solter RHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K.  ERA= 2.61.

Game Wrap 4/14/2017: Giants 8 Rockies 2

The Giants offense came to life in support of another Quality Start by Johnny Cueto who notched his 3'rd Win of the season.  Key Lines:

Denard Span CF- 1 for 4, BB.  BA= .258.  Span gets the start agains the LHP and gets on base 2 out of 5 PA's.  That's a .400 OBP and he scored both times he reached.  He also looked fairly spry running down flyballs in CF.

Hunter Pence RF- 3 for 4.  BA= .340.  Pence was basically throwing his bat at outside pitches but successfully poked 3 of them on a line to RF for basehits driving in 2 runs and scoring 1 in the process.

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .325.  Crawford got the start against the LHP.  Historically, he has not L-R split.  He drove an oppo field dinger to lead off the 4'th inning to give the Giants a 4-0 lead.

Eduardo Nunez 3B-  1 for 3, BB. BA= .357.  Nunez drew a balk at 1B in the second inning(more on that later) and came home on Marrero's dinger.

Chris Marrero LF- 2 for 3, HR(1).  BA= .143.  Marrero's bat came to life in a big way in the second inning as he drove a no-doubter into the LF stands for the Giants first 2 runs in the game.  He also made a couple of nice running catches in LF.  The dinger was Marrero's first MLB HR after hitting 140 of them in over 4000 minor league AB's, so congrats to Chris Marrero!

Johnny Cueto RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.79.  Cueto might have held the Rockies to 1 run had Joe Panik not lost the handle on the ball while tagging a runner coming into 2B in he 5'th inning.  Both runs were charged as Earned to Cueto though.

Tyler Anderson LHP(Rockies)- 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 7/1, 2 Balks.  ERA= 8.59.  Anderson has a foot "shimmy" in his delivery, but I don't think that is what drew the balks.  The calls were hotly disputed by Bud Black and the Rockies broadcast team on TV.  The announcing crew made a big deal out of the "45 degrees" rule which is not a formal rule at all.  The Rule actually states that the pitcher cannot interrupt a delivery to throw to first after he has made a move to deliver the pitch to home plate.  My understanding of the "45 degree" rule is it is a convention that if 1B, Home Plate and the Mound form a 90 degree angle, the pitcher can throw to first if the foot does not come past 45 degrees.  On the replays, to my eye, Anderson clearly went way past 45 degrees then brought his foot back without touching the ground.  That is a balk!  IDK if Black was just trying to protect his pitcher or if he really believed it was not a balk but he spent the entire half inning break in a discussion with the 1B ump and did not appear satisfied with the outcome of he discussion.  He then started barking at the home plate ump in the middle of an AB the next half inning and got tossed.  Isn't baseball fun?!

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The Giants Win improved their record to 5-7 and allowed them to gain ground on every team in the division except the Dodgers who crushed the D'Backs and Zack Greinke 7-0 behind Clayton Kershaw.  The First Place D'Backs record is now 7-4.  The Rockies are 7-5, 0.5 games behind the D'Backs.  The Dodgers are 6-5, 1 game back in 3'rd place.  The Padres lost to the Braves 5-2 and are 2 games off the pace at 5-6 while the Giants trail by 2.5 games.

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Matt Moore takes the mound in an afternoon game today facing Tyler Chatwood, who usually pitches great against the Giants.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Down on the Farm: 4/13/2017

AAA  Salt Lake City Bees edged out the Sacramento River Cats 4-3:

Christian Arroyo 2B- 1 for 3, HR(1), HBP.  BA= .407.
Steven Okert LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.

Arroyo's blast was a 3-run dinger.

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AA  Reading Fightin' Phils downed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-3:

Brandon Bednar 3B- 2 for 3.  BA= .346.
Chris Shaw 1B- 2 for 4.  BA= .269.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.60.

Statistically a dominant start by Suarez.

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High A  San Jose Giants pounded the Stockton Ports 8-2:

Ryan Howard 3B- 2 for 5.  BA= .351.
Gio Brusa LF- 2 for 4.  BA= .200.
Dillon Dobson 2B- 3 for 4.  BA= .323.
Jake McCasland RHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.25.
Carlos Diaz LHP- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 7.71.

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Low A Columbia Fireflies beat the Augusta Greenjackets 8-2:

Shawon Dunston Jr LF- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .500.

Game Wrap 4/13/2017: Rockies 3 Giants 1

The Giants turned in another lackluster performance losing another game in which Madison Bumgarner had a QS in a losing effort.  Key Lines:

Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.43.  Bumgarner was again dominant until he fired a first pitch FB down the middle to Trevor Story who was waiting for it.  It went a long way and drove in Carlos Gonzalez who had singled after getting dusted by a MadBum FB earlier in the inning.  Gotta wonder if the mano-a-mano between Bum and CarGo had anything to do with the gofer ball.

The Giants offense failed to generate any multi-hit games or XBH's.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 4-7, 3.5 games behind the first place D'Backs who were idle and sit at 7-3.  The Rockies improved their record to 7-4, 0.5 games behind the D'Backs.  The Dodgers were blanked by the Cubs 4-0 to even their record at 5-5, 2 games behind the D'Backs while the idle Padres remain at 5-5.

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Johnny Cueto takes the mound tonight facing lefty Tyler Anderson.

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Very sad news as Brandon Crawford's sister-in-law has died, possibly due to complications from asthma as reported by Amy G.  Crawford drove to LA after Wednesday's game to be with his family then flew back to SF to be with the team.  He was understandably not in the lineup for last night's game.

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Baggs is reporting via his Mailbag that the Giants are trying to work out a trade for the recently DFA'd Clayton Blackburn.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Game Wrap 4/12/2017: Giants 6 D'Backs 2

The Giants got a big boost from a somewhat unexpected source as Matt Cain was dealing for 5 innings and the Giants offense came to life in the later innings to seal their first series win of the season.  Key Lines:

Denard Span CF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .261.  Span doubled to lead off the Giants first inning and was stranded, but drove in a run and scored one later during a 3-run rally in the 5'th inning.

Brandon Belt 1B- 0 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .184.  Belt's OBP is .363.

Nick Hundley C- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .313.  Hundley crushed one to RF in a rainswept 7'th inning.  The wind was howling in from the bay, but the ball hit off the brick wall driving in Crawford from 2B.

Jarrett Parker LF- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .176.  Joe Panik followed Hundley's double with a BB, then Parker blasted one off the CF wall for a triple.  Parker runs hot and cold.  Hopefully this is the start of a hot streak.

Matt Cain RHP- 1 for 2, 2B.  BA= .333.  Cain scored the first run of the game when Span drove him in from 2B after a 1-out double.

Matt Cain RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.82.  What a difference 1 start makes!  After giving up a leadoff triple to AJ Pollock, Cainer settled down and pitched a spiffy little game.  He had his FB consistently up to 90-91 with a sharp slider and and a slower breaking ball that came in at 77 MPH.  What did we say after his last start?  Get the FB velocity up to 90 MPH and improve command of the secondary stuff?  Well, he did it and it paid off big time.  Bochy gets credit for not trying to keep him in the game too long pulling him after the first 2 batters reached base in the 6'th.

Cory Gearrin RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  Gearrin relieved Cain with 2 runners on base and proceeded to strike out the side with a mix of Romoesque sliders and running 2-seam FB.

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The Giants improved their record to 4-6 while dropping the first place D'Backs to 7-3.  Giants remain in last place in the NL West, but just 3 games behind the leaders.  The Rockies lost to the Pesky Padres 6-0 to remain 1 game off the pace.  The Dodgers blanked the Cubs 2-0 to improve their record to 5-4, 1.5 games behind the D'Backs while the Padres improved to 5-5 and are 2 games behind the leaders in 4'th place.

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The Rockies come to town tomorrow with Madison Bumgarner facing Jonathan Gray, weather permitting.  I understand there is a large storm system moving into NoCal starting tonight.

Down on the Farm: 4/12/2017

AAA  Salt Lake City Bees stung the Sacramento River Cats 4-1:

Christian Arroyo 2B- 2 for 5, SB(1).  BA= .417.
Jae-Gyun Hwang 3B- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .333.
Austin Slater DH- 2 for 4.  BA= .333.
Dan Slania RHP- 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 K.  ERA= 7.71.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.  ERA= 6.00.

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AA  Altoona Curve Blanked the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-0:

Jose Flores RHP- 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Carlos Alvarado RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 2.25.
Cory Taylor RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 9.64.

Alvarado has 10 K's against 1 BB in 4 IP in 2 Appearances.

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High A  Lancaster Jethawks outscored the San Jose Giants 9-7:

Jalen Miller SS- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .379.
Gio Brusa LF- 1 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .154.
Dillon Dobson 2B- 2 for 4, 3B, HR(1).  BA= .259.
Johneshwy Fargas RF- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .130.
Yordy Cabrera RHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.76.

Gotta be excited about Jalen Miller's start to the season even if it was in a couple of very hitter-friendly parks.

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Low A Charleston River Dogs buried the Augusta Greenjackets 4-0:

Sandro Fabian RF- 2 for 4.  BA= .240.
Dominic Mazza LHP- 4 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 10.80.
Sandro Cabrera LHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 1.50.

Sandro Fabian had 2 of the GJ's 3 hits.  Sandro Cabrera has 9 K's against 3 BB's in 6 IP in 3 Appearances on the season.