He can hit!

[klaiggeb]

That's what Krukow and Kuiper have now been saying about Panik, and I have to agree.

But for a kid with a supposed "lack of pop" in his bat... he's flat out driven some long shots!

Last night's almost "off the wall" double to left was pretty impressive.

I love that short, compact stroke.

That's what Crawford should be doing; shortening his stroke.

And he could do it, but it would require a drastic change in his back elbow and bat angle.

boly

[Rog]

Obviously one can tell only so much by reading a player's stats, but he can get a decent idea if he knows just what to look for. Joe is the type of hitter I expected, and he may be even better than I was hoping. His sample is quite small still, but as you say, that short stroke is impressive. He hardly ever looks fooled, and puts the ball in play as consistently as any Giants hitter. I've been surprised he hasn't walked more, but in part that has been due to the very consistent contact he has made.

His power appears good enough that outfielders can't cheat too much, but they'll also likely get a better book on where to play him. As an example, this series has shown that the left fielder should be cheating the line a bit. Meanwhile, the right fielder can probably still choke off the gap.

Entering play today, Joe's BABIP was .351. We shouldn't expect that to continue, but then again, we shouldn't expect him to keep hitting .314, either. I still see him as a .290 hitter who gets on base and handles the bat very nicely. Not a lot of speed, but he seems to be a smart base runner, and his defense has been better than I expected.

Incidentally, I'm not high on Chris Dominguez, but he did surprise for a big man (6-foot-4, 235) by stealing 21 bases this season. He even played 33 games at shortstop and also played first base, plus left and right fields, in addition to his original third base position. I'm not a fan because he has 702 strikeouts and just 128 walks.

The Giants had pretty much already called up their position players before September. I was glad to see Gary Brown called up, and he nearly blooped in a hit in his first at bat, but beat writer Alex Pavlovich is insisting Gary is no longer in the Giants' long-term plans. Expect him to move on this winter. Perhaps he can provide a tiny bit of icing on a winter trade package.

Joe Panik will almost certainly be up next season, and Andrew Susac appears very likely. Maybe the Giants will have Andrew learn some first base in an effort to get him more playing time. Matt Duffy looks like he could use time at Fresno. I just don't think there's much else coming in the near future, although Adam Duvall has the power the Giants would like in a pinch hitter. he's not a kid anymore, but Travis Ishikawa has acquitted himself well in very limited action. Hit only .271 at Fresno though.

The young starting pitching faltered, and I don't see anyone ready to make much of a difference next season. Fresno's Chris Heston looks the closest, but he had a good-not-great season this year after a modestly decent minor league career prior to his present age 36. Kyle Crick has been the only dominant starter at Richmond, and he can't get the ball over the plate consistently, making Tim Lincecum look like a bit of a control pitcher.

Relief help appears to be on the way for 2015, which might make it even less likely that Sergio Romo will be re-signed.

[klaiggeb]

Screw Susac at 1B, Rog. If Bochy does that, he's dumber 'n I think he is.

Susac is SOOOOOOOOOOO much better than Posey behind the plate... and Posey HITS BETTER when he's not behing the plate, Bochy would be nuts to do that.

Then again, he's bonehead to me, and I'm betting what you suggest is EXACTLY what he'll do.


Bochy ain't dead to me, but right now, he's close.

boly

[Rog]

Boly -- Screw Susac at 1B, Rog. If Bochy does that, he's dumber 'n I think he is.

Susac is SOOOOOOOOOOO much better than Posey behind the plate... and Posey HITS BETTER when he's not behing the plate, Bochy would be nuts to do that.

Rog -- My suggestion for Andrew to learn to play first base is for next season. I'm hoping it is a way to find him more playing time. Both the Giants and Buster have said they want him behind the plate for as long as is feasible. So I'm trying to come up with ideas within that framework. Otherwise, catch Susac, play Buster at first base, re-sign Pablo, play Belt in left field, and set up a platoon of Blanco and a good right-handed hitting center fielder to fill in for Pagan if he becomes injured.

But given the parameters the Giants are apparently setting, one idea I had was to re-sign both Pablo and Morse. That would give the Giants five players to man catcher, the corners and left field. Along with the center field platoon I mentioned, the Giants would have depth, and could give the five players an average of 130 games apiece, although clearly injuries and/or other factors wouldn't have the games split that evenly.

The idea behind teaching Susac to play first base is to give him a way into the lineup even when Buster is catching. My plan would also be to teach Buster third base, so he could be the one to fill in and give Pablo a rest.

I would be surprised if the Giants went this way, but it is a way to handle the situation given players I know will be available (assuming Sandoval and Morse are re-signed). Morse would need to come back at a reasonable rate and for no more than two years. Pablo would need to play for less than Pence money or at least for less time.

By saving the Romo money, perhaps the Giants could pull this off. They will be facing a daunting task this winter. Regarding available money, the Giants are indeed third in attendance this season. But they aren't too far off #3 in payroll, despite a heavy cash flow burden to pay off the stadium early. (The Giants say they will pay the stadium off in 2017, so then we'll begin to see how much of the mortgage savings will go back into payroll. For now, they likely don't have nearly the flexibility we would like them to have.

I will say it again and again, since I know it's true for most of us. The Giants' recent success has left us spoiled. We want the Giants to spend enough money so that they will continue to win the World Series on a frequent basis. As the Dodgers are likely showing, even outspending everyone else by a LOT isn't a guarantee of frequent World Championships.

I realize it doesn't help much to say we're spoiled. But it might give us pause to step back and look at the reality of baseball's future. Spending even a quarter of a billion or so doesn't guarantee frequent World Championships. We should be happy with what we've had and that the Giants have remained competitive.

Given the injuries they've suffered this season, aren't we actually fortunate that they've been as competitive as they have? Scutaro, Cain, Belt, Pagan and Sanchez have each missed very considerable time -- yet here the Giants are in a position where if the season ended today, they would be in the post season.

We complain about the Giants' not spending enough, but they've paid a TON of money to Cain, Pence, Lincecum, Pagan, Scutaro and Posey -- and will likely spend a lot more this winter on Sandoval. In round numbers and using the AVERAGE salary of the above half dozen's contracts, the Giants are spending nearly a $100 million per season just to retain those players.

If they believe he's healthy, the Giants should probably also try to lock Belt up before he becomes extremely expensive. Panik too. It's probably a little too early with Susac, given the danger of his position, but it can't hurt to explore the situation.

Speaking of Panic and Susac, it became clear rather early this season that those were the position players to watch. I heard columnist Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group say he was surprised at the success of Panik. Indeed I can't think of anyone who expected the magnitude of Joe's success, but we have been talking here for a long time about how Joe was likely to help. He's been even better than we expected, but we expected a considerable amount.

We haven't talked about Susac as long (in part due to his injuries), but at least we got on his bandwagon early. The negative to the situation though is that the Giants don't appear to have many position players behind Joe and Andrew.

But for a team who is known for drafting and developing PITCHERS, finding Sandoval, Posey, Belt, Panik and Susac in the past several years isn't bad. Crawford too.

[klaiggeb]

Rog, I totally agree about Posey at 3B; totally!

And it's not that I disagree about Andrew at 1B, but I'd rather Posey there because Susac is so much better defensively than Posey it's a dis service to the team to Not put Buster at 1B and Susac behind the plate.

So far, I LOVE what I've seen defensively from Susac.

Too soon to know if his offense is a "Bowker-Fluke" or not


As to the money, I'm not one complaining about what we've spent. I'm like you; we've spent a LOT to keep the team's central core.

Scutaro I believe is now excess baggage, the way Freddy Sanchez became excess baggage when his body gave out.

Sad. I loved Maro's heart.

And you're right! We've FOUND some players!

I think Panik and Susac have solid futures, and who knows; maybe Cordier and Strickland, too!

boly

[Rog]

Boly -- Too soon to know if his offense is a "Bowker-Fluke" or not

Rog -- I don't think so, the primary reason being that Andrew had a career 218/131 K/BB ratio compared to Bowker's 576/274. John's was considerably worse when he first came up.

Another good indication is that John got off to a torrid start, then fizzled, whereas Susac started slowly and then took off.

Strickland looks a lot better to me than Cordier does. Eric throws harder, but he struggles with his control. Hunter had a fabulous 48/4 K/BB ratio at Richmond this season.

Regarding Joe Panik, a month or so ago it appeared he was going to platoon at the keystone with Matt Duffy. Joe blew that idea out of the water. I'm a little unsure about Duffy, but I like him too. He seems to have a very quick bat.

Bruce Bochy has begun comparing Panik to Marco Scutaro, and Joe is beginning to be described much as we talked about him a week or two ago.

Joe's Wins Above Replacement for June was 8th best (1.4 Wins). Two of the seven above him were Giants, as well. Buster Posey was 1.5 WAR and Hunter Pence was 1.4. With production like that from THREE players, it's no wonder the Giants had their best offensive month of the season (and September has thus far been even better).

We talked about the Giants' biggest need at the trade deadline being an outfielder. In retrospect, Panik made us right about that, just as we thought he would. Gregor Blanco's strong bounce back has helped with the outfield issues, although with the poor health records of Angel Pagan and Michael Morse, the outfield still remains at least a small issue -- especially with Morse needed at first base with Brandon Belt out.

Last month the Giants did something that has happened only three times in MLB history. They started five different players at one position for at least five games during the month. The position was first base, and the players were Morse, Posey, Duvall, Ishikawa and Belt. The other two times it happened, it involved left field.

Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/2431/hit#ixzz3CPqeBMhi

[rxmeister]

The reason that Brown or Perez is no longer in their plans is the Cuban kid they signed, Daniel Carbonell. The kid started in the rookie league, hit .314, then was promoted to San Jose where he hit .344, and now has been sent to Richmond for the playoffs and is 4 for 8 in the first two games. He's been sent to the Arizona Fall League, and if he does well there, I expect him to start next year at Fresno at least, with the outside chance he makes the big team. He's no Abreu, Puig or even Rusney Castillo, but he should be a solid major league outfielder.

[klaiggeb]

Keep us posted on Carbonell, Mark. I don't follow the minors that much and if he's made that kind of an impact... we may have found something.

boly

[klaiggeb]

I agree about Duffy, Rog. We saw too few at bats to get a read.

Then, he sat, got rusty, so now, it's going to be really hard to make any kind of visual evaluation.


Panik's quick, short stroke I believe, is going to carry him far.

Plus he has such good baseball instincts.

Easier to evaluate him than Duffy because of the playing time he's gotten.

boly

[rxmeister]

Duffy's been terrible though. I certainly hope it's just because they rushed him and he needs more time in the minors as opposed to this being the player that he is. He was supposed to be a contact hitter the likes of Panik, and he's striking out like crazy.

[Rog]

Mark -- Duffy's been terrible though. I certainly hope it's just because they rushed him and he needs more time in the minors as opposed to this being the player that he is. He was supposed to be a contact hitter the likes of Panik, and he's striking out like crazy.

Rog -- I haven't taken the time to analyze Duffy very deeply, but he has the build of Johnny LeMaster. His minor league numbers were promising, but not as good as Panik's. Not the ones I look at. One thing though is that he was hitting much better at Richmond than Joe did a year ago.

A few points:

. Great point, Mark, that Matt has struck out a lot.

. Horrible average, yet his line drive percentage of 27.3% indicates he has been hitting the ball hard a lot.

. His swing and miss rate, as well as his rate of swinging outside the zone are higher than expected.

. His walk rate has been horrible.

. He's got a short, quick stroke and can really get around on the inside pitch.

. He hasn't yet shown the power to keep outfielders honest.

. Doesn't appear to have as good an arm as Panik or be as good a fielder.

. His sample size is still very small, and his playing time has been sporadic.

. Remember, Panik was hitting .200 after about half again as many at bats as Matt has.

. Matt has probably been rushed. He was drafted only two years ago, and he's playing five levels above where he was playing two years ago.

. Not as good a contact hitter as Joe. In the minors he was roughly halfway between the average hitter and Joe with regard to strikeouts.

Right now I see him as a bottom quartile starter. Incidentally, that was probably at least as high as the consensus for Joe Panik a year ago, although I had Joe a little higher. Joe's been playing over his head the past month. (So has Buster Posey, so this isn't an indictment.) But he should be a very solid player.

I think Joe is the type of player who won't knock your socks off, but if you're a guy like Boly who loves solidity, you might rank him as high as the top half dozen. I said a while back that I saw him as bottom of the top quartile or top of the 2nd quartile. He certainly hasn't done anything to hurt that rating. In Joe's best seasons, he should be ranked top 5, and I doubt he will be rated below average in any but his worst season or two, probably coming near the end of his career.

In a best-case scenario, I see Duffy as being close to Joe, but in reality, Joe will likely rank clearly above Matt for most of their careers. A below-average season for Joe might wind up being an average season or better for Matt. And I think Joe will have more depth to his play than Matt will.

It will be intriguing to see where Matt ranks among the Giants prospects this winter. Consensus top 10 certainly, but probably in the bottom half. A year ago he was almost an after thought. Now he's a thought. That's darn good for the #568 overall pick in 2012.

Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/2431/hit#ixzz3Ce0dwL65

[donk33]

Sept 7, 2014 12:36:36 GMT -5 Rog said:

Mark -- Duffy's been terrible though. I certainly hope it's just because they rushed him and he needs more time in the minors as opposed to this being the player that he is. He was supposed to be a contact hitter the likes of Panik, and he's striking out like crazy.

Rog -- I haven't taken the time to analyze Duffy very deeply, but he has the build of Johnny LeMaster. His minor league numbers were promising, but not as good as Panik's. Not the ones I look at. One thing though is that he was hitting much better at Richmond than Joe did a year ago.

A few points:

. Great point, Mark, that Matt has struck out a lot.

. Horrible average, yet his line drive percentage of 27.3% indicates he has been hitting the ball hard a lot.

. His swing and miss rate, as well as his rate of swinging outside the zone are higher than expected.

. His walk rate has been horrible.

. He's got a short, quick stroke and can really get around on the inside pitch.

. He hasn't yet shown the power to keep outfielders honest.

. Doesn't appear to have as good an arm as Panik or be as good a fielder.

. His sample size is still very small, and his playing time has been sporadic.

. Remember, Panik was hitting .200 after about half again as many at bats as Matt has.

. Matt has probably been rushed. He was drafted only two years ago, and he's playing five levels above where he was playing two years ago.

. Not as good a contact hitter as Joe. In the minors he was roughly halfway between the average hitter and Joe with regard to strikeouts.

Right now I see him as a bottom quartile starter. Incidentally, that was probably at least as high as the consensus for Joe Panik a year ago, although I had Joe a little higher. Joe's been playing over his head the past month. (So has Buster Posey, so this isn't an indictment.) But he should be a very solid player.

I think Joe is the type of player who won't knock your socks off, but if you're a guy like Boly who loves solidity, you might rank him as high as the top half dozen. I said a while back that I saw him as bottom of the top quartile or top of the 2nd quartile. He certainly hasn't done anything to hurt that rating. In Joe's best seasons, he should be ranked top 5, and I doubt he will be rated below average in any but his worst season or two, probably coming near the end of his career.

In a best-case scenario, I see Duffy as being close to Joe, but in reality, Joe will likely rank clearly above Matt for most of their careers. A below-average season for Joe might wind up being an average season or better for Matt. And I think Joe will have more depth to his play than Matt will.

It will be intriguing to see where Matt ranks among the Giants prospects this winter. Consensus top 10 certainly, but probably in the bottom half. A year ago he was almost an after thought. Now he's a thought. That's darn good for the #568 overall pick in 2012.

dk..I have not formed an opinion on Duffy as yet, but I am really pissed with the comments that were put on this board....I don't know what this month's stat is important to Rog this month, but there is no comparison between Panik and Duffy in AA , it's all Duffy...Duffy .332/.398/.444/ for .842 OPS...Panik....257/.333/..347/.680 OPS...not even close....Duffy 42 Walks to 66 K's...Panik 58/68 ...Panik had 155 more at bats.....Panik less walks, fewer K's....as far as Duffy's K's in the majors...in his last 10 games he only had 2 K's and then Bochy put him back at SS and he had 2 K's in 4 AB's....and if you don't think he might have some problem concentrating on his AB's when he has to be thinking about returning to SS.....and the one thing you guys completely overlooked was when he first came up to the Giants, he had a grand total of 4 games at 2B in pro ball ...tough enough jumping AAA after skipping through A+ ball after a few games....He looked good tonight with a solid pinch hit....give the kid a chance...

[Rog]

Don -- there is no comparison between Panik and Duffy in AA , it's all Duffy...Duffy .332/.398/.444/ for .842 OPS...Panik....257/.333/..347/.680 OPS...not even close....Duffy 42 Walks to 66 K's...Panik 58/68 ...Panik had 155 more at bats.....Panik less walks, fewer K's.

Rog -- You said it differently than I did, Don, but that is what I said (and say) too. Joe's advantage over Matt is that he makes more contact, giving him more opportunities for hits.

Matt actually outhit Joe by 11 points in the minors this season. Both hit great for average, with Matt's .332 being even better than Joe's .321. But here is why Joe was more likely to maintain the average (or at least be close to it). He hit .346 on Balls In Play in order to fuel his .321 average. Matt hit .391 on Balls In Play in order to hit .332. Which player was more likely to come close to his minor league average?

Joe's .346 BABIP probably isn't sustainable, but he might come reasonably close to it. No WAY is Matt going to come close to .391.

Entering play today, Joe's BABIP was .349, giving him a .312 average. I don't think he'll be able to keep that up, but I think he can indeed come reasonably close -- which is why I predict he'll be around a .290 career hitter.

Entering play today, Matt was hitting .182 with a .242 BABIP. If we move Matt's BABIP up to Joe's area, his batting average would be .262. Because Joe puts his bat on the ball a fair amount more than Matt does, he doesn't need to be as lucky to hit as high as Matt.

Or to put it another way, Matt will likely need to be luckier than Joe in order to hit as well.

I like Matt pretty well. I simply like Joe better. Joe should be an above-average second baseman, and could wind up being well above average. Matt will likely become a below-average starter, and he might wind up a utility player.

Matt's tougher for me to evaluate than Joe, but I don't see his being as good as Joe. You are right that everything but K/BB ratio indicates Matt hit quite a bit better at Richmond than Joe did. In fact, I already mentioned it here at least twice -- which makes it a fact (or not).

But Joe and Matt will likely illustrate why I place more value on K/BB ratio than on average. It pays to make some adjustment based on power (and neither player is powerful at all), but K/BB tends to work out pretty well. It is the reason I am much more optimistic about Panik and Andrew Susac than about Adam Duvall or Chris Dominguez or Gary Brown -- or even Brandon Crawford (at the plate only).

Don, there are exceptions to just about every general rule. But I think you will find that overall if one integrates K/BB ratio into his analysis, he will improve his evaluation of prospects.

Coming up through the minors the past several seasons, the Giants with the best K/BB ratio -- modified by adjustments for power -- have been Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Panik. Tell me again which players have been the best hitters to come up in the past five seasons?

Gary Brown outhit Panik at San Jose, just as Duffy outhit Joe at Richmond. But Joe's better K/BB ratio projects him as a better hitter than either of the other two.

By the way, you compared Duffy's K/BB ratio at Richmond to Joe's there. I have found that looking at a player's overall K/BB ratios throughout the minor leagues usually gives a better read than looking at just one season. Matt's minor league K/BB ratio is a nice 145/120, while Joe's through AA was a stellar 147/144.

Matt has the advantage of walking more, but that is more than offset by Joe's striking out much less.

I think Joe has a real shot at becoming the SF Giants' 2nd-best second baseman, behind only Jeff Kent. He'll need to be very good in order to beat out Robby Thompson, but I believe he is capable of doing so. Robby was quite a Giants for the first 8 years of his career, but he tapered off badly over his last three seasons after being hit by a Trevor Hoffman fastball 11 years ago this month.

Robby's 1993 season (.312/.375/496/.870) is unlikely to be equaled by Joe, but Joe might have the longer and more consistent career. Robby was very good, and then he had that 1993 breakout season. But after the September, 1993 beaning, he batted only about .216 over his last three seasons.

Speaking of being hit in the head with a thrown ball, Brandon Belt is back performing baseball activities. His career was taking off until injuries once again sidelined him this year. If there are no long-term effects, he should be on the verge of becoming a very good player. And, man, would he look nice in the lineup down the stretch. With the resurgences of Blanco and Arias, the Giants would then have some real depth.

Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/2431/hit#ixzz3CiD43wjj

[rxmeister]

Matt had a nice at bat that culminated in a hit last night, so that was a good sign. Unfortunately, Joe had a bad day at the plate and didn't come through with men on base. I like Joe in the two spot, but when Brandon Belt returns, I prefer him there with Joe being moved down.

[klaiggeb]

Joe had the WORST swings I've seen him take all year long.

For that matter, from the right side, so did Sandoval.


Matt's problems are the exact same problems we've seen from EVERY kid who suddenly goes from regular... to bench player.

They struggle with the strike zone, and they get rusty and over anxious, and chase bad pitches.

I was impressed with Duffy's at bat last night, too.


You're assuming Belt is going to return, and actually hit, Mark.

I'm not making either assumption.

From what I've read Brando's concussion has caused vision problems...Man! That's scary!

Vision problems could imply permanent brain damage. Not good.

I think Belt's return this is extremely doubtful.


Then again, I PRAY I'm wrong.

boly

[donk33]

Sept 8, 2014 4:48:07 GMT -5 Rog said:

Don -- there is no comparison between Panik and Duffy in AA , it's all Duffy...Duffy .332/.398/.444/ for .842 OPS...Panik....257/.333/..347/.680 OPS...not even close....Duffy 42 Walks to 66 K's...Panik 58/68 ...Panik had 155 more at bats.....Panik less walks, fewer K's.

Rog -- You said it differently than I did, Don, but that is what I said (and say) too. Joe's advantage over Matt is that he makes more contact, giving him more opportunities for hits.

Matt actually outhit Joe by 11 points in the minors this season. Both hit great for average, with Matt's .332 being even better than Joe's .321. But here is why Joe was more likely to maintain the average (or at least be close to it). He hit .346 on Balls In Play in order to fuel his .321 average. Matt hit .391 on Balls In Play in order to hit .332. Which player was more likely to come close to his minor league average?

Joe's .346 BABIP probably isn't sustainable, but he might come reasonably close to it. No WAY is Matt going to come close to .391.

Entering play today, Joe's BABIP was .349, giving him a .312 average. I don't think he'll be able to keep that up, but I think he can indeed come reasonably close -- which is why I predict he'll be around a .290 career hitter.

Entering play today, Matt was hitting .182 with a .242 BABIP. If we move Matt's BABIP up to Joe's area, his batting average would be .262. Because Joe puts his bat on the ball a fair amount more than Matt does, he doesn't need to be as lucky to hit as high as Matt.

Or to put it another way, Matt will likely need to be luckier than Joe in order to hit as well.

I like Matt pretty well. I simply like Joe better. Joe should be an above-average second baseman, and could wind up being well above average. Matt will likely become a below-average starter, and he might wind up a utility player.

Matt's tougher for me to evaluate than Joe, but I don't see his being as good as Joe. You are right that everything but K/BB ratio indicates Matt hit quite a bit better at Richmond than Joe did. In fact, I already mentioned it here at least twice -- which makes it a fact (or not).

But Joe and Matt will likely illustrate why I place more value on K/BB ratio than on average. It pays to make some adjustment based on power (and neither player is powerful at all), but K/BB tends to work out pretty well. It is the reason I am much more optimistic about Panik and Andrew Susac than about Adam Duvall or Chris Dominguez or Gary Brown -- or even Brandon Crawford (at the plate only).

Don, there are exceptions to just about every general rule. But I think you will find that overall if one integrates K/BB ratio into his analysis, he will improve his evaluation of prospects.

Coming up through the minors the past several seasons, the Giants with the best K/BB ratio -- modified by adjustments for power -- have been Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Panik. Tell me again which players have been the best hitters to come up in the past five seasons?

Gary Brown outhit Panik at San Jose, just as Duffy outhit Joe at Richmond. But Joe's better K/BB ratio projects him as a better hitter than either of the other two.

By the way, you compared Duffy's K/BB ratio at Richmond to Joe's there. I have found that looking at a player's overall K/BB ratios throughout the minor leagues usually gives a better read than looking at just one season. Matt's minor league K/BB ratio is a nice 145/120, while Joe's through AA was a stellar 147/144.

Matt has the advantage of walking more, but that is more than offset by Joe's striking out much less.

I think Joe has a real shot at becoming the SF Giants' 2nd-best second baseman, behind only Jeff Kent. He'll need to be very good in order to beat out Robby Thompson, but I believe he is capable of doing so. Robby was quite a Giants for the first 8 years of his career, but he tapered off badly over his last three seasons after being hit by a Trevor Hoffman fastball 11 years ago this month.

Robby's 1993 season (.312/.375/496/.870) is unlikely to be equaled by Joe, but Joe might have the longer and more consistent career. Robby was very good, and then he had that 1993 breakout season. But after the September, 1993 beaning, he batted only about .216 over his last three seasons.

Speaking of being hit in the head with a thrown ball, Brandon Belt is back performing baseball activities. His career was taking off until injuries once again sidelined him this year. If there are no long-term effects, he should be on the verge of becoming a very good player. And, man, would he look nice in the lineup down the stretch. With the resurgences of Blanco and Arias, the Giants would then have some real depth.

[rxmeister]

From what I've heard, Boly, Belt should be back soon. As mentioned, he's working out again, but they're taking it slowly due to what happened the last time. I would think he's back playing in about ten days.

[klaiggeb]

Yeah... after I read your post, I signed on to the giant website, and low and behold; there it was.

I like the kid.

We miss him badly.

But he's missed SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much time that I fear in the last week, he'll be more of a hindrance than help because for him, it'll be spring training all over again.

And we can't have the guy continually coming up in RBI situations when his timing is not just off, but way off.

boly

[rxmeister]

If he can come back and get just one week of solid playing before the season ends I think he'll be fine for the post season, assuming they make it, of course. Thirty at bats should be enough.