Possibly the beginning of a breakthrough?

[Rog]

Jarrett Parker has hit two homers this spring, although his .250 batting is nothing to write home about.  Still, we'd take five hits including two home runs every 20 at bats from Jarrett, right?

Now, it's still early spring training, and the ball doesn't break as much in the thin Arizona air, but I have to say I'm even more impressed that Jarrett's walks this spring exceed his strikeouts.  Five strikeouts in those 20 at bats isn't good, but it's a significant improvement for Jarrett.  When coupled with his six walks, is it possible he is developing plate control?

I haven't seen enough of him this spring to know, but I do find the stats intriguing.  Very small sample.  Spring training.  No need to get excited yet.  But could Jarrett's flame be beginning to burn?  I still feel the answer is no, but there are a couple of positive signs.  Power.  Plate control.  Reduced strikeouts.  

Since it appears he's going to be the Giants' opening day left fielder, let's hope those positive signs continue and grow.  A good season from Jarrett would be BIG for the Giants' offense.

[klaiggeb]

I need to see more of him, too.. but that power potential. almost too much to pass up.

What has NOT impressed me is that, until recently, I've been concerned about runs we AREN'T scoring.

still WAY tooooooo early but...

boly

[Rog]

I've been concerned about runs we AREN'T scoring.


Rog -- The best sign is that Joe Panik his hitting the heck out of the ball. We haven't been worried about his bouncing back, but it's certainly nice to see how well he is hitting in this small spring training sample.

Posey will hit. Belt will hit. Pence will hit. Those three things are high likelihoods. Crawford will hit decently, and even if he has an off year at the plate, he will still provide a ton of value in the field. Span should be good against right-handers.

Nunez should be OK, and Hwang has shown a little at the hot corner as well. Gillaspie is hitting well. Parker and Williamson have done decently in left, which remains the biggest question.

A lot of both the scoring and the non-scoring has been done by players who won't be playing much if at all this season.



Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3761/possibly-beginning-breakthrough#ixzz4argml7rI

[sfgdood]

when we're getting excited about walks from an alleged power hitter, things have gone horrifically wrong with this game

[Islandboagie]

Randy- when we're getting excited about walks from an alleged power hitter, things have gone horrifically wrong with this game

Boagie- Parker is one skill short of being a very good ballplayer, and that's selectiveness at the plate. If he becomes more selective he'll be a 5 tool player, if that happens I'll be very excited.

[sfgdood]

As long as he doesn't turn himself into a slap hitting, Brandon Belt clone, I'm on board

[klaiggeb]

That's a good call on Parker, Boagie. A really good call.

Personally I do NOT understand that "hack and whack" attitude that many hitters seem to have.

My questions to them would be simple:

DO you REALLY know the strike zone?

DO you REALLY know the pitch you can drive?

DO you REALLY know the pitch you CAN'T hit?


Unfortunately, based upon my experience to most of those questions, the answers would be "no, I don't."

Or, "I'm not sure."

And if you've even GOTTEN to the show even for a 'look at me' trial period, the hitter has GOT to be able to answer yes to ALL of those questions if he plans to stay in the show.

boly

[Rog]

when we're getting excited about walks from an alleged power hitter, things have gone horrifically wrong with this game


Rog -- Hitters often talk about how they begin to break out of a slump with some walks. Randy, you use your tag line to cover up your lack of insight. You see baseball like I did when I was a kid.




Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3761/possibly-beginning-breakthrough#ixzz4b28JOlEJ

[Rog]

As long as he doesn't turn himself into a slap hitting, Brandon Belt clone, I'm on board


Rog -- Once again you prove my point. I'm going to go back on what I said though. Even as a kid I understood the game better than you do now. Brandon Belt a slap hitter? Watch the games.

Brandon finished 31st in the major leagues in extra base hits. Hardly the definition of a slap hitter. Pretty much the definition of bias and a lack of vision though.





Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3761/possibly-beginning-breakthrough?page=1#ixzz4b28reZJX

[sfgdood]

The point was, which being a numbers geek prevents you from getting, that Parker has the power to hit homers without using the pitiful excuse of playing in a big ballpark. I don't want him to lose that power trying to take walks all the time.

[Rog]

Randy -- If you haven't seen it already, please go to the Brandon Belt thread for my full apology. My actions reflected FAR more horribly on me than on you. Far more. Roger

[Rog]

The point was, which being a numbers geek prevents you from getting, that Parker has the power to hit homers without using the pitiful excuse of playing in a big ballpark. I don't want him to lose that power trying to take walks all the time.


Rog -- Virtually no hitter should come to the plate with the goal of taking a walk. As Boly eloquently explained, the hitter should have a plan for HITTING the ball and hitting it hard. If he looks for his pitch (sometimes more location than speed) and lays off others until he gets to two strikes, he gives himself the best chance of hitting the ball hard -- and ironically, of taking a walk too.

As Boagie mentioned, if a player shows patience and plate discipline in executing the plan Boly mentioned, he will wind up with more walks and (sometimes) fewer strikeouts. The good walk to strikeout ratio shows a plan and a control that should accompany successful results without the batter trying to walk. The batter should be both aggressive and selective.

Tough order, but if a power hitter can execute it, he will hit harder, walk more, and make far fewer outs. A walk to strikeout improvement often indicates a change in the batter which will lead or has lead to significant improvement.

The first reason I became excited about Hwang was that last season he cut his walk to strikeout ratio from 48/122 in 2015 to a far better 47/64 in 2016. Without losing a single one of his 26 home runs.

Notice that he actually took one FEWER walk, but he put the ball in play far better and wound up with a 40 point improvement in his batting average and a 37 point improvement in his slugging percentage. He had seven more RBI's despite 70 fewer at bats.

Korean stats can become video game stats, but it appears Hwang may have gone from being a so-so hitter to a better one. He's got at least a chance.




Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3761/possibly-beginning-breakthrough?page=1#ixzz4b7jzb47Z

[sfgdood]

I don't really care about all the other numbers with Parker...I just want to see him drive balls over the fence in knock in runs. Everything else is gravy.

[klaiggeb]

And he had 3 hits today.

With no options left, even Brenly said yesterday HE, Jarret, likely had the lead in the LF race.

But if HWANG makes the club... and hits well enough to hit his way into the line up... that might FORCE Nunez to LF... and Hwang to 3B
if Parker falters.

boly

[Rog]

I'd love to see Hwang make it -- and move Nunez to center field so Denard can play left. Then Ruggiano could easily platoon with Denard. Or maybe Denard will reverse his negative trend against southpaws.

I don't know if Nunez can play the outfield, but he has the athleticism and arm to do so. I did see a brief clip of him in left field, and it wasn't encouraging. Extremely small sample though.

Both Span and Parker could use platoon partners, although Parker has done a good job against southpaws in his brief time in the majors. Maybe Nunez could go between third and the outfield, creating what would essentially be a platoon between Parker, Span, Nunez and Hwang. Nunez would be the guy who would play every day.

If they go with just a dozen pitchers, the Giants have the flexibility to do that. Even without Hwang, who I still expect to go to Sacramento to give him a chance to adjust to the ways of the Western West, the Giants could do something similar using Tomlinson at third. And of course, Gillaspie could be added to the platoon on occasion, providing another lefty bat.

Here's something I just thought of as I envisioned the possibility somewhere along the line of the Giants using Trevor Brown as a third catcher and infield backup. I just don't get it that teams are so reluctant to take out their first catcher until the ninth inning. Every team has an emergency catcher, and just how often is that catcher used? The only time I can remember was Pedro Feliz a decade or so ago.

We talk about being aggressive. What most managers do with that catcher situation is overly reactive. Clearly in Buster's case we want him kept in the game as long as feasible, but I'm thinking more about when Hundley catches. Why not pinch hit Buster when needed and either leave him in the game at first base or simply remove Hundley?

Of course a team doesn't want to have to use its emergency catcher, but isn't winning games a little more important? And if you're a marginal player, doesn't it make sense to learn to play as many positions as possible -- including catcher -- in order to increase your value?

There have been left-handed catchers used in the majors, so clearly just about anyone can catch in an emergency if he wants to badly enough.

Also, with the extreme shortness of position players on the bench these days, shouldn't that provide even more motivation for players to learn more positions? One of the handicaps both Morse and Marrero face is that they're mostly just first basemen at this point, and that means they're at best the #3 first baseman, ahead only of Gillaspie.

I remember an early-season game back in 2012 when the Giants needed an emergency shortstop and they wound up moving the second baseman to short and playing Aubrey Huff at second. Aubrey made an error that cost them the game. The Giants still had a catcher available, so I would have preferred they move Buster Posey to shortstop and leave the second baseman and Huff in position.

I realize Buster had recently come off his horrible injury, so that early in the season it probably didn't make sense from a safety standpoint, but, hey, even Willie Mays played shortstop for the Giants in an emergency.

[Rog]

Particularly at this time of year, options are a big consideration. Many of the veteran minor league free agents can't be optioned without their permission, which makes things all the trickier.

[klaiggeb]

I've soured on Ruggiano, Rog.

What I've seen is a hitter way over matched by every pitcher I've seen him face.

Hwang I HAVEN'T seen, but wish I could.

3 HRs, 8 RBIs... Even in the spring, with a .346 Ba... ain't bad.

I also realize that Morse isn't the guy we need.

Too limited

But I can't see Nunez in CF.

ZERO experience out there, and you can't have that in CF

boly

[sfgdood]

Justin sure didn't look overmatched in the 1st inning today.

[Rog]

When all is said and done, these things don't matter, but I found it intriguing that in one projection I saw that listed the top 50 in each category, some Giants were ranked highly.

Johnny Cueto was projected #7 in ERA at 2.94, and Madison Bumgarner was projected #10 with 3.05.

Bumgarner's 1.04 WHIP was #4, and Cueto's 1.08 was #9. Jeff Samardzija was #42 at 1.21.

Bumgarner was #3 with 236 strikeouts, and Cueto's 194 were #11. Samardzija's 173 were #24.

Bumgarner was tied for first with 17 wins, and Cueto was tied for #3 with 16.

Mark Melancon was #1 with 46 saves, and #3 among relievers with both a 1.93 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. Will Smith was #21 with 80 strikeouts.

[Rog]

Buster Posey is projected at #13 with a .303 batting average, #23 with 166 hits, and #29 with 88 RBI's. Eduardo Nunez is projected #12 with 28 steals.