Leaning...

[klaiggeb]

#1 It's still too short of a sample to make a 'total,' absolutely for sure decision on Pablo, but right now...Right now... I'm leaning towards the following:

1-His defense has declined to the 'barely acceptable level.'

He makes the routine plays, and that's good, but from what I've seen over the last 10 games or so he:

a-Does not come in well on balls.
b-Has very limited range to his left, and even less to his right.

2-I see no power in him what-so-ever.

Since he's come back to us he's made 77 plate appearances, with 4 doubles, 1 HR, and 4 RBIs.

His inability to drive in runs is alarming, and, with 77 pa, he's had more abs than he would have had in Spring training.


3-He looks absolutely helpless vs LHP. I don't think we can afford a platoon situation with ANYONE on the team when Bochy wants to keep 11-12 pitchers.

Can't afford to do it.

All that leads me to lean towards the fact that, yes, I'd give him an invite to ST next year, but I don't see how he makes the club unless he clearly out plays Ryder, (Whom I'm disappointed in more than words can say), or Arroyo.

I don't see either happening.


#-2 Span. Roger was right, I was wrong.

Span's defense has declined almost as much as Pablo's has. He continues to misplay flyballs at an alarming rate.

he 'almost,' I say "almost," makes Perralta look good.

And Perralta is THE worst outfielder I've seen in a long, long time. Maybe since Marvin Benard.

If Parker continues to hit... I see no reason to put Span in LF next year.

I see no way he fits into the scheme of the team.

Time to move him.


#3-Blach to the bullpen?

That's what the rumor is, and I just don't see the upside.

He's NOT got the stuff to be a Loogy.

A loogy needs a kill pitch, and all he's got is a "pretty good," not great, change up.

I'm very disappointed in him, too.

At best, I see a #5 starter. #4 if I'm pressed.

Stratton, though it's only 3 outtings, has much better stuff and as good command.



#4 Osich- Throws hard, great stuff... but he's got to go.

Can't be running a guy out there who CAN'T throw strikes, much less command the strike zone.

For next year we NEED a shut down LHP in the bullpen.


boly

[Rog]

I see no power in him what-so-ever.


Rog -- When he came back to the Giants, we discussed that he had hit the ball hard and might continue to do so with better results. We also discussed that his fly balls are down, making it difficult for him to generate power.

[Rog]

He looks absolutely helpless vs LHP. I don't think we can afford a platoon situation with ANYONE on the team when Bochy wants to keep 11-12 pitchers.


Rog -- We knew he couldn't hit lefties going in. Heck, we knew it -- even if the Giants didn't appear to themselves -- when he was a free agent.

Bruce will likely keep at LEAST a dozen pitchers. Sometimes he carries 13. But the Giants should still be able to platoon and should in fact do so with both Pablo and Denard at a minimum.


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[Rog]

Time to move him.


Rog -- Remember if we see a decline in Denard, the scouts see it too. Not that the Giants shouldn't try, but Denard will be hard to move. Maybe they should platoon him with Austin Slater, easing Austin into the position defensively to see if he can play full-time there in the future.

[Rog]

One thing about Denard is that he will have only one season left on his contract. A team might take a one-year flyer on him, but the Giants might have to eat salary and still would be unlikely to get much in return.

When a guy can't field and can't hit left-handers, how much value does he have?

[Rog]

He's NOT got the stuff to be a Loogy.


Rog -- A Lefty One Out GuY needs to be able to get out left-handed hitters. If he can also get righties out, that's even better.

Ty has limited opposing lefty hitters to a .598 OPS, which is quite good. He's had more trouble with righties, allowing a .792 OPS.

Ty looks like a good candidate for a LOOGY, and he could also be used as a long reliever -- or perhaps just about anything in between.

I was surprised how effective Ty was against lefty hitters. His .598 OPS allowed to lefties was just a single point above the career mark of Sandy Koufax. Sandy's .794 career OPS allowed to right-handed hitters was far better than Ty's .792 of course.

It's a little surprising, but Ty appears to be an exceptional candidate as a LOOGY.

By the way, we've come a long way with the term LOOGY. Clearly Boly has it down, whereas a decade or so ago Marc thought it was something someone hocked.

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[Islandboagie]

I think the idea of the LOOGY is fading fast. There are too many teams out there with stacked power lineups to reserve one guy in the bullpen to get one out. Also, a lot of the power is right handed. It was beneficial a few years ago, but times they are a changin'.

[Rog]

For next year we NEED a shut down LHP in the bullpen


Rog -- That should be Will Smith when he's healthy enough to return.

Want to know how Will performed the last 20 appearances of the season (including his hit allowed to the one batter he was allowed to face in game four of the Cubs series)?

He allowed five hits and seven walks in 15.0 innings. That's a 0.80 WHIP.

He allowed no earned runs. That's an ERA of 0.00.

The five hits allowed came in 39 at bats. That's a .128 batting average.

He struck out 21 batters. That's 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a K/BB ratio of 3.00.

20 games over a month and a half is a pretty good stretch of pitching. And over that pretty good stretch of pitching, Smith put up a pretty good stretch of pitching.

Looking back, it's hard to see why Bruce Bochy didn't give the ninth inning of game four to Smith -- or at least have given him the inning after Law faced the right-hand hitting Kris Bryant.

I suspect I know why Bruce didn't do so. Because although he has been discussed as a potential closer for at least two seasons now, he wasn't a proven "closer." Given the lack of a true closer in the Giants' bullpen, why not go with your hottest pitcher?

Especially when that hot streak had already spanned 19 games?

That we had to mention the need for a shut down LHP in the bullpen shows how quickly we forget. The one concern about Smith of course is how well he will return from Tommy John surgery. But the track record of the surgery -- some of which have been done to boys as young as eight years old -- has been very good.

As to whether Smith can get right-handed hitters out, last season he allowed a .229 batting average to left-handers. He held right-handed hitters just below .200 at .197.

With all the discussions we had about Smith in September and October of last season, I'm surprised we forgot about him. And forgot how well he pitched after August 18th.

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[Rog]

I'm not sure if the idea of the LOOGY is fading or not. I believe there was one team this past season who had four lefties coming out of the bullpen, although I can't remember which one. Teams don't seem to be cutting back much on their bullpens.

Even with the return of Smith (who has a great slider), the Giants could still use another lefty reliever or two. Neither Osich nor Okert has shown consistency thus far.

Smith would seem logical as the lefty who can get you more than one out, the old Jeremy Affeldt role.

[klaiggeb]

I left him out of a post I made about how many things went wrong.

But coming back from TJ surgery is a 2 year deal, normally.

don't think we can count on him right away as we had planned on doing.

boly