ST tidbits

[sfgdood]

1. According to Krukow, Mac Williamson has adjusted his swing this spring to get a little more lift and it seems to be working. But of course the real test will be in a week or two when pitchers start to bear down with their command and competitive juices. If Mac slumps a little bit will he stay the course or will he revert back to his old swing? The question is, if Mac continues to kick ass, should he get the #5 OF spot over Hernandez and Duggar? My feeling is it should be between Gorkys and Mac (with Shaw and Parker having an outside shot). I want Duggar to get at least a full month playing every day in Sac before earning his spot.

2. Krukow was also asked about Mark Melancon's first outing. It was a solid 1-2-3 inning but Mark made some statements after the game that on the face seemed a bit concerning. Something about not being sure if his arm felt right or if the surgery was a success or not. Krukow said he isn't worried yet BUT if Mark starts having scheduled appearances moved back, then it would be a not good thing.

3. RE: MadBum. Krukow passed along a story that MadBum--who would probably downplay this if asked--confided that all season he wasn't able to comfortably sleep on his pitching arm until late in September. Like I said, Bum wouldn't use it as an excuse...he WILL use it as motivation, of that I have no doubt. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does this year. When I saw Bum pitch in Scottsdale last year, it looked to me like he was poised to make a CY run. Crisp and sharp as a tack. I haven't seen him this year but, from what I'm hearing, I'm thinking it's very much the same and then some.

4. On the TV broadcast Sunday, they did a half inning segment with Bochy joining Dwayne and Mike. Bochy made an interesting comparison of two ballplayers he's managed. He compared Steven Duggar to Steve Finley...the build, the speed, the power, the defensive skills. If Bochy is dead on balls accurate here, we might be real giddy real soon.

[rog]

Lot's of good stuff there, Randy. Nice going.

One of the big changes in hitters in 2017 in particular is elevating swing paths to take advantage of the ball that rabitted after the All-Star game in 2015 I believe it was. Many hitters have had great success in doing so, and of course more homers were hit in 2017 than even in the steroid days.

Mac has natural power, so he may be in great position to take advantage of the trend. So far he's hit plenty well enough to make the team.

Melancon is a concern. He didn't have Tommy John, but his surgery was in an area that can predict an impending TJ surgery and is pretty serious itself. I haven't been drafting him in fantasy mock drafts, so you can see my level of concern.

Madison pitched quite well in his final two starts in September, which corresponded with Mike Krukow's time frame. The Giants had him skip his final start, and he didn't throw a lot of pitches in the final month. Given how poorly the season was going, the Giants probably should have cut back his innings sooner -- as in right when he returned.

Madison has more hits than innings pitched this spring and a 4.50 ERA to go along with it, but he 15 to one K/BB average in eight innings is tremendously impressive.

Bochy's comparison of Duggar to Finley may be quite accurate. They are built similarly and both have been quite good defensively. Finley took far better advantage of his speed in base stealing. Duggar may be the better fielder. I heard someone say that if he sticks, he'll immediately be a top ten defensive center fielder.

Duggar stays on balance quite well with his swing. Even when he's fooled, he rarely looks badly fooled. Finley had strike zone control similar to Joe Panik. Duggar's hasn't developed to that point yet.

Steven's nine strikeouts in 24 at bats tell us he's not ready, even with his otherwise excellent stats and two very hard-hit outs last night. Even if he proves he's ready, he'll almost certainly open the season at Sacramento for service time reasons. If Steven misses even a week or two from the Giants' roster, they'll be able to keep him seven seasons rather than six.

The biggest positive surprise is the unexpected power Steven has shown. His .416 isolated power (SLG - BA) is Bondsian.

Speaking of Sacramento, the Giants/River Cats exhibition game is very expensive, and tickets are still almost impossible to get. I'm I'm thinking Duggar could play center field for the Giants in that one, and then play for the River Cats as the seasons opens. I would be shocked though if he opens the season with the Giants -- almost no matter HOW good his spring is.

[klaiggeb]

Thanks for passing all of that along, Randy.

Down here behind the "Blue Curtain" we don't hear much Giant news.

I had read about Mac's changes... and the very next day, I watched him crush a ball over the CF fence.

Be really nice IF he can carry all this forward.

It's happened before.

I know they compared him to Justin Turner of LA, but another comparison would be Chris Taylor. Pretty much a punch and judy hitter until HE made a change.

As to Bum, I pretty much alluded to the same thing when he came back last year, and I've said as much this year; he WASN'T completely 100% last year.

Melancon IS a huge concern for me.

I've seen this kind of thing happen to closers before. The "all of a sudden" something goes awry, and they never get it back.

Hoping that's not the case here, but it is a concern.

boly