Pederson, Ohtani and the team

[klaiggeb]

Within the last couple of weeks I made 3 predictions; well, sort of predictions.

They were really just hunch-observations.

Much like I said about Pederson a few days back, I 'saw' something in Ohtani's body language which made me make the comment about blowing his arm out.

Can't put my finger on it, but he "looked" to be in some discomfort when he pitched against us.

very subtle, to be sure, but I'm guessing all my years pitching, and sometimes/a lot of times pitching in pain, made me sensitive to it.


Pederson starting to get hot within a day of my statement and again, I can't say exactly what I saw.

Wish I could, but I can't.


I also said the Giants would start to win again very soon. I just never saw the bizarre stuff that happened to cause us to blow 3 of the last 5 games.

Let's be honest, with any luck, we COULD have won 2 of three vs Atlanta, and 2 of 3 versus the Phils.


BUT, in 3 of the last 4 games we've logged 10 hits or more, and last night's comeback was... yes, I'm going to use the word; spectacular.


It seems that finally, the team is righting itself. I could be wrong, but that's what I see.

Now how far that goes is anyone's guess, but consider:

Solid start from Cobb

Thairo is hot

Pederson is getting hot and you all know what he's lick when he gets hot.

Flores is playing off the planet.

and interestingly, Wally Whoosh! JD Davis, is FINALLY starting to hit the ball.

Made a number of outs, but the K's are significantly down.


Slater got off the snide with a couple of flairs, but as Kruk and Kuip often say, THOSE kind of things are slump breakers.


Matos has really looked like a new guy since coming back, and Beck has righted his sinking ship, too.


Lots of good signs.

Lots of them.

[pachyderm]

hmmm ...

So sign Ohtani and keep Joc?

[reedonly]

We should see how severe Ohtani's injury is. I'm not a fan of keeping Joc because he's below average in the field. The selection of position players in free agency is really thin in 2023-2024 so they need to be careful and lean toward filling DH internally if possible.  There are no shortage of other FA DH candidates on next year's FA market but I would think they would rather have someone who could play a position if necessary, not just be content to only swing a bat.

Ohtani is going to seek out second opinions.  I heard he would prefer to not do surgery but I think he risks making things worse if he doesn't.  I think he wants to add to his numbers on the offensive side to enhance his free agency (and his brand).  If he does surgery now and does an aggressive Bryce Harper rehab, he could be available for DH duty as early as May of next year.  Since it would be the second TJ, I think May is way too optimistic.  

[klaiggeb]

It's just my guess, but JP's failure to perform, having only 11 home runs so far, has them rethinking their future. I cannot believe they will offer him a contract next year.

I go with what I said multiple times. Blake Sabol is a better option as a DH and a backup catcher.

And since he would be by dh, I would want Joey bart, or another veteran there to actually do the backup catching.

[reedonly]

Aug 24, 2023 16:34:39 GMT -5 klaiggeb said:

It's just my guess, but JP's failure to perform, having only 11 home runs so far, has them rethinking their future. I cannot believe they will offer him a contract next year.

I go with what I said multiple times. Blake Sabol is a better option as a DH and a backup catcher.

And since he would be by dh, I would want Joey bart, or another veteran there to actually do the backup catching.

He's making the qualified offer money ($19.65 million) this year and I don't think a half time DH really deserves that much per year.  2y/$20mm is reasonable but I would prefer they get someone who is more flexible and can play in the field.  Even though the free agent market is thin on position players, there's no shortage of older players who would be DH types that will be available such as Belt, J Turner, Mancini, etc.  None of these is ideal but at least they know which hand the glove goes onto.  Joc is only 32 and he plays like 32 going on 40.  Even Sabol and Solano are having better seasons.