When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

05.14.2007
I Believe That Children Are the Future

Fred Lewis, five hits and the cycle? Frandsen four hits and a walk? Alfonzo three, Ortmeier two and a walk? I say God bless the child that's got his own, and praise the series split. Hallelujah. They're not exactly children, these guys, but the difference between them and the lineup that ghost-walked through Saturday night's game was tremendous. 85 degrees at game time at Coors Field doesn't hurt the O, but please note it didn't help the Rockies' batters, so you can't dismiss this one as a Coors freakathon.

PLODAG: Fred Lewis. Make him go to the yard tomorrow and play in a practice game or something so the good feeling doesn't go stale.

Now comes a much-needed day off then three at Houston. If you think the Giants' marketing efforts are cheesy, dig the Astros' slogan this year: "The Return of the Good Guys." Free installation if you buy your car stereo before Memorial Day! Is there a worse slogan in sports this year? Discuss.



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[May 14, 2007 12:20 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian said

The Sixers slogan was worse this year, "It's a Philly thing."

Of course, the obvious question is: What's a Philly thing, losing?

[May 14, 2007 12:50 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Tom Clifton said

It is great to see that the kids are alright. I saw Kevin hit for the cycle in San Jose two years ago.

I am kicking myself for not Tivoing the game, but I had to watch the SJ Giants dispatch the Lancaster Jethawks.

I did get a nice surprise when I got home from the game. Minor League Baseball used my Fred Lewis photo in their story.

[May 14, 2007 8:01 AM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Tom -- How did MILB get a hold of your photo? Are you a professional photographer? If so, do you have any outtakes we can post here from time to time?

[May 14, 2007 9:13 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Lyle said

Tell me again what PLODAG means??

[May 14, 2007 11:49 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Sayhey said

I'm sure it wasn't part of a slogan, but the Brewers free rectal exam day had to set the definintion of worst idea from any club. I'm still betting KNBR was pulling our legs with that one, but if true - amazing, simply amazing.

[May 14, 2007 12:04 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

>Tell me again what PLODAG means??

Playah of Da Game

[May 14, 2007 12:05 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Tom Clifton said

ELM--

I shot for Minor League Baseball last year. And I think that they monitor my posts on Flickr.

As far as being a professional photographer, I do get paid, sometimes. It is something that I am working towards, so I am pretty happy when my shots show up on sites other than my own.

I post most of my shots on Flickr. You are welcome to use them with attribution and a link to sjGiantsFans.org

[May 14, 2007 12:56 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Barton said

Lefty,

Isn't it time that Frandsen started playing more (at 3b and 2b) -- and Aurella a bit less?

Aurella has played in 35 games, which makes him second in appearances on the team but hitting a weak line of .258/.304/.383.

A slow start? Four out of the last six years his OPS has been under .735. Bochy has a reputation for playing the hot hand, so I don't get why Aurella is starting almost every day, often at the expense of Klesko (who's hitting the ball well against right handers) and Frandsen, who has only 17 ABs?

[May 14, 2007 2:12 PM]  |  link  |  reply
gdog said

Fred Lewis hits for the cycle and we lose all sense of balance here. Let's be realistic about what we should expect from our 25-to-27-year-old prospects:

50th %ile BP projections:

Frandsen: 283/327/401
Ortmeier: 256/316/400
Lewis: 272/350/421

And for the guys making the big bucks:

Winn: 297/353/442
Aurilia: 276/333/437

There's no reason that any "young" position player in the Giants organization should be getting any significant playing time this season - barring injuries to a starter.

[May 14, 2007 3:02 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

I think gdog's basically right. I wouldn't trade Winn or Aurilia right now with the expectation that Lewis, Ort or Frandsen can step in and play everyday for the rest of the year. But I also agree with Barton: Frandsen should get a little more PT than he's been getting, and Klesko should start at 1B against most RHP.

[May 16, 2007 5:56 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ogc said

I would give Bochy the benefit of the doubt regarding Aurilia/Klesko. Frankly, Klesko was weak hitting until recently and even now he's not hit for much power.

He hit .282/.333/.359/.692 in April and thus didn't see as many games as we might have hoped for, but had put the heat on this month and gotten more play. He is hitting an OK .333/.419/.444/.864 in May thus far.

But still only a 111 ISO for the month, which is very little power. And that's the role we were mainly looking from him, though his high career OBP looks good in replacement of Bonds.

Aurilia, on the other hand, started out very hot, his OPS was in the 800's and reached 908 on April 19, but then cooled off since then. Still, he still has 12 XBH to Klesko's puny 4, and the only HR of the pair, in only double the ABs.

Unfortunately, Aurilia has been colder than Finley's bat since his hot streak, so he should start seeing more rest days coming up.

In fact, in 24 games in April, he played in all 24 and maybe started 22 of them (only 2 games with less than 3 PA), whereas in May, he has played in 12 of 14 games, but got 3 PA or more in 9 of them. So he has already been reduced from 22 starts in 24 in April, to 9 starts in 14 in May.

And if his bat continues to be this cold, and Klesko, Feliz (.280/.321/.460/.781 in May), and Frandsen (.471/.500/.647/1.147 since he returned plus two great starts) hot, he's probably going to see even less.

And Klesko has actually been killing LHP, not RHP, which is the reverse of what one should expect of this platoon hitter:

v.LHP: .429/.556/.429/.984
v.RHP: .288/.344/.390/.734

That's a pretty sad performance for a hitter who had killed RHP before, I wish I could see his RHP splits by month to map his progress (or lack thereof). This is a poor sign of future performance, his LHP hitting should go down a lot, and his RHP hitting has been anemic. He needs to boost up his RHP or he could find himself Lindened this season too.