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

06.26.2007
Tuesday Notes

2001-12-06-inside-selig

 

 

 

 

* I don’t weigh in on steroids often, but when I do, I try to remind everyone that any investigation that doesn’t examine the responsibility of team owners — including the Giants — and the MLB national brass is a sham. Columnist Mark Kriedler calls out Bud Selig and digs up some of his historical what-me-worry quotes in this column.

* Barry Zito starts tonight against San Diego. Using the old “quality start” demarcation (at least 6 IP, no more than 3 ER), let’s look at Good Barry and Bad Barry:

GB: 8 starts, 53.1 IP, 9 ER, 1 HR, 20 BB, 36 K, 1.51 ERA
BB: 7 starts, 34.1 IP, 38 ER, 8 HR, 21 BB, 18 K, 9.97 ERA

Like the lttle girl with the curl on her forehead, when he’s good he’s good, and when he’s bad he’s horrid. Lots of walks + lots of home runs = 10 ERA. Other than those two stats, is anything else notable about the split? It’s not overwork: he’s topped 120 pitches three times; each time he’s followed with a quality start. Of course, throwing 106 pitches in 4 innings, as he did June 9 against Oakland, could be considered overwork.

What about the teams that have pounded him? Oakland, twice; Colorado, Boston, Milwaukee and the Dodgers. Do they know something the Mets, an outstanding offense that Zito has beaten twice, don’t know? As has been true throughout his career, lefties are hitting him harder, but this year it’s much more pronounced:
.337, .392, .518 vs.
.216, .304, .335.

No, that’s not a typo. (Though the ESPN stat page might be wrong.) Lefties aren’t just doing better, they’re hitting the CRAP outta Zito. If I were Bud Black, I’d start Termel Sledge and Russell Branyan tonight and tell Josh Bard the switch-hitting catcher to bat left-handed.

* The Giants’ hitting corps is so thin at the minor-league level, it’s possible the team’s most exciting prospect is a 16–year-old Dominican who’s already outgrowing his natural position, third base. He has begun his inaugural pro season at the rookie-ball level in Arizona (the rawest of the raw). Here’s a video of him at the plate. Here’s his stat page. And here’s BP’s prospect guru Kevin Goldstein’s initial review:

It’s the question that comes up during every chat, and the one that landed in my inbox at least once a week. "Any updates on Angel Villalona?" Now, the answer is finally yes. The 16-year-old Dominican, generally considered the top talent in Latin America last year, played his first two pro games over the weekend, and the results were mixed. At the plate, he was most impressive, going 4-for-10 with a pair of doubles, four runs scored, three RBIs and nary a strikeout. In the field, not so much, as he made three errors in just five total chances, meaning his batting average is the same as his fielding percentage. He’s already six-foot-three and well over 200 pounds, and once he’s done growing he’ll likely be limited to first base in the end anyway, so don’t worry about it, the bat is very, very special.

* Fred Lewis has recovered from his injury and is playing well at Fresno: 7 for 12 with a triple and HR in three games. But Nate Schierholtz is playing decently for the big squad, and there’s no room currently to bring Lewis back up. If I had to divine the Giant outfield future, I’d figure Schierholtz is the most likely to become an everyday player, with Lewis and Ortmeier platooning, Lewis against RHP (he was terrible even in AAA against lefties) and Ortmeier against LHP — remember the opposite-field dong he hit right-handed at Shea Stadium? That was impressive. The Giant outfield could look like this next year: Winn, Roberts, Ortmeier, Lewis, Schierholtz. The problem with that rotation: no power. This might be acceptable if A-Rod is the shortstop and another big RH slugger plays first or third, but when Bonds leaves, the Giants will have a severe lack of outfield pop. Then again, if he can frolic on the basepaths like he did this weekend, he may return for 2008…what say you to that? Do you want the big fella back after this year?  
Also on the Network:



[June 26, 2007 6:20 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Sorry folks. I'm having technical difficulties. What you see here is the bottom half of today's post. For some reason it's not showing the title or the top half, and it's in Courier, the world's worst font. I can't delete it, and new posts aren't showing up. I think Tommy Lasorda has hijacked my computer. Stay tuned.

[June 26, 2007 8:14 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Jay said

Absolutely not. Do not bring the Big Fella back under any circumstances, even if he agrees to take the major league minimum. It is well past time to move on.

[June 26, 2007 8:24 PM]  |  link  |  reply
BawLa said

I love the big fella, but I don't really want us to move on with him. This is an off-season where we are going to have some significant money to bring in some bats that we desperately need. And as for having an outfield lineup of Roberts, Winn, Schierholtz, Lewis and Horwitz (who I think is better than Ortmeier), is actually fine by me. Our ballpark is not built for the long-ball. It is built for speed and average behind quality pitching. What we need to build is a singles and doubles team that gets on base a lot and runs with it. For that reason alone, I think the main free-agent we should pursue is Ichiro. Is there any other sure-fire free agent available that doesn't cost $30M/yr?

[June 26, 2007 8:39 PM]  |  link  |  reply
bigO said

this guy is the Rage in Seattle: Bavasi is an idiot. Let's say Seattle hangs 10-12 games over .500 and has a chance to be the wildcard. They need pitching in the worst way so let's give 'em Morris.

Adam Jones Status: Active

Stats
AVG:
.316
HR:
17
RBI:
58
SB:
5 Full Name: Adam LaMarque Jones
Born: 08/01/1985
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 200
Bats: R
Throws: R

[June 26, 2007 8:47 PM]  |  link  |  reply
BawLa said

Very intriguing BigO. What position does he play? And is he good at it?

[June 26, 2007 9:02 PM]  |  link  |  reply
bigO said

He plays centerfield (maybe could play RF or CF)obvously pitched in HS. He has a lot of upside so I'm not sure the M's would do it but maybe we could dangle someone else who could help them this year. Also they really, REALLY want to get rid of Kingman (whoops, I mean Sexson. who we shouldn't be interested in) and Beltre who have huge contracts.

ADAM JONES ACQUIRED: Mariners' first round selection in the 2003 June draft; signed by Mariners scout Tim Reynolds...graduated from Morse High School in San Diego California in June 2003...hit .406 with 27 RBI and four home runs during his senior season, while posting a 3-3 record with a 2.71 ERA on the mound.

[June 26, 2007 10:02 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Elbo said

Lefty, do you have any insight as to why Bad Zito has been so visible in the first inning this year? He's given up 17 hits including four homers, issued 12 walks, and allowed a .419 OBP in the first innings of his 15 starts as a Giant (coming into tonight's game). After all the discussion about Lincecum's way of warming up, could Zito's be called into question as well?

[June 27, 2007 2:27 AM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Re. Zito's first inning: The times I've seen him struggle, it's with command. I wonder if it's nerves; his first year under the mega-contract, and he's trying too hard. Notice how often he misses high -- possibly a sign of too much adrenaline. Maybe he just needs to smoke a bowl.

Or more ominously, it could be a continuation of the slow decline he's shown the past few years -- fewer Ks, more BBs.

[June 27, 2007 11:47 AM]  |  link  |  reply
mxmob33 said

Barry is still by far the most exciting and watchable player on the Giants. Do they really have a better place to spend that money next year?

[June 27, 2007 2:09 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Boof said

There is no way the Mariners part with Adam Jones. In fact, they are probably not going to re-sign Ichiro in order to make a spot for him in CF and use the saved $$$ for improving their pitching. They certainly aren't going to give up a plyer like that for a pitcher like Morris with time left on his contract. It's a pipe dream at best.