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

06.03.2008
6/2/08: Oliver Twisted

Giants 10, Mets 2: The G's made short work of Oliver Perez tonight, a pitcher who bears some resemblance to his mound opponent Jonathan Sanchez: tall skinny lefties with whip-like fastballs and sliders. Has Sanchez surpassed Perez? Note that Perez, blessed with a world of talent, didn't put it together until 2004, with Pittsburgh, then went in the tank again until last year with the Mets. (Is he still only 26? Indeed he is.) Enter Sanchez, who after two long years of rocky bullpen apprenticeship, seems to be getting better start by start. Tonight wasn't his best effort of the year, but as Krukow pointed out in the post-game, Sanchez no longer folds under pressure. The Mets, who crush left-handed pitching, had plenty of base runners in the early innings, but Sanchez kept them at bay and managed to go seven. After the first two or three innings, I thought he'd be lucky to finish five.

PLODAG: Sanchez.

The Upside: Brian Horwitz. Remember that thing I wrote yesterday about him not having much power? Yeah, I don't remember it either. That must have been someone else's blog. Can a 25-year-old with 16 home runs in 1,766 minor league at-bats come to the big leagues and hit with power? Tonight he can.

A quick note before bedtime: The Merc's Baggarly noted on his blog that the Giants held a low-profile workout the other day at Mays Field for a few unheralded prospects. Baggarly ID'ed a few of them, including Cal catcher-turned-outfielder Charlie Cutler. He happens to share a high school alma mater with Giants president Larry Baer among other semi-famous and infamous characters around these parts. Go get 'em, Charlie.
Also on the Network:



[June 3, 2008 10:30 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Jonathan said

Remember thy Beane: Thou shalt more often develop thy power later in career than thy patience.

Horwitz, of the near .400 OBP, was originally drafted by Beane.

Sabean is going to draft Smoak because Beane already tried to get him too. It's a recipe for success, but we might as well have a true disciple in the front office.

[June 3, 2008 12:15 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to Jonathan

Sure, but even if he develops power later, he's already 25, and he's starting from a very low baseline. What do you think his ceiling is? 10 HR a year? 15? And without a lot of speed, is that enough to be a starting corner outfielder?

On the post-game wrap Kruk et al brought up Wade Boggs, who had a similar skill set in the minors: great OBP, high BA, not much speed or power. Another problem is Horwitz is a LF only (probably not fast enough to play RF at Mays Field). Would you rather have him or FreddieLoo in the lineup?

Just some thoughts to chew on.

[June 3, 2008 12:54 PM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

Horwitz has played some 1B before so there's always that as a platoon position with Bowker. At least until Smoak or Villalona comes up. :^)

Also, Horwitz had 5 homers in 136 AB this season with Fresno (33 AB/HR or about 15+ HR pace over a full season). The MLE on that is 4 HR in 139 AB or a homer every 35 AB, again, around 15 HR pace over a full season. So he has OK power, and that's based on now, he could be developing this power as we speak.

I was wondering if Carney Lansford had something to do with that this spring?

And remember, Lance Niekro was a no-power, all-BA hitter too coming up but then he hit mid-20's and then started slugging them out.

[June 3, 2008 1:51 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

>And remember, Lance Niekro was a no-power, all-BA hitter too coming up but then he hit mid-20's and then started slugging them out.

And look how well Niekro's career has turned out.

[June 4, 2008 2:11 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris replied to ELM

>> And look how well Niekro's career has turned out.

Playing for the Round Rock Express!

I just looked him up on MiLB.com and it looks like his last AB was on May 1st, I'm not sure if he's hurt or released.

[June 3, 2008 6:20 PM]  |  link  |  reply
reeky said

You must have seen Molina's quote about 1,000 hits...what a class act!

"It means a lot to me," Molina said. "It's like most guys hitting 3,000. I know I'm not a superstar. I know I'm not a Hall of Famer. To get 1,000 hits for a guy who was not supposed to sign at first, then signed for $1,000, $750 after taxes, a guy who wasn't supposed to make it in the major leagues, the slowest guy in the world ... to get 1,000 hits is an honor for me."