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

10.15.2008
Arizona-Hawaii Pt. 1

The Giants have several youngsters playing in the Hawaii and Arizona fall leagues, including top draft pick Buster Posey and the man with the rebuilt Achilles tendon, Kevin Frandsen. It’s still early, but let’s check in, shall we?

ScorpsFirst stop, Arizona. Down Phoenix way, eight Giants are rocking you like a hurricane with the Scottsdale Scorpions. Of the four pitchers, Alex Hinshaw leads the team with five innings pitched. A strong performance might boost Hinshaw into the top lefty set-up spot next year, but he’s got roads to travel. With the Giants in ‘08 his high K rate (47 in 39 IP) was marred by tons of walks (29) and home runs (5). He also hit three batters and threw five wild pitches. That’s lots of generosity toward the opponent. (Interesting note: BP’s WXRL stat, a measurement of how a reliever performs in pressure, or “leveraged” situations, gave Geno Espineli who appeared in 15 games a higher mark than Hinshaw, who appeared in 48.)

Also on the Scottsdale squad is 2007 minor-league ERA leader Kevin Pucetas. He had another good year in ‘08, this time in the hitter-friendly Cal League. In two years of A ball, he’s maintained high K and low BB rates, kept the ball in the park and on the ground. What’s not to like? He’s not particularly young (24 in November) and doesn’t throw particularly hard, so watch carefully as he faces high-minor competition. If he starts next year in AA and does well, he might be on the fast track like so many other Giants prospects the past year.

The other two pitchers are relievers Osiris Matos and Kelvin Pichardo. Pichardo was the only member of the 40–man roster who didn’t get a call-up this year. I’m rooting for him, if only to show that late-season salary-dump trades — Pichardo arrived in 2005 for Michael Tucker — sometimes pay off.

On the hittin’ side, all eyes are on Frandsen and his heel. Brian Sabean already said Frannie will get every chance to make the team next year. Given his six-month layoff, I wouldn’t put much stock in his stats this fall. Staying healthy and shaking off the rust is more important. He can wow us in spring training and be the second coming of Dustin Pedroia, oh please oh please.

For Manny Burriss, the question is whether he does anything to play himself out of a job. His marching orders: make all the plays on defense, get on base a lot and be a smart baserunner. I’d keep an eye on his error count (three in seven games so far). After three years of Omar, the Giants might get cold feet from shaky shortstop D.

Out of the limelight is Ben Copeland, a 24–year-old outfielder the Giants drafted out of the Univ. of Pittsburgh three years ago. He has barely cracked AAA. This could be his best chance to make an impression. Also on the team is Ryan Rohlinger, with only five at-bats so far. Despite his big-league experience this year, I’d say Rohlinger is a long shot for the team in ‘09.

Buster Posey will soon arrive in the desert, too, as he wasn’t getting enough playing time with the Waikiki Beach Boys. Hopefully he’ll play more than every third day and give us some pro stats to chew on. Tomorrow: Hawaii.



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[October 15, 2008 6:03 PM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

Just additional note: Posey is showing up for instructional league play, not AFL, though as noted, both is in Arizona right now.

In addition, both of our high profile International signings, Villalona and Rafael Rodriguez, are also at instructional league as well. The Giants look to keep Villalona at 1B for now, but hope to have him be flexible positionally if/when he makes the majors, much like Sandoval.

I wonder why they didn't do that with Schierholtz. He could have been starting at 3B for us in 2008 then, and we can keep Winn in RF.

Hard to believe, but Rodriguez is only 16 but is already 6 foot 5. And think back to what you were doing when you were 16 years old...

I was suffering through another Giants mediocre season, but welcomed the emergence of Jack "The Ripper" Clark. I also gladly welcomed back Stretch, to where he belonged. Watching late night with David Letterman and enjoying Saturday Night Live and probably Dr. Who on weekends (plus Benny Hill). Started lifelong love of Star Wars.

[October 16, 2008 11:45 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Boof said

The Giants couldn't keep Schierholtz at 3B because his defense flat out sucked. He would've never made it to the majors at that position.

[October 16, 2008 1:36 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

We'll never hear the end of "Schierholtz should play 3B." It's like one of those Internet hoaxes that keeps coming around no matter how many times it's debunked.

[October 16, 2008 1:53 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris replied to ELM

I wonder if Snopes has an article on Nate playing 3B? If not, they should add one.