3 IP 3 H 3 R 3 ER 3 BB 0 K 1 HR
Last night Madison Bumgarner faced 16 batters and got seven outs, none via strikeout. Hank Schulman reports this:
Bumgarner, mostly hitting 88-89 mph on the stadium gun, said he felt he threw considerably better in this start and was working on pitches he ordinarily might not throw in certain counts during the season.
A more encouraging sign was Fred Lewis's third home run of the spring. He also walked twice. I've written quite a bit about Fred this winter, and I haven't changed my opinion. Letting him go would be a disappointment. If the Giants can get a decent prospect for him, OK. If they can squeeze him onto the Opening Day roster and give him another couple of months to prove himself, all the better. That might require sending John Bowker back to Fresno for a spell, since he still has options. Or it means Travis Ishikawa, who seems to be recovering quickly from a foot ligament injury, starts the year on the DL with an extra rehab assignment in Fresno even if he's physically ready on April 1.
As of this morning, here's my vote for position players on the Opening Day roster (with 12 pitchers on staff):
Molina
Whiteside
Sandoval
Huff
Uribe
Renteria
Frandsen
Bowker
DeRosa
Rowand
Schierholtz
Torres
Lewis
F. Sanchez and Ishikawa start the year on the DL. Posey starts the year in Fresno. If the team goes with 11 pitchers initially, there would be room for Eugenio Velez, otherwise he's my odd man out. A lot is made of Lewis being 29 -- in other words, too old to change his ways -- but Velez is right behind him, turning 28 this May. Age being nearly equal, I'll take Freddie's skill sets over Velez.
