2017 Spring Training Thread

[SFGRTB]

And he's hitting .343

I'm excited for him. Probably shave 100 off that average over the course of a season.

 

[Stokes1931]

I'm excited for him. Probably shave 100 off that average over the course of a season.

So you're a "glass half full" guy, right?

 

[LHG]

The way I see it, the Giants don't want to lose Morse if Mac falters. If they go with Mac, Morse is not going to accept a AAA assignment, there are quotes on that from himself somewhere. But if they go with Morse, and he falters, they can fall back on Mac. That also means that Mac is at least getting consistent AB's.

Now, you bring up who gets booted off the 40-man? That's a big question all together because it sounds like the Giants are really high on a reliever too.

Ian Gardeck probably get's placed on the 60-day DL while he rehabs. Other than that? Maybe they use Crick's good spring as trade bait?

The Giants seem pretty bent on getting Morse and Hwang/Hill a spot, so I think they have a plan in place already.

I understand that but the Giants brought in so many outfield options to camp, if Morse walks, I don't see that as a big deal. Marrero has hit relatively well too. So did Blanks. None bring much defensively from what I understand but that is no different than Morse either. Morse probably makes the team, but I'd say that they will be apt to go long in the tooth with him. He'll spend more time on the roster than what his regular season numbers dictate. He won't be yanked nearly as quickly as the Pirates did with him last year.

You bring up a good point on Gardeck. That is an easy swap for a 40 man spot. However, if the Giants also purchase a reliever's contract, on top of Hill and Morse, that is still two more casualties from the current crop. Don't think that anyone else can be snuck on to the 60 day.

 

[SFGRTB]

I understand that but the Giants brought in so many outfield options to camp, if Morse walks, I don't see that as a big deal. Marrero has hit relatively well too. So did Blanks. None bring much defensively from what I understand but that is no different than Morse either. Morse probably makes the team, but I'd say that they will be apt to go long in the tooth with him. He'll spend more time on the roster than what his regular season numbers dictate. He won't be yanked nearly as quickly as the Pirates did with him last year.

You bring up a good point on Gardeck. That is an easy swap for a 40 man spot. However, if the Giants also purchase a reliever's contract, on top of Hill and Morse, that is still two more casualties from the current crop. Don't think that anyone else can be snuck on to the 60 day.

Yeah it's not ideal, but Morse will probably get hurt at some point though, tbh. Or Pence or Span. I still think Mac will get quite a bit of run. And maybe that's the Giants thought too. Keep Mac getting consistent AB's so when someone does go down, he's ready timing wise.

I was looking through the 40-man and I'm really not sure. Gardeck is the only one I see as pretty certain. If a reliever makes it, it's probably at Kontos or Gearrin's expense so maybe they get DFA'd. As for Hill, I just don't know. Sneak Gomez through waivers? Trade? Stratton or Blackburn? The Giants have a ton of SP depth near the top of the minors so maybe that's where some fat get's trimmed.

 

[LHG]

Yeah it's not ideal, but Morse will probably get hurt at some point though, tbh. Or Pence or Span. I still think Mac will get quite a bit of run. And maybe that's the Giants thought too. Keep Mac getting consistent AB's so when someone does go down, he's ready timing wise.

I was looking through the 40-man and I'm really not sure. Gardeck is the only one I see as pretty certain. If a reliever makes it, it's probably at Kontos or Gearrin's expense so maybe they get DFA'd. As for Hill, I just don't know. Sneak Gomez through waivers? Trade? Stratton or Blackburn? The Giants have a ton of SP depth near the top of the minors so maybe that's where some fat get's trimmed.

I can see Blackburn becoming the forgotten man in the upper minors. He did not impress in spring, while Stratton and Crick did. Blach is got more favor too, just from the fact of what he did last September. I really think Gearrin would get jettisoned before Kontos. Kontos is the one guy in the bullpen that has been around for a while and his numbers last year weren't bad. I guess we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

 

[Stokes1931]

Cainer's numbers may be bad, but Scrabble is having an awful spring. Nothing to hyperventilate about, really. But the dude's ERA is now over 11.

Pence is hitting .125

Span is hitting .161

Gorkys is hitting .121

Rollins is hitting .103 (welcome to coaching, Jimmy!)

One the plus pitching side:

Okert 0.00

Beede 0.96

Law 2.57

All pitched well today.

 

[LHG]

Calixte got optioned to Sac while Beede, Arroyo and Sitton got reassigned.

Edit: I'm also removing Josmil Pinto and Bryan Morris based on these facts:
Bryan Morris hasn't pitched in a game since Feb. 28th. And Josmil Pinto hasn't played in a game at all. Did they rescind his invitation or just release him altogether?

Here's the updated spring roster.

Pitchers (20)
Ty Blach
Madison Bumgarner
Matt Cain
Johnny Cueto
Jose Dominguez (nri)
Cory Gearrin
Roberto Gomez (nri)
David Hernandez (nri)
George Kontos
Derek Law
Mark Melancon
Matt Moore
Steven Okert
Josh Osich
Neil Ramirez (nri)
Michael Roth (nri)
Jeff Samardzija
Will Smith
Hunter Strickland
Albert Suarez

Catchers (4)
Trevor Brown
Tim Federowicz (nri)
Nick Hundley
Buster Posey

Infielders (11)
Gordon Beckham (nri)
Brandon Belt
Brandon Crawford
Conor Gillaspie
Aaron Hill (nri)
Jae-gyun Hwang (nri)
Chris Marrero (nri)
Eduardo Nunez
Joe Panik
Jimmy Rollins (nri)
Kelby Tomlinson

Outfielders (7)
Gorkys Hernandez
Michael Morse (nri)
Jarrett Parker
Hunter Pence
Justin Ruggiano (nri)
Denard Span
Mac Williamson

That puts the amount of players in camp at 43.

 

[LHG]

Just saw this on Williamson:

"Outfielder Mac Williamson is sidelined indefinitely after sustaining a strained left quadriceps muscle. Bochy emphasized that Williamson, who's competing with Jarrett Parker for the left-field vacancy, must not be rushed back into action.

"I know a lot's at stake here," said Bochy. "We have to be smart about this.""

Of course not. Otherwise, he may make it harder to let Morse on the roster.

 

[LHG]

I'm surprised that more non-roster pitchers haven't been reassigned. Michael Roth, Jose Dominguez and David Hernandez have some awful numbers so far.

 

[SFGRTB]

Just saw this on Williamson:

"Outfielder Mac Williamson is sidelined indefinitely after sustaining a strained left quadriceps muscle. Bochy emphasized that Williamson, who's competing with Jarrett Parker for the left-field vacancy, must not be rushed back into action.

"I know a lot's at stake here," said Bochy. "We have to be smart about this.""

Of course not. Otherwise, he may make it harder to let Morse on the roster.

Bobby Evans said yesterday that Parker has a spot on this roster. It's just a matter of deciding whether it's an everyday role or not.

I intemperate this as Parker is the Opening Day LFer. The business about whether he's everyday or not is to make sure he's still competing.

Doesn't sound too serious with Mac, but I don't blame them for being cautious. I don't think this is like a situation where Hudson or Peavy or whoever goes down with "injury".

 

[SFGRTB]

Hwang and Hill have both been playing LF in Spring

 

[tzill]

Parker with another homer. He also has 7 walks which leads the team, and 12 RBI which also lead the team.

Hank mentioned that he laid off a good 2-2 pitch and hit the homer on the 3-2 pitch.

Hank or Doug?

 

[tzill]

Maybe I've missed it, but there's not been a lot of buzz from camp that Williamson will make it. There was some buzz over Marrero at first but it mainly seems to be Morse right now. While I agree that they should play the kids, I think that they ship Williamson to Sac and purchase Morse' contract, which mean someone gets bumped from the 40 man.

Also, Mac has a sore hammy, so he's almost certain to go to Sac.

Parker will be the first homegrown starting OF on Opening Day since John Bowker.

 

[tzill]

Cainer's numbers may be bad, but Scrabble is having an awful spring. Nothing to hyperventilate about, really. But the dude's ERA is now over 11.

Pence is hitting .125

Span is hitting .161

Gorkys is hitting .121

Rollins is hitting .103 (welcome to coaching, Jimmy!)

One the plus pitching side:

Okert 0.00

Beede 0.96

Law 2.57

All pitched well today.

I was at the game yesterday, and Shark was having trouble locating his FB up. He got whacked around in the first, settled down and looked pretty dominant in the second and third, and then got lit up again in the fourth. He may have gotten tired; it was 95 in Scottsdale.

Hwang looked excellent to me at the plate and at 3B. Span and Rollins look old and slow. JPark might be having a good spring, but yesterday looked like he has a huge hole in his swing -- BUT, I'm biased on this so maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to confirm. Panik looked like the 2016 version; hit the ball hard but got nothing. Hundley looked sharp behind the dish but lost at the plate. I think we'll be using the "Hundley's fault" meme a lot this year. Beede looked very sharp; you can see why they love him. There's late break on his FB and he throws noticably hard.

We are going to have a lot of talent in Sacto to open the season.

 

[calsnowskier]

I listened to a little bit of yesterdays game, and Jon (??) mentioned that it looked like Sammy was working on his secondary stuff and only throwing his FB on occasion.

Sammy has the #4 spot locked up. He is using ST to fine tune, not to get guys out.

 

[SFGRTB]

Hank or Doug?

Hank Schulman

 

[Kendal]

Question from a guy who has not been following spring training that closely... Can Parker play CF? The Giants' other CF options seem to be pretty awful right now.

 

[Stokes1931]

Cueto looked great today. And Ryder Jones with a two-out EWS in the 8th to put the Giants ahead.

Ramirez has K'ed the first three guys he has faced and picks up the 4 out save.

 

[Stokes1931]

Question from a guy who has not been following spring training that closely... Can Parker play CF? The Giants' other CF options seem to be pretty awful right now.

In the minors, Parker has 633 games in the OF

120 LF (.963 FPCT)

124 CF (.985 FPCT)

407 RF (.972 FPCT)

In the majors her has 52 games in the OF

22 LF

5 CF

30 RF

 

[calsnowskier]

He was drafted as a CF the same year we took Brown in the first. But he has developed as a hit first, maybe defense eventually player.

I think he can fill in at center if absolutely needed, but I doubt they want to put him there in any real regularity.