Giants Bats Doze Off
At this time last week, the Giants were 11 and 4, now they are 13 and 10. It has been a losing week, and the hitting has faded as opposing pitchers find their groove and get their secondary pitches working for strikes. It is difficult to remember that Spring Training wins and losses don’t matter when your team is going really good or when your team is going really bad.Right now I get the feeling they are lining it up for another difficult year on offense, whereas two weeks ago it was looking like there were more hitters than spots on the bench. In today’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox, one of their runs came on a wild pitch; you don’t give those gifts back, but you don’t count on them either.
We just need to remember that there will be ups and downs, even in a good season, and a lot of the players who are getting at-bats will not be on the roster, like Gillaspie, Arias, and Panik. I’m not saying there is no way they put on another display of offensive futility like last year. I’m saying we don’t know yet. But they have to be thinking that they will need to sacrifice some defense to score runs.
How will that affect the scramble for the last two or three roster spots on the bench? Will Hector Sanchez get the #2 catcher spot despite his inexperience on defense? He’s got a 437 batting average in spring training. Brandon Belt was looking like the odd-man out at first base, but with his .380 average in Spring Training, they may find him a spot in the outfield.
Meanwhile, Gregor Blanco (.352 avg) is looking to steal playing time from Nate Scheirholtz (.233 avg) and Angel Pagan (.191) too. Maybe Scheirholtz and Pagan were reassured of their starting roles a little too early; now it’s time for both of them to reach down and click off the cruise control. They have both fallen asleep at the wheel, and that rattling noise they hear is their truck running over the rumble strip on the shoulder of the freeway.
Manny Burriss is tied for the team’s Cactus League lead for extra base hits. That and $5 will get you a macchiato at Starbuck’s, but he has had a better spring at the plate than utility infield contenders Mike Fontenot or Ryan Theriot. Lastly, will any of the lefty youngsters in this leftie dominated lineup get traded for a right-handed outfielder? The media coverage is saying that Fontenot and Theriot are both being shopped for trades.
What do I think? Keep Theriot and Pill as backup infielders because they are right-handers, and they are decent players. Pill especially has some thump. His homer friday night was not a pretty swing on a down and away breaking ball, but it still went out. Make Blanco your fourth outfielder, if not your third, replacing either Pagan or Scheirholtz, whichever wakes up last. Put Burriss on the bench for infield and outfield. Put Belt in Fresno with the Grizzlies and hang a sign on him that says “activate in case of emergency.” Make Hector Sanchez the second catcher, and don’t carry a third catcher. Then pray for hits.
Giants Baseball - Torture 