will be interesting to see if this helps Ramos out some. Hope so.
Geez, he can't wear glasses for a season and then decide what to do? I know lasik is pretty routine now but this close to season start? Rattles the nerves a little.
saw today that he's saying he can really see the difference already.
Word is Jhonny Peralta tore a ligament in his thumb and could miss 2-3 months. Huge blow for a team that has a pretty thin lineup to begin with. They desperately need a 36 year old Matt Holliday to play a full season. In 73 games last season he had a 120 OPS+, so it's not like he's lost his hitting ability. He's already been scratched from one spring game due to lower back tightness.
I believe the Pirates are still a 90+ win team, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Cards went from 100 down to around 90. Just another reason why I believe the Cubs will win 100+ games
(03-07-2016 12:45 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: Word is Jhonny Peralta tore a ligament in his thumb and could miss 2-3 months. Huge blow for a team that has a pretty thin lineup to begin with. They desperately need a 36 year old Matt Holliday to play a full season. In 73 games last season he had a 120 OPS+, so it's not like he's lost his hitting ability. He's already been scratched from one spring game due to lower back tightness.
I believe the Pirates are still a 90+ win team, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Cards went from 100 down to around 90. Just another reason why I believe the Cubs will win 100+ games
Still not sure about the Cubs number but otherwise - yep. This is exactly why that whole kerfuffle over Heyward's departure to the Cubs was so dumb. Dude was right to leave, and his comments were spot on.
Referring back to comments in the Hot Stove thread, Joc Pederson's swing "fix" looks like crap so far. If he can't get straightened out (these videos make it appear that's a distinct possibility), the Dodgers will need to make a move. Otherwise this season will look no better than the last three.
On the other hand, the stockpile of pitching depth is looking good so far.
(03-07-2016 01:05 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote: Referring back to comments in the Hot Stove thread, Joc Pederson's swing "fix" looks like crap so far. If he can't get straightened out (these videos make it appear that's a distinct possibility), the Dodgers will need to make a move. Otherwise this season will look no better than the last three.
On the other hand, the stockpile of pitching depth is looking good so far.
i meant to mention this yesterday. I watched the game and he looked completely lost. I hesitate to ascribe any meaning to spring training performances, but it looked like he tried 3 different sets of swing mechanics in one game and struck out each time
(This post was last modified: 03-07-2016 03:50 PM by flyingswoosh.)
(03-07-2016 01:05 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote: Referring back to comments in the Hot Stove thread, Joc Pederson's swing "fix" looks like crap so far. If he can't get straightened out (these videos make it appear that's a distinct possibility), the Dodgers will need to make a move. Otherwise this season will look no better than the last three.
On the other hand, the stockpile of pitching depth is looking good so far.
i meant to mention this yesterday. I watched the game and he looked completely lost. I hesitate to ascribe any meaning to spring training performances, but it looked like he tried 3 different sets of swing mechanics in one game and struck out each time
Exactly. As the guy who wrote the blog said, it's spring so you don't worry as much about the results, but you do worry about how you got those results...
Fantastic pickup by the Pirates, getting Freese for 1 year at $3 million. Perception is everything when it comes to free agency. Check this out:
Freese: 2.1 and 2.2 WAR in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Got $3 million
Sandoval: 2.0 and 3.1 WAR in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Got $95 million
Some would say, 'well Panda's an amazing postseason player, with a .935 OPS in 167 PA.' Well Freese has an .874 OPS in 196 postseason PA, which is pretty good in itself.
(03-12-2016 04:57 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: Dodgers scratch Alex Wood from tonight's start with a sore left forearm. Potentially big news
*sigh* Supposedly it's very mild but it seems like forearm soreness is an indicator for tommy john. He's been through it once...
AND, Corey Seager now out for a week or two with a sprained knee*. Dodgers have poor depth at SS and have been counting on Seager to produce - this really worries me.
ETA: have also seen it reported as a knee strain, which makes more sense for a short recovery.
(This post was last modified: 03-13-2016 03:11 PM by Brookes Owl.)
so from the where have I heard this before file.....
saw on the ESPN Scroll that Bruce Bochy said that Matt Cain might not be ready to make his first start of the season due to injury.
(03-13-2016 12:56 PM)stever20 Wrote: so from the where have I heard this before file.....
saw on the ESPN Scroll that Bruce Bochy said that Matt Cain might not be ready to make his first start of the season due to injury.
Exactly. Could've told you this weeks ago. But it's not a loss, as Heston and Blackburn are no worse than Cain. Giants fans were so naive thinking that not only would Cain be healthy, but that he would be most of the way back to his old self in terms of performance. Fans are so naive sometimes. You read it here first: Cain will not be in the rotation after July
The big news is that Bumgarner was scratched from today's start with rib and foot pain. Will miss 1-2 starts, but says he'll definitely pitch on opening day (which I would believe if I was a naive child). An MRI showed no oblique injury for the ribs and the foot injury is neuroma, which is a tissue injury and required a cortisone shot. I'm fully expecting him to open the season on the DL and miss opening day against the Brewers and possibly the Dodgers series.
(This post was last modified: 03-13-2016 01:50 PM by flyingswoosh.)
(03-13-2016 03:05 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote: Spring Training: Teams get ready for the season while fans hold their breath for 6 weeks.
pretty much. You don't care about stats, just health. The latter is everything, especially to the star players. Losing Cain is meaningless, but Bumgarner is everything. On the flip side, losing Asdrubal Cabrera for a couple weeks doesn't really matter for the Mets, as Flores is essentially his equal.
(03-13-2016 12:56 PM)stever20 Wrote: so from the where have I heard this before file.....
saw on the ESPN Scroll that Bruce Bochy said that Matt Cain might not be ready to make his first start of the season due to injury.
Exactly. Could've told you this weeks ago. But it's not a loss, as Heston and Blackburn are no worse than Cain. Giants fans were so naive thinking that not only would Cain be healthy, but that he would be most of the way back to his old self in terms of performance. Fans are so naive sometimes. You read it here first: Cain will not be in the rotation after July
The big news is that Bumgarner was scratched from today's start with rib and foot pain. Will miss 1-2 starts, but says he'll definitely pitch on opening day (which I would believe if I was a naive child). An MRI showed no oblique injury for the ribs and the foot injury is neuroma, which is a tissue injury and required a cortisone shot. I'm fully expecting him to open the season on the DL and miss opening day against the Brewers and possibly the Dodgers series.
So what does the Giants' rotation look like? Healthy, you've got Bumgarner, Cueto, Samardzija (who Steamer and ZiPS are high on even though he was garbage last season), then some combination of Peavy/Heston/Blackburn? (Cuz Cain is hurt and you don't think he's going to be starting during the 2nd half of the season.) Can Blackburn be a decent starter? Steamer and ZiPS are projecting WAR a little over 1 for all three guys, which is ok for a #4 or 5 but it's also innings-dependent. Peavy is a bit of a question mark there, yeah?
All in all, a chance to be great at the top and solid at the bottom.
(03-13-2016 12:56 PM)stever20 Wrote: so from the where have I heard this before file.....
saw on the ESPN Scroll that Bruce Bochy said that Matt Cain might not be ready to make his first start of the season due to injury.
Exactly. Could've told you this weeks ago. But it's not a loss, as Heston and Blackburn are no worse than Cain. Giants fans were so naive thinking that not only would Cain be healthy, but that he would be most of the way back to his old self in terms of performance. Fans are so naive sometimes. You read it here first: Cain will not be in the rotation after July
The big news is that Bumgarner was scratched from today's start with rib and foot pain. Will miss 1-2 starts, but says he'll definitely pitch on opening day (which I would believe if I was a naive child). An MRI showed no oblique injury for the ribs and the foot injury is neuroma, which is a tissue injury and required a cortisone shot. I'm fully expecting him to open the season on the DL and miss opening day against the Brewers and possibly the Dodgers series.
So what does the Giants' rotation look like? Healthy, you've got Bumgarner, Cueto, Samardzija (who Steamer and ZiPS are high on even though he was garbage last season), then some combination of Peavy/Heston/Blackburn? (Cuz Cain is hurt and you don't think he's going to be starting during the 2nd half of the season.) Can Blackburn be a decent starter? Steamer and ZiPS are projecting WAR a little over 1 for all three guys, which is ok for a #4 or 5 but it's also innings-dependent. Peavy is a bit of a question mark there, yeah?
All in all, a chance to be great at the top and solid at the bottom.
Well for now Peavy is obviously guaranteed to be the #4 and when healthy I think he's somewhere around a league average starter, which is ok with our lineup and infield defense. As for the 5, you're right regarding heston/blackburn, but the interesting thing to look for is if they keep Heston in the long reliever slot (as planned before Cain got hurt) and go with Blackburn, or move Heston back to the rotation and keep a guy like Cory Gearrin as the 7th reliever. In effect they wouldn't have a long man, but I don't think that's a problem in the first couple weeks of the season. Obviously if Bumgarner misses time that changes everything.
Meanwhile, OF prospect Mac Williamson had another good game with a bomb to the opposite field as well as a 2 run single. The HR was off Brandon Maurer, so not a AAA nobody. That's his 4th HR of the spring. I'm not 100% sold on him as a legitimate starting Major League player, but there's no doubt he has legitimate HR power and he's a solid athlete. He lost the 2014 season to Tommy John surgery, so he appears older than his baseball career would actually indicate. There's a lot of people who want him to win the LF job (I'm mostly in that camp), but with Pagan healthy I can't see any way the latter doesn't start. Bochy has never shone the inclination to bench Pagan when he's healthy and I don't see that changing now. Also, Williamson isn't going to be the 5th OF, as wherever he gets sent, they want him to play everyday. So either he starts the season in AAA, or Pagan gets traded and Williamson wins the job. At this point the safe money is on the former, but it could definitely become another McGehee/Duffy situation.
Kazmir's velocity down and is getting blasted. As we've said before, it doesn't do to dwell on spring training stats, but as we all know one of the most predictive stats in spring training is velocity. And for Kazmir, whose fastball velocity is sitting at 86-89 (as opposed to last year's average of 91), this isn't good news. He says his velocity will improve as he builds his arm strength and right now there's no reason not to believe him. Nobody knows Kazmir better than Kazmir. But it's at least something that bears watching as we reach the last few weeks of spring training
(This post was last modified: 03-14-2016 11:54 PM by flyingswoosh.)
(03-14-2016 11:54 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: Kazmir's velocity down and is getting blasted. As we've said before, it doesn't do to dwell on spring training stats, but as we all know one of the most predictive stats in spring training is velocity. And for Kazmir, whose fastball velocity is sitting at 86-89 (as opposed to last year's average of 91), this isn't good news. He says his velocity will improve as he builds his arm strength and right now there's no reason not to believe him. Nobody knows Kazmir better than Kazmir. But it's at least something that bears watching as we reach the last few weeks of spring training
Before panicking I'd like to know what his velocity has been early in previous springs, but that kind of spring training news is hard to find. I'm not going to get worked up yet - the Times' writers like to wring their hands about the Dodgers. He was pretty happy with how his outing finished and it sounds like the curve and change were working. That said, it's one thing for an older pitcher to get crafty as his fastball fades, but losing 4-6mph? Troubling if it doesn't improve. He's an unusual case, though, as he went through a severe velocity decrease earlier in his career, which he recovered with a change in delivery/mechanics.
(03-14-2016 11:54 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: Kazmir's velocity down and is getting blasted. As we've said before, it doesn't do to dwell on spring training stats, but as we all know one of the most predictive stats in spring training is velocity. And for Kazmir, whose fastball velocity is sitting at 86-89 (as opposed to last year's average of 91), this isn't good news. He says his velocity will improve as he builds his arm strength and right now there's no reason not to believe him. Nobody knows Kazmir better than Kazmir. But it's at least something that bears watching as we reach the last few weeks of spring training
Before panicking I'd like to know what his velocity has been early in previous springs, but that kind of spring training news is hard to find. I'm not going to get worked up yet - the Times' writers like to wring their hands about the Dodgers. He was pretty happy with how his outing finished and it sounds like the curve and change were working. That said, it's one thing for an older pitcher to get crafty as his fastball fades, but losing 4-6mph? Troubling if it doesn't improve. He's an unusual case, though, as he went through a severe velocity decrease earlier in his career, which he recovered with a change in delivery/mechanics.
yeah like I said, more something to watch, rather than something to immediately worry about. It's the same with Cueto in that he hasn't pitched well in either of his 2 outings, but he was throwing 92-93 tonight and retired 7 of his last 8, so rather than immediately panic, i'm taking a cautious, wait and see approach
(03-14-2016 11:54 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: Kazmir's velocity down and is getting blasted. As we've said before, it doesn't do to dwell on spring training stats, but as we all know one of the most predictive stats in spring training is velocity. And for Kazmir, whose fastball velocity is sitting at 86-89 (as opposed to last year's average of 91), this isn't good news. He says his velocity will improve as he builds his arm strength and right now there's no reason not to believe him. Nobody knows Kazmir better than Kazmir. But it's at least something that bears watching as we reach the last few weeks of spring training
Before panicking I'd like to know what his velocity has been early in previous springs, but that kind of spring training news is hard to find. I'm not going to get worked up yet - the Times' writers like to wring their hands about the Dodgers. He was pretty happy with how his outing finished and it sounds like the curve and change were working. That said, it's one thing for an older pitcher to get crafty as his fastball fades, but losing 4-6mph? Troubling if it doesn't improve. He's an unusual case, though, as he went through a severe velocity decrease earlier in his career, which he recovered with a change in delivery/mechanics.
yeah like I said, more something to watch, rather than something to immediately worry about. It's the same with Cueto in that he hasn't pitched well in either of his 2 outings, but he was throwing 92-93 tonight and retired 7 of his last 8, so rather than immediately panic, i'm taking a cautious, wait and see approach
Maybe not panicking about his velocity, but how about this...
(03-14-2016 11:54 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote: Kazmir's velocity down and is getting blasted. As we've said before, it doesn't do to dwell on spring training stats, but as we all know one of the most predictive stats in spring training is velocity. And for Kazmir, whose fastball velocity is sitting at 86-89 (as opposed to last year's average of 91), this isn't good news. He says his velocity will improve as he builds his arm strength and right now there's no reason not to believe him. Nobody knows Kazmir better than Kazmir. But it's at least something that bears watching as we reach the last few weeks of spring training
Before panicking I'd like to know what his velocity has been early in previous springs, but that kind of spring training news is hard to find. I'm not going to get worked up yet - the Times' writers like to wring their hands about the Dodgers. He was pretty happy with how his outing finished and it sounds like the curve and change were working. That said, it's one thing for an older pitcher to get crafty as his fastball fades, but losing 4-6mph? Troubling if it doesn't improve. He's an unusual case, though, as he went through a severe velocity decrease earlier in his career, which he recovered with a change in delivery/mechanics.
yeah like I said, more something to watch, rather than something to immediately worry about. It's the same with Cueto in that he hasn't pitched well in either of his 2 outings, but he was throwing 92-93 tonight and retired 7 of his last 8, so rather than immediately panic, i'm taking a cautious, wait and see approach
Maybe not panicking about his velocity, but how about this...
Mother******!!!!
yeah I was watching it. I was more concerned about Burns teeing off on what looked like a first pitch, batting practice fastball. But Cueto's agent says he's fine and that he just has one helluva bump. He went to the Giants medical facility immediately after the game and went through the concussion protocol
