Alderson and Flores

by wobatus on Apr 27, 2009 2:58 PM EDT Comment 19 comments

Why is Alderson repating at San Jose? He is young, but he did very well there last year. I looked to see if this was addressed here before but hadn't seen anything. I guess i should check the giants fan site.

Also wondering if Flores is hurt. He hasn't played since last thursday.

Hmm, still need more words. Salome is struggling. Chacin got roughed up his last start. Feliz too. Hosmer's struggles have been discussed.

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RE: Tim Alderson

The weather has been cold in Connecticut, so they opted to leave Alderson in the warmer climate (San Jose) until the weather gets better out East. Shouldn’t be too much longer.

Now raise your goblet of rock. It's a toast to those who rock!

by Dewey Finn on Apr 27, 2009 3:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wondering

I have been wondering if Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey would accompany Tim Alderson to Connecticut, or at least follow him in short order. That would really cook.

I saw a rumor, though, that Buster would be promoted to Fresno.

Alderson has gotten off to a slow start (and will make his fourth start of the season tonight). Bumgarner has been lights out, allowing only one earned run in his three starts. And Buster has gotten off to a strong start, hit a bit of a strikeout patch (10 in eight games), and yesterday drove in four runs with a homer, double and single.

Posey would seem the obvious choice as the Giants starting catcher in 2010, right after Bengie Molina’s contract runs out. And I don’t think it would be shocking if the other two were also called up that year.

Buster could possibly be up as early as this year’s trade deadline, should the Giants be offered by a contender a really good deal for Bengie.

by sharksrog on Apr 27, 2009 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it was 90 degrees yesterday

come on in, the water is fine. :)

by wobatus on Apr 27, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I have wondered the same thing about Flores

I’ve looked all over and can’t find anything on him.

As for Alderson, there was a very interesting story about how the Giants organization hates the CT ballpark and have been known to outright skip double-A for some of their best prospects and send them straight to Fresno. There is a possibility you will see that with Alderson and even Posey. They did that very same thing with Sandoval.

by FanBall on Apr 27, 2009 3:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

wrong on sandoval

He played in Connecticut but not at Fresno. he skipped AAA and went straight to the majors from AA. At least that’s what his stats at baseballcube.com say. I recall him raking at AA last year.

by wobatus on Apr 27, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pablito

Pablo Sandoval began last season repeating at High A San Jose. Pablo had had a good season in 2007, with a .788 OPS. But in 2006, his OPS at Low A Augusta was a poor .631.

Pablo broke out from the left side last season (not so much from the right side) and was held back in San Jose after a very strong start so that he could work on his catching skills with manager Steve Decker, a former catcher with the Giants. When he was finally moved up to AA Connecticut, he continue to hit and was then promoted to the Giants for the last quarter of the season. He hit for a .345 batting average and an .841 OPS after his recall, and his hitting .292 with a .764 OPS this season after a very slow start. Pablo went 4-for-4 yesterday, including his first homer of the season and a double.

Pablo has nearly equalled his 14 strikeouts in 145 at bats last season with 12 in 69 at bats this year. He still swings at about half of all pitches outside the zone, although he has improved slightly in that regard (from 53.8% to 52.2%). Meanwhile his contact percentage has dropped from 86.9% to 83.1%, entirely due to his 10% drop in contact percentage in the zone.

Surprisingly, Pablo’s batting average has gone up this season as he has swung at more balls outside the zone. Pitchers are throwing him more fastballs and cutters this year, as he hits off-speed stuff pretty well. I would say his greatest weaknesses are the breaking ball below the zone and the high, inside fastball. It was precisely the high, hard heater inside that he homered on yesterday though.

Pablo is hard to walk, so I’m surprised pitchers throw him strikes after they get ahead of him. Pablo has walked only twice (one intentional) and has gone to three balls only seven times, or in less than 10% of his at bats.

by sharksrog on Apr 27, 2009 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure what you're talking about

No one throws Sandoval strikes. Ever, really.

Last time I heard, the percentage of pitches thrown to Sandoval that were actually in the strike zone was like 33% this year, which is comically low. Next lowest was Vlad at like 45%.

Linda's in the cold ground, won't see her anymore
Somewhere out on the highway tonight, the drunken engines roar
It's just one of those things, one of those things
-- Al Stewart, "Accident on 3rd St."
In memory of Nick Adenhart and all victims of drunk driving

by PaulThomas on Apr 27, 2009 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure?

You may not be sure what I’m talking about, but fortunately one of us is.

First of all, let’s look at the percentage of strikes thrown to Pablo compared to Vladimir. You are correct that Pablo has seen fewer strikes than Vladimir this season — but not by nearly the margin you mentioned. Pablo has seen 39.2% strikes; Vladimir, 43.3%.

Vlady has been at 32.7% and 40.8% strikes in 2007 and 2008. Pablo saw 46.6% strikes in his rookie season of 2008. Clearly NL pitchers are wising up to Pablo’s wild ways, although one would wonder why it took them so long.

The point I made was that one a pitcher gets ahead of Pablo, there is little reason to throw him strikes. There is a pretty good chance a pitcher can get ahead of Pablo even if the first pitch is outside the strike zone. Then, in theory at least, he wouldn’t need to throw single pitch in the strike zone during the at bat. If the first pitch IS in the strike zone, there is little reason to throw another one.

If pitchers were really on top of things, I could see Pablo’s percentage of pitches seen in the strike zone to be around the 33% you mentioned — or possibly even lower. I would venture that if pitchers threw Pablo a strike on only one out of every four pitches they STILL wouldn’t walk him often.

I give you credit for noting that pitchers aren’t throwing Pablo a high percentage of strikes. You might consider giving me some credit for pointing out they could probably get by with a much LOWER percentage.

Now are you more sure what I’m talking about?

by sharksrog on Apr 28, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Flores

According to the organization, Flores is not hurt but will be given some days off. He may miss today as well.

Not sure if I buy it, but that is what’s been reported.

by rsvandy on Apr 27, 2009 4:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He's so far from the majors

That I have trouble seeing them lying about it at this point.

by Fanon on Apr 27, 2009 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Latest word from Andrew Baggarly (third section) is that both Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson will be moving up to AA after their next starts today and tomorrow. Also Posey might get quite a bit of work in A before moving up.

The Basil Fawlty Moderating Strategy:
"We could run a nice blog here if we didn't have all these members getting in the way."
Kevin Frandsen should be with the big team.

by WalrusMan on Apr 27, 2009 6:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Decker

I’m surprised that Buster Posey isn’t being brought up to AA to work with manager Steve Decker, who was promoted over the winter from High A San Jose to AA Connecticut.

Buster played for San Jose in last year’s playoffs, and it appeared then he was able to hit Class A pitching well. Thus far at San Jose this season, Buster is hitting .388 with a 1.153 OPS and has driven in 18 runs in 17 games while batting cleanup.

To give an idea of how stacked San Jose’s lineup is, Angel Villalona began the season batting 7th there. The 18-year-old is hitting .323 with an .834 OPS.

The big surprise at San Jose has been the Giants #4 draft choice in 2008, Brandon Crawford. The shortstop has the same .388 BA and 1.153 OPS as does :Posey. Amazingly, both players also have identical .481 OBP’s ahd .572 SLG’s, as well. Brandon has the more homers (5 to 4) and triples (1 to 0) than Buster, but Posey has 7 doubles to Crawford’s 2.

by sharksrog on Apr 27, 2009 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

doesn't surprise me

brandon is a beast, represent for p-town

"If you hit .440 with 20 bombs, you don't have to do s---. You don't have to bring a glove to practice, just hit and leave whenever you want. You can bring a 40 and smoke a cigarette and call me from the parking lot asking me what time the game is, and I'll tell you. You can even say 'F--- you, Steve!' Actually, don't say that, that wouldn't be very nice." -Steve Friend, Head Coach, Chabot College Gladiators Baseball

by flipgatey3 on Apr 28, 2009 2:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

P-town

P-town would be Pleasanton, California, about 30 miles north of San Jose. Brandon Crawford was born in Mountain View, on the Peninsula, perhaps 30 miles south of San Francisco, but grew up in Pleasanton, which is actually on the A’s side of the bay.
My understand, though, is that Brandon is a life-long fan, making him one of the few who get drafted by their favorite team.
Thus far, Brandon has actually been San Jose’s best hitter (1.157 OPS), ahead even of Buster Posey. The one negative to Brandon’s game this season has been a high strikeout rate, with 23 whiffs in 72 at bats. Crawford has seven hits in his last 13 at bats, including a triple. He leads the Little Giants with five home runs.

by sharksrog on Apr 28, 2009 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs