Author Archives: Thomas Todd

SF Giants lineup: Pagan out again, Sandoval dropped to No. 5

The waiting game on Angel Pagan is getting old. After the Giants decided not to put their center fielder on the disabled list 12 days ago Pagan has not played a lick, as he is out of Bruce Bochy’s lineup for the 11th straight game. The Giants’ bench has been down a man, and was for a short time down two because of a foot injury to Pablo Sandoval that kept him out for three games. I know the Giants have played this injury safe, but wouldn’t the safe call have been to give him the two weeks anyway and make a roster move? Perplexing.

Speaking of Sandoval and his foot injury, the third baseman will bat fifth for the first time this season. In fact, tonight’s game will mark the first of Sandoval’s 2013 starts where he wasn’t the No. 3 hitter. A mainstay at that spot, Sandoval has taken almost 60 percent of his career plate appearances there. Panda’ recent struggles — 6 for his last 37 — coupled with Hunter Pence’s consistent season-long slash line of .290/.335/.494 made the move inevitable.

Andres Torres will hit leadoff for the fifth time this season, a nod to the fact that he has been much better recently than Gregor Blanco. The White Shark has had 10 cracks at the leadoff spot but has not produced, compiling a .267 OBP in those games. Torres has a season OBP of .315, lower than Blanco’s .320 season number. But Torres has posted a .342 mark since Pagan went down with an injury two Saturdays ago.

It was (wisely) pointed out by a commenter that Bochy plays the platoon matchup with Torres and Blanco in the leadoff spot based on the handedness of the opposing starting pitcher. When lefties like Patrick Corbin are on the mound, Torres gets to switch-hit himself on over to the right side of the plate. Blanco typically gets to face right handers. Torres’ recent success makes the platoon more advantageous.

Here’s the Giants’ lineup against LHP Patrick Corbin (9-0, 2.06 ERA):

LF Torres

2B Scutaro

RF Pence

C Posey

3B Sandoval

1B Belt

SS Crawford

CF Blanco

RHP Cain (4-3, 5.45 ERA)

Giants draft results: High school shortstop Christian Arroyo selected in first round

With their first selection in the 2013 MLB amateur draft, the San Francisco Giants selected high-school shortstop Christian Arroyo. This is the second time in three years that the Giants have used their first pick on a shortstop, having taken Joe Panik No. 29 in the 2011 draft. This is the first time the Giants have taken a high school player with their first pick since drafting Zach Wheeler No. 6 in the 2009 draft.

I am by no means a draft expert, not having heard of a single player the Giants have drafted. ESPN’s Keith Law is, however, and discussed the Giants’ first pick on his Behind the Dish podcast Friday:

Of all the 33 players selected in the first round, the Giants took the one I had rated the lowest coming into the draft — Christian Arroyo, a high school shortstop from Florida. (He’s) got a chance to hit for above-average power, not a shortstop in the long-term. A lot of people I talk to thought he was a second baseman and there’s a strong bias against taking high school second basemen, including guys who just project out as second basemen because their track record is very poor. College second basemen fair a little bit better, but high school second basemen, it’s just not a good track record. Better than high school catchers but that’s not saying a whole lot. I had him ranked 99th they took him 25th. They probably could have gotten him with their next pick, but it’s also more the opportunity cost. So many better players available for them at that first pick. 

The Giants already have a shortstop who projects as a second basemen in Joe Panik, the aforementioned first pick in 2011. Being a high school player, Arroyo is more of a project than Panik. There are many developments that can occur between now and the four or five years it will take Arroyo reach the first level of his potential. With above-average power and a 6-1, 185 lb. frame, it isn’t ludicrous to think that he could be moved to a corner outfield spot over the next half decade. Hey, the Giants tried Brett Pill at second base in Fresno two years ago. Clearly, anything can happen.

Law continued to pick apart the Giants’ draft strategy when mentioning their second pick, high school third basemen Ryder Jones from North Carolina:

Then the Giants turn around in the second round to the player from North Carolina who’s committed to Stanford, whose considered a tough sign. He is, even on merit, not ranked in my top 100. I spoke to clubs that didn’t even get him cross-checked they rated him so low. And saw the commitment and saw that he wasn’t worth the time and effort to have additional scouts beyond the area scout go in and see the player. So I was a little bit shocked by how their first round (I’m sure he means first two) went down.

This is where things get discouraging. The Giants haven’t been particularly good at drafting position players until recently (Crawford, Belt, Posey come to mind), but none of those guys were drafted out of high school. Dating back to 2005, the only successes the Giants have had drafting a high school position player in the first five rounds are Nick Noonan and Tommy Joseph.

Noonan is currently a bench player on the big-league roster, which is a success story for any high school draftee. Joseph was sent to the Phillies in the Hunter Pence trade and is widely considered a top 5 prospect in their system. This is not enough of a sample size or in-depth analysis to consider the Giants first two picks immediate busts or reaches, but it isn’t a good sign when your front office is so far out of line with the scouting departments of 29 other teams. Unless you’re the A’s. The Giants are not the A’s.

Here’s the Giants picks for the first eight rounds. Let the Googling begin!

Round 1, pick 25: Christian Arroyo, SS, Hernando HS, FL

Round 2, pick 64: Ryder Jones, 3B, Watauga HS, NC

Round 3, pick 101: Chase Johnson, RHP, San Luis Obispo

-Mike Krukow went to SLO. Remember that in five years when he refuses to bash a start where Johnson leaves in the second inning.

Round 4, pick 132: Brian Ragira, 1B, Stanford

Round 5, pick 162: Daniel Slania, RHP, Notre Dame

-Ragira and Slania sound like Rudyard Kipling characters

Round 6, pick 192: Nick Vander Tuig, RHP, UCLA

-The Giants front office is very impressed with what their seeing from Dodger’s rookie Yasiel Puig. Wait, Tuig isn’t Cuban. Snap.

Round 7, pick 222: Brandon Bednar, SS, Florida Gulf Coast

DUNK CITY!!!!

Round 8, pick 252: Tyler Horan, LF, Virginia Tech

 

Angel Pagan injury: Giants CF misses 10th straight game, plus lineup

Giants center fielder Angel Pagan is not in Wednesday’s Giants lineup, making it the 10th game Crazy Horse will miss since injuring his hamstring two Saturdays ago. Before the injury Pagan had started 45 of 49 games, all in center field. In his absence, Gregor Blanco has slid over from left field and Andres Torres has been the new regular starter.

The Giants haven’t missed Pagan’s production from the starting lineup because Torres has been fantastic. His two-run homer in Tuesday’s game was the only offense the Giants could muster against Toronto’s Josh Johnson. Since Pagan went down, Torres has a .371 OBP and improved to a .323 mark for the season.

The real loss has been the thinning of the bench, leaving Bruce Bochy with just three reserve bats to use as pinch-hitters and defensive replacements. With the now-startling decision not to put Pagan on the disabled list, the backup outfielder has become Brett Pill. Though he has logged only two innings in left this year, that’s two too many for my liking. Francisco Peguero would have been a nice option to have on the roster, at least for his defense.

Pablo Sandoval played just seven innings yesterday after returning from a foot injury that cost him three games. Bruce Bochy said after the game that this had been the plan all along, trying to ease the big fella back into action. Joaquin Arias finished the game after Panda notched an 0-3 at the plate, seeing just six pitches. Never change, Pablo.

The Giants have won the last 14 times Barry Zito has taken the mound at AT&T. While Zito hasn’t sparkled in every one of those games, he hasn’t allowed more than four runs at home since allowing seven to the New York Mets in early August of last year. Through seven starts this season, Zito’s home ERA is 1.00. That’s one. Uno. Un. Eins.

Here’s the lineup for Wednesday against RHP R.A. Dickey (5-7, 5.18 ERA):

CF Blanco

2B Scutaro

3B Sandoval

C Posey

RF Pence

1B Belt

LF Torres

SS Crawford

LHP Zito (4-3, 3.88 ERA)