Warm and Fuzzy

An interview with KNBR's Ray Woodson revealed that Nick Hundley is best friends with Mark Melancon. This is the kind of move that has to make Giant fans feel good about how this organization is run.

Newly acquired Hundley knows the National League (NL) West as good as anyone because he has spent his entire career in this division (San Diego and Colorado).  Sees an opportunity to join his pal on the NL West Giants and it's a done deal.

Pretty cool. The kind of cool that becomes warm and fuzzy at the end of September as the post-season enters October.

Kevin J. Marquez

Hope Springs Eternal for Pitching Staff

Prospects: RHP-Sam Coonrod, RHP-Joan Gregorio, LHP-Andrew Suarez (don't confuse him with Albert Suarez, who is coming off a respectable season as the Giants' fifth man.)

Something I noticed with the up and coming hurlers: Ty Blach throws left bats right (like Mr. Bumgarner); Kyle Crick throws right and bats left; Clayton Blackburn throws right and bats left. Reliever Will Smith bats right, throws left.

Top prospect Tyler Beede throws and bats right-handed. Just as Josh Osich and Steven Okert throw and bat lefty.
Newly signed David Hernandez may have something to show the team.

Kevin J. Marquez

Note: Once spring games are over the airwaves I will be taking notes and sharing insights.

2017 San Francisci Giants: Non-Roster Invitees and 40-man roster

Let's go to the familiar veterans in camp.
Jimmy Rollins, how much can he offer?
Nick Hundley, does he solidify the catcher position?
Michael Morse, can he improve enough defensively that we won't hold our collective breath every time he's in the outfield?
Justin Ruggiano, what say he?
Same for Kyle Blanks, Chris Marrero
 and Catcher Tom Federowicz and Josmil Pinto. Or is hot prospect, Aramis Garcia ready to burst onto the scene? Remember, the Giants scouts have an eye for the catcher position. What with Buster and Pablo Sandoval being drafted as catchers.

Could it be that Steve Duggar takes over an outfield spot. He's coming off a season at Richmond when he batted .321.  And perhaps Austin Slater shows he belongs. Or is it Christian Arroyo's time in the big show. Last, but not least, Jae-Gun Hwang will bring his talents from the Orient, something of a trend the major leagues has seen infused into their game.

Kevin J Marquez

Not So Eager to Deal

When I heard Bobby Evans, Giant GM, on Radnich and Kruger he came off like someone who assesses and reassesses things before pulling the trigger. It is as if he knows the history of Chub Feeney (Crowds for Sadecki) and Spec Richardson (George Foster for Frank Duffy; Duffy and Gators Perry for Sam McDowell) and doesn't want to repeat those unforgettable blunders.

I came away from the interview feeling unless he gets something considerable in return he figures the team is better off keeping the player. He'd rather lose them to free agency than come out on the short end of a deal.

Kevin J. Marquez

It's Time to Get Serious

Everybody bemoans the Matt Duffy for Matt Moore trade. And yet, the lefty has ability. But something is seriously wrong with how this "lefty" has been handled.  If this guy cost you someone you claim you did not want to trade, why is Trevor Brown catching him?

I understand, the Miami game was after an epic 14-inning game but this is THE guy you traded Matt Duffy for and Trevor Brown, a rookie, is not giving him what Buster gives pitchers.

Buster is becoming the best defensive catcher in baseball and he has a way with pitchers.  As a fanatic of the game, it just feels odd that a catcher can STEAL strikes. But if you have a way with making close pitches look like "can't miss" pitches I suppose you can get an umpire to lean that way.

Look, I never made it to the Major League level. Doesn't mean I don't know what a strike is no matter how anyone begs to differ.  There's politics in choosing umpires just as there is maneuvering in selecting the president of the United States. Legacies are in every line of work. If an umpire can be fooled into calling a ball into a strike this is what leads to what is wrong with baseball. It is a major flaw if someone assigned to call balls and strikes is easily swayed by the way a catcher receives a pitch.

The flaw lies with the arbiter of what is and is not a STRIKE. Those umpires whose strike zone changes from inning to inning or in the 4th inning he begins to "squeeze" the ZONE or any other kind of adjustments other than the first inning for both teams doesn't deserve to umpire a game.

His actions must justify his opportunity to put the gear on and position himself behind the catcher. If he is so unaccustomed to deciphering a ball in or out of the strike zone and needs the receiver of the pitch to clarify his understanding I think either eye glasses or a consult is in order. It is this unexplainable effort that makes the fan wonder why one team is getting one strike zone while the other is getting another strike zone entirely. THIS CANNOT HAPPEN.

This is giving one team a decided advantage and that is exactly why umpires where incorporated into the game in the first place. Was so such a thing WOULD NOT HAPPEN.

Let them do the bases only for that is what they are qualified to do. And if, in seeing enough replays that question their calls on the bases proves them to be inadequate for the bases, then get rid of the bum!!

Kevin J. Marquez

Lefty Matt Needs Moore Love From Catcher Position

Baseball is a business. You sometimes have to trade fan favorites to get players that best suit the needs of the team. But what happened when the Giants traded Matt Duffy for Matt Moore really exposed a flaw in baseball.

Unfortunately, for Matt Moore, both games he has pitched as a San Francisco Giant his receiver/catcher was Trevor Brown. Brown is a rookie and nowhere near the catcher Moore needs to find his comfort level as a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

All I heard was how the Giants didn't want to trade Matt Duffy but felt, 'at the end of the day,'  (societies new catchall phrase for just about everything) he had to be dealt to get the kind of pitcher needed to get the Giants into the playoffs and beyond.

If that's so why isn't Buster catching him? Trevor Brown has proven to be a very reliable batter but as a catcher he is not so well-equipped. And this is understandable because he is a rookie who hasn't played catcher all that long in his young career and that is exactly what puzzles me.  Why is the guy the Giants absolutely had to have and at the expense of Matt Duffy, pitching to a rookie?

A rookie who hasn't honed his craft to steal the occasional strike from the umpire who may not really know a "strike" from a "ball". Happens often enough that coaches or managers should know better than to leave a rookie in a position where he isn't getting the "breaks" his counterpart is receiving, right?

In order for Matt Moore to have his best opportunity to succeed he needs the best receiver catching his pitches. If they have to sign a wily old vet to handle these duties, so Buster can get his needed rest, then do it. Trevor Brown is not the guy at this point and time. And I say this because TOO MANY UMPIRES DO NOT KNOW A STRIKE FROM A BALL and games often come down to pitch count or a fourth strike the batter doesn't miss. (Fourth strike? Yep, that's when the ump missed a couple of pitches during an at-bat and those paying attention know the batter got a gift.)


Kevin J. Marquez

No Home Plate for You!!

All you ever hear about is how BASEBALL takes too long. But you know, maybe if those guys whose job it is to call balls and strikes were actually consistent and within the rulebook STRIKE zone maybe pitch counts would never have been an issue.

What infuriates me to no end is a strike zone that benefits one pitcher but not his counterpart. For some reason one pitcher's ball just looks more like a strike regardless of where it crosses the plate. Is there a statistic that shows some umpires more prone to "fall" for the framing of a pitch. 

How about umpires whose strike zone doesn't necessarily agree with the Pitch FX? Isn't that proof that this ump really doesn't know what constitutes a strike? 

Want to speed up the game?  Do you really want to make it more view-able for fans? Stop allowing these buffoons from getting behind the plate who just make a mockery of the rulebook strike zone. If Major League baseball truly is grading these buffoons then make it so all these umps ever get to do is the foul lines and the bases. 

To borrow from the Seinfeld episode about the Soup Nazi, those umpires who don't know a strike from a ball, NO HOME PLATE FOR YOU!!

Kevin J. Marquez