Talkin’ Todd
Posted by Chris - 09/05/07 at 05:05 pmThe fourth outfielder for the Giants, unlike most teams, really plays a large role in both the offense and defense. With Barry Bonds and Dave Roberts (who’s soon to go on the DL) both getting days off regularly, the 4th OF collects a lot of AB’s and playing time. In 2005 Steve Finely got over 400 ABs as a 4th OF, part of this was due to Felipe Alou but a 4th OF on the Giants will get playing time.
Enter Todd Linden.
Todd, buddy, you’ve got some splainin’ to do. After a pretty solid 2006 in which Linden played the 4th OF role and looked “OK” he’s looked completely lost this year. In 55 AB’s Todd has struck out 23 times and sported a .183 batting average. Out of those 55 AB’s he’s only had 1 XBH. By all counts this is a awful start for Linden. Not only has the O been missing but so has the D. Linden looks stretched playing CF, which isn’t shocking since he lacks experience there, but in todays Met’s game he misplayed a ball that led to the winning runs.
With Roberts heading to the DL the Giants will be calling up someone from Fresno. Whoever they call up they should let play in RF and move Winn to CF. Hopefully the Giants will either call up Nate Schierholtz or Fred Lewis. Depending on his health, Schierholtz should be the favorite right now. He’s one of the few hitting prospects that the Giants have and he’s had a nice start to his AAA season, hitting (.350/.370/.577). If Nate is too banged up, then Fred Lewis becomes the favorite.
Comment Starter: Who gets the call up?
Update: Well, that didn’t take long. The Giants DFA Todd Linden and call up Fred Lewis and Dan Ortmeier from AAA Fresno. Lewis will probably start in RF against RHP and Winn will move into CF.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:08 am
The reports I’ve seen says that Linden will get expanded playing time should Roberts get put on the DL. That’s good because maybe regular playing time will get him out of his funk, and even if it doesn’t, that’s good too, because then they might consider DFAing him and bringing up someone from Fresno to be the 4th OF.
Speaking of 4th OF, according to latest I read, Schierholtz is injured and out 3-4 games, so he’s not coming up for a 15 day DL, else he would have been the logical choice. Bad timing… According to Bochy, the choices are Lewis, Ortmeier, and Clay Timpner if they bring up a 4th OF. Timpner is hitting the best out of these three plus plays superlative CF, so they might bring him up since Roberts is the one going down. But this is probably an aberration, he’s been no-hit, gold-glove, all the way up the system. On the other hand, Ortmeier has been up before, unlike Timpner, and has played all three OF positions regularly, though not so much CF as the corners, and he has both power and speed. Lewis probably has the most potential of the three, but since he’s not doing great in AAA, it seems pointless to bring him up.
Here’s a thought: maybe they bring up Misch. He has been lights out down there, and deserving of a callup, unlike the hitters besides Schierholtz and Timpner. Both Winn and Linden can play CF, you have Klesko and Sweeney capable of playing LF, and Linden and, apparently (didn’t know), Sweeney can play RF in a pinch. Plus Feliz played LF recently. That should cover things adequately in the OF, plus gives the Giants a look at Misch, he could give the bullpen a boost if he can continue to pitch well up in the majors.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:46 am
OGC,
Very interesting, I hadn’t heard the reports yet that Linden would see more time when Dave goes on the DL. I hope that more playing time could get him jump-started but I won’t be holding my breath. He’s just looked so terrible this season, I’ve rarely seen him even make solid contact. The K’s are scary for sure.
I had heard that Nate ran into a wall and was a little banged up. You’re definitely right that it’s very bad timing. Timper is a interesting choice. I wonder if the Giants management thinks his hitting progress this year is legit or just a fluke? And if it’s legit, would they send him up? I think Lewis should be ahead of him if Nate’s health is still in question. He’s not lighting up the league but (.263/.349/.500) isn’t too god awful. Like usual, he’s shown a little pop, gets on base decently, and has some speed (7 SB’s to 1 CS).
I also like the Misch scenario too but to me that seems like its going to be on the shoulders of Linden. If he can start hitting, then the Giants can afford someone like Misch to get the call. But if Linden continues to be a black hole you’ve got to figure that the Giants will try something new offensively? Watching Sweeney try to play RF at Mays Field is a scary proposition.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I think ya gotta give the Giants credit for moving fast and decisively. I think the chances are fairly good that Linden makes it thru waivers, a la Niekro, and I think a couple of months in AAA are needed. Better that than suffering thru another 2 weeks when he has been so completely lost so far this year. I assume that they will bring up Schierholtz to replace Ortmeier once he recovers - and try to see if his 350 AAA avg is real.