I’m going light on the content today because my head feels like a fishbowl; sloshing around with any movement I make. This is what you get for having a cold and taking DayQuil. Why is it that the medication you take when you’re sick often makes you feel worse than your ailments? But, I digress.
*Also, apologies in advance if any of this is unreadable. I’m trying to move my hands to type but they keep clubbing the keyboard like huge, fleshy mallets. I blame you, Dextromethorphan.
Some Giants news around the series of tubes today:
~ I watched most of Game 1 of the World Series last night. I definitely watched enough to see ex-Giant Pedro Feliz go 2-3 with a BB. In Petey’s first AB of the night he looked downright patient. He took a walk on 4-5 pitches and trotted up the first base line. “Who was that guy?” I wondered to myself quietly. He didn’t hit the ball hard, but he flicked a couple of singles into the OF off of Kazmir. I’m rooting for the Rays but I actually missed Pedro this year. Having to watch Jose Castillo play 3B will do that to a man.
~ Speaking of Feliz; his defense took a step back this year. Giants fans know what a tremendous defender Feliz was at 3B during his tenure with the orange and black but it appears that he might have lost a little something in ’08. According to John Dewan’s +/- defense system, Pedro was +21 and +27 plays above average at the hot corner through ’06-’07. That’s Scott Rolen level defense. In ’08 for the Phillies, Feliz dropped to +7, which is still very good but not as good as his time in San Francisco. He had back problems this year which may have contributed to his slight decline. After watching him for a few innings last night I thought he was moving a little stiffly.
~ Andrew Baggarly updates his blog with a brief mention that the Giants have voided their $625,000 deal with Dominican right-hander Luis Mateo. Turns out the Giants didn’t like the findings of some medical reports on the young pitcher. BA has some more information on the situation from an October 3rd posting.
~ ELM has his tinfoil hat on and he’s wondering if Buster Posey might be due for a position change in the near future? The Giants have back-and-forthed Posey between the HWB and Arizona in order to work on some passed ball issues. He’s now back in the HWB and catching. I doubt the Giants will try any position changes with Posey right now. He’s had a long year and his value fits best at catcher. The Giants might be tempted to move him way down the road if he can’t handle the position but he’s got a good chance to stick behind the plate. I haven’t seen any scouts who’ve questioned his ability to play catcher. In fact, most were surprised at how quickly he picked it up. Teams will usually give players every chance to play themselves out of positions.
~ Sergio Romo is having a nice start to his Winter League assignment. Romo is currently pitching for the ‘Aguilas de Mexicali‘ in the Carribean Baseball League. He’s closing for his team and in 4.2 innings pitched, he’s earned 4 saves while striking out 5. He’s yet to give up an earned run. Romo should enter ’09 as the Giants setup man.
aksjaoib kdsfo jdoifa? doia gjguik! idgklat, diao oid g pagigola.
Hmm about Posey… if he does get moved from behind the plate, hopefully he’ll be able to transition back to SS.
As for Mr. Feliz… well, I guess I’d give up a not-even-full season of Jose Castillo for Conor Gillaspie. Here’s to hoping he’s Bill Mueller 2.0…
:^)
Pedro was starting to show that patience his last season with us and continued to show improvement in 2008 for the Phillies. Unfortunately, him being more patient and disciplined at the plate made him less likely to hit a homer when he did connect, even though he was playing at a homer happy park vs. AT&T which depresses HR. In fact, it did help him out, his road batting line dipped even further, below 700 now, and only his better home hitting masked that overall decline.
The only thing I would caveat on that was that he was actually hitting OK (which means good for him) up to the ASG, then suddenly was unable to hit for much the rest of the season. Perhaps he had an injury I was not aware of, which looks like it might have happened in late July and extended into late August. And his strikeouts was trimmed by a lot, making his K% and BB/K ratio acceptable, overall (though his OBP, SLG, and OPS were not).
Seeing your point about his drop in Plus/Minus got me thinking: if a pitching staff is, for whatever reason, one that pitches inside a lot, a 3B would get a heck of a lot more chances than a 3B who plays behind pitches that, say, pitches outside a lot, or even strikeout a lot more. I wonder how one might detect something like that with their stats?