02-14-2024, 09:22 AM
Can't wait! Couple of thoughts:
1. I hope it's Chapman versus Bellinger. Giants need a GG third baseman more than they need a really good outfielder. And Chapman hits better at Oracle than Bellinger does (.264 vs. .247 BA and .813 vs. .733 OPS). Bellinger is ordinary at Oracle.
2. I worry about Luciano. He won't turn 22 for six more months. He did very poorly in the Dominican winter league (.170/.339/.255/.594), although he boosted his walks considerably. Looks like some coach told him to be more selective. The Giants need a backup shortstop who can step in if necessary, though Luciano fields the position well, leading me to...
3. Fielding. My great concern. This will be an average hitting team (even with Chapman, Soler, Murphy and Lee) unless everyone breaks out and Pat Burrell works miracles. The pitching will be great, a ground ball bonanza. The good news: Bailey, Yaz, Slater, Schmitt, Luciano are all good fielders, but they're the only fielders with positive rTot (aside from 1/2 dozen young players who won't make the roster)...and while Bailey had positive rTot, he still led the league in passed balls and errors, playing only 82 games at catcher -- but he led the league in # caught stealing, was 4th in caught stealing% and third in putouts, so...good fielding catcher. Meckler, Pederson, Villar, Crawford, Sabol, Matos, Conforto were all disasters, athough Conforto is a decent left fielder and a horrendous right fielder. Keep him in LF, he's ok. Davis, Bart, and Wade were slightly below average. Wade and Davis started out strong, but melted down as the year went on. And Doval and Winn are not great at fielding, but not much we can do about that.
It looks like we're getting most of the bad fielders off the field and can "hide" the poor fielders. If the team can get to average...maybe we have something.
Incidentally...the Giants were 32-21 in one-run games last season. Bob Melvin's Padres were 34-17 in one-run games last season.
Bottom line for me...if we get Chapman and a backup shortstop, we should be very strong. I don't think we need more pitching. We have lots of cap space. Maybe trade for Willy Adames, a very strong fielder with power (but not average) and he'll be 28 this season.
1. I hope it's Chapman versus Bellinger. Giants need a GG third baseman more than they need a really good outfielder. And Chapman hits better at Oracle than Bellinger does (.264 vs. .247 BA and .813 vs. .733 OPS). Bellinger is ordinary at Oracle.
2. I worry about Luciano. He won't turn 22 for six more months. He did very poorly in the Dominican winter league (.170/.339/.255/.594), although he boosted his walks considerably. Looks like some coach told him to be more selective. The Giants need a backup shortstop who can step in if necessary, though Luciano fields the position well, leading me to...
3. Fielding. My great concern. This will be an average hitting team (even with Chapman, Soler, Murphy and Lee) unless everyone breaks out and Pat Burrell works miracles. The pitching will be great, a ground ball bonanza. The good news: Bailey, Yaz, Slater, Schmitt, Luciano are all good fielders, but they're the only fielders with positive rTot (aside from 1/2 dozen young players who won't make the roster)...and while Bailey had positive rTot, he still led the league in passed balls and errors, playing only 82 games at catcher -- but he led the league in # caught stealing, was 4th in caught stealing% and third in putouts, so...good fielding catcher. Meckler, Pederson, Villar, Crawford, Sabol, Matos, Conforto were all disasters, athough Conforto is a decent left fielder and a horrendous right fielder. Keep him in LF, he's ok. Davis, Bart, and Wade were slightly below average. Wade and Davis started out strong, but melted down as the year went on. And Doval and Winn are not great at fielding, but not much we can do about that.
It looks like we're getting most of the bad fielders off the field and can "hide" the poor fielders. If the team can get to average...maybe we have something.
Incidentally...the Giants were 32-21 in one-run games last season. Bob Melvin's Padres were 34-17 in one-run games last season.
Bottom line for me...if we get Chapman and a backup shortstop, we should be very strong. I don't think we need more pitching. We have lots of cap space. Maybe trade for Willy Adames, a very strong fielder with power (but not average) and he'll be 28 this season.
Audaces fortuna iuvat