"Bring on the Summer" Edition of the Free For All Mailbag
Photo Credit: Richmond Flying Squirrels
June is here! And with its arrival we head into the summer months. School is out. Beaches are open (I’ve got my resort plans made!). And the minor league season is just a couple weeks away from punching some post-season invitations!
As Ferris Bueller famously said: “"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and answer some mailbag questions once in a while, you could miss it.” Or something like that. Let’s crack open the bag and see what’s on your collective minds.
Dan Schaffer
Hi Roger, any intel on how the field and facilities in West Sacramento are holding up to overuse by Cats & Elephants?
I was talking with someone recently who’s played there in the last month, and it seems like things are holding up reasonably well so far. The A’s groundkeepers have brought a lot of space age resources to bear on keeping the turf healthy. They have backup fields to provide turf for any areas of the field that are starting to show wear. They’re monitoring the whole thing with a heavy dose of micro-technology that seems to be reporting at all times on the health of every single blade of grass. And they have some kind of “air-pat” system that is apparently working to move air, water, and nutrients to whatever part of the field is needing it most. It all sounds pretty sci-fi-ish and cutting edge.
In addition, next week, the River Cats will play a “home” series on the road in Tacoma, and the entire field will be resodded at that point. So, we’ll see. Hopefully, all of this hard work and thought and technology will keep the field healthy through the long season. Obviously, we’re just getting to the really hot part of the year, which will be when the real challenge to keep the turf heathy will kick in.
Fingers crossed. Obviously, it’s in everybody’s best interests for it to work out well. This is a good time to remind everybody that there are a ton of people working round the clock behind the scenes to make minor league baseball happen, and not too many of them can claim to be working harder than the grounds crew, so think of them kindly whenever you watch your favorite players getting after it.
Who do YOU want them to draft in July
Beat me to the question, Joe - seems a very average draft...
I think anybody who has followed my work for some time knows I’m in on this group of high school shortstops. In my dream scenario, Billy Carlson falls to 13 (because even I don’t have the dream-power to summon up an Eli Willits fall). That doesn’t sound like it’s very likely, but high school guys do tend to fall on draft day as college arms helium their way up the draft boards.
If Carlson is gone, as is likely, then I’m hoping for JoJo Parker, Steele Hall, or Daniel Pierce, probably in that order. If, however, Seth Hernandez were to fall in the team’s lap — which my friend Joe Doyle has declared to be absolutely impossible — well, that wouldn’t suck either.
As for Mike’s comment, I’d just caution you to remember that drafts have a tendency to look very different in retrospect than they do in the immediate leadup. Drafts that are characterized as lackluster or down will produce much more impact than expected and vice versa. You just never really know how it will shake out.
Anyway, get me some young shortstops! That’s always my sweet spot.
If Luis Matos needs to go back to AAA, what would be the implications for the rest of the Sacramento roster? Also, do you think he should?
The Sacramento lineup has been very heavy on minor league vets of late. At one point last week, I believe, they ran out a three catcher lineup, with Logan Porter, Max Stassi, and Andrew Knizner all starting at different positions. We’ve also seen Mexican League signing Daniel Johnson in the lineup nearly every day lately (where, to his credit, he’s been on a real roll with some high end Exit Velocities, including a 115-mph home run this weekend, and speed on the bases; he could be playing his way into being a Person of Interest).
All of which is to say that the club shouldn’t struggle too mightily to find playing time for everybody, even if some daily juggling around is necessary. Possibly, Matos’ presence could cause more starts for Marco Luciano at 1b. But I’d guess we’ll just see a lot of rotating around with DH and rest days and everybody getting five games in the lineup somewhere. It won’t exactly be a plug and play lineup, but I don’t think there is such a plethora of every day talent on that roster that they won’t be able to find regular opportunities for the 40-man guys. They did just release Jake Lamb, which opens up more playing time, but they also have Victor Bericoto just about ready to return (possibly today).
Bottom line: it shouldn’t be impossible to get everybody reps.
As for the second question, well, of course, I had a long section written here regarding the various options for the domino that would fall when Jerar Encarnacion was activated. But when I handed this in to my editor yesterday, I appended the note: this will all need to be re-written tonight, I’d imagine.
And, well….here we are. The deed is done. Matos is headed back to the minors.
If you’re asking me whether I think this was the right move, I’ll say this: Matos has done very little to force the Giants to keep him. Though he had an excellent game on Sunday, he simply has not proven that he belongs on a major league roster this year. With a 57 wRC+ (which went up 20 points in one game) and -0.3 fWAR, he’s been well below replacement value in 2025. To be fair, it is very hard for a young player to get used to the sporadic playing time asked of bench guys, and that can be driving some of the poor performance (though that’s not a particularly compelling argument for keeping him on the team in a bench role, either). But we’re also getting to a pretty robust sample for Matos at this point. He’s taken nearly 500 MLB PA over nearly 150 games, and, in each of the past two seasons, he’s had decently long stretches of consistent play. The result of all that is a career 73 wRC+ and -1.5 Wins below replacement level production. At some point, potential stops being enough of a reason to garner more opportunities.
That all pains me to say. I’ve been a huge booster of Matos ever since he was a 17-year-old crushing it down in the DSL, and I like him very much as both a player and a person. But, as players and coaches alike will always repeat, this is a performance-based job, and the performance just hasn’t been there for Matos so far.
At the same time, I can’t say that I love this move from a roster management perspective. The club has kept three right-handed middle infielders and three 1b at the expense of even a patina of outfield depth. That is somewhat of a weird roster mix to me. The club has been looking to the return of Encarnacion as a way to help solve the situation at 1b, where PoBO Buster Posey said publicly last week, they simply have to get more production. But they also have a growing issue in right field, where Mike Yastrzemski needs regular rest and platoon protection, and is currently mired in a huge slump. Encarnacion can’t really be the answer to both problems — if, indeed, he’s the answer to either.
In addition, while Matos hasn’t really proven to be a particularly adept CF in his career, he does seem to be the club’s preference for a backup for that position when Jung Hoo Lee is getting an off day. Dropping Matos from the roster puts the team in a position they clearly don’t want to be in — forced to use Yaz and his 35-year-old hamstrings in center to give Lee breathers. The only alternative to that would be to use Heliot Ramos in center, where he was very much not the answer last year (and hasn’t exactly graded out well in left field this year). Grant McCray could handle the position defensively, but he’s done nothing at Triple-A offensively to press his case for roster consideration this year. Wade Meckler (who also isn’t a natural center fielder) has mostly been hurt. That’s a lot of questions without many clear answers.
What this all seems to have come down to is a choice between two different young players who are still in this “prove it” era of their careers: Matos and Casey Schmitt. It seems the club just likes what they’re seeing from Schmitt lately more than Matos. That’s fair. Schmitt has shown some signs of life this year, particularly with his Exit Velocities and Hard Hit rate. But he’s also never cured his tendency to expand the zone. His 43% chase rate this year is in the bottom 10% of major leaguers. Like Matos, Schmitt has yet to take an opportunity and really make it his. Despite getting some pretty good runway in his career, he, too, has been a below replacement level player for his career, complete with a 74 wRC+. And he hasn’t really built on the success he had against LHP last year, with just a .240/.345/.320 line with the platoon advantage in 2025.
Sooner or later, both of these talented young players are going to have to prove they belong, or the Giants are going to need to look elsewhere for production. At Bats are a very precious resource at this level.
Rog, what is your take on trying Luciano at 1B? I understand the ML team’s big need, I just worry about another positional move for him now that he was getting the grasp of playing LF.
Hi Henrique, yes, I understand your concern — even while I think that “getting the grasp of” might be employed somewhat euphemistically in this case. It does seem like the Giants have constantly asked Luciano to learn one thing while he is still in the middle of trying to learn the last thing. Still, the major league squad DOES have a big need — and it’s far from certain whether Encarnacion is going to be able to fill it. With Matos’ demotion, LaMonte Wade, Jr. escaped the Grim Reaper this time, but it’s clearly coming for him if things don’t start turning around in a hurry for him (again, as a fellow Terp, that’s a very painful sentence for me to write). At this point, I think he still has a role as really the only left-handed bat available off the bench. His experience as a pinch hitter could make him very useful in that role, and the Giants do need someone who can fill it.
But I think there’s another part of this equation: what is Luciano’s path to opportunity if he does learn to play an adequate LF? Ramos is the one young hitter that the club can feel pretty good about having developed at this point. Though there have been ups and downs and hot streaks and cold spells, Ramos continues to answer questions about his ability to make adjustments at the plate, and it really does seem like he is taking another step forward in his first full season as an everyday player. He’s not a slam dunk to return to the All-Star Game this year, but he could certainly put himself in the running with another month like the one he just had. But Ramos’ emergence effectively serves to block any opportunity at that position for Luciano — and I don’t think the club wants anything to do with moving Ramos to right field.
So, yes, while you would sort of like to see the team pick a lane with Luci and stick there, I can also see a lot of reasons why asking him to try taking some grounders at 1b in case the club gets down to Plan G or whatever in the coming weeks. The bigger matter, as was the case with McCray in the above question, is that he’s not really making the case that his bat needs to be part of the big league roster right now — as desperate as they are. Despite the occasional power bursts, he’s also fourth in the PCL in strikeouts (McCray, by the way, is third), his contact rate for the season is just 66.5%, and he hit just .195 with a .314 OBP in May. None of that really is forcing the Giants’ hand at any position.
I have to say, these may be the two most depressing back-to-back questions I’ve ever had to answer in a mailbag. I’ve spent years writing about Matos and Luciano as the two most important prospects in the system, and guys who needed to be core members of the next good Giants’ team. The fact is it’s getting pretty late in the day for both of them to turn into even complementary contributors to the big league roster, much less core starters. That’s not to say that either or both might not find success in the majors at some point. Encarnacion, Yaz, and Daniel Johnson have all shown in various ways how winding the paths to success may be. But with options clocks ticking down to zero (Matos’ demotion to Sacramento very likely means that he, like Luciano, will use up his final option this year), it’s harder and harder to envision any potential success coming with the Giants.
As I’ve often written, failure is the default outcome in baseball — and certainly in baseball development. But let’s not kid ourselves, it would be a very rough miss to strike out on both of these guys. Luciano was a consensus top 20 prospect in baseball — top 10 in some places — and some evaluators had Matos in that range as well. When you add in the million dollar bonus given to Jairo Pomares that same summer of 2018, and some the 1st round picks on the domestic side around the same time that haven’t returned value, you can imagine that the new front office has some real internal auditing to do. Why haven’t things clicked for Matos and Luciano and Schmitt (or even Bailey, on the offensive side of things)? These aren’t questions that come with simple answers— but the team needs to draw useful lessons from them and find a better path forward. The opportunity cost of missing out on these kinds of talent is just too great and too long-lasting.
kent iverson
Do you think the Giants (or any other team in a pitcher's park) could recreate the success of the Cardinals' speed-oriented offense of the early - mid 1980's? If yes do you think +defense/OBP/speed-based players (e.g., David Hamilton) are undervalued in the industry and represent an exploitable market inefficiency?
Kent, it’s just so hard, for a whole host of reasons, to compare across historical eras. I think that there are two huge factors that separate baseball then from baseball now, and both played into that type of team having success. The first, and by far the most important, is the artificial turfs that dominated baseball in the 70s and 80s.
I don’t think most people think of those ugly cement-hard turfs that were ubiquitous in the game in the ‘70s and ‘80s with any fondness — I know I celebrated when they were eliminated from the NL landscape. But in retrospect, I really don’t think the game that we loved in that era could exist separate from those turfs. In the final year that the rug existed at Candlestick Park, Jack Clark set a franchise record for doubles — and for those of us who remember that year, it’s not hard to understand why. “The Ripper,” as he was known, would unleash one of his vicious swings and lace a liner into the outfield, and, taking a quick skip off the turf, it would be at the wall in a second. Two quick hops was all it took. The pressure that that sort of ball-speed put on defensive players was simply enormous, and demanded a certain skillset. You really had to have Garry Maddox types to compete in the sport back then.
If the makeup of stadium facilities produces a gap that is hard to reach back across, the makeup of players today creates arguably an even wider chasm. This graphic comes from a fantastic piece in Baseball Prospectus by one of my favorite writers, Russell Carleton, called “Was There Really a Steroid Era?” It shows the evolution of Body Mass of major league players since 1950. Notice anything?
The 1990s saw a dramatic increase in the pure size of major leaguers — leading to the game we have today, which includes multiple 6’7” center fielders, and giants just about everywhere you look on the diamond. With the increase of all that mass has come an extraordinary increase in the power of the game. Triston Casas broke his ribs swinging a bat last year, and the doctors who treated him described his injury as “consistent with being in an automobile accident.” The force involved in the modern game is almost hard to fathom. That’s why Joey Votto, when he retired, described the major league game as a heavyweight boxing match. I do find myself wondering if old time players like Omar Moreno or Lonnie Smith would even survive in today’s game. Would they, as the saying goes, simply get the bats knocked out of their hands by the power of the modern player? (Of course, they’d have today’s training methods available to make themselves much stronger as well).
So, I don’t really know what the answer is Kent. I mourn the loss of variety in the game — as I suspect you do, too — different shaped players using different types of skillsets, different teams applying different sorts of pressure through different strategies and philosophies. “Sameness” does seem to be the negative legacy that advanced metrics and models of efficiency have left us.
Certainly, there are teams that have created value through team speed and defense — that’s been true of Milwaukee the last couple of years, and it’s been true of St. Louis this year as well. The Kansas City Royals went to two World Series with fast teams that caught everything. But whether that’s a sustainable model — fast young players tend to slow down pretty early in their career, after all, and you don’t find a lot of them on the free agent market — is a different question. (Also, I’m not sure Hamilton, with his career .226/.283/.357 line is the best flag bearer for this model. But, who knows, maybe he just needs to find the right situation).
Roger, thanks for all the great info you put out on a regular basis, really enjoy all your work.
With lots of injuries around the league, and the Giants mostly healthy (knocking on wood), seems like they are in a good place to maximize the trade value from one of our depth pieces. Any idea which Giants player, from any level in the org, peaking in value that could pull a decent return in a trade?
Extra credit on who the Giants should target in this trade, or maybe just a comp to a past trade.
Hm…this is an interesting perspective, Scott. Several of the questions above point to issues that the Giants have with their depth, and their current bench is…. I’m not sure what the right word to describe it is… “woebegone?” So, I’m not 100% certain that overall “depth” is a place where the Giants really shine right now, even though all the pieces have been mainly healthy.
They have certainly done a good job developing arms, however — and that’s obviously the strength of the current team. I read just yesterday that the team’s ERA for the month of May was their lowest for any calendar month since the 2010 season! That’s the one thing holding this team aloft at the moment. And, that said, I’m sure they are leery of moving a starting pitcher. Hayden Birdsong, Kyle Harrison, and Landen Roupp have looked outstanding this month — outstanding enough to dream on what the team could be over the next four or five years if this group stays healthy. And Carson Whisenhunt is waiting in reserve in Sacramento. But after that, starting pitching drops off pretty quickly if you’re talking about more than someone for a spot start here or there. That really gives them say seven starters they should feel pretty good about right now (including Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Justin Verlander, when he returns). I think an offer would have to be pretty tempting to make them cut into that number any.
But one guy who is a proven major league performer, with some pretty good stuff and movement profiles who really is finding it hard to establish himself in the depth chart is Tristan Beck, and I can see them using him as a key trade piece. Beck, unfortunately for him, just fell behind some other guys while he was out after surgery, and those other guys really established themselves as anchors of the staff. But his stuff would absolutely have him in a rotation spot on a lot of teams in this league — competitive teams, even.
Specifically, I know the Orioles’ Ryan O’Hearn is somebody who a lot of Giants’ observers cast their eyes at. He’s been a very solid corner bat in his career. He’s going to be a free agent. And Baltimore’s front office has completely dropped the ball when it comes to fortifying their solid young hitters with some decent pitching. There’s no doubt at all that Beck would be an improvement on a lot of the arms that Baltimore has been running out there this year, and he has several years of control to provide value in the future (when presumably, the O’s hope to qualify once again as “not terrible”).
What do you say: would an O’Hearn for Beck swap interest you?
So, why is James Tibbs the Third always referred to as 'James Tibbs the Third.' The name doesn't flow easily, and my mouth — and maybe yours — moves in eight distinct, consecutive directions to grind that name out. What is wrong with J.T. Three? My mouth barely moves on that one. Or better, Jimmy Tibbs? Flowing with a jaunty, fun lilt. I feel like 'James Tibbs the Third' should be reserved for when he is inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame or the House of Lords in London or something. Maybe I've got too much time on my hands...
Well, PG, I can’t speak for that, but I will say that it gets a little repetitive having to type the whole thing out every day! I’m not sure I like JT3 all that much more — that has such an NBA feel to it, it seems like it’s trying a little too hard to seem “hip.”
Anyway, while I don’t have much to add to your comment, let me just go on a side tangent here for a moment. I have a little bit of a pet peeve against players putting “Jr.” or “III” or, god forbid “II” on the backs of their jerseys, and you may notice that the official There R Giants’ style guide is to never use those designations when referring to a player by his family name. I use the complete name the first time I mention a player, but thereafter, in my posts it is always “Wade,” not “Wade, Jr.” Always “Tibbs” not “Tibbs III.” The generational suffix is not part of the family name and should, therefore, in my opinion, not be used when referring to a player, unless they are being introduced in full. That’s my brief and I’m holding to it!
Hi Roger,
Thanks for the great system coverage. What’s Victor Bericoto’s injury status? Will he continue to 1B at-bats at AAA once healthy? Know he got off to slow start but would like to see him get a shot and see where it leads.
He should be pretty close to coming back. He’s been playing quite regularly in the ACL — and tearing the cover off the ball, hitting almost .500 — for the past week and a half. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he rejoined Sacramento this week. Seems like he’s about ready. In fact, I noticed that he did not play in Saturday afternoon’s game, and I wondered at the time if that was a signal that he was good to go.
As for playing time, I would have thought the road was clear for him to get the lion’s share of at bats at 1b, but now with Luciano beginning to see time there, it might be more of a mix and match situation for him. He’s pretty used to bouncing back and forth between the OF and 1b, however, as he’s been working that way for several years, so he should have plenty of spots he can fill in the lineup.
I’m with you. I’m very interested to see how he does in Triple-A. He made a noticeable improvement in swing decisions with Richmond this year, and it really caused his performance to take off. I’ve always been really high on Victor, and I’m quite happy at this point with my decision in the Top 50 this year to keep him above some up and comers with similar profiles, like Lisbel Diaz and Oliver Tejada.
Thanks again for all the great content on There R Giants, Roger. Must read on everything you post. My question for this mailbag: who are the best catchers in the Giants MiLB system, and what are those best prospects outlook for reaching the MLB roster? Patrick Bailey is an excellent defensive catcher, but he has looked lost and overwhelmed at bat this season (continuing a trend from last two seasons). Strong defense and "pitcher whisperer" skills are very important, but we need at least a .225 batting average/.700ish OPS from that position. Any options in the short term beyond veteran backups like Sam Huff and Max Stassi?
I greatly appreciate both the compliment and the support!
Best catchers in the system, eh? I’m afraid I’ve mostly got more of the same to offer you, Jim. Adrián Sugastey is by far the best and most advanced catching prospect in the system. He’s really improved his receiving the last couple of years, and is a smooth in nearly every quadrant of the strike zone. His throwing has become a real weapon (he leads the Eastern League in Caught Stealing, and is second in Double-A). Like Bailey, that’s not from pure arm strength, but rather the result of a quick release and great accuracy. And he gets rave reviews for his ability to work with pitchers and bring leadership and a steady hand to his relationships with the staff. Sugastey also has some of the best contact skills in the organization, and a bit of sneaky pop in his big frame. But if you’re looking for a big league .225 average and .700 OPS…well…I’d recommend not looking at his Double-A batting line.
Down a level, Onil Perez is one of the most aggressive pitch framers in the organization, and he’s gotten very, very good at that crucial skill. Perez has a much stronger arm that Sugastey, but less success at catching runners (though his pitching staff bears a lot of the blame for that). And, though he has kept his OPS in the .700 range, most of that comes from a high walk rate that might not hold against more advanced pitchers who aren’t afraid of being punished by attacking him in the strike zone. We’ll see.
Drew Cavanaugh has been demolishing the Cal League this year, and he also comes with exceptional catch and throw skills. It seems pretty clear from how the Giants have deployed him the last couple of years that they see him more as organizational depth to help plug holes where needed than as a player they want to develop up the ladder. But at some point, it feels like he deserves a chance at a higher level than San Jose. He and Luke Shliger could flip places, for instance.
Anyway, I’m not sure I have much optimism to give you on this one. There are some catchers who have legit hopes for major league time in their future, but whether any of them can satisfy your desire for some offense anytime in the near future seems much more dubious.
If it’s any consolation, I did a quick search on Fangraphs, and catchers who can put up .700 OPS even in limited playing time are in fairly short supply around MLB. About half to 2/3 of the league has somebody who fits in that bucket in recent years. The danged Cubs actually have two of them this year, which seems a little greedy. Ironically, the Rangers had four different catchers start for them last year. Two of those guys (Huff and Knizner) are currently in the Giants’ organization. But it turns out that the correct answer was the third castoff: Carson Kelly. Who knew?
Have the Posey admin Giants changed their facilities access policy for rival scouts?
Robert, in terms of accessing the back fields to observe morning drills and BP, they had not changed that in March when I was there for spring training, and I don’t believe they have since then. I think they really want that back area where the Taj Mahal training facility is off limits.
However, they did greatly improve their communications for scouts. They set up a very informative web site with camp rosters and daily lineups which were posted well ahead of games, and had easily accessible QR codes around the fields at Papago for anybody to access that day’s lineup. I heard very positive reviews on that from quite a few scouts this spring. It’s easy and informative — and that was another area where the Zaidi regime caused some needless friction with other clubs.
Roger, thank you for all you do! Could you put in context the different affiliate levels versus college teams -say D-1 /SEC level college programs. Would like the current San Jose Giants beat a good SEC team? Or would the Giants ACL beat a decent college team?
Thank you David, I appreciate your support. I also appreciate the intent of this question, but I personally never like this way of framing things. In my view, what defines the quality of an environment is not necessarily the quality of top talent on hand, but the range of talent on hand. Every D1 school has at least half a roster of players who are never drafted. Which is to say that the worst players on a Cal League club (or at least the worst US-born players) would have been the best players on a D1 club.
And this is particularly true of pitchers. Every hitter in D1 gets to accumulate a lot of ABs against guys who throw in the 80s with their fastball and are never going to see the pros. Because of the way stats get compiled in baseball, you can make some real hay against the worst guys you face. Which is why college stats always look a lot better than pro stats generally.
Would a good SEC team beat San Jose? Of course they would, from time to time, and especially on nights when they had Paul Skenes pitching. But if you stuck them in the Cal League and had them play 133 games over five months, I wouldn’t think the SEC’s best team would end up with a very good record because the depth of their roster just wouldn’t be there.
In reading the tea leaves and Buster’s comments on the radio, I think the Giants will be taking action regarding our 1B Situation. Do you think they will be desperate enough to bring up Eldridge and let him cut his teeth at the major league level? Surely, he can hit better than .182!!!
Jackson Holliday, the best prospect in baseball, was pushed up to the majors at 20 years old (after utterly demolishing the Eastern League) and preceded to hit .189 over 200 PA. Don’t underestimate just how hard it is to hit .182 in the big leagues.
So, yes, the Giants are going to take action on 1b. They’re going to bring up Jerar Encarnacion. They’re giving Luciano some time at the position. But, no, they aren’t going to force Eldridge into the situation and ask him to be the answer. They’ve turbo-shoved a lot of talented young hitters up to the major league level the last couple of years, and, as we’ve already discussed at the top of today’s mailbag, those experiments haven’t worked out very well. This is why desperation thinking doesn’t tend to produce great results.
One player they might want to kick the tires on, however, did become available this weekend:
I know it’s not sexy, but, as you say, the bar they’re trying to clear isn’t all that high right now.
Has the tide finally turned for the Giants’ farm from pitching heavy to slightly favoring the hitters? Sure seems like most of the players performing well this season are on the offensive side. Bullpen arms especially seem to have dwindled.
It does sort of seem that way, Aaron. But, on the other hand, I’ve spent a lot of today’s mailbag discussing the disappointing performances of Matos, Luciano, Schmitt — essentially the best hitting prospects the club has had this decade, pre-Eldridge. And I notice that nobody’s writing me to express concerns about the development of guys like Harrison, Birdsong, Roupp, Randy Rodriguez, etc.
So, even though the pitching depth charts do appear to be thinning out this year (though not in the ACL for sure!), and some very positive development stories seem to be happening on the hitting side, you’ll forgive me if I continue to view this as a pitching-first development organization until I see that hit rate (pun very much intended) improve at the major league level. I feel really good about this club developing arms like Gerelmi Maldonado or Josh Bostick or even young Argenis Cayama. I’m lighting votive candles and throwing coins in every fountain I come across for Tibbs and Bo Davidson to develop into major league hitters. Hopefully, as you say, the tide is beginning to turn in that direction.
And, with that, we’ll close up the bag for this week. Stats Review and Complex Level Minor Lines should have hit your Inboxes a little bit ago (complete with Josuar Gonzalez’s professional debut). And today or tomorrow, we should have a new podcast coming out as well.
Enjoy the games everybody!
Timing it is, and I noticed with sadness Bret Aurbach was released yesterday. For a non drafted FA he gave us his all.
As I always say…timing is everything. I now see reports that Bryce Eldridge is being promoted to AAA. What is your reaction? And how do all those OF/1B types fit together in Sacramento? Perhaps Bishop gets released?