For my steady readers, you may recall that in each of my posts this week, I’ve mentioned the idea that Clint Coulter was a sneaky name to keep in mind for a potential call up sometime this year if the team continued to have needs in the outfield. He’s hitting like crazy this year while also posting marks near or at career bests in both walk and strikeout rates. That’s a pretty good résumè, and given the Giants’ organizational philosophy of rewarding players who perform at the Triple A level, it seems like he was playing himself into something like the Luis Gonzalez position this year.
That may still happen! But he definitely got pushed back one spot in the pecking order by yesterday’s acquisition of Cal Stevenson off waivers from the A’s. Setting aside the seemliness of continually picking up players that the worst teams in MLB can’t find a use for, Stevenson brings a lot of the same qualities as Coulter, only more so, in that Stevenson has a long track record of excellent walk and strikeout rates combined with solid hitting covering his entire pro career. He’s also a left-handed hitter, as opposed to Coulter’s right-handed swing, and he’s about three years younger — and now a member of the 40-man. All plusses. Stevenson’s also another local kid, a product of Fremont, CA and Chabot Junior College. So get to know the new kid!
As always, though, roster management is a zero sum game; for someone to come, another must go, and this time the guy pulling the short straw is LHP Sam Long, who was DFA’d to clear space for Stevenson. There was a time not too far back that Long looked like he could be a significant piece of the future for the Giants, but he wasn’t ever quite able to establish a role with the team, and last year turned into an up and down guy used to absorb some bulk innings now and again. Like nearly everybody on the Sacramento staff, he’s gotten off to poor start this year, with 11 earned runs allowed in 10 innings. On the bright side, he’s one of the relatively few pitchers in Sacramento with more strikeouts than walks, but with seven Ks to five BB, he wasn’t exactly crushing the zone.
Somebody’s going to want the former Sammy I’m guessing, which means we’ll be saying a sad adieu in the next week sometime. A There R Giants’ salute and best wishes for the future to Mr. Long. I’ll never forget his incredible big league debut in Texas, and his perhaps even more incredible Triple A debut — in which I still believe he might have set an all time record by striking out the first eight hitters he saw at the level.
And finally, let’s give a huge congratulations to another There R Giants’ fave, right-handed Tristan Beck, who can, as his Corona High School coach Andy Wise put it, now call himself a “big leaguer.”
Go get ‘em, Tristan!
HITTER of the NIGHT: Tyler Fitzgerald (Rich), 3 for 5, HR (1), 2 R, 1 RBI, SB (2), K
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Nick Sinacola (Eug), 4.0 IP, 2 H 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K
Alright, let’s look sharp now! Time to get to some action.
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