I don’t care if he didn’t complete the catch — this was a brilliant freakin’ play from a really gifted defensive 1b. It’s incredible how much ground he covered on a ball that wasn’t hit very high, trying to pull off a Ghost to the Post replica catch. Frankie Tostado can ball, y’all.
Does it feel like I start these every day with a “new player” report? It does seem to be the commonplace when following the Giants’ system these days. This isn’t really a new new player — he’s been in the org for awhile now without appearing — but it feels like it fits in the same genre of announcements:
This is low-key kind of a big deal. Sam Delaplane looked like he was right on the cusp of being a big league contributor when he went down with injury in 2019, and could return to that same trajectory when healthy (or, maybe better expectations would be something like the John Brebbia comeback trajectory, making him big league valuable again next spring). Here was Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen’s report on Delaplane back in May of 2021, when he ranked Delaplane #13 on his Mariners list, despite the fact that Delaplane wouldn’t be pitching again for another year:
Delaplane has power, vertical action stuff that I think is going to play in a high-leverage relief role. He creates a nearly perfect vertical arm slot by striding wide open, starting on the third base side of the rubber but landing in the middle of the mound. It helps give his fastball plus-plus carry and ride. Delaplane also has a power, Brad Lidge-style slider with late, downward movement. He has less raw arm strength than the Nick Andersons of the world, but the stuff works in the same way, and I think Delaplane will be a reliever of rare quality once he returns from Tommy John, which should be in the middle of 2022.
HITTER of the Night: Frankie Tostado (Rich), 3 for 3, HR (6), BB, Run, RBI
PITCHER of the Night: Kyle Harrison (Rich), 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
You bet Kyle Harrison’s Double A debut is worth a Saturday supplemental! Let’s get to the lines…
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