These mailbags have been outstanding lately. Thanks for doing them, Roger.
You’re starting to get me excited about the oft-injured pitchers who are back in action. It’s tricky to gauge what to make of Will Bednar, Spencer Miles and Liam Simon because of their very limited pro track record. Would you provide a breakdown of what you see in them? Given health going forward, how do they stack up against the Giants’ arms that we’ve seen so much more of?
The stolen base issues at the Major League level are well-documented, but wondering if you can shed any light on why the Giants seem so hesitant to develop base-stealers at the Minor League level. From the outside, they seem to be actively moving *against* stealing bases: Quinn McDaniel came out of the gates swiping bags this year, and after a month quit almost cold turkey, while Grant McCray has attempted 9 stolen bases in 57 games, a year after attempting 62 in 127 games (I know his lowered OBP is a part of that, but that only explains so much!).
Furthermore, it really feels like a waste to have not tried (or at least it appears that way from the outside) to turn Wade Meckler and Heliot Ramos into threats on the basepaths. MLB is full of players slower than those two who are regularly swiping bags! Hell, in 2022-23, Tyler Fitzgerald attempted just 56 stolen bases in 246 Minor League games. Why?!!!?!?!
It feels like there has to be a development explanation beyond "they don't value this thing that every smart, modern organization really values." Wondering if you have any clue what that explanation is.
These mailbags have been outstanding lately. Thanks for doing them, Roger.
You’re starting to get me excited about the oft-injured pitchers who are back in action. It’s tricky to gauge what to make of Will Bednar, Spencer Miles and Liam Simon because of their very limited pro track record. Would you provide a breakdown of what you see in them? Given health going forward, how do they stack up against the Giants’ arms that we’ve seen so much more of?
The stolen base issues at the Major League level are well-documented, but wondering if you can shed any light on why the Giants seem so hesitant to develop base-stealers at the Minor League level. From the outside, they seem to be actively moving *against* stealing bases: Quinn McDaniel came out of the gates swiping bags this year, and after a month quit almost cold turkey, while Grant McCray has attempted 9 stolen bases in 57 games, a year after attempting 62 in 127 games (I know his lowered OBP is a part of that, but that only explains so much!).
Furthermore, it really feels like a waste to have not tried (or at least it appears that way from the outside) to turn Wade Meckler and Heliot Ramos into threats on the basepaths. MLB is full of players slower than those two who are regularly swiping bags! Hell, in 2022-23, Tyler Fitzgerald attempted just 56 stolen bases in 246 Minor League games. Why?!!!?!?!
It feels like there has to be a development explanation beyond "they don't value this thing that every smart, modern organization really values." Wondering if you have any clue what that explanation is.