Lots of roster goings ons to start the week. Tuesday was a rough day in Richmond, as the Giants let go of three members of the Squirrels’ bullpen (though Tyler Schimpf wasn’t currently active), and before considering the baseball and organizational impacts, we need to first say that this was a day that had a real emotional impact in the locker room and in the organization. There were a lot of downcast faces and a lot of quiet conversations in the corner. As manager Dennis Pelfrey told me before the game:
It’s never an easy thing to do. And especially for three guys that were all exceptional humans and great teammates, just really good to have around the ballclub. So it’s a tough day, especially before a big series. It’s never easy for anybody to get released or to release somebody, because you never know if that’s the last time they’ll play baseball. So it’s really tough to do and it really puts a lot of strain on the whole ball club.
Baseball is a game of daily failure and that failure has a human toll. It’s always important to keep that at the front of our minds.
From the baseball perspective, this puts Richmond two pitchers short going into a big series, so I think we can expect to see some new arms coming east in the next day or so. MiLB.com has already listed Cole Waites → Richmond on their website, though the Giants and Richmond haven’t announced it. Ryan Murphy is another possibility to help reduce the amount of bullpenning they’ve been doing lately. Another that was suggested on twitter that makes a lot of sense is new 40-man member Sam Delaplane, who has had three rehab outings in San Jose. Whoever it is, there are certainly more balls in the air that have yet to land. One other thing that Pelfrey mentioned to me, on the subject of promotions, is “the numbers on paper really don’t dictate our moves. How guys handle themselves, what your at bats look like, and first and foremost, the character and what type of guy you are is going to accelerate those moves.” So, we’ll see what falls in the coming days.
In the meantime, some reinforcements are coming in other ways, too. In Richmond, Shane Matheny returned from a short stay on the IL, while in Sacramento, some big leaguers are getting ready…
Meanwhile, the injuries are piling up at a frightening level around the system — David Villar and Marco Luciano appear to be the latest victims, neither having appeared in a game in several days. Every year starts full of hope and wonder and soon enough, attrition starts having its way. It’s the constant dance of the long baseball season. Guys coming …. guys going. Everybody trying to find a measure of success in a cruelly difficult game.
HITTER of the Night: Carter Aldrete (Eug), 2 for 4, HR (9), 2b (9), 2 R, 3 RBI
PITCHER of the Night: Will Bednar (SJ), 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to There R Giants to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.