Hello world. Well it's been about 3 1/2 months since my last blog post and we were talking about the Opening Day roster for the San Francisco Giants. Some things have changed since then. We've already had a trade, Austin Jackson and Cory Gearrin to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later or cash considerations. This should give the Giants both some salary and roster flexibility before the 7/31 trade deadline and help them stay under the $197 million competitive balance tax limit. Now I for one thought that the Austin Jackson signing was going to be a great move, but he did absolutely nothing to justify my optimism and by the time he was traded he was pretty much the last guy on the depth chart. Similar for Gearrin, though after seeing him pitch frequently last year I sorry to say I am not sad to see him go. This meant the Giants had 2 roster spots to fill and they filled them with Steven Duggar and Ray Black.
If Duggar's name sounds familiar, yes we have talked about him before. Duggar is the assumed Center Fielder of the future if the Giants front office is to be trusted and his Spring Training results did not disappoint. Still, he was optioned to Sacramento so he could play everyday whereas in San Francisco he would have been platooning with Austin Jackson and/or Gorkys Hernandez. But now it's time to see what the kid can do. We're only 4 games into his tenure and it's possible he could ride the shuttle back and forth between Sacramento and San Francisco a few times, but he's looked exciting during the first week. He did seem to get off to kind of a slow start, but he's looked increasingly comfortable in Center Field and in the leadoff spot in the lineup. In yesterday's game against the Oakland A's, Duggar went 2 for 4 with a walk, scored 3 runs, and had 2 RBI on a double in the 7th inning. Duggar's batting average sits at .286, but we're only talking about 21 at bats so far. If there's one area that is glaring, it's that Duggar has struck out 9 times (43%) in those 21 at bats and only walked once.
Ray Black is that rare bullpen arm that can hit triple digits on the radar gun. He's hit as high as 104 mph. But Black has a lengthy injury history. While still in high school he had Tommy John surgery. In college he tore a meniscus and fractured his hand. As a professional, he's had labrum surgery in 2012, a strained lat and a bicep injury in 2015, and a bone spur in 2016 which led him to consider retiring. Beyond the injuries his walk totals were always high, though one could argue the injuries played a factor into that (injuries led to bad mechanics which led to high walk totals). But since returning to Sacramento, Black has put up a walk rate of 3 walks per 9 innings pitched while his strikeout rate is 15 per 9 innings pitched. He also has a slider which he throws 88-91 mph and a curve which he throws in the low 80's. So far he's only pitched in 2 games. The first didn't go so great recording only 1 out and walking 2 on 7/8 against St. Louis. The only hit he allowed? A 3-run homer to Matt Carpenter. The second game, 7/10 against the Chicago Cubs, was much better. He pitched the 9th inning of a 2-0 game (the Cubs were winning), completing the inning and striking out 2 in the process. His ERA is a not pretty 20.25 but there's a ton of potential.
We've seen some other young guys contribute in big ways with Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez coming up big in the starting rotation and Alen Hanson playing a big role filling in for the injured Joe Panik, but we're not going to cover them here. Instead I want to talk about a guy who has been ping-ponged back and forth between Sacramento and San Francisco a few times this season and that is Austin Slater. Slater has played primarily Left Field in San Francisco, though if Chris Shaw makes enough noise to be promoted to the big club, Slater's long-term position is likely Right Field. Slater collected 117 at-bats last year and hit .282 with a .339 OBP and .402 Slugging Percentage. This year, in 38 at-bats, his average and Slugging Percentage are both down (.263 and .316) but his OBP is way up (.396). He's taken as many walks as he did all of last year, but he's striking out a bit more (34% in 2018 vs. 25% in 2017). With Gorkys Hernandez having a career year, Slater's opportunities have been limited. He had a 3-hit game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on 6/29 and his reward was sitting out the next game. In fact, Slater has not appeared in a game since 7/11. Bruce Bochy has shown more confidence in Hunter Pence in pinch-hitting situations even though Pence is hitting .216 on the season. Obviously I am not in the clubhouse and I do not know what discussions are going on, but I would like to see what a lineup with both Duggar and Slater would look like over an extended period.
That's it for today guys. Thanks for reading and comment below.
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