The Pablo-as-backup-catcher experiement didn’t last long. After Tuesday night’s game, Alex Hinshaw’s been sent down and Steve Holm was called up.  I think having the backup catcher provides much more flexibility than having 12 pitchers- there were several situations over this homestand where Bengie Molina got on base late in the game but they couldn’t pinch run for him. Well, now they can. If the starting pitching can remain consistent, I think they can get by with 11 pitchers.

While on the subject of pitching, the Giants also adjusted the pitching rotation to a slightly modified five-man format. With the two off days this week, Jonathan Sanchez will be skipped and be available for long relief.

So this weekend against Arizona, instead of Sanchez/Lincecum/Johnson, it will be Lincecum/Johnson/Cain.  Sanchez presumably will rejoin the rotation with the second Dodgers game on 4/28. I think this is a good move for a few reasons:

• Sanchez has pitched relief before so it shouldn’t be a big deal
• Lincecum can now pitch the last game against the Dodgers on 4/29
• The pitch counts for the starters have been relatively low thus far
• Any chance you get to give your top starters an extra start while still giving them normal rest, you gotta do it.

So, good move, Bruce Bochy- hope it works out.

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Well, that was a craptastic road trip. But it’s over now.

Here’s an unlikely cross promotion I thought I’d never see at a baseball game: Monday, April 27, the first home game against the Dodgers, is  Star Trek Movie Night, complete with a giveaway of “live long and prosper” foam fingers and a Star Trek-themed costume contest. Talk about “thinking outside the box”.

Read the press release

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With the spring training games all but over, the Giants roster is now pretty much set. I’m not sure how long the “no backup catchers other than Pablo Sandoval” thing will work out. However I think the rest of the bench is pretty solid.

The bullpen is…different. I’m not convinced yet it’s better, but we shall see. Hope Travis Ishikawa is not next in the Giants’ long recent line of AAAA hitters. Hope Pablo Sandoval isn’t a complete train wreck at third base.

If these hopes are realized, then I think the Giants have a good chance at, say, 80 or so wins this year.

In related news, was curious to see how some of the recent former Giants have fared this spring training. Here’s a quick summary:

Read More…

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Jesse Foppert, the once highly regarded, but oft-injured prospect who was traded (with Yorvit Torrealba) by the Giants for Randy Winn and then re-signed after being released by the Mariners, is recovering from his latest injury (knee) and expects to resume playing in either AA or AAA. He’s in the minor league camp and his fastball has been clocked at 93 mph, so that’s a very encouraging sign considering he hasn’t pitched much these past four years and is still rebuilding his arm strength. Hope he can make it back and help the Giants.

Read the full article

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Nice feature article today on ESPN.com about Pablo Sandoval. That’s really high praise, Willie McCovey comparing him to Alberto Pujols. While I wouldn’t go quite that far yet, it should be noted that Pujols was not exactly a highly regarded prospect either. The other comparisons mentioned included Bobby Bonilla, Terry Pendleton, and (the young) Mo Vaughn. It’ll be interesting to see if the “Kung Fu Panda” moniker given by his teammates sticks.

I don’t really agree with the observation itself, but I actually like the Dodger comment about Pablo being “cocky”. First of all, anything that annoys the Dodgers is fine by me. Second, it’s been awhile since we’ve heard that about a Giants player.

Read the full article

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Even though he’s pushing 40, I’m pulling for the recently re-signed Keiichi Yabu to somehow make the team as a long reliever. He was primarily a starter in the Central League back in Japan so he’s certainly got the experience. From a fan standpoint, I find him to be just an interesting and eccentric character with a great wisdom and love of the game- who also happened to post an ERA of 3.57 last year, no easy task these days. According to a Giants blog entry on SFGate:

Earlier this month, when he was on waivers and not allowed to practice, he went online and bought a ticket to the Giants’ Cactus League game, even though the team happily would have comped him.

Read the original post

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From my Giants desktop calendar:

In 1914, when Jack Dunn, manager of the minor league Baltimore Orioles, was shopping his prize prospect Babe Ruth around the major leagues, he failed to contact his former teammate, Giants manager John McGraw. McGraw was so upset by the snub that over a decade later, he refused to negotiate with Dunn about another big prospect. As a result, Dunn ended up selling future Hall of Famer Lefty Grove to Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics.

Grove of course went on to win 300 games for the A’s and Red Sox, an MVP award in 1931, and was selected six times as an All-Star. He is considered one of the all-time greatest left-handed pitchers.

Thou should not hold grudges when it come to player transactions.

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I usually don’t read ESPN The Magazine, but if you’re a fan of Tim Lincecum, you just might want to pick up the March 9 edition as he’ll be on the cover:

Big league scouts told Tim Lincecum he was too small to succeed. Fantasy owners passed him over because they weren’t sure he’d hold up with that crazy motion. But he has news for all of ‘em: it wasn’t magic dust that helped him win the Cy Young Award

The online version of the article also features some home video of him pitching in high school. Read the full article (by Tim Keown)

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The Giants signed Juan Uribe to a minor-league contract, with the potential for $1 million/year if he makes the team.

Even though he is a second cousin of Jose Uribe, I’m a bit torn on whether it’s appropriate to revive the “Ooo-reee-bay” chant. I also hope this acquistion doesn’t preclude the re-signing Rich Aurilia, who is older but still is at least approximately an average player from a statistical standpoint. Juan Uribe reminds me of…Jose Castillo, and we all know what happened there.

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The Giants released the details of this year’s FanFest a few days ago. This year’s KNBR 680/Giants Winter FanFest will be held at AT&T Park on Saturday, Feb. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT. Admission is free, but fans are encouraged to donate to the Giants Community Fund at the door.

The most notable guests will be Tim Lincecum and The Thrill himself, Will Clark. Also, individual game tickets will go on sale at the ticket windows starting at 9AM.

The complete list of Giants guests scheduled to attend FanFest besides Lincecum and Clark include Jeremy Affeldt, Vida Blue, Bruce Bochy, John Bowker, Emmanuel Burriss, Matt Cain, Orlando Cepeda, Jesse English, Tim Flannery, Dave Flemming, Kevin Frandsen, Mark Gardner, Alex Hinshaw, Steve Holm, Bob Howry, Randy Johnson, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Carney Lansford, Fred Lewis, Joseph Martinez, Osiris Matos, Jon Miller, Pat Misch, Dave Righetti, Dave Roberts, Ryan Rohlinger, Sergio Romo, Brian Sabean, Billy Sadler, Jonathan Sanchez, Nate Schierholtz, Lon Simmons, J.T. Snow, Jack Taschner, Brian Wilson, Ron Wotus, Keiichi Yabu and Barry Zito.

Read the full press release

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