Another good day in the minors as Fresno and Salem-Keizer were the only losers. Connecticut shut out Akron 8-0, but they still remain 4 games out of second place with 14 games to go. The Giants sent down Eliezer Alfonzo to help out the offense, and Notgardo has been taking up the challenge admirably. Unfortunately, second place Portland has shown no signs of letting up as it has won five of its last six games.
Fresno
1B John Bowker: 1 for 5, HR, K
RF Ben Copeland: 1 for 4
2B Travis Denker: 0 for 1
RP Scott Munter: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Connecticut
2B Olmo Rosario: 2 for 5, HR, K
DH Adam Witter: 2 for 3, 2 2B, BB, K
SP Garrett Broshuis: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
RP Kelvin Pichardo: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
San Jose
2B Brad Boyer: 2 for 4, HR, BB, K, SB (15)
3B Matt Downs: 3 for 5, 2 2B, K
SS Sharlon Schoop: 3 for 4, HR, K
OF Darren Ford: 3 for 3, SB (11)
SP Daryl Maday: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 R
RP Joe Paterson: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Augusta
2B Nick Noonan: 1 for 4, BB, K, SB (27)
DH Thomas Neal: 2 for 5, HR, 2 K
1B Angel Villalona: 1 for 5, 2B, K
RP Mitch Lively: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 R
Salem-Keizer
3B Conor Gillaspie: 1 for 4, K
1B Mike Loberg: 2 for 4, 2B
2B Jose Flores: 2 for 4
AZL Giants
CF Wendell Fairley: 2 for 4
SS Brandon Crawford: 1 for 4, 3B, 2 K
RF Ryan Mantle: 2 for 4
SP Jorge Bucardo: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K
RP Chris Wilson: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Notes
Originially from the Dominican Republic, Olmo Rosario was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and released in 2002. Last year he played in the Canadian American League and was named the player of the year. The Giants purchased his contract from the Nashua Pride this offseason. He is prone to run hot and cold, but he has had a good year overall, putting up a line of 300/335/468. He is on a serious hot streak, hitting 364 in the month of August (helped out by his 21% Line Drive rate). He may have some major league value as a utility infielder, as he’s played all over the field this season, albeit primarily at 2B. Unfortunately the Giants are stacked with the utility types (Velez, Ochoa, and now Downs) so perhaps Roasario will have better luck with a different team.
Wendell has also been hitting better of late, putting up a line of 293/508/393 in the month of August. Monthly splits are always iffy because of the small sample size, but it looks like Fairley has started hitting more groundballs and putting his speed to work (which may also explain his rising BA). This may be good for the AZL, but I’m not sure it’s beneficial to him in the future when he will face better infielders at higher levels. Since he’s been praised as a five-tool prospect, hitting groundballs would also negate his power. What this all means to me is that he needs to refine his hitting approach and work on hitting line drives and elevating the ball. One pleasant surprise has been his walk rate. Whether or not it’s a product of wild AZL pitchers it remains to be seen, but I’m optimistic. I would like him to start out at Augusta next year, but I would understand if the Giants held him back until Salem-Keizer. He could be a late bloomer like Fred Lewis, which wouldn’t be bad at all.
August 20, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I wish I had some inside information as to what kind of hits Fairley was getting. If they are grounders, you are right (though he may be fast enough to continue getting infield hits at higher levels). However they might be more solid, and indeed, hopefully they are. His walk rate seems legit, as others are not getting them as often as he is, which is what you`d expect if it were due mostly to wildness. The weird thing is his crazy high HBP count. I could see them holding him back until Salem-Keizer, but I could also see them putting him at Augusta to see if he can stick (if not, he`d get some play as a backup,and they could move him to salem keizer once they started, much like they did with Peguero).
August 21, 2008 at 10:36 am
I’m not quite sure what to make of the high HBP count. Some players like Kevin Frandsen seem to have a knack to getting hit. (GAMER). This may be an aberration. Whatever helps him get on base I guess.
If you’ll recall from 4-5 years ago, some baseball analyst (Jim Callis perhaps?) remarked that Fred Lewis’s high walk rate was more accidental than purposeful. The analyst took some flak for that, as it turned out that Lewis continued to walk at a decent rate. I always took the comment to mean that Lewis’ pitch recognition was poor, but his plate discipline was good (ie if the pitch was anywhere close to being a ball, he would take it). I wonder if this can be said about Fairley as well. If he had good plate recognition skills, he really should be hitting more pitches for power.