San Francisco Giants

John Sickels has a new mock draft up on minorleagueball.com. He has the Giants taking Aaron Judge at #25. I think his reasoning is a bit shaky on this one. Judge just doesn't seem to fit the profile of the type of player the Giants have taken in the first round in past drafts. Maybe that is wishful thinking on my part. Judge is a great athlete and has tremendous upside, but he is also very tall for a hitter and we've all seen the kinds of problems tall hitters tend to run into. Some other players on Sickel's mock in the general vicinity of #25: #22 Orioles- LHP Marco Gonzalez. #23 Rangers- C Jon Denney. #24 A's- RHP Aaron Blair. #26 Yankees- LHP Robert Kaminsky. #27 Reds- RHP Ryne Stanek. #28 Cardinals- SS Hunter Dozier. #29 Rays- 3B Eric Jagielo. #30 Rangers- RHP Hunter Harvey. #31 Braves- RHP Bobby Wahl. #32 Yankees- RHP Chris Anderson. A commenter on Giants Extra seems to think Hunter Harvey is the pitcher Dick Tidrow has his sights set on. Harvey is a kid I've been taking a longer look at lately too. He's the son of former MLB reliever Bryan Harvey. If my memory serves me well, Bryan Harvey was a big thick dude along the lines of Rod Beck and Heath Bell. His kid is a skinny 6'3", 170 lbs, but has a 94 MPH heater and a nice curveball. He appears to be wanting to sign out of HS and has lots of room to fill out his frame. Most mock drafts have him going somewhere in the late first round.I could also see the Giants being interested in Marco Gonzalez, Blair, Wahl, Anderson and even Hunter Dozier whose stock seems to be rising rapidly.Matt Garrioch has a 400 player draft board up on minorleagueball.com. Here is his #23-31: 23. SS Riley Unroe. 24. RHP Bobby Wahl. 25. RHP Chris Anderson. 26. SS/3b Jan Hernandez. 27. OF Ryan Boldt. 28. OF Mason Smith. 29. OF Justin Williams. #30. RHP Jonathan Crawford. 31. RHP Brett Morales. Hunter Harvey is #34 on Garrioch's list.Personally, I would like to see the Giants go for some serious upside and draft one of the HS position players in this range. Unroe is a scrapiron type player who just might stick at SS. Hernandez reminds me just a little bit of a young ARod and Williams bat has unreal power upside. Of the pitchers, I would probably favor Harvey and Morales over the college dudes.Looking further down Garrioch's list, we find none other than HS 3B Travis Demeritte at #64, the Giants 2'nd round pick. Other names in that vicinity include #65 LHP Tom Windle and #66 RHP Alex Gonzalez with RHP's Andrew Mitchell and Ryan Eades at #71 and 72 respectively.Giants 3'rd round pick is #102. Some names I recognize in that vicinity: #100 RHP Alex Balog. #101 RHP Derek Beauprez. #102 RHP Dylan Covey #104 RHP Corey Knebel. #108 RHP Scott Frazier #109 3B Eric Jagielo.Giants 4'th round pick will be #133. I recognize college 3B Chad Pinder at #132 on Garrioch's list. 5'th round #163: Ryon Healy who is John Klima's white whale is listed at #167. #193? I've got Brian Ragira at #192. He just might stay in school if he's drafted in round 6.Some other random names from Garrioch's board: #220 College Sr. OF Brandon Thomas. #232 HS RHP Chris Oakley who I really like. He'll probably got to college if drafted this low. #250 College Sr. RHP Buck Farmer. #282 HS C/3B Dylan Manwaring. #283 College 2B/OF Tony Kemp. #297 College RHP Kyle Finnegan. #303 College OF Matt Oberste. #307 College OF young Yaz. #312 College SS Adam Frazier. #330 College OF Ryan Tella(Giants drafted him as a draft eligible soph in 2012 and he did not sign). #336 College OF James Ramsey. #338 College SS Lonnie Kauppila. #350 College OF Kyle Wren. #377 College Sr. 2B LJ Mazzilli. #384 College Sr RHP Matt Boyd. #386 College OF Tyler Horan(a personal favorite).So, while this draft is a bit weak at the very top, there is talent to be had way down the list into the 10th, 11'th and 12'th rounds.

Though it’s a fairly instinctive human quality, our guys seem to be having a tough time this year with the basics of *catch and throw*. The defense has been atrocious on this trip so I wasn’t surprised to see where we ranked across all of mlb in *errors made*: It’s not too much of a stretch to say that all of these errors are effecting the pitching break down–errors cause the pitchers to get frustrated which in turn impacts their focus and concentration and that’s not the way you want your pitchers pitching. But though they’re professional ballplayers they’re still human beings and they’re clearly having trouble  pitching through all these mistakes–although they should be able to do it, they committed a lot of errors last year too (4th most in NL) and they still managed to win the World Series. Zito seems to fall apart on the mound the quickest when errors are made behind him. That’s just my opinion, I don’t have stats to back that up. I’d say Timmy is the next guy to implode the quickest. Zito has been horrendous on the road this year so despite his decent numbers at Coors Field we could be in for another high scoring game today. And if the Giants keep fumbling the ball this one could be over quickly.

Every lineup, every day, as they are made public by the clubs.

AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs 6-3:Juan Perez(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .306.Brett Pill(1B)- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .349.Cole Gillespie(2B-LF)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .278.Johnny Monell(C)- 2 for 3, HR(5), BB. BA= .239.Mike Kickham(LHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.72.Jake Dunning(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.71.Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.70.Very nice line from Kickham! AA Richmond Flying Squirrels downed the Altoona Curve 5-3:Jarrett Parker(RF)- 1 for 4, BB, SB(4). BA= .258.Chris Gloor(LHP)- 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.95.High A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes beat the San Jose Giants 8-3:Angel Villalona(1B)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .213.Jeff Arnold(C)- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .265. Clayton Blackburn(RHP)- 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 5/1. ERA= 4.39. I attended this game. It was a near-sellout and I got a seat way down the RF line in the bleachers overlooking the Giants bullpen. I couldn't tell too much about Blackburn's stuff. He sat 91-93 MPH with the FB on the stadium gun. He also had a couple of different offspeed pitches that registered 76 and 81 MPH. I could see some vertical movement and the offspeed stuff seemed to break sharply downward. Not sure why he got hit so hard, but most of the hits were scalded. Angel V again looked terrific. One of his outs was a hard line drive right at the second baseman in the second inning. I continue to be impressed with Angel V's bat. I thought he looked a tad lighter tonight than a few weeks ago in San Berdoo.Low A Savannah Sand Gnats stung the Augusta Greenjackets 3-1:Eric Sim(C)- 1 for 4, 2B. BA- .240.Matthew Lujan(LHP)_ 3.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.45.Derek Law(RHP)- 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.57.

Saturday highlights from the Giants' farm: Mike Kickham allowed just an unearned run in 6.0 IP, and Johnny Monell homered while reaching base three times.AAA: Fresno defeated New Orleans 6-3Fresno: 1B Brett Pill: 2 for 3, 2B, BBFresno: 2B-LF Cole Gillespie: 1 for 4, HRFresno: C Johnny Monell: 2 for 3, HR, BB, SB, EFresno: SP Mike Kickham: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 KFresno: RP Heath Hembree: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K--1 WP, 1 BKMonell reached base three times and connected for his 5th HR. Also homering was Gillespie, who made a rare infield start. Also reaching base three times was Pill, playing his first game since being optioned back to the minors.Kickham had perhaps his second best start of the year, matching his first start in May with 0 ER and a season-high 8 K. After an ERA close to 8.00 in five April starts, he has an ERA below 2.00 in four May starts. Hembree allowed 2 ER in the 9th inning in a non-save situation. His ERA rose to 2.70.AA: Richmond lost to Altoona 5-3Richmond: 3B Mark Minicozzi: 2 for 4, 2B, GiDPRichmond: SP Chris Gloor: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K--2 HRRichmond: RP Daryl Maday: 1.0 IP, 2 KAltoona: SP Jeff Karstens: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K--1 HBMinicozzi's 13th double was the lone XBH for the Flying Squirrels. Although too old to be a prospect, Minicozzi has perhaps been the Flying Squirrels' best hitter with a .305/.396/.427 line. He is second team in OPS (minimum 40 AB).Gloor allowed a 2-run HR in the 1st inning and a solo HR in the 5th inning but otherwise kept the Curve off the scoreboard. He had allowed just 2 HR over his previous six starts. Maday had 2 K in a perfect 9th inning for his 8th save. The Pirates' Karstens allowed only a couple unearned runs in his first rehab appearance with the Curve (after a previous start in the Florida State League).A+: San Jose lost to Rancho Cucamonga 8-3(falling behind 5-0 after three innings)San Jose: C Jeff Arnold: 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BBSan Jose: SP Clayton Blackburn: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K--1 HB, 1 WPArnold's 3rd double was one of eight hits for the Giants, and he drew two of their three walks. He raised his OBP above .375.At least from a statistical perspective, Blackburn continues to scuffle through May (or more accurately since his start on the final day of April). After allowing just 4 R over his first starts, he has allowed 19 R over his last four starts. His ERA has risen to 4.39.A-: Augusta lost to Savannah 3-1Augusta: 2B Trevor Brown: 2 for 4, CSAugusta: C Eric Sim: 2 for 4, 2B, 2 SOAugusta: SP Matthew Lujan: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 KAugusta: RP Derek Law: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K--1 IBB, 1 HB, 1 WPBrown and Sim each had two of the GreenJackets' eight hits, although both still have AVGs below .250. Sim's 4th double was the GreenJackets' lone XBH.Making his season debut, Lujan allowed hits to nearly half (7 of 16) his batters but kept the damage to a single run. Law provided long relief, striking out nearly half (6 of 14) his batters. Law's component stats are now 24 H, 10 BB and 40 K in 28.0 IP over fourteen appearances.

Tim Lincecum was hammered by the Rockies offense and the Giants offense sputtered in a Coors Field blowout. Key Lines:Marco Scutaro- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .331. Not much left to say. Dude keeps banging out the hits and has an outside chance to break the Giants 1 month record for hits of 51 set just last year by Melky Cabrera.Brandon Belt- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .248. Belt continues to steadily improve his numbers.Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .282. Crawford is becoming another hit machine.Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.70. Another ugly line from Timmy. I didn't see it, so cannot comment further. I was out watching Clayton Blackburn put up another ugly line. Maybe you can tell I'm not in a great mood tonight?The Loss dropped the Giants into second place, 1 game behind the D'Backs who blanked the Marlins 1-0 behind Brandon McCarthy. The Rockies are in 3'rd place, 2 games behind. The Pesky Padres edged the Nationals 2-1 to remain 5.5 games back while the Dodgers lost to the Braves 3-1 to fall 7 games off the pace.Barry Zito tries to salvage a split in the series tomorrow facing Juan Nicasio.

San Francisco's free fall continued with Saturday night's 10-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Tim Lincecum surrendered six runs in five innings and committed a third-inning throwing error that enabled the Rockies to score three runs while hitting only one ball out of the infield.

The road trip through Hell continued with another ugly loss to Colorado, 10-2. This game featured all the current glaring flaws of the 2013 Giants; shitty starting pitching (Tim Lincecum, 3-3, 4.70 ERA) and troubling defense. Three errors today... isn't that like 12 errors in the last seven games? Please tell me that's wrong. I can only hope this is what a a fielding slump looks like, not sure I have ever seen one before. Certainly not one this bad.Last time he was very good. This time he was very bad. What can I say? Tim Lincecum is tiring to watch. I'm sick of it. We could always chalk it up to Coors Field. After all, his numbers are very "mile high" : 5 innings, 7 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts. Sure, let's blame it on the the crappy ball park. I'm tired; tired of thinking about how shitty Tim's command is getting. I'm exhausted just reliving Tim's lovely error and spectacular balk. Yeah, it was the frigging ball park.Let's hope we play an error free game tomorrow. We must shake this streak of sloppy play before it defines us. Go Giants!

Usually, these post-game ramblings are short-sighted affairs. Take Friday night, for example. Bruce Bochy left Madison Bumgarner in too long, and I wanted to yell at him like he told me the ending of a movie I hadn't seen. In the long-term, though, I get that the Giants will eat glass for Bochy, and little decisions and exhibitions of trust like that are part of the reason why. Taking the long-term view of every game is boring, but it doesn't hurt to step back and see the Morris for the Threets every so often. Every game is 1/162nd of a longer story, and usually games don't mean too much in isolation. So the Giants are having an awful road trip. Big whoop. Remember the last road trip before the All-Star break last year? The Giants were pounded by the Nationals and Pirates, and everything was in the toilet. Then Ryan Theriot was a DH, and you spent $100 on sweatshirts you didn't need. Things worked out. Allow me to step back and take a long-term look at the team then. Forget the game. The horrid, miserable game. Let's check in with the Giants. The newly second-place Giants. How are you feeling about the Giants? Kind of terrified. Not sure about you. But I'm kind of terrified. The Giants allowed their 202nd run of the season on Saturday. That's one behind the Brewers for the bottom slot in the National League. The Giants play in a vast expanse of acreage. The Brewers play in a park that's easy to hit in. There's a pretty good argument to make that the Giants have been the worst pitching team in the league. Yet they've spent most of the season in first, or close to it. They're doing this because of of the offense, which has a penchant for eighth- and ninth-inning home runs. At some point the late home runs will stop. And here's what the league hits with runners in scoring position: Split Plate AppearancesWhen available, we use actual plate appearances from play-by-play game accountsOtherwise estimated using AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH,which excludes catcher interferences.When this color click for a summary of each PA." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">PA Hits/At BatsFor recent years, leaders need 3.1 PAper team game playedBold indicates highest BA using current statsGold means awarded title at end of year." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">BA (H + BB + HBP)/(At Bats + BB + HBP + SF)For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PAper team game played" style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">OBP Total Bases/At Bats or (1B + 2*2B + 3*3B + 4*HR)/ABFor recent years, leaders need 3.1 PAper team game played" style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">SLG On-Base + Slugging Percentages For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PAper team game played" style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">OPS Batting Avg. on Balls in Plays(Hits - Home Runs)/(At Bats - SO - HR + Sac Flies)This also measures how effectively thedefense turned balls into outs." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">BAbip RISP 5896 .253 .339 .386 .725 .294 Provided by Baseball-Reference.com Here's what the Giants hit with RISP going into Saturday's game: Split Plate AppearancesWhen available, we use actual plate appearances from play-by-play game accountsOtherwise estimated using AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH,which excludes catcher interferences.When this color click for a summary of each PA." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">PA Hits/At BatsFor recent years, leaders need 3.1 PAper team game playedBold indicates highest BA using current statsGold means awarded title at end of year." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">BA (H + BB + HBP)/(At Bats + BB + HBP + SF)Fo

With his opportunities dwindling, Rockies right-hander Juan Nicasio will look to turn things around Sunday when he takes the mound against Barry Zito and the Giants as the two clubs conclude their National League West series.