A team gets between 6,000 and 6,200 plate appearances in a 162-game season. That means from 2010 to 2019 the Giants came to the plate about 60,000 to 62,000 times. I'm going to settle on 61,000 PA for my estimate. Buster Posey got 5,136 of those, or about 8%. Adding Brandon Crawford (4,718) and Brandon Belt (4,221) together those 8,939 PA are almost 15% of the total. Three guys accounted for almost a quarter of all the trips to the plate from 2010-2019! That's remarkable.
Yes, Brandon Belt will be the first baseman and Brandon Crawford will be the shortstop in 2020. We know the stories: aging players, diminished production, high salaries, no-trade clauses, etc. Let's hope they are healthy and hit more like their younger selves in the upcoming season.
At second base we will see last year's surprise player Donovan Solano (.330/.360/.456 in 81 games). He will also see time at short. If a 32-year old can hit .330 again I'll be very happy. 25-year old Mauricio Dubon won over fans in his brief stint at second with his flashy style, athleticism, and youthful exuberance. He came over in the Drew Pomeranz trade. He will likely get a lot of time at both short and second. I'm excited to see what he can do.
Evan Longoria will man the hot corner again. His .762 OPS was his best mark since 2016. He's 34 and has started about 120 games in each of the last two seasons. Pablo Sandoval won't be around to back him up so we'll have to look at some of the new guys.
Abiatal Avelino will be 25 in February. He is primarily a 2B/SS but has played 3B in the minors. He came to the Giants from the Yankees in the Andrew McCutchen trade. The righty has been in pro ball since he was 17 and has played in over 900 games. Lefty hitter Kean Wong will be 25 in April. He was claimed by the Giants off waivers in November. He was a 4th-round pick by the Rays in 2014. He's listed as a second baseman but has played all over the diamond in the minors. He had an .839 OPS at AAA-Durham last season. His middle name is Keanu and he is Kolten Wong's brother. Veteran SS/3B Zack Cozart enters his 10th big league season. He's racked up 15+ bWAR since his debut in 2011. He had an outstanding 2017 for the Reds (when he was 31) but has been limited by injuries since then. He was a throw-in (salary relief) when the Giants traded for the Angels' 2019 1st round pick (#15) Will Wilson. Wilson is a 2B/SS from NC State. He'll probably be assigned to Salem-Keizer or Augusta (A-league). The Giants gave up LHP Garrett Williams in the deal.
Next up are the pitchers. There are 23 listed. It may take a few posts!
--M.C.
7 comments:
Giants sign RHP Tyson Ross to a minor-league deal. He's a former 2nd-round pick by the A's in the 2008 draft. He's a local boy--Bishop O'Dowd HS and UC Berkeley. He's seen action for five clubs over 10 seasons, primarily as a starter. He was a 3-WAR pitcher for the Padres for both 2014 and 2015, with 30+ starts each year and good run prevention numbers (FIP & ERA both ~3.00). He'll be 33 in April.
There's a good article on FanGraphs where David Laurilia talks about pitching with Tyson Ross.
Ross is very in to Rapsodo, a pitch tracking system/technology that analyzes pitches for things like spin rate, trajectory, break, etc. You get some insight into what modern athletes do to stay in the game.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/tyson-ross-talks-sliders-cutters-and-pitch-design/
LINK
Career .200 hitter, too! That'll help make up some for the loss of Bumgarner.
I like the way you're thinkin'.
Has Matt Duffy been signed by anyone yet?
I don't think so. He had a good year in 2018.
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