Bear
05-15-2009, 03:26 PM
By: Glenn Dickey
Special to The Examiner
05/14/09
SAN FRANCISCO — With Manny Ramirez sidelined for 50 games, the Giants have a window of opportunity, but to take advantage of it, they have to beef up their offense. There’s an obvious place to start: Replace Travis Ishikawa at first base with Jesus Guzman.
Traditionally, teams have built their offense around power hitters at the corners of the outfield and infield. The Giants have only one-fourth of that, with Pablo Sandoval at third base. The corner outfielders, Randy Winn and Fred Lewis, are good hitters with base-running skills, but offer little power. Ishikawa is not a major-league hitter.
Ishikawa is the best fielding first baseman the Giants have had since J.T. Snow, but Snow was a much better hitter early in his Giants career. Here are his home run and RBI totals in his first four seasons: 1997, 28 and 104; 1998, 15 and 79; 1999, 24 and 98; 2000 (first year in the new park), 19 and 96.
When Snow’s power production declined, the Giants had Barry Bonds and, through 2002, Jeff Kent, so they could afford Snow’s power decline. They don’t have that luxury now.
Except for occasional breakouts against mediocre pitchers, they struggle to score runs. Eventually, that will wear down their starters, if they know that giving up even two runs may cost them the game.
In this decade, the Giants have brought up players who didn’t hit much in the minors, but somehow are supposed to hit in the majors. Remember Daniel Ortmeier? He hit .271 in 2,217 minor-league at-bats with just 61 homers, but he was supposed to supply power on the major-league level. Tried first in the outfield, then at first, he was a flop.
Ishikawa has a similar record. In 2,515 minor-league at-bats, he hit .260 with 96 home runs. When he had a little spurt at Fresno last year, the Giants brought him up and he hit .274 in 33 games. Remember that average because the odds are very high that he will never hit that high again.
When young hitters come up, they often do well for a brief period because pitchers don’t know them, but when pitchers know more, they figure out how to get them out. Some young hitters change enough to remain effective. Most do not. John Bowker is an example from last year. Ishikawa is this year’s model.
One of Ishikawa’s traits is that he often takes the first pitch, so pitchers throw a strike and put him in an immediate hole. Ted Williams always took the first pitch, but Williams was arguably the best hitter in baseball history. He could afford to spot the pitcher a strike. Ishikawa can’t.
Guzman was signed as a free agent in the offseason. He’s had a lot of problems in the field and is apparently still on a learning curve at first, but in contrast to Ishikawa, he’s put up impressive minor-league numbers.
In 2007, he was named to the California League All-Star team after hitting .301 with 25 homers and 112 RBIs. At Double-A Midland last year, he hit .364 with 14 homers and 76 RBIs in 341 at-bats. In 33 games at Fresno this year, he’s hit .361 with six homers and 29 RBIs.
He’s ready, and it’s time for the Giants to bring him up, so they can take advantage of Manny’s suspension.
What are the Giants waiting for. Now is the time for action and the Bear is seeing very little. Guzman's defense can't be that bad.;)
Special to The Examiner
05/14/09
SAN FRANCISCO — With Manny Ramirez sidelined for 50 games, the Giants have a window of opportunity, but to take advantage of it, they have to beef up their offense. There’s an obvious place to start: Replace Travis Ishikawa at first base with Jesus Guzman.
Traditionally, teams have built their offense around power hitters at the corners of the outfield and infield. The Giants have only one-fourth of that, with Pablo Sandoval at third base. The corner outfielders, Randy Winn and Fred Lewis, are good hitters with base-running skills, but offer little power. Ishikawa is not a major-league hitter.
Ishikawa is the best fielding first baseman the Giants have had since J.T. Snow, but Snow was a much better hitter early in his Giants career. Here are his home run and RBI totals in his first four seasons: 1997, 28 and 104; 1998, 15 and 79; 1999, 24 and 98; 2000 (first year in the new park), 19 and 96.
When Snow’s power production declined, the Giants had Barry Bonds and, through 2002, Jeff Kent, so they could afford Snow’s power decline. They don’t have that luxury now.
Except for occasional breakouts against mediocre pitchers, they struggle to score runs. Eventually, that will wear down their starters, if they know that giving up even two runs may cost them the game.
In this decade, the Giants have brought up players who didn’t hit much in the minors, but somehow are supposed to hit in the majors. Remember Daniel Ortmeier? He hit .271 in 2,217 minor-league at-bats with just 61 homers, but he was supposed to supply power on the major-league level. Tried first in the outfield, then at first, he was a flop.
Ishikawa has a similar record. In 2,515 minor-league at-bats, he hit .260 with 96 home runs. When he had a little spurt at Fresno last year, the Giants brought him up and he hit .274 in 33 games. Remember that average because the odds are very high that he will never hit that high again.
When young hitters come up, they often do well for a brief period because pitchers don’t know them, but when pitchers know more, they figure out how to get them out. Some young hitters change enough to remain effective. Most do not. John Bowker is an example from last year. Ishikawa is this year’s model.
One of Ishikawa’s traits is that he often takes the first pitch, so pitchers throw a strike and put him in an immediate hole. Ted Williams always took the first pitch, but Williams was arguably the best hitter in baseball history. He could afford to spot the pitcher a strike. Ishikawa can’t.
Guzman was signed as a free agent in the offseason. He’s had a lot of problems in the field and is apparently still on a learning curve at first, but in contrast to Ishikawa, he’s put up impressive minor-league numbers.
In 2007, he was named to the California League All-Star team after hitting .301 with 25 homers and 112 RBIs. At Double-A Midland last year, he hit .364 with 14 homers and 76 RBIs in 341 at-bats. In 33 games at Fresno this year, he’s hit .361 with six homers and 29 RBIs.
He’s ready, and it’s time for the Giants to bring him up, so they can take advantage of Manny’s suspension.
What are the Giants waiting for. Now is the time for action and the Bear is seeing very little. Guzman's defense can't be that bad.;)