Youngsters (& not so youngsters)

Portraits

Live Pitching & Sluggish Bats

Today was the first day of "live" batting practice. That's where the pitchers pitch off the mound to the batters, rather than the coaches doing so. As I said yesterday, usually the batters are WAY behind the pitchers. Today was no different. Also, the pitchers tend to throw about 80% of maximum and do not throw much in the way of off-speed pitches.

In the early rounds, batters usually "track" a large number of pitches to the catcher's mitt without swinging. This is done to help them to get their timing down. When Tim Lincecum was the first pitcher to throw....the batters took this technique to the extreme. So extreme, in fact, that not one person in the group shown to the left, swung at a single pitch offered by Timmy. I didn't count, but I would estimate Lincecum threw 30 pitches or so.....and not one swing. I don't know if Timmy's velocity was up, or if it was just too early for batters to be able to pick the ball up from his unusual delivery. It looked like he was throwing strikes, so I don't think that was the problem.

Lincecum was followed by Barry Zito, then Bobby Howry, Jack Taschner, Keiichi Yabu and finally Alex Hinshaw. For the most part the pitchers' control was a little off (as expected) and the batters timing was more than a little off. The batters only swung maybe 40% of the time and made very little contact at all. What little contact they made was not impressive, with VERY few line drives. None of this is too much different from what I have seen in past years, EXCEPT the fact that no one would even attempt a swing off of Lincecum. That's a little unusual.

After these six pitchers threw, all of the batters came back for another round of traditional batting practice with the coaches throwing. The batters made much better contact in the second round of BP. Before BP, the Giants had a rather long session of infield practice where the infielders and pitchers teamed up to practice situational fielding. Unlike yesterday, Rich Aurilia took grounders at 1B, SS and 3B. For the miost part, the same players who were on the main field yesterday were there today.....mostly veterans.

Today's practice was the longest session to date. I left at about 1:00 PM, and they were only about half way through the second round of BP. Tomorrow should be more of the same.

Pablo Sandoval participates in baserunning drills. He is surprisingly quick for a big man. Defensively he has quick soft hands and seems to get a good jump on the ball. During the second round of BP, he continued to impress. Hard hit balls on almost every swing. I really expected him to do a little better against live pitching because of his recent Venezuelan Winter League experience, but he struggled just like the rest of the hitters.

Reliever Billy Sadler covers 1B during infield practice.

Aaron Rowand at bat, while Pablo Sandoval awaits his tun in the cage. In the background is coach Roberto Kelly.

Kevin Frandsen breaks for 2B during baserunning drills.

Manny Burriss prepares to receive a throw at the 2B bag.

Someone asked if I had seen John Bowker. Up until today, the answer was "no". He showed up today and practiced on the main field. He did outfield drills with the outfielders, took batting practice with the "big boys" and took groundballs at firstbase while other players took their BP. Nothing too much to report. His BP off of the pitchers was as uneventful as the others batters and I didn't stick around for his second round of BP.

Today's "Rotation"

Noah News

If you weren't aware, Noah Lowry, who missed all of last year with arm problems, has already developed a tender shoulder this spring. He was supposed to throw off the mound on Tuesday.....and that was pushed back to today. The good news is that Noah DID throw today. The bad news is that he threw off of flat ground, NOT off a mound. Not a good sign. I was a good distance away......but honestly the body language during and after the session was not good.

He seemed to throw relatively hard (for Noah), but the facial expressions and the body language as he talked to the trainer afterward were not encouraging. If I were a betting man, I would say his shoulder is still not right. I hope I am wrong, because I am rooting for him. (I don't know about this blogger formatting. Whenever you post more than 1 photo per post, you never know what it is going to look like on the screen)

First Full Squad Workout

The photo to the left is a graphic illustration why neither Sergio Romo nor Billy Sadler should stand anywhere near Randy Johnson.

Today was the much awaited first full squad workout. The practice got started late, about 10:00 am. I am told that the players all had to have their blood drawn. I guess this is what passes for random testing in MLB. Even with the late start the workout was only 2 hrs long (not including conditioning). The workout consisted of fielding practice with the infield and the outfield operating independently of each other. Then the pitchers were added to the infield for a pick off drill. Then a full BP session (with one group running the bases while another group hit). And that was it. As expected the main field BP included mostly veterans and the youngsters (like Buster Posey) were banished to the practice field.

I have to say that the team as a whole looked like they were in pretty darn good shape, with the exception of free agent non-roster invitee Juan Uribe who is getting to be almost as large as Pablo Sandoval. The players were positive and upbeat. There was a lot more chatter and joking around amongst the players than there has been with just the pitchers and catchers.

It was a nice crisp practice. For the most part the fielding was sharp and the hitting was good for a first day. I heard rumor they will face live pitching from the pitchers tomorrow. Usually, that is pretty ugly, with the pitchers being WAY ahead of the batters. I am interested to see how Pablo Sandoval fares against the real thing.

Anyone recognize this guy? Jack Thomas Snow was back in camp helping out however he could. He should have a much lighter workload this year working with Ishikawa, who is a pretty good firstbaseman. Last year, JT was a very busy man working with Dan Ortmeier.

Likely bullpen member Jack Taschner. I like Jack. I just wish he could get more consistent.

Speaking of Dave Roberts, here he is playing catch with Randy Winn. Roberts had a poor BP, hitting a lot of bloopers, dribblers and popups into the cage. Can you say Willie Mays Hayes?

Randy Winn had a pretty good BP. Nothing spectacular, but good solid contact. You know.....Randy Winn like.

Nate Schierholtz takes his turn during BP. Nate hit the ball pretty hard towards the end of his session. He put one ball over the fence (that I saw). I would love for Nate to get a lot of playing time and have a monster year. I am a big fan. Dave Roberts.......not so much.

The Giants hope Pablo Sandoval can be the full-time thirdbaseman. Here he backhands a ground ball prior to firing a rocket to 1B. Pablo showed why the Giants want him in the line up when he put on an absolute clinic in BP. He was hitting rockets all over the park. He slammed 4 HRs, including at least one from each side of the plate. Not much left his bat that wasn't a hard hit line drive. And he peppered the walls and warning track.

Also shown is Juan Uribe. The roster has him at 6 feet, 225 lbs. I would say more like 5'10" 235. Unfortunately (because I don't want him making the team), he hit the ball hard. Not much power, but he was hitting low line drives all over the field. He was using an absolute toothpick of a bat.......I don't know how he even made contact with that thing. In an absolutely sacrilegious move.......Juan Uribe is wearing #23......Jose Uribe's old number. Sacrilege. OOOOO.....REEBAY........OOOOO.....REEBAY

Another young bullpen candidate I don't think I have shown yet......Billy Sadler.

Aaron Rowand takes his hacks. This photo makes it look like he has given up his unorthodox stance, but it was taken just after he shifted in to hitting position. He hit pretty well for the first day. A good number of line drives and one HR. The Giants really need him to be the Aaron Rowand of 2 years ago.

Bullpen candidate Sergio Romo. I don't know why, but most of the photos I took of the pitchers during the pick off drills were when they went home.

Steve Holm takes his cuts while Bengie Molina and Ron Wotus look on. On the far side of the cage is Eli Whiteside. I was a little disappointed they had him batting with this group on the main field and not Posey. No real change in Molina and Holm's batting. Some hard hit line drives, but nothing too impressive.

Alex Hinshaw takes his turn working on pick offs.

Second base candidates Kevin Frandsen and Emmanuel Burriss. Despite competing for the same job, they were just about inseparable today. From warming up , to infield, to batting practice, running drills.

Matt Cain throws a pitch home during the pick off drills.....as new set up men, Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry look on.

First base candidates Travis Ishikawa and Rich Aurilia. I like Rich Aurilia, but I will not be happy if he is slated to be anything other than a utility guy. Interestingly (or maybe not), no one else took any infield at 1B and Richie did not take any infield at any other position.

Speaking of Eugenio Velez, 3 guesses who made the first "error" of the spring? If you guessed Velez, you would be right. On the second ball hit to him, he bent down, kind of bobbed up and the ball went right between his legs, without catching any leather. The ball was a slow roller hit right to him (as they always are at the beginning of infield practice).

I am not so sure about this signing, but Edgar Renteria looks pretty good in a Giant uniform. It looks to me like he has shed most if not all of the extra baggage he was carrying last year. During batting practice, he was hitting the ball pretty well for the first day of practice. Towards the later part of his BP session he started spraying the ball around pretty good with a good number of line drives. I like the way he fields balls, using the almost extinct two-handed method. It was only practice, but I thought he showed pretty good range and a strong arm. He didn't look like Omar Visquel, but he didn't look like Eugenio Velez either.

Someone asked whether the Giants ever workout at the park at Hayden and Camelback. So I thought I would post a couple of photos from the last time the Giants Major League camp worked out at Indian School Park in 2005. Now it is used only for the Giants' Minor League Camp, Instructional Leagues and the Arizona Rookie League.