**The Official 2010 Giants Post-Season Thread**
- Thread starter prodigy91
- Start date
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/bi...d-stands-by-as-Giants-win-the-?urn=mlb-279597
lol the howard pic could become an epic photoshop thread.........
lol the howard pic could become an epic photoshop thread.........
btw I do not want Pat playing DH.IMO Panda plays DH because this way we don't have to worry about his unreliable defense and he still gets the chance to run into one with his bat. Pat also said he hated playing dh in Tampa because would not get a feel for the game.
Torres
Sanchez
Huff
Posey
Burrell
Ross
Uribe
Sandoval
Renteria
Torres
Sanchez
Huff
Posey
Burrell
Ross
Uribe
Sandoval
Renteria
Rangers are 0-9 at AT&T Park, and 7-15 against the Giants all time.
I wonder how much of a factor Benji's inside scouting on our pitcher's will have. Got raped for $425 for center field bleachers for Wednesday's game. Don't really give a shit though, I've always told myself that I'm going to go to a World Series & a Superbowl before I die. Now I can cross one off the list.
GO GIANTS!
I wonder how much of a factor Benji's inside scouting on our pitcher's will have. Got raped for $425 for center field bleachers for Wednesday's game. Don't really give a shit though, I've always told myself that I'm going to go to a World Series & a Superbowl before I die. Now I can cross one off the list.
GO GIANTS!
Glimpse at possibly our 1st basemen/left fielder next year:
Scouting the AFL: Brandon Belt profile
The player I was looking forward to seeing the most at the Arizona Fall League this year was not the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper (because I had seen him before), but San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt.
I wrote about Belt's breakout season extensively in August. As I mentioned in that blog entry, I hadn't seen him play this year but talked to a number of scouts who had. The gist was to throw out any scouting reports on Belt as a hitter before this season. That's because while starting in instructional league in 2009 just after he was taken as a fifth-round pick, Belt completely revamped his stance and swing. The idea was to give him a more direct path to the ball and help him see the ball better. I go into more detail about the changes in that story.
Belt was drafted twice before as a pitcher, so he is relatively new to hitting full time, and he said the Giants told him when he was drafted that they were going to make some changes.
AP Photo/Chris Carson
Brandon Belt's offensive game has come a long way from his time at the University of Texas.
"There was no resistance at all," Belt said. "I had always worked on pitching, so I hadn't really had much instruction as far as hitting goes. I was pretty open-minded to whatever they wanted to do, and I was ready for it. I thought I'd always been able to hit, but I'd never really had that instruction to where I could put it all together and have better mechanics that worked the best for me on the field, so that's what [the Giants' coaching and player development staff] really helped me with the most."
The result was a season in which Belt played across three levels (finishing with a cup of coffee at Triple-A), hitting .352 in 492 at-bats with 43 doubles, 23 homers, almost as many walks (93) as strikeouts (99), a .455 on-base percentage and a .620 slugging percentage. He also swiped 22 bags for good measure, mostly at Class A when pitchers weren't paying enough attention to him. However, that really won't be part of his game going forward, as he has just average speed at best.
Although I'd talked to a number of other scouts and seen video, I wanted to see him for myself up close. Having done so for the first couple of weeks of the AFL, there's no doubt in my mind Belt is legit and a potential middle-of-the-order threat in a big league lineup capable of hitting for average and power.
I've liked Belt's approach, the quality of his at-bats, his ability to generate power without overswinging and his ability to go to the opposite field with some juice. He's played good defense at first base and has showed good athleticism, enough that I've changed my mind to think he might not look out of place should the Giants choose to play him in left field, where he dabbled a little bit in the minors this year. I also think he could improve his route-running and other aspects of outfield play with more consistent time there.
The two things Belt still needs to shore up are: (A) getting too anxious at times, thus getting out in front trying to pull too much, and (B) handling the pitch under his hands a little better. If a pitcher misses trying to get the ball inside under his hands, Belt can make him pay, but big league hurlers will do a better job of hitting that spot. Still, considering how quickly Belt was able to adjust to new hitting mechanics in a big way in less than a year bodes well for his continued development as a hitter and tries to maintain a consistent batting stroke.
"Toward the end of the year, I got a little bit off mechanically in my swing, so I'm just trying to get back on track with it for the offseason," Belt said about his time in the AFL. "I think the most important thing is just to have quality at-bats out there, and the rest will take care of itself."
Professional players are always expecting to do well, but in his wildest expectations, did Belt expect to have a season like he did?
"Yes and no," Belt said. "I knew I had the ability to put the bat on the ball, but I didn't know I would adjust that quickly to the mechanics they were teaching me. I've been able to put the bat on the ball my entire life, so I told myself entering this season that's what I was going to focus on doing and see what happened, and fortunately it worked out for me."
The Giants are likely to have at least one opening, if not two, at first base or left field they could look to Belt to fill next season. It would not surprise me to see him on the Opening Day roster, and although AT&T Park is not helpful to lefty power, he can have fantasy impact right away. He's one of the best first-base prospects in the minors.
Scouting the AFL: Brandon Belt profile
The player I was looking forward to seeing the most at the Arizona Fall League this year was not the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper (because I had seen him before), but San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt.
I wrote about Belt's breakout season extensively in August. As I mentioned in that blog entry, I hadn't seen him play this year but talked to a number of scouts who had. The gist was to throw out any scouting reports on Belt as a hitter before this season. That's because while starting in instructional league in 2009 just after he was taken as a fifth-round pick, Belt completely revamped his stance and swing. The idea was to give him a more direct path to the ball and help him see the ball better. I go into more detail about the changes in that story.
Belt was drafted twice before as a pitcher, so he is relatively new to hitting full time, and he said the Giants told him when he was drafted that they were going to make some changes.
AP Photo/Chris Carson
Brandon Belt's offensive game has come a long way from his time at the University of Texas.
"There was no resistance at all," Belt said. "I had always worked on pitching, so I hadn't really had much instruction as far as hitting goes. I was pretty open-minded to whatever they wanted to do, and I was ready for it. I thought I'd always been able to hit, but I'd never really had that instruction to where I could put it all together and have better mechanics that worked the best for me on the field, so that's what [the Giants' coaching and player development staff] really helped me with the most."
The result was a season in which Belt played across three levels (finishing with a cup of coffee at Triple-A), hitting .352 in 492 at-bats with 43 doubles, 23 homers, almost as many walks (93) as strikeouts (99), a .455 on-base percentage and a .620 slugging percentage. He also swiped 22 bags for good measure, mostly at Class A when pitchers weren't paying enough attention to him. However, that really won't be part of his game going forward, as he has just average speed at best.
Although I'd talked to a number of other scouts and seen video, I wanted to see him for myself up close. Having done so for the first couple of weeks of the AFL, there's no doubt in my mind Belt is legit and a potential middle-of-the-order threat in a big league lineup capable of hitting for average and power.
I've liked Belt's approach, the quality of his at-bats, his ability to generate power without overswinging and his ability to go to the opposite field with some juice. He's played good defense at first base and has showed good athleticism, enough that I've changed my mind to think he might not look out of place should the Giants choose to play him in left field, where he dabbled a little bit in the minors this year. I also think he could improve his route-running and other aspects of outfield play with more consistent time there.
The two things Belt still needs to shore up are: (A) getting too anxious at times, thus getting out in front trying to pull too much, and (B) handling the pitch under his hands a little better. If a pitcher misses trying to get the ball inside under his hands, Belt can make him pay, but big league hurlers will do a better job of hitting that spot. Still, considering how quickly Belt was able to adjust to new hitting mechanics in a big way in less than a year bodes well for his continued development as a hitter and tries to maintain a consistent batting stroke.
"Toward the end of the year, I got a little bit off mechanically in my swing, so I'm just trying to get back on track with it for the offseason," Belt said about his time in the AFL. "I think the most important thing is just to have quality at-bats out there, and the rest will take care of itself."
Professional players are always expecting to do well, but in his wildest expectations, did Belt expect to have a season like he did?
"Yes and no," Belt said. "I knew I had the ability to put the bat on the ball, but I didn't know I would adjust that quickly to the mechanics they were teaching me. I've been able to put the bat on the ball my entire life, so I told myself entering this season that's what I was going to focus on doing and see what happened, and fortunately it worked out for me."
The Giants are likely to have at least one opening, if not two, at first base or left field they could look to Belt to fill next season. It would not surprise me to see him on the Opening Day roster, and although AT&T Park is not helpful to lefty power, he can have fantasy impact right away. He's one of the best first-base prospects in the minors.