Yes, my powers of prediction are back in full force.
(Nevermind that I've been wrong about 45 other things during the interim between my last accurate prediction and my latest one. Whaddya expect me to admit my failures?)
As I predicted and Big D from Giants Win pointed out, the team has sent down Scott Munter to Connecticut (yeah, down to double A) and Dan Ortmeier back to Fresno.
While AA ball sounds like they're really down on him, the article in SFgate quotes the Giants as saying they wanted Munter to link back up with pitching coach Bob Stanley, which is probably the smartest move -- but honestly, when a one-pitch pitcher doesn't have control of the one pitch that he throws...well, call me skeptical that Munter will return soon.
Who's going to replace Munter? Dunno yet, but I'm hoping the Giants keep the youth movement going by bringing back Merkin Valdez. The last time Valdez was brought up was 2004, where he was a bit wild in the two appearances he had in August. I think this is a good time age-wise, as Valdez is currently 24. Only problem is, Merkin's not having the best year at Fresno. He's getting hit hard and issuing quite a few walks.
I'd be surprised if Brian Sabean brought Valdez up with stats looking like these, but then, we all know the Giants don't always pay attention to stats -- otherwise Jose Vizcaino would've been gone, too. Doesn't his performance so far this year seem just as bad as Munter's?
Heh. Does a baby go "goo"? The The Let's Waive Goodbye to Jose Vizcaino Count-Up shall continue.
5 comments:
The last time Merkin was up he was "a bit wild?" Just a bit, you say?
I saw Merkin's entire major league history (2 appearances, 1.7 innings). He has a career ERA of 27.00 and a career WHIP of 4.2. In his final appearance, the opponents were spinning around the bases like they were in a Waring Blender.
I'm sure he's much, much better now. Hey, bring him up. He can't possibly be worse than .536 OBP Scott Munter.
Well, the "bit" part of that was me being a bit understated and sarcastic, and also I hesitate to lambaste someone who only pitched an inning and 2/3rds no matter how badly they performed.
But yeah, can't be worse than Munter.
You don't run a team by saying "yeah, he can't be worse than..." Merkin clearly is not ready. He didn't win a spot out of Spring Training and he's done nothing in Fresno to show he's improved significantly. Taschner, on the other hand, has improved, tho I still don't see enough improvement to make him the clear cut choice to be called up. It will be a lefty, and the two best lefty's right now are Taschner and Sanchez. They, at least are showing the potential to succeed in the bigs, which Mrkin is not.
That comment was a bit tongue in cheek, but I'm guessing you didn't quite pick up on that.
I acknowledged in the post that Valdez hasn't been doing well and that it's unlikely he'd be brought up -- but all the same, I want to see him.
I like strikeout pitchers, and Merkin is a strikeout pitcher. Bringing him up wouldn't be wise, but it'd be exciting, therefore I wanna see it. Nothing more, nothing less.
I never said that I thought it was a good idea to bring the guy up...
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