Giants Scouting Report -- by a Terrible Scout

by SonDog

DMo and I recently spent three days in Denver watching the Giants take on the Rockies. We were fortunate enough to witness Barry Bonds's first homer of the year, which was a euphoric experience. We're in the process of putting together a post discussing our weekend, and you can look forward to reading that later this week (or later next week at the pace we're going).

But today, I have a few random Giants thoughts that I have to get off my chest (Editor's Note: It's been a long couple of days at work and I'm cranky because my favorite young pitcher was just put on the DL. I'm sorry if this sounds like griping, but I'm in a griping mood. As always, I have no expertise when it comes to scouting players, so take all that is written below with the knowledge that I am nothing more than a frustrated fan. And probably an idiot.):

-- I told everybody who would listen (like my dog Rocky, for example) for the last 14 days that the Giants should call up Brian Wilson from AAA. The 24-year-old LSU product had a phenomenal season last year in the minors. He started 2005 in low-A and progressed through Fresno, then he continued his success into Spring Training 2006. In Fresno this year, Wilson was pitching better than anybody in the Giants' 'pen and was ready for a shot. Tyler Walker simply didn't have anything left in his proverbial tank (presumably because it was all in his literal gut) as it was a foregone conclusion that he would be shown the door sooner rather than later. In fact, it was so predictable that I even predicted it on March 2 in The Indispensables -- Part 1 when I wrote, "Walker, at this point, is trade bait. He will probably make the team out of spring training at the expense of one of the Giants' younger, stronger arms (i.e. Jeremy Accardo, Brian Wilson or Kevin Correia), but I see him as utterly expendable. I have nothing else to say here." Of course, I also wrote that the bullpen was a team strength, so what the hell do I know. At any rate, Wilson was called up on Saturday night and promptly blew the Rockies away for two innings on Sunday. From our seats behind home plate, his slider looked like it was straight from hell and his fastball was clocked regularly at 95. The Rockies didn't know what hit them. Naturally, Wilson was placed on the disabled list on Monday with a strained oblique, similar to the injury that continues to sideline Noah Lowry. For some reason, Wilson's injury sounds about par for the course.

-- Can Pedro Feliz lay off a slider in the dirt? Just once? The guy has grounded into what seems like 230 double plays this year from trying to pull pitches that are a good two feet off the plate and in the dirt. I'm amazed he makes contact half the time (other times he brings back wicked flashbacks of Glenallen Hill, who Giants fans might remember as the guy who would swing at a pitch even if it was rolled towards home plate). It's pretty clear by this point that Feliz can diferentiate a fastball from a slider about as well as my color-blind brother-in-law can differentiate between blue and yellow. In fact, I don't think he's seen a fastball in three weeks because teams know they can get him to strike out or weakly ground out on a slider. After hitting in the low .200 range in the second half of last season (teams finally adjusted to him) and starting the 2006 season with a .176 average (despite having the most at bats on the team), he's running out of time to prove himself as a viable, consistent hitter. How this guy once batted third regularly in the lineup boggles my mind. And Darrell, I hope he turns it around, for both of our sakes.

Feliz, finding a ball that he can actually hit... just not with his bat

-- I'm tired of waiting for Jason Schmidt to return to the form that made him such a stud in 2003 and 2004. It's just not going to happen. He only threw one pitch on Friday night that registered above 91 on the Coors Field radar gun, and that was a 93 mph heater at Jason Jennings's knees. He's just not the same pitcher anymore and, in turn, I don't think you can classify him as this team's ace. If I had to pick one Giant to start a crucial game today, I would pick Matt Morris. My second choice would be Noah Lowry (even though he's injured). My third choice would be Matt Cain.

-- I don't know what else Kevin Correia, Brad Hennessey and Jeremy Accardo have to do to stick on this team. When Noah Lowry comes back, it would be an absolute travesty if any of the above pitchers were demoted. Felipe Alou admitted that he didn't know what else Hennessey had to do to stay on the big club, and Correia has proven his worth as a long reliever and spot starter. Accardo just needs to pitch a little more regular than every three weeks. If I have to see Jeff Fassero pitch in one more game for this team, I may have a projectile vomiting session all over my TV (mental image.... DELETED!). Honestly, the 2006 version of Eddie Harris has done an admirable job to this point, but he simply is taking the roster spot of a more talented and younger replacement (of course, the same can be said for Tim Worrell, so I'll just shut up now).

Fassero's arm may come flying off one of these days

-- All that said, the Giants are in first place in the National League West. Granted, it's a pathetically bad division, but I have no idea how this team is three games above .500 at this point. The hitting has been horrible. The bullpen is in shambles. The starters have been mediocre at best. My nerves are at their wits end. And I love being a Giants fan.