Friday, April 25, 2003

 

I was driving to our San Jose plant for some emergency PC repairs yesterday morning, and I was listening to the early sections of the Giants game. When they announced the lineup, I almost drive off the road.

Half the starting lineup was sitting out. Only one, J.T. Snow, was due to injury. So our lineup featured such stellar hitters as Neifi "El Malo" Perez (425 OPS after yesterday's game), Ruben Rivera (552 OPS), and slumping Edgardo Alfonzo (583 OPS). Riding the pine were Rich Aurilia (732 OPS), Marquis Grissom (687 OPS), and Snow (1055 OPS). True, the night before was a 13-inning marathon, and yesterday was an afternoon game, so some guys needed rest. And Barry Bonds (1206 OPS) was back, putting Marvin Benard (439 OPS) back on ice. But...but...half the starting lineup? Was Felipe insane?

And the Giants won easily, 3-1.

No, Alou wasn't insane. He was following his plan. During the series in Milwaukee, he did the same thing for the last game. Didn't matter it was only game #6, and the Giants were riding a five-game winning streak at the time. On day games following night games, and especially on travel days, Alou will rest his veterans. (The Giants won that game, as well.) Furthermore, Alou is making sure that everyone is getting a good chunk of playing time. Only Jose Cruz Jr. has played in all 21 games so far.

Here are the number of games and at-bats for the various reserves:

Perez 16/46
Galarraga 12/23
Benard 12/18
Rivera 11/25
Feliz 9/18
Torrealba 5/21

I don't have numbers for how many of those are starts, but it's significant, if my memory serves. If these numbers play out over the course of the whole season, Perez will play in well over 100 games, and The Big Cat and Benard will play in nearly 100 each. The top sub last year was Ramon Martinez, and he played in only 72 games in all of 2002. (This year, Martinez is with Dusty Baker and the Chicago Cubs, and has played in 10 games so far, with only 18 AB.)

Last year's bench was no great shakes, granted, but this edition has a few real bad hitters on it (Perez, Rivera, and more often than not Benard and Feliz). I think that Alou has a different philosophy than Dusty Baker in this regard. Dusty was renowned for giving his guys second, third and even fourth chances. This was considered part of how he won his players' loyalty. Alou so far plays his bench more than Baker, though. Will this work out for the Giants over the entire season? I have my doubts. The more at-bats you give to Neifi Perez instead of Ray Durham, the fewer runs you score. Late-inning defensive replacement? Yes, please. But aside from that, leave Perez on the bench.

Then again, the Giants got to the World Series last year playing such sluggers as Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Shawon Dunston, and Tom Goodwin. So what the heck do I know?

Jefferson 12:54 PM

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