The young Giants have added a bit of excitement to the team this season. Emmanuel Burris' smackdown on Carlos Ruiz at home plate to score in the fourth inning of today's game against the Phillies is something we haven't seen much of with the elder Giants of recent years (wouldn't want to break a hip, see). The effects of that play will be felt in the clubhouse for a while - that kind of thing can charge up a team. And it may have made Ruiz nervous during the top of the eighth inning when Aaron Rowand charged the plate on Jose Castillo's triple - Ruiz appeared to shy away from hard contact.
But on the flipside, the young guys are error prone. Today's example: Eugenio Velez. In the top of the 5th, Velez failed to dig out Jose Castillo's throw from third on Eric Bruntlett's grounder with no outs. Castillo was credited with an error, but it could just have rightly belonged to Velez.
And then in the bottom of the ninth, with the score tied and two out, Velez let a routine grounder go under his glove, to allow the winning run to score from second base. Ouch.
This is a game that easily could have gone to the Giants. At this point in the season, Velez has to make those plays. I am no fan of Ray Durham (especially his defense), but if Velez keeps this up, I may want to see some more of Ray, and less of Velez (I know - the horror!).
Velez will have at least tomorrow off to ponder his play today. Let's hope he spends some time working on his fielding basics.
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My baseball blarg, with occasional detours
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