Giants and Rangers in the World Series: A Tale of Two Catchers

Posey and Molina chat during the Giants’ Spring Training in 2010.

From 2007 until this season, Bengie Molina backstopped the San Francisco Giants and handled their pitching staff as well as any catcher in baseball. His first season with the team saw him set a career high for RBI’s with 80, his second season saw him break that career high with 95, and in his third season, he set a career high for homeruns with 20. Offensively, he was everything the Giants asked of him and more. He constantly came up clutch in tight situations, and had one of the best two-strike swings in baseball. He also set career highs with hits, doubles, and batting average.

This past off-season when Molina headed to free agency, the Giants pondered their options. Their prized prospect Buster Posey, also a catcher, was not quite ready for the majors. It had looked like Molina was going to sign elsewhere, when out of nowhere, the Giants brought him back on a one-year deal, most likely to give Posey that extra time in the minors.

Molina continued to handle the young Giants pitching staff, including Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathon Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner (for a brief time)—the staff that he helped to develop.

But early this season, Molina struggled out of the gate and Posey was tearing it up in AAA for the Fresno Grizzlies. It was then that General Manager Brian Sabean had a tough choice to make. He went through with it, and sent their veteran catcher to the Texas Rangers for reliever, and former closer, Chris Ray. The Giants did this feeling confident that Posey could handle the workload, and the gamble paid off.

Posey picked up right where he left off in the minors, including a 21 game hitting streak, tying him for the longest such streak in Giants’ history. Posey would end up finishing the season batting .305 after struggling late, but also with 18 homeruns and 67 RBI’s. He is a top contender for the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Molina, meanwhile, finished the season with 5 homeruns and 36 RBI’s.

For the first time in a while, the moves made by Sabean paid off, and this was just one in a long line of subtle acquisitions that went towards the building of the 2010 NL Pennant winning team. But when the Giants shipped off Molina, they made sure he went to a contender, because that is what he deserved. He helped this team every step of the way, not just offensively, but helped the team’s young arms, and even Posey briefly. They can owe their success today partially to Bengie Molina.

Little did the Giants know that five months later, they would be facing Molina and the team they traded him to in the World Series. Both the Giants and Rangers were suspected to be good this year, but not that good.

It has been mentioned that because Molina did spend more than a third of the season in San Francisco, that if the Giants do happen to win the World Series, they could give him a ring. I would be all for that, because if it was not for him, this pitching staff may not be as good as they are now. But for Molina, he is in a win-win situation, because it is likely that he will get himself a World Series ring no matter what.

Every championship round seems to have its own subplot, and in 2010, this one is it.

Giants Top Astros on Opening Day

It was not easy in the end, but the Giants could breathe a sigh of relief as they did not let their 5-0 lead in the ninth inning slip away completely.

Tim Lincecum cruised for the first seven innings, allowing only four hits and striking out seven. He did not walk one batter in the entire start, and even contributed offensively with two perfect sacrifice bunts.

The Giants offense got on top in the third inning, with a three run outburst to give them the lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the evening. Bengie Molina and John Bowker would each hit RBI singles and Juan Uribe hit a sacrifice fly.

They would strike again in the seventh inning, when Edgar Renteria doubled to deep center field driving in a run. That would be his second of two hits in the game, and the Giants will need him to come through in the clutch this season like he did tonight.

In the eighth inning, Mark DeRosa would welcome himself to the Giants with a solo homerun to right field, to put the Giants up 5-0.

After Lincecum left after the seventh, Sergio Romo would come in, and after a little bit of trouble, retire the side. But in the ninth inning, things started to go awry with Brandon Medders on the mound.

He would only retire one batter, and allowed three hits and two runs. He was replaced by closer Brian Wilson, who retired the final two batters to get the save and seal the opening day victory for the Giants.

Molina, Uribe, and Renteria each had two hits for the Giants, while Sandoval, Huff, and Bowker each added singles.

The Giants gave a good, collective effort tonight, but a noticeable problem in this game was something that plagued them all of last season; patience at the plate. It’s only one game, but the Giants must practice patience, because they swung at a lot of bad pitches, and very early in counts. The only player who should be excluded from this rule is Pablo Sandoval, who, as Joe Morgan noted during the broadcast, needs to be left alone because it works for him.

The Giants will battle the Astros at 8PM EST tomorrow night, as Barry Zito will face Wandy Rodriguez.

San Francisco Giants: “Catch” Me if You Can

So far this spring training, the San Francisco Giants have used six catchers. Two of them, Johnny Monell and Jackson Williams did not have a shot at making the major leagues. Bengie Molina will be the number one catcher, but the question is who will be his backup? Buster Posey, Eli Whiteside, and Steve Holm have all been given a look so far, and each has had a taste in the major leagues at some point, with the Giants, over the last few seasons.

Below, we will examine each one of these four catchers and at the end, hopefully reach a decision on who the two should be.

Bengie Molina

For the last three seasons, Molina has proven to be one of the main catalysts in the Giants offense. In his first season with the team, he set a career high in RBI’s with 81. In his second season, he topped that with 95. And in his third season, he set a career high for homeruns with 20.

He has done everything asked of him, which includes playing stellar defense and working the Giants ultra-young pitching staff. It was for that reason, that I wanted him to re-sign in San Francisco this off-season, amidst talks he was looking to go elsewhere.

So in my opinion, Molina should get the majority of playing time this season and towards the end of the season, they could call up Buster Posey, who can learn from Molina. Being a free agent at the end of this season, he could then go on to another team, while passing the torch to the Giants top prospect catcher.

Buster Posey

Late last season, the Giants gave their phenom top prospect a look at the major league level. He would only go 2 for 17, but in the 40 innings he caught, he had a perfect fielding percentage. For a rookie catcher, this is almost just as important, as his offensive skill can be tapped into, but defense, sometimes, is never learned.

This spring, Posey is making a strong case that he should remain in the majors at the start of the season. He is batting .389 along with 1 homerun and 8 RBI’s, and if performance so far was an indication on whether or not he deserves to make it, then he would. But unfortunately, the situation is more complex.

The Giants, recognizing that Posey may be ready, have begun to experiment with him at first base. To me, this is the worst thing they can do. Remember when John Bowker first got called up two seasons ago? He was playing right field and hitting homeruns left and right. Then the Giants tried to get versatility out of him and make him a first baseman as well. It may be just complete coincidence, but his average and power production went down significantly from there, and has playing for Fresno within two months.

Giants fans want to see him in the majors now, but they must remain patient. You can never be too careful in being patient with young players, and putting him at first base just to get him at-bats is the wrong thing to do. Posey is a catcher, and should remain one, even if it means having to wait until next season to see him.

Eli Whiteside and Steve Holm

Whiteside was the epitome of being a backup catcher, when he played for the Giants last season. Nothing fancy, nothing glaring; just a simple role as the backup catcher. He played solid defense when he came in late in games in relief of Molina, and bat .228 while hitting 2 homeruns and driving in 13, in what was in first season in the majors in four years.

That job belonged to Steve Holm the season before last, and although he hit for a better average that Whiteside, he has not gotten much of a look this spring, leading me to believe he is out of the realm of possibility for getting that backup catching job.

Final Thoughts

Bengie Molina will start the season as the Giants’ number one catcher. He should get the majority of the playing time, and should catch the games where Lincecum, Cain, and possibly, Pucetas pitch. His experience will continue to further their development.

My choice for the backup will go to Eli Whiteside. He worked very well with Jonathon Sanchez last season, including his no-hit performance, and could also relieve Molina on days that Zito pitches, because the veteran does not need a mentor like the other three.

As I said earlier, Posey should remain in the minors where he can continue to develop his skills, so that next season, he can replace Molina as the starting catcher for the Giants. Should Molina get injured, though, I would not be surprised to see him called up right then and thrust into the role immediately.

Giants Need Veteran Bats to Step Up to Achieve Success

Since the departure of Barry Bonds two seasons ago, the San Francisco Giants have undergone a youth movement. From the completely revamped and most feared starting rotation in the major leagues, to the likes of Pablo Sandoval and  Eugenio Velez in the infield. The Giants will be expecting big numbers from Sandoval, dubbed the “Kung-Fu Panda” by teammate Barry Zito, a nickname that has since stuck. They will also need contributions from Velez, who has been up and down for the last three seasons as well as outfielder Fred Lewis.

Players like John Bowker and Buster Posey are no shoe-ins to make the team right out of spring training, but they too will need to be relied on to bring offense to a team who was the worst ranked run support in the entire National League last season, and not much better the year before. But with all the fresh, promising new faces in the lineup, the veterans will still have to lead the way if the team wants to make a run at the division title, and go anywhere in the playoffs.

Aaron Rowand, who saw time at lead off during the middle of last season will begin there on opening day. He does not have the blazing speed that one would like at the top of the order, but his contact ability and power may be more appealing than anyone else in the Giants’ lineup at that spot. Aubrey Huff was acquired in the off-season and they will desperately need power out of him. Huff has 15 HRs and drove in 85 RBIs but has hit 20 or more homeruns six times in his career.

Utility man Mark DeRosa will also be needed. He is likely to reach 20 homeruns because he is a right-handed batter and in order to be a successful power hitter in AT & T Park, you need to bad from the right side (save for a certain #25). He can play 1B, 2B, 3B and outfield, but he will most likely be starting in left field come opening day, with Rowand at center and Schierholtz in right.

Bengie Molina, who I feared would not sign with the Giants, ended up inking a one year deal with the team and he will bring leadership as well as offense. He has had career numbers since coming to San Francisco and has driven in no less than 80 RBIs in each of his three seasons here. But what will be more important is his ability to work the young pitching staff, which may be even younger if Kevin Pucetas and Madison Bumgarner make the team.

There really is not much to expect from Edgar Renteria, the Giants veteran shortstop. He hit well at the end of the year but that was not enough to erase a disastrous campaign in 2009. I would expect he gets the chance to start at short, but with how Juan Uribe ended last season, do not be surprised if he is even given a chance at all. The Giants need power this season and if Uribe can match what he did last year, then the team will be in for a treat.

Over the next few weeks I will be giving my stat predictions for hitters and pitchers on the Giants. The rebuild is slowly but surely getting there, and I think we are in for an exciting season in 2010.