July 7th, 2013 at 6:17 am 
by Ron Cervenka To say that the Giants are struggling would be an understatement, having lost 8 of their last 10 games – and I love it! Unfortunately, sloppy play by the Dodger defense on Saturday afternoon prevented it from being 9 of 10 (and winning 8 of 10 for the Dodgers). But what happened in the top of the 9th inning clearly showed how rookie sensation Yasiel Puig has opposing pitchers scrambling to try to figure him out so that he won’t beat them.
Now granted, with Puig leading off the top of the inning there was no way that he could single-handedly beat the Giants, who were leading 4-2; but with Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Friday night’s 7-RBI hero Juan Uribe following Puig, and with the ruckus that Puig creates when he is on the base paths, the very last thing that Giants sometimes flappable closer Sergio Romo wanted to do was allow Puig to reach base.
In his three plate appearances prior to his 9th inning at bat, Puig had been struck out by Giants starter Madison Bumgarner – but then Bumgarner had struck out nine Dodgers on the day and had clearly brought his A-Game.
Everybody in the house knew that Romo’s go-to pitch is his filthy slider and that he would undoubtedly try to pitch Puig outside with a steady diet of them. Heck, even Puig knew it. But when Buster Posey set up outside with an 0-2 count, nobody, and I mean nobody thought that he would set up closer to the on-deck circle than home plate, but that’s basically what he did (yes, I’m exaggerating, but not by much).
I have never seen a catcher set up this far outside before. I can only imagine what home plate umpire Tony Randazzo was thinking. (Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)
It was clear that Posey wanted Romo to throw his slider so far off the plate that there was no way that Puig could get a bat on it, hoping that the 22-year-old rookie would chase it. But Romo’s pitch missed Posey’s target and by a pretty good margin. In fact, the pitch was on the outside corner of the plate and would have been a called strike; but it wasn’t a called strike because Puig swung at it and missed. It was the first four-strikeout game of Puig’s short MLB career and, ironically, it was on a pitch that he probably could have hit or at least fouled off.
In all my years of watching the game of baseball, I can honestly say that I have never seen a catcher set up farther outside than Posey did against Puig – and this includes setting up for intentional walks. It was a clear sign that the Giants were desperate to get Puig out any way they could, and it worked.
Unfortunately, you can bet that the video footage of all four of Puig’s strikeouts are already being distributed to clubhouses across the country.
It’s your move, Yasiel.
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Dodger Notes:
As most Dodger fans know by now, RHP Ricky Nolasco has been traded to the Dodgers by the Miami Marlins for three minor league pitchers. And while Dodger prospects Josh Wall and Steven Ames are known by most Dodger fans, the third Dodger pitching prospect in the trade might not be. He is 23-year-old RHP Angel Sanchez, who has spent the last two seasons as a starter for the Dodgers Low Single-A Great Lakes Loons and Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Over the past two seasons I have had the opportunity to watch the Salcedo, Dominican Republic native pitch no less that a dozen times, including last Tuesday night’s game against the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) in which Dodger left fielder Carl Crawford was making his third (of four) rehab starts with the Quakes.
Although Angel Sanchez has never been a dominating starter with the Quakes, he has steadily improved his command and control and occasionally hits the mid-90s with his fastball.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Now I have to admit that I was never overly impressed with Sanchez, but his performance on this night was very good. Sanchez allowed 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 and walking one in six innings of work. It was by far the best outing I have seen him pitch in person.
Whether or not Sanchez (or Wall or Ames) make it to the Big leagues remains to be seen, but they have a far better chance of doing so with the Marlins than they would have had with the Dodgers and I wish them all the very best of luck.
Posted in 
Angel Sanchez was considered to be a good prospect in 2011. However, 2012 and 2013 have been tough for him. He will be 24 in November so his MLB clock is ticking.
The Marlins pen has been quite good but I tend to think Josh and Steven will get a shot with them which they would not have gotten with the Dodgers.
I think Puig’s problem is quite simple. He is not going away with the ball and hitting to right field. If you notice recently, he has started to pull everything. His hits over the past few days have been pulled down the 3B line and the 5/6 hole. Even though he had the great heroic single against the Phillies with the bases loaded by pulling a breaking pitch away it is not a good habit. Of course, laying off the junk away would help!
I am not “hip-hip-hooray” on the Nolasco trade. I would have much preferred Garza but apparently the price in prospects is too high. Nolasco is really only an improvement over Capuano in the rotation which I suppose has its value, but this is a high priced rental for a mediocre starter. Maybe he will surprise me being in a better environment than Miami but I don’t expect much more than that.
BTW great vid cap on Posey’s position away. Romo missed and the ball came back but Puig missed the mistake anyway. I had the experience of dealing with that as an umpire in a recent Little League tournament. The catcher consistently set up outside for the whole game and as much as I pulled him back in, he refused even after advising the coach. Being unprotected, I got hit over an over again. I can’t imagine standing there unprotected with someone who throws as much smoke as Romo!
It’s funny that people are so concerned with the Dodgers trading prospects and saying the price is ‘too high’. The new ownership group is trying to purge the system. That’s why they kept trading them away. Notice the Zach Lee, Chris Reed, Joc, and a few other ‘higher ranked’ prospects aren’t being moved? The new ownership is very invested in rebuilding the farm system. They didn’t say ‘adding on’ or ‘continuing to build’ the farm because they are obviously not too impressed with the job McCourt did during his reign. This is why more than half our starting 9 have moderate to long term deals, they have no intention of bringing up young talent unless it is to fill a need in the bullpen or injury replacement. The outfield, 1st, and once they offer Hanley an extension SS/3rd will be locked in for around 5 years. Just enough time to cycle out the players they seem interested in for draft picks and prospects via trade.
Something else to keep in mind is what they are acquiring with these trades. The last two moves included international signing money. Why is that important? What two rookies are the talk of this team? Puig and Ryu. How did they sign these two game changers? International signings.
Trust me. They have a plan.
Valid points, Garrett, although this one is a bit confusing to me:
The primary people involved in every draft pick, international signing and prospect trade are Logan White, Dejon Watson and Ned Colletti – all of whom have been with the Dodger organization for many years and all of whom were hired by Frank McCourt and retained by GBM. The big difference, of course, is that GBM has and is willing to spend the money whereas McCourt wasn’t – but this has little to do with the drafting of prospects. It does, however, have a lot to do with the international signings, so long as the Dodgers keep it below $2.9 million.
Here’s how the “new” international signing thing works:
There is no argument that GBM is rebuilding (or investing in, as you say) the Dodgers farm system, which was the first and once greatest farm system in all of baseball (because of Larry MacPhail and Branch Ricky) and nothing but good things will come of that, but as long as Ned Colletti has the final say in all transactions, the new farm system will continue to be nothing more than trade chips for the Dodgers, with very few of their prospects making it to the Dodgers. This is my number one argument why Colletti needs to go as the Dodger GM (in my opinion).
BTW – an excellent debate you guys, thanks.
I am not so concerned about the prospects traded in this deal but I am not a big fan of the rental player in a trade like this whose contract expires and is a free agent after the season is over. That type of acquisition for an organization from my perspective is a lose-lose, but then again it isn’t my money, right! If Nolasco pitches well on a short term basis he is going to increase his price at the end of the season. If he pitches poorly you just wasted around 5 million and some prospects and you probably didn’t achieve what you wanted.
Garza is being treated like the “belle of the ball” right now by Epstein in the available starting pitching market right now and they want premium prospects in return — something I wouldn’t do either for someone who has had significant injury problems. Garza is under contract for a while which is an advantage. I would prefer Garza but not giving up higher-level prospects.
I am just a little ambivalent about this deal because I am not a big fan of Nolasco (or his bloated expiring contract) as a huge improvement to the rotation but on paper it is not a bad deal for the prospects given in return.