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5/17/12 – 3 Things To Watch For
Fresno Grizzlies (26-13) at Round Rock Express (18-22)
5:05 pm PDT at The Dell Diamond
Radio: 105.5 FM “The Truth”
The Fresno Grizzlies are looking to snap two losing streaks tonight. After starting the season with eight consecutive victories in series openers, the Grizzlies have lost their last two.
Fresno has also lost six consecutive games to the Round Rock Express, with the last Grizzlies victory occurring on August 5th, 2010 at Round Rock. Round Rock switched affiliates, however, in 2011, going from the Houston Astros to the Texas Rangers. Therefore, Fresno has been defeated by the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in their last four meetings. Fresno beat Oklahoma City, then the Rangers’ Triple-A team, on May 18th game for the last Grizzlies victory against the Texas organization.
Nick Noonan currently owns an 11-game hitting streak, tied with Roger Kieschnick for the longest by a Grizzlies hitter this season. Noonan is batting .313 (15-for-48) over the 11-game stretch. Noonan’s career-high hitting streak is currently set at 14 games, which he achieved from May 31-June 19 in 2008 with Single-A Augusta.
5/15/12 – 3 Things To Watch For
Omaha Storm Chasers (25-13) vs. Fresno Grizzlies (25-14)
11:05 am game at Chukchansi Park
Radio: 105.5 FM “The Truth”
Nick Noonan is looking to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, which would match Roger Kieschnick for the longest hitting streak by a Grizzlies hitter this season. Noonan recorded one hit last night to give him 10 consecutive games with a hit.
Justin Christian is also in the midst of a hitting streak, with his sitting at nine games. Christian has multiple hits in his last four games, including a 2-for-4 performance last night. Over the nine-game stretch, Christian is batting .400 (16-for-40). For the season, he is batting .378, which is second best in the PCL entering today.
The Grizzlies need a win in today’s game to salvage a tie for the Omaha series. If the Grizzlies were to lose, it would be their first back-to-back series losses since August 12-19, 2011 against Albuquerque and Round Rock. Fresno has not lost a series to Omaha since 2003.
5/12/12 – 3 Things To Watch For
Omaha Storm Chasers (23-13) vs. Fresno Grizzlies (24-11)
7:05 pm game at Chukchansi Park
The Grizzlies will take on the Omaha Storm Chasers for the first game of a four-game series. The series will be the only meeting between the two teams in the 2012 regular season. Fresno has not a lost a series to the Omaha franchise since 2003, but in each of the last three seasons, the two teams have split their four-game sets. Fresno beat Omaha three games to one in 2008 for the last series victory.
The Grizzlies and Storm Chasers have the best and third-best records in the PCL, respectively. Both teams enter the series losers of their last four games. Omaha lost three of four at Sacramento while Fresno dropped three of four against Iowa.
Fresno starting pitcher Brian Burres is looking for his first win in a Grizzlies uniform at Chukchansi Park. In three starts this season, the left-hander is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA (12 er, 16.0 ip). He does have two wins in his career at Chukchansi Park, however, both of which occurred in 2009 when he was with the Las Vegas 51s. The last win was on July 4, 2009 when he held the Grizzlies to four runs on six hits in seven innings.
May 11th, 2012 – 3 Things To Watch For
Fresno Grizzlies (24-10) vs. Iowa Cubs (14-19)
7:05 PM game at Chukchansi Park
Ag Night, presented by Bayer CropScience
The Fresno Grizzlies will need a win to ensure a tie in the four-game series against the Iowa Cubs. Iowa has won the first and third games of the set. Fresno has not lost a series yet this season after taking three-of-four in the first seven series of the season. They then won two of three in a rain-shortened series at Colorado Springs last weekend.
Brock Bond has an eight-game hitting streak, currently the longest such streak by a Grizzlies hitter. Bond is batting .696 (16-for-23) with a .731 on-base percentage over the eight-game stretch. It is Bond’s longest hitting streak since the 2010 season when the switch hitter registered a hit in 10 consecutive games between August 28th and September 6th with Double-A Richmond.
With a win, Grizzlies starting pitcher Matt Yourkin will tie Steve Connelly (1999-2001, 2003) for fifth place on the Grizzlies’ all-time career wins list. Yourkin currently has 18 wins in his Fresno career. The southpaw has pitched for Fresno since 2010.
Walk Up Songs – 2012 Edition
A walk-up/warm-up song for a baseball player can be a very picky process. Players want a song that pumps them up and could help them focus for the task at hand. Some players care a lot more than others when it comes to narrowing down a song. A select few don’t even bother choosing one.
The songs can range from the obscure to more well known, the newer to the older, the serious to jokester. Below are a few of the songs chosen by the 2012 Grizzlies for this season.
Travis Blackley
Artist: Pendulum
Song: Set Me On Fire
Hector Correa
Artist: Don Omar
Song: Danza Koduro
George Kontos
Artist: Eminem
Song: Till I Collapse
Shane Loux
Artist: LInkin Park
Song: No More Sorrow
Jean Machi
Artist: Don Omar
Song: Los Banddiros
Wilmin Rodriguez
Artist: Omega
Song: Me Veo Con La Paca
Craig Whitaker
Artist: Branlley Gilbert
Song: My Kinda Party
Matt Yourkin
Artist: Metallica
Song: Creeping Death
Eli Whiteside
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Song: The Ocean
Jackson Williams
Artist: Korn
Song: Coming Undone
Brock Bond
Artist: Matisyahu
Song: One Day
Skyler Stromsmoe
Artist: Newsboys
Song: Born Again
Artist: POD
Song: Alive
Roger Kieschnick
Artist: Van Halen
Song: Jump
Todd Linden
Artist: Jay-Z and Kanye West
Song: In Paris (acoustic)
Francisco Peguero
Artist: Daddy Yankee
Song: Samos de Calle
Tyler LaTorre
Artist: Backstreet Boys
Song: Larger Than Life (the beginning, of course)
A Little Spring In His Voice
By: Chris Kutz
When a Minor League team hits the road, the traveling party consists of players, the manager, the pitching coach, the hitting coach, maybe a roving instructor or two, the strength and conditioning coach, the athletic trainer and the radio broadcaster.
The group of around 30 takes early morning flights and late-night bus rides to move on to their next series of games. Needless to say, Minor Leaguers would love to experience the luxury a Major League travel itinerary brings with it (i.e. less 3:45 am alarms, more leg room on charter flights, etc.).
The voice of the Grizzlies, Doug Greenwald, is not one to look past the travel inconveniences. For the month of March, Greenwald calls the San Francisco Giants’ Spring Training games via webcasts. While in Arizona, he does the least amount of traveling he does all year.
Voice of the Grizzlies, Doug Greenwald, broadcasts a Spring Training game on March 13th with former Giants pitcher Shawn Estes
“The longest ‘trip’ in spring training for me is from Scottsdale to Surprise. That’s maybe 55 minutes. Get in the car, and go,” said Greenwald. “During the PCL season we generally have to be at the Fresno Airport by four a.m. for a six a.m. flight, and play a game that night (sometimes in Nashville or New Orleans). Or be on a bus for a handful of hours, get into Fresno in the wee hours, and play that night.”
Once the Grizzlies season ends in September, he heads up to the Bay Area as well as across the nation.
“I spend time in San Francisco with my family, and go to the big league games at AT&T Park. I will also take that time to unwind, do some traveling on my own,” said Greenwald.
“I’m a huge college basketball fan. That’s always been my second love behind baseball. I will go around the country, and watch college hoops.
“This season I saw games everywhere from Fullerton to Burlington, Vermont to Troy, Alabama. I have seen in person NCAA Division I basketball games in 48 states (including Washington, DC). The only states where I have missed in this category are Wisconsin, and Montana. I hope to complete my cycle next basketball season.”
March becomes quite a busy month for Greenwald with the college basketball season kicking into full madness and the baseball season launching one more time. Greenwald doesn’t mind, however. With 2012 being the seventh season he has broadcasted Cactus League games, Greenwald is used to an action-packed March at this point.
Since 2006, Greenwald has called San Francisco Giants’ Spring Training games on SFGiants.com. Greenwald and the Giants were one of the first Major League teams to offer their fans the chance to catch the Spring games.
“[The idea of Spring Training webcasts] was proposed by Jon Miller,” said Greenwald. “I went up one day to say hello to him at AT&T Park in September of 2005. He knew that since I was broadcasting for Fresno, it was a good role for me, and the Giants were to have every spring training game aired one way or another”
Up until 2005, the Giants’ Spring Training games were only broadcasted on KNBR on the weekends.
“By only doing games on the weekends, it was almost as if fans lost track of the team during the weekdays. By doing them on the web now, every pitch (one way or another) of Spring Training is heard,” said Greenwald.
With Greenwald’s familiarity of the Giants farm system, calling Cactus League games became an easy transition for him. Most of the players, including late-inning substitutes, had either passed through Fresno at one point or were well on their way to the Triple-A level.
Providing webcasts of Giants’ Spring Training games gives Greenwald a Spring Training of his own as he gets up to 18 games before the regular season’s first pitch. It also provides him the opportunity to interact with listeners, something he does all season long with the Grizzlies.
“[T]he biggest benefit [of Spring Training] is hearing from the fans, the positive reaction the games on the web have been, as we get e-mails from all over the world. It is amazing to reach out to folks in California, Germany, Denmark, all over, who follow the club.”
“There was an e-mail from a fan listening in a hospital in Australia. We thanked him over the web for his note, and he sent an e-mail back saying we made his day by responding to him, and wishing him well. A half world away, yet the pushing of a send key made it felt like we were with him in his room.”
The voice of the Grizzlies, once again, was making a day happier for one listener at a time. This time, at least, he didn’t have to travel far to reach them.
Where Are They Now?
Opening Day for the Grizzlies’ 2012 season is 35 days away (43 until the home opener on April 13th). While the next month will dictate how the Grizzlies roster shakes out, it is time to revisit the 2011 Opening Day roster. Some familiar faces may return to Fresno this season, but several players have moved on to other organizations. Check out the list below to see where they have landed.
The Grizzlies line up for the National Anthem at Opening Day 2011 (Don Davis)
Pitchers
RHP Josh Banks – signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Banks was without a job until February 28th when he signed with the Orioles on a Minor League contract. The right-hander is local to the Baltimore area as he is from Severna Park, Maryland.
RHP Casey Daigle – unsigned. Daigle pitched in 36 games with the Grizzlies last season. He did not pitch in a game after July 10th, however, as he ended the season on the disabled list.
RHP Steve Edlefsen – on the Giants’ 40-man roster. The right-hander made his Major League debut in 2011, pitching in 13 games with the Giants. The 26-year-old, who has pitched in Fresno for parts of the last three seasons, may once again start the year in Fresno this season, but he may also see significant time with the Giants.
LHP Alex Hinshaw – signed with the San Diego Padres. The left-hander was released this past offseason, before he was signed by San Diego. The 29-year-old attended San Diego State University, so the transition to America’s Finest City should be an easy one if he pitches for the parent club. Hinshaw was invited to the Padres’ Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
RHP Andrew Kown – re-signed with the Giants; invited to San Francisco’s Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Kown is a candidate to once again pitch for the Grizzlies, depending on how he performs in Spring Training and what types of opportunities open up at the big league level.
RHP Marc Kroon – retired
RHP Shane Loux – re-signed with the Giants; invited to San Francisco’s Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Similar to Kown, Loux will more than likely start the season in Fresno if he sticks with the Giants organization.
RHP Doug Mathis – signed by the Boston Red Sox. Mathis appeared in 13 games with the Grizzlies in 2011 before joining the Oakland A’s organization midway through the year. The University of Missouri product is in Boston’s big league camp this spring. Former Giants farmhand Tony Pena Jr. is also with Mathis in Boston’s Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.
RHP David Mixon – retired midseason last year. After appearing in seven games with the Grizzlies, the right-hander was sent to Double-A Richmond before joining High-A San Jose. In July, Mixon decided to step away from the game and step into a post-baseball career.
RHP Henry Sosa – traded to the Houston Astros midseason last year. Sosa is on the Astros’ 40-man roster and figures to contend for a spot in Houston’s pitching staff at some point this season. The Astros are a young team, and Sosa has only made 10 Major League starts in his career, all of which occurred last season.
RHP Ryan Vogelsong – re-signed with the Giants on a two-year deal. In case you didn’t hear, the right-hander had a good season last year.
LHP Matt Yourkin – re-signed with the Giants; invited to San Francisco’s Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Once again, Yourkin is in the same boat as Kown and Loux in terms of where he starts this season. If Yourkin pitches for the Grizzlies in 2012, it will be his third-straight season in Fresno.
Hitters
Left to right: Emmanuel Burriss, Conor Gillaspie, Brett Pill and Ryan Rohlinger (Don Davis)
C Chris Stewart – on the Giants’ 40-man roster. Stewart is competing with Eli Whiteside for the backup catcher role with the Giants.
C Jackson Williams – still within the Giants organization. Williams is attending big league Spring Training camp for the fifth straight season as a non-roster invitee.
INF Brock Bond – still within the Giants organization. Bond missed most of the 2011 season with an injury. He will be looking to bounce back in 2012, possibly putting up numbers similar to 2010, when he was named a Pacific Coast League All-Star.
INF Emmanuel Burriss – on the Giants’ 40-man roster. Burriss is competing for a role with the Giants full-time, either as a starter or as a utility player off the bench.
INF Conor Gillaspie – on the Giants’ 40-man roster. Gillaspie appeared in 15 games with the Giants last season as a September call-up. He first appeared with the Giants in a limited role during his first professional season in 2008, all of which was part of his contract. Gillaspie will more than likely start the year in Fresno with his play and opportunities opening up at the Major League level determining where he finishes the year.
INF Edgar Gonzalez – signed by the Chicago Cubs. Gonzalez was one of the mainstays in the Grizzlies lineup in a year filled with plenty of roster turnover. He signed with the Cubs organization entering the 2012 season and is participating in the Cubs’ big league Spring Training camp as a non-roster invitee. Plenty of competition exists for Gonzalez in the Cubs’ camp, but Grizzlies fans might have the opportunity to watch him play again in May when the Iowa Cubs pay a visit to Fresno. All of this, of course, depends on Gonzalez staying with the Cubs organization if he does not make the big league club breaking Spring Training.
INF Brett Pill – on the Giants’ 40-man roster. Pill is competing for a spot on the Giants 25-man roster breaking Spring Training camp. After primarily playing first base for his first five professional seasons, Pill gained some experience at second base with the Grizzlies in 2011. In addition to playing a handful of games at third in the minors, as well as taking some fly balls as an outfielder in Spring Training, Pill is adding versatility to help him make the Giants’ Opening Day roster.
INF Ryan Rohlinger – signed a Minor League contract with the Cleveland Indians. Rohlinger was traded to the Colorado Rockies in early June of last season, where he played in 70 games with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox to end the year. The 28-year-old will attend the Indians’ Minor League camp after his deal with Cleveland did not include an invitation to the big league Spring Training.
OF Terry Evans – unsigned. Evans opened the 2011 campaign with the Giants organization, appearing in 39 games with the Grizzlies. He opted out of his contract at the end of May, freeing him up to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Georgia native played in 48 games with the Double-A Reading Phillies to close out the 2011 season.
OF Darren Ford – signed with the Seattle Mariners. The speedy outfielder was let go by the Giants this past offseason in a reshuffling of the 40-man roster. Ford battled injuries for most of the 2011 season, spending time at four different levels in the San Francisco organization. Ford received an invitation to the Mariners’ Major League Spring Training, but with nine outfielders already on the 40-man roster, Ford will have plenty of opportunity to compete for a spot with Mariners. Worse comes to worse, Ford will land with the Tacoma Rainiers. The Grizzlies play the Rainiers to open Fresno’s 2012 home schedule.
OF Tyler Graham – on the Giants’ 40-man roster. Graham led the PCL in steals in 2011, a year after he batted .343 over 109 games with the Grizzlies in 2010. The Giants added Graham to their 40-man roster this past offseason, meaning Graham could make his Major League debut in 2012 if an outfield spot opens up in San Francisco or, at the very least, as a September call-up.
OF Thomas Neal – traded to the Cleveland Indians midway through last season. Neal has secured a 40-man roster spot with the Indians entering Spring Training, but he is facing plenty of competition, including from former Grizzlies and Giants outfielder Fred Lewis.
Prospect Watch: Francisco Peguero
By: Jesse Beltran
Being considered a top-10 prospect for the San Francisco Giants the past three years can be a lot of pressure on a young outfielder like Francisco Peguero. After glancing at the 23-year-old’s numbers, one would notice it has not intimidated him.
Francisco Peguero rounds the bases (Real Life Studios)
Peguero’s journey through the farm system landed him in San Jose for 122 games in the 2010 season. He posted a .329 batting average while hitting 10 home runs and a league-leading 16 triples with 40 stolen bases, which led to his selection to the Post-Season California League All-Star team.
He wasn’t just an offense force; he did work with the glove as well, only committing four errors the entire season. After a phenomenal season, it was evident that high expectations were to follow. At the start of the 2011 season, Baseball America considered him the fourth-highest prospect in the Giants organization.
The two-time Major League Spring Training invitee didn’t miss a beat when the 2011 season rolled around, beginning the year in San Jose but only for 16 games due to his consistent numbers from the previous season.
Along came the promotion to the Double-A Flying Squirrels of Richmond, where he was limited to only 71 games due to arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee. The knee injury did make a difference on the base paths. Peguero attained only eight stolen bases in Richmond and a total of 12 the entire year. His batting production continued with a consistent .309/.318/.446 line.
A player like Peguero who has an aggressive approach doesn’t draw much walks. Over his six-year career, he has batted 1,971 times and only drawn 80 walks. Due to his current approach, his slot in the lineup will be tough to figure out because he will give the team an edge from either the top or bottom part of the batting order.
A native of Nigua in the Dominican Republic, Peguero tends to go back home for the offseason for some rest and spend time with his family. However at the pace Peguero has been going through the Giants farm system, he took advantage of some extra reps during the offseason in the Dominican Winter League with the Gigantes del Cibao.
Peguero retrieves a fly ball with Richmond in 2011 (Real Life Studios)
This short league of 24 games benefited Peguero to keep his legs in shape chasing balls down in the outfield. At the plate, he slightly improved his patience with five walks in 87 at bats while batting .264 throughout the league. This improvement in walks doesn’t seem like much, but at that rate of walks per-at-bat, this calculates into him reaching his career total in walks (80) within 1,392 at-bats, instead of the 1,971 it actually took him. The Winter League experience will be a great benefit for him as he makes his way through Fresno.
Francisco Peguero has continued to work hard to achieve his dream of playing in the Major Leagues, being listed in the Top 100 Prospects at the #98 spot by MLB.com is just another feat for the young player in his journey. Striving to be ready for his call up to San Francisco, Peguero is expected to be in a Grizzlies uniform to begin the 2012 season.
Yard Work - Fresno Grizzlies
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