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The surprisingly popular game notes are back today, this time for a game that was played Saturday, when the Giants beat the Brewers 8-1 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

That offered a matchup between RHP Claudio Vargas for Milwaukee and RHP Matt Cain.

- Matt Cain was supposed to introduce his slider in that game, but did not throw that much.  He relied on his fastball and change-up and kept hitters on their toes with his curve ball.  He kept the heater at 91-92 mph, but was able to dial it up, like in this great at-bat in the fourth inning against Ryan Braun, where he pounded his fastball and struck him out with two high in the zone.  Braun could not keep up with it and he is a very good fastball hitter (or just plain good hitter!).  With the speedy Tony Gwynn on first, he had one more reason to throw his fastball often.

His slider was tight, but was not thrown for strikes much, but his tight curve ball he sometime used in fastball counts and threw it in the zone.  I would like to see him throw the fastball lower, because he gets hit hard sometimes (3 ground outs, 6 fly outs) and while he can strikeout batters with hit (letter-high), he should use the lower half more and get that surprise high fastball to be more effective. 

The second time he struck out Braun, he threw inside with the heater, but he completely froze him with a curve on the outside corner.  A very nice way to dispatch him to the dugout.

He also got Bill Hall with the fastballs to lead in the count and finished him with a change-up that just disappeared under Hall's bat.  No chance for the Brewers' new first baseman.

Pitching line: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K.  He has a 4.64 ERA this Spring.

- Tony Gwynn was a joy to watch today.  He played center field to begin the game and he hit two singles in three plate appearances.  I really like this kid.  He has nice nice bat speed, which allows his to stay back to hit (like that towering fly ball to center in his third at-bat), but that will not translate into power, however.

He was put out on a nice throw by Bengie Molina at second base when he was trying to steal the bag.  That was his third caught stealing in March.

- Gabe Kapler took his place in center field in the seventh inning, after a nice at-bat in the top of the frame where he struck out (on a high fastball), but made the pitcher work for it.  He is hoping to stay with the team when they go back North, with Mike Cameron's 50-game suspension, but I'd also like to see Gwynn have a shot on the bench on Opening Day.

- Claudio Vargas began the game with great control of all his pitches (fastball, slider - looked more like a slurve sometime - , change), keeping it remarkably low in the zone, but he failed to keep it up in the third inning and beyond.  He was behind in the counts and left his pitch up, although he worked both sides of the plate.  He was able to strike out guys with well-placed high fastballs in the first two innings.  He also made a concerted effort to throw breaking pitches in fastball count....many times...

He had some nice battles with Bengie Molina, but the catcher was also able to hit him to the opposite field when he was behind in the count.  Brewers pitching coach Mike Maddux told him this Spring to stop trying and throw the ball too hard and play with the speed of his offerings.  That was on display that afternoon, with his fastball going at 89 mph most of the time, but he could put a little something on it when he needed it.

Pitching line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, with 6 ground outs and 3 fly outs.

- Second baseman Eugenio Velez (batting second) had a great day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with 4 RBI.  He hit a double and a stand-up triple, with both extra-base hits coming from a different side of the plate (both hits on fastball - one very high and one very low).   He had his first taste of the big leagues last September (.273/.385/.636) and might be called upon to handle second base on Opening Day if Ray Durham is not 100% returned from a tight left hamstring.  Manager Bruce Bochy has stated that he might begin the season on the DL, a perfect chance for the 25-year-old rookie to show what he can do in the regular season.

The kid can go from home to first base in 4.1-4.2 seconds and has a very unusual stance at the plate; with an open stance, he keep his hands very low and puts all his weight on the back leg.  That might be something hitting coaches want to change, but his upper body looks so relax in the batter's box. He has a tendency to slash at the ball and take advantage of his speed to beat relays, which leads to high GB% (around 50% in the minors). 

Not surprisingly, he leads the majors this Spring in stolen bases (13) and has a .835 OPS going.

- Omar Vizquel began taking grounders Saturday and we could see him testing his knees before taking a few grounders at shortstop.

With him on DL for the beginning of the 2008 season, Brian Bocock has the inside track for the job, even though he has never played above High-A.  His bat is a huge question mark (did not do well at all in High-A: .220/.292/.328), but he looked good on the field.  He was responsible for 5 of the 6 outs in the 7th and 8th inning, including a double-play he made alone by touching second base and relaying the ball to first.  He made an error (scored as a hit) in the 7th frame, when he misplayed a hard liner AND took his time to recover the ball.  That gave ample time to Craig Counsell to round out second from first and reach third base. 

His two outs in the seventh included a running-throw to first and a strong throw from the hole that was not even close to retire the runner at first.  Great play.  He was 1-for-4 at the plate.

- RHP Derrick Turnbow was wild in his inning of work (1 hit and 1 walk), but he got out of trouble with a double-play by Rich Aurilia after he was behind in the count 3-0 and a strikeout of Dan Ortmeier.  In that at-bat, he was robbed by the umpire on a great 95 mph fastball, low in the zone that froze everyone (including Ed Montague behind the plate), but he got his revenge with a 84 mph change-up that fooled the Giants first baseman.

His front shoulder kept flying open in the first part of inning and he always fell way on the first base side.

- In an in-game interview, Giants reliever Tyler Walker said that he will throw a split-finger fastball this season, a pitch that's four months old.  In other SF bullpen news, Vinnie Chulk threw a bullpen session and felt great.  Walker said that Chulk is the guy that glues the 'pen together.  LHP Steve Kline was lights out with a 1-2-3 seventh inning (3 grounders).

- Eric Gagne threw also in that game, one inning.  He had no real command of his curve ball, but he threw his 90-92 mph fastball for strikes and he also showed good command of the change-up (83 mph).  He allowed a hit only.  He has a bad pitching line so far: 6 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.

Another nice reliever that we saw was Christopher Narveson, a 26-year-old southpaw that is the definition of a crafty-lefty.  He moved the ball in and out and really impressed me with the breaking pitches (73-74 mph) early in the count and many time back-to-back.  The line that day does not indicate at all how he pitch (2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K).  The batters simply over-matched him in these cases.  His fastball sat at 90 mph.

His line so far in Spring: 17.2 IP, 17 H, 6 BB, 16 K.

- Aaron Rowand is schedule to bat behind Molina in the lineup this season and we saw another downside to that in the game: he cannot take advantage of his speed.  Molina is a station-to-station guy!  How runs will that cost in the end?

He finished the game 2-for-2 with a double.

- Giants first baseman Dan Ortmeier might or might not begin the season with the big club, but the imposing switch-hitter (6'4'', 220 pounds) can hit.  The problem is that he needs to improve his plate discipline and be more consistent.  His only hit in that game was a double from the right-side of the plate and stayed with the inside pitch nicely to pull inside the line and out of reach of the third baseman.

His line so far: .238/.324/.333, with 4 doubles and 1 triple.

- Player to watch: Brian Horwitz (Giants).  He was not invited to the major league camp, but he impressed and now has 10 AB with SF.  He's hitting 400/.400/.400.

He probably had the best piece of hitting in that game; with two strikes against him and trying to stay alive, Eric Gagne threw him a fastball on the outside corner (outside, perfectly placed), but he adjusted, had a nice balance and just extended his arm to place the ball between the first baseman and the second baseman...base hit.  He also had another hit earlier in the game.

The 25-year-old outfielder reached AAA last season and he has a good plate discipline.  His walk rate decreased last season (around 8% of at-bats), but so did his strikeout's (around 8% of at-bats).  He took these results and improved hi batting average: .309 in AA and .326 in AAA.



You can reach me at drouleau@baseballdigestdaily.com.  I am also available as a freelance writer.