The San Francisco Giants enter spring training 2009 with roughly the same feel at first base as when they entered in 2008. In 2008, the heir apparent for to start was Dan Ortmeier, fresh off an impressive 2007 season. To back him up was Rich Aurilia. After the youngster suffered through a poor spring training, riddled with defensive lapses, the seasoned veteran snapped up the position for opening day.
2009 isn’t that much different, as yet.
This time around, Travis Ishikawa is the man to watch. And yes, the slugger is a rookie this season. After a strong 2008 on the farm and a eye opening cup of coffee with the big league club, the slick fielding Ishikawa appears ready to take the job. Mark my words as they are important. He can ‘take’ the job, if he wants it. It is ’his’ to lose. If he performs adequately in spring training, he’ll be the starter on opening day. If all goes according to plans, he’ll be pumping out homeruns from the bottom of the lineup starting in early April. The big question is, how has Ishikawa worked on the breaking ball down and in which seemed to vex him a bit last year? If he takes care of that one hole in his swing, he should be fine.
However, should Ishikawa stumble out of the gate, the eyes of the Giants will turn to the veteran Aurilia. He brings a solid stick and glove to the proceedings and can do the job, though he’s certainly no long term fix.
Another candidate would be second year man John Bowker. Though he excited early last year, he truly slumped down the stretch and probably shouldn’t be looked at as more than a dark horse candidate for the position. Of course, if he decides the he wants to collect singles, doubles, and triples in addition to homeruns, it could make the competition interesting. This is all complicated with the fact that, unlike either Ishikawa or Aurilia, Bowker is a converted outfielder, a factor that might have contributed to Ortmeier’s less than stellar performance last year.
The final candidate is newcomer journeyman Josh Phelps. Signed to a minor league deal, for Phelps to start, it would probably require a combination of Ishikawa and Bowker flopping, Aurilia forgetting where he left his glove, and minor leaguer Scott McClain forgetting the route to the stadium. In other words, it’s probably not happening.
One must still take into account wunderkind Pablo Sandoval. If the Giants snap up a front line third baseman (even at this late in the game….Crede’s still available), then Sandoval will bring his sledgehammer to first and everybody else will take the bench.
Let’s just all hope that Travis learns how to hit that down and in breaking ball, m’kay?
