Duvall debuts with a dinger

Maybe, just maybe he can add a little power boost to the 3B slot. Sandoval has a weird split in that he is a .803 OPS versus RHP this year, yet a .604 OPS versus LHP when he hits from the right side.

.....And Duvall conveniently hits from the right side.......Hey, wait a minute!!! You're not suggesting that Bochy entertains the notion of platooning the rookie with the Panda at 3B are you?

Yes, I am. Why not?

If it motivates Pablo, so be it. If it gives them future leverage in contract negotiations down the road, so be it. If Duvall is the real deal, you have to find out sooner rather than later.

In his most complete season with San Jose in 2012, Duvall struck out 116 times while sporting a 30-100-.258 stat line in 598 plate appearances. This year he was on pace for approx. 46-134-.297 with a .980 OPS. A bit of a pull-back in 2013 at AA Richmond across the board for Duvall stat-wise, so the Giants hope that his breakout is more a case of the light-bulb going on for a power hitter rather than a park-induced statistical mirage. He will be transferring from a hitter friendly park to AT&T Park.

Time will tell, but time is ticking as far as the position goes, so IMO there is no time like the present to find out how much Duvall can produce. He's likely to only get a small sample of 100-250 bats, barring the unforeseen, but it will be something and the Giants have made snap decisions on hitting prospects before, albeit with varying results.



from Giants Extra:

POSTGAME NOTES: Crawford, Pill, Guillermo Mota (!) and more -- Duvall joins the club; Timmy talks Powerade bath and GIFs - Giants Extra:

Adam Duvall has been here about a minute and a half, but he already knows all about AT&T Park. When Duvall hit a two-strike slider deep into the night, he wasn’t sure he had his first career homer.

“To be honest, I was just hoping it would go out,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of talk that it doesn’t fly here. It’s hard to hit one out. I was just hoping it would be enough. It was a pretty cool feeling.”

It’s one 13 Giants have felt before, including Brett Pill (the last) and Brandon Crawford (the one you probably remember). Duvall joins the trivia list of players who can say their first hit was a homer in their first game. You know who else can say his first hit was a homer? Guillermo Mota, with the Expos. And that’s why baseball is awesome.

'via Blog this'