Jason Giambi still wants to play

By Craig CalcaterraJan 9, 2013, 8:30 AM EDT
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Jason Giambi was nearly the Rockies manager and turned down a chance to be their hitting coach. One of the reasons he’s not a coach right now? Dude still wants to play:

 

Giambi hit .225/.372/.303 with one homer in 113 plate appearances in 2012. The mojo for Giambi lasted longer than a lot of folks probably thought it would — not many former superstars continue on as role players after their elite skills have faded into average ones —  but it seems like it’s over. I could see him getting some spring training at bats anywhere, but he had the last job one can have on a major league team — pinch hitter — and there’s really nowhere else to go from there, is there?

Yasmani Grandal played himself out of NLCS Game 4

Harry How/Getty Images
By Bill BaerOct 15, 2018, 11:48 PM EDT
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Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal has not had a good postseason. Entering Monday night’s NLCS Game 3, he was batting .111/.238/.278 in 21 trips to the plate across the NLDS and the first two games of the NLCS.

Defense has also been an issue for Grandal. In Game 1 of the NLCS, Grandal was on the hook for two passed balls. In the sixth inning of Game 3 Monday night, he couldn’t corral a curve in the dirt, which allowed Travis Shaw to score the Brewers’ second run of the night. Starter Walker Buehler was charged with a wild pitch. In the eighth, with Ryan Braun on first base and Shaw at the plate, Grandal again couldn’t corral a pitch in the dirt, allowing Braun to move to second base. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Alex Wood was able to escape the inning with no damage.

Manager Dave Roberts said that Austin Barnes, not Grandal, will start behind the plate for Game 4 on Tuesday night, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports. That comes as no surprise at all. When Grandal struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Dodger fans regaled him with boos.

Barnes will be an upgrade defensively, but he’s lacking with the bat. He had an 0-for-3 performance in Game 2, though with an RBI, bringing his career slash line in the playoffs to .200/.281/.300 across 57 plate appearances. During the regular season, his career 100 adjusted OPS is a fair bit behind Grandal’s 115. Roberts is trading offense for defense in Game 4. Rich Hill will get the start opposite the Brewers’ Gio González.