How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twenty-nine talks about journeyman infielder Marco Scutaro.
Marco Scutaro was born on October 30, 1975, in San Felipe, Venezuela. He was signed at the age of eighteen as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians on July 26, 1994. He entered the Indians farm system in 1996, playing for the Class A Columbus Red Stixx of Columbus, Georgia in the South Atlantic League. Here, he played in eighty-five games, hitting .251 for a batting average, with three triples, ten home runs, forty-five runs batted in, and six stolen bases. In 1997, he was promoted to the Class A Advanced Kinston Indians of Kinston, North Carolina, in the Carolina League, before a late season promotion to the Class AAA American Association to close out the year with the Buffalo Bisons of Buffalo, New York in the . Between the two levels, Scutaro hit to a .271 batting average with six triples, eleven home runs, sixty-five runs batted in and twenty-three stolen bases. For the 1998 season, Scutaro spent much of his time with the Class AA Akron Aeros of Akron, Ohio in the Eastern League, before earning another late season promotion to Buffalo, now in the Class AAA International League. Here, he hit a .311 batting average with six triples, eleven home runs, sixty-six runs batted in, and thirty-three stolen bases. Throughout this time, Scutaro played primarily at second base, but also spent time at shortstop and third base when needed, becoming a versatile utility player. He spent all of 1999 in Buffalo, hitting .273 with two triples, eight home runs, fifty-one runs batted in and twenty-one stolen bases. Scutaro also spent a large majority of 2000 with the Bisons, hitting to a .275 batting average with five triples and home runs each, as well as fifty-four runs batted in and nine stolen bases, the beginning of a decline in his base-stealing abilities. Scutaro was sent as the play to be named later in the July 28, 2000 deal between the Indians and Milwaukee Brewers that sent Kane Davis, Paul Rigdon, and Richie Sexson to Milwaukee in exchange for Jason Bere, Bob Wickman, and Steve Woodard going to Cleveland. Appearing in four games at the end of the season with Indianapolis Indians (despite the name, a member of the Milwaukee farm system) in the Class AAA International League, Scutaro looked much stronger than he had in his time with Buffalo. He spent all of 2001 in Indianapolis, hitting .295 with three triples, eleven home runs, fifty runs batted in, and eleven stolen bases. At the start of the 2002 season, Milwaukee waived Scutaro to make room for Nelson Figueroa on their roster, and on April 5th, Scutaro was acquired by the New York Mets. Scutaro remained in the International League, playing with the Norfolk Tides of Norfolk, Virginia for much of the year. He produced at a .319 clip, with six triples, seven home runs, and twenty-eight runs batted in, before a promotion to the major league Mets on July 19th. His debut came on July 21st, and he was used primarily in a pinch-hitting role with a low level of success. The 2003 season was a roller-coaster for Scutaro, who began the year in Norfolk. He had two stints in both Norfolk and New York during the year. With the Tides, he hit .311 with three triples and nine home runs, as well as thirty-two runs batted in. With the Mets, he struggled, hitting only .213 with just two home runs and six runs batted in a mostly pinch-hitting role. He did get some starts second base during his time, but not enough to make a difference in his numbers. On October 9th, 2003, Scutaro was selected off of waivers by the Oakland Athletics, and here he crossed paths with yesterday's featured player, Barry Zito, who pitched with the Athletics from 2000-2006. During 2004, Scutaro played at second base after Mark Ellis suffered a season-ending injury in spring training. Scutaro, now with a full season to work with, responded well, hitting .273 with a triple, seven home runs, and forty-three runs batted in. When necessary, he also covered third base, shortstop, and left field. Later in his tenure, he would also appear in right field and as the designated hitter. In 2005, Scutaro was most often a shortstop for Oakland, but his numbers regressed from the previous season. He ended with a .247 batting average and nine home runs as well as thirty-seven runs batted in. He was quickly becoming a reliable but unspectacular player in his major league time. Scutaro rebounded slightly in 2006, ending that season with a .266 batting average, six triples, five home runs, and forty-one runs batted in. He also made his first postseason appearances, playing in all seven games Oakland played in the playoffs. During the three games against the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series, Scutaro hit four triples and knocked in six runs, but his bat cooled mightily as Oakland was on the other end of a sweep in the American League Championships Series versus the Detroit Tigers. He did about the same level of play in 2007 as the year before, hitting .260 with seven home runs and forty-one runs batted in. At the end of the season, Oakland traded Scutaro to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league player Kristian Bell and prospect Graham Godfrey. In 2008, Scutaro filled in the Blue Jays lineup at a number of spots as injuries to teammates required a short-term option to fill the holes. He posted his usual numbers of a .267 average and one triple, with seven home runs and sixty runs batted in. He settled down in 2009, playing primarily shortstop for a majority of the season as the starter, and he had his best season here. Scutaro hit .282 with a triple, twelve home runs, and sixty runs batted in. He became a free agent at the end of the year, and signed on December 4th with the Boston Red Sox. He remained reliable with the Red Sox, and also managed to haunt the Twins again. In the first game at Target Field, Scutaro recorded the first hit in the history of the park, and also the first out. He would go on to have a final line of a .275 batting average, eleven home runs, and fifty-six runs batted in. In 2011, Scutaro was still with Boston, and hit to a .299 batting average with one triple, seven home runs, and fifty-four runs batted in, all in a campaign interrupted by an injury that cost him a month. He made his rehabilitation appearances in June with the Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League. With numbers like these slightly above his career average, Scutaro was getting better as he got older. Boston activated his contract option in 2012, and then traded him to the Colorado Rockies on January 21st, in exchange for Clayton Mortensen. Working in the crowded Colorado infield, Scutaro only managed a .271 batting average and just three triples, four home runs, and thirty runs batted in. The trade looked like a bust for the Rockies, so at the deadline, they flipped Scutaro with cash to the San Francisco Giants for Charlie Culberson, a prospect. Many laughed at the Giants for making such a minor trade when they were in the heat of a division race with the newly free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers. Acquisitions such as Hunter Pence and Scutaro were not thought to make San Francisco much better as a team. Scutaro quickly proved the doubters wrong, kicking into a gear unseen before by hitting .362 over the final sixty-one games of the season, and he added a triple, three home runs, and forty-four runs batted in, the latter number being nearly fifty percent more than he had for all of the first four months with Colorado. He covered third base for the injured Pablo Sandoval when he first arrived, before providing a huge boost of stability to the very weak second base platoon. At age 36, Scutaro knew time was running out for a World Series title, and he continued his beastly run in the playoffs. While he was largely ineffective against the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series, Scutaro became a rallying point once the Giants went down 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship. Here, he hit an amazing .500 with a record tying fourteen hits against the Cardinals. He crossed the plate six times and knocked in four runs, while producing an iconic moment after the Giants clinched a World Series title at the end of Game 7 by standing in the pouring rain at AT&T Park with his hands in the air. Most of this was done after he appeared to be hurt by a Matt Holliday takeout slide in Game 2. Against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, Scutaro was not as dominant at the plate, but made a huge defensive play on Gregor Blanco's throw to get Prince Fielder out at home plate in Game 2, coming across the field to act as the relay man before firing to Buster Posey at the plate. Without that big play, Scutaro may never have been seen as the hero two games later, in the tenth inning of Game 4, when his single gave Ryan Theriot time to score the go-ahead, and eventually World Series-clinching run. Because of his huge performance in the postseason, including the .328 batting average and eight runs batted in, Scutaro is receiving heavy interest in the 2012 offseason. Scutaro can rest easier now knowing he has won it all, but as a free agent, he needs a place to play for 2013, and hopefully he continues to get better as he ages.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
No comments :
Post a Comment