Snow has warm praise for Ishikawa

March 17, 2:56 PMSan Francisco Giants ExaminerTheo Fightmaster

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Snow says Ishikawa is "winning the job." AP photo Denis Poroy

Scottsdale, Arizona: The Giants have enjoyed some pretty good first baseman throughout their history.  Guys like Johnny Mize, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Will Clark and J.T. Snow all hold significant places in the franchise’s collective media guide.

Recently that hole has been painfully vacant. However, the last man to regularly patrol the far right side of the Giants’ defense thinks the team has found their guy.

Talking about Travis Ishikawa gives J.T. Snow a pleasure not dissimilar to that of a proud uncle. “He’s a first baseman.” Snow says with the excitement as if it’s a rarity.  His intonation is right; it has been a rarity for the Giants since Snow left the imprint of his gold glove for others to try to fill.

Not only has the team lacked an everyday first baseman, they’ve lacked a natural at the position since Snow left for Boston after 2005.  “The past couple seasons we’ve tried to put a guy there where he may not be a natural fit… Bowker, Ortmeier. Travis is a classic first baseman…he’s got good feet, good hands, and the mentality of a first baseman.”

The point about a natural first baseman may seem odd to some.  Often times fans, talk show hosts, and even some less savvy writers promote the theory that anyone can play first. Not fond of this sentiment, Snow is pleased Ishikawa has arrived with a track record of success both with the bat and with his glove. “You can’t just put anyone there, it’s a tough position…but the game is different, it’s all about stats and match-ups.”  Stats and match ups that are heavily weighted to the offensive side of the game.

As you can imagine Snow puts a premium on defense. “First basemen fall into two categories; can you help the team as a whole, and help improve defense, or are you just a bat.” Right now, in Snow’s estimation, Ishikawa is “winning the job” by doing the former; hitting .300 through Monday with three homers, and solidifying the infield defense. 

At 25 Travis Ishikawa is still young enough to be considered a prospect.  With his combined performance in Connecticut and Fresno last season, and his strong audition through this date in the Cactus League it’s looking like Ishikawa is the guy.  But we’ve seen that before, most recently with Lance Niekro and Dan Ortmeier.  Both of whom quickly played themselves out of possible starter jobs, into platoon roles, and then out of the organization.

What about a platoon with Ishikawa?  “I don’t think they want to platoon him, he’s been better against lefties…you might give him a night off against a particularly tough lefty, like a (Randy) Johnson or a Johan Santana…but if you talk to most lefties they want to face a good left hander because he forces you to lock in, and keep that front side closed.”

The Giants don’t really want to platoon a player either; it is usually move rooted in an admission that a team doesn’t have one guy good enough to play every day. That wasn’t the case when Snow was around. “When I was here, when we were winning, we had a set line-up. That’s what you want.” 

Admittedly, I’m sure, Snow would tell you those lineups of nearly a decade ago were set for a reason. But it had to benefit everyone to know that when they got to the park the same eight names would be in the line up.

With Ishikawa, the former Gold Glover thinks his latest pupil would also benefit from getting a chance to struggle.  “If a guy goes 0-10, then he’s not in the line up it can be hard on him.  I liked it when teams would put a young guy out there and let him sink or swim.” 

It’s yet to be known if the Giants will pull Ishikawa right back into the boat and onto the bench at the first sign of rough waters.  If he does eventually establish himself as an everyday starter it is a certainty that a struggle will occur at some point, but that’s part of the game, and a part the Giants need to accept when it comes to the young guys.