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April 6, 2008

Every Given Sunday

The NRIs Who Made It

by John Perrotto

Every year, there are always a handful of names that appear on Opening Day rosters that raise eyebrows or cause heads to be scratched. Some of those names leave fans scurrying for their Baseball Prospectus annual to try to figure exactly who these guys are. Others elicit a bit of surprise because most fans thought they were already out of the game.

This year, 14 such players fit one category or the other, as non-roster players who made their clubs after either never having played in the major leagues before or being away from the big leagues for at least a year. Here’s a look at them:

SS Brian Bocock, C Steve Holm, and RHP Keiichi Yabu, Giants: It might seem as if San Francisco’s roster is filled primarily with players who are either past their prime or part of the federal witness protection program. Perhaps the most mysterious of the lot is Bocock, who wound up with the starting shortstop job because the Giants didn’t have very many options when Omar Vizquel needed knee surgery early in spring training. Bocock was San Francisco’s ninth-round draft pick from Stetson in 2006, and had EqAs of .226 at Low-A Augusta and .182 at High-A San Jose last season. Bocock’s stay in the major leagues figures to be short, as Vizquel is likely to come off the DL this week.

Holm kicked around the lower levels of the Giants’ farm system for six seasons after being the team's 17^th-round draft pick from Oral Roberts in 2001, before finally getting to Double-A Connecticut last season. The Giants thought enough of him this spring to designated backup catcher Eliezer Alfonso for assignment, and now Holm is noted for more than being from McClatchy High School in Sacramento, also the alma mater of Nick Johnson, Larry Bowa, and Rowland Office.

Yabu, the man with the name that sounds so much like a 1970’s Patti LaBelle hit song, may ring a bell, as he made 40 relief appearances for Oakland in 2005. Since then, the veteran of 11 seasons with Hanshin in Japan spent 2006 in the Mexican League and 2007 out of baseball before resurfacing in the Giants’ bullpen.