Darren Ford: 5 Reasons He Could Be a Major X Factor for the San Francisco Giants
In 2011, it seems that the San Francisco Giants have been snake bit.
They have been unable to sustain the wave of momentum and luck that helped carry them to the World Series Championship last season. Aubrey Huff has returned to the form that made 29 other teams pass on him. Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval have suffered injuries that have devastated the Giants lineup. Miguel Tejada has managed to compete for the title of "worst everyday position player in MLB," and youngster Brandon Belt has been unable to recreate the rookie year magic that Sandoval, Posey and Tim Lincecum found before him.
Darren Ford and his injured ankle is just another example of the disappearance of baseball magic from the Giants clubhouse.
Before his injury, Ford had been a spark, a catalyst for good things. He isn't the greatest hitter in the world, but when he plays, good things generally happen. And given the decimated nature of the Giants roster, he could be more important than ever when he returns.
This isn’t to say that Ford is the greatest thing since sliced bread, or that individually his skills can’t be replaced by other players. But Ford had shown himself to possess a package that has been rare in the Giants organization. Sure, the team could find another base stealer. They could find another utility outfielder. They might even be able to find another player who is unafraid in big moments, and is filled with possibly irrational confidence in his own abilities.
But Darren Ford combines all these traits into one neat, tidy package.
This season especially, Darren Ford brings to the table some of what the Giants desperately need. Here are five reasons he could be the team's biggest X factor for the rest of 2011.
1. Who Else Is There?
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At the beginning of the season, a list of the Giants best offensive players looked, in some order, like this:
1. Buster Posey
2. Pablo Sandoval
3. Aubrey Huff
4. Freddy Sanchez/Pat Burrell
5. Brandon Belt
Buster Posey's gruesome season-ending injury is just the most recent, most horrific way in which this list has fallen apart.
Huff has regressed to the level that everyone in baseball thought he reached two years ago.
Sanchez can't carry a lineup by himself, and Burrell doesn't have enough left in the tank to play every day, or even most days (I would argue any days).
Brandon Belt seems to be stuck in Nate Schierholtz's baseball purgatory, existing somewhere between AAA and MLB, too good for the minors, yet not ready to produce everyday in the majors.
Even Pablo Sandoval, formerly indestructible ball of baseball joy and talent, found that even his considerable frame will bend under the weight of carrying an entire team’s offense.
Assuming that Brandon Crawford isn't going to hit dramatic and unexpected grand slams well, ever, and that Belt will continue to experience the usual growing pains, Darren Ford seems to be as good a candidate as any to step up.
The myriad of ways in which the Giants top producers have failed has left the door open for a young, talented player like Ford to truly make his mark. Although these turns of fate cannot possibly be considered a good thing, they have created an opportunity that can be seized by Ford if he is ready.
2. Speed
2 of 5Speed is something the Giants have lacked for years.
Actually, I should be more specific: The Giants have lacked smart speed. Eugenio Velez has speed, for example, but he also proves that pure quickness is useless in the hands (or the feet) of someone with a low baseball IQ and shall we say, limited offensive abilities. The same could be said for Freddy Lewis.
Before Velez, Dave Roberts was supposed to be the Giants answer for their troubles on the basepaths, but he proved too old and too brittle to make an impact.
But where Lewis, Velez and Roberts before him have failed, Ford just might succeed. He is younger than Roberts, and despite his current DL status, has been fairly durable in his career. He is significantly less challenged offensively than Velez (although to be fair, aren't most players?), and seems to resemble a more evolved Fred Lewis.
For a team that has long struggled moving runners, stealing bases and generally being successful running, Darren Ford could be just what the doctor ordered.
3. Instincts
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Darren Ford has tremendous speed, but more importantly seems to intuitively know how to use it. Ultimately, instincts (or lack thereof) can largely determine a player's success or failure in baseball.
For example, Freddy Lewis didn't get horrible jumps on fly balls because he wasn't smart. In fact a lot of baseball plays have nothing to do with intelligence. The success or failure of a baseball player is often determined by the split-second decisions that he is not even aware of. The initial step forwards or backwards. The extra half-step lead off a base, and the momentary advantage that can be gained by reading a pitcher's delivery to the plate. These are often not conscious decisions. They are instinctual.
After years of watching young players work their way through the minors, only to discover that they didn't quite have the feel for the game or natural swagger they thought they did, Darren Ford seems like a revelation.
Not only does Ford have speed, he uses it wisely. He gets good jumps on stolen base opportunities. He gets solid, early reads on fly balls. He is able to differentiate an opportune time to take a risk from a time that is just plain risky.
Ford seems naturally able to analyze cost:benefit ratios and use his tools accordingly. Ultimately, this may be his greatest asset as a player—even more so than his speed.
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4. He Brings a Little Bit of Luck
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Earlier this season, at the beginning of his major league career, Ford was 0-for-5. Not uncommon for a rookie with average offensive numbers in the minors.
But during these five at-bats, he managed to score four runs. Call this what you want: luck, good fortune, instinct, simply being in the right place at the right time, whatever. On a team like the Giants that is seemingly always finding new ways to kill rallies and hit into inning-ending double plays, a player with a little luck on his side sticks out like a sore thumb.
Like Brian Wilson anywhere.
2011 has been all the proof anyone would need that the Giants are not a lucky team. You can argue that they got some help from lady luck last season, but many of the same bugaboos that have haunted them this season are all too familiar to fans who watched the first half of 2010.
If Darren Ford can bring even a little bit of a human rabbit's foot-type vibe to the clubhouse for the rest of the year, it will be a major boost for the Giants.
Granted, landing on the DL at a time when your team is most in need of your services doesn't exactly scream good fortune, but watching Ford play leaves me feeling like the Giants are less cursed than say, watching Pat Burrell lamely fail to catch up to a fastball or seeing Aaron Rowand do basically anything.
5. The Element of Hope, However Irrational It May Be
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Ford not only gives Giants fans hope about the next generation of offensive prospects (which, let’s face it, aside from Buster Posey isn’t exactly blinding anyone with its glorious radiance), but himself possesses considerable audacity on the basepaths.
He is unafraid to run in a big moment, or to step up and make a big play when one needs to be made. He is the X factor the Giants have been looking for. He is what Dave Roberts would have been if Dave Roberts hadn’t been completely awful.
Darren Ford is the classic X factor player. He is a guy who believes in himself even though he maybe shouldn't. He is the Jason Terry of baseball. He is a player who so clearly has confidence that he will be successful that his confidence cannot help but translate to the fans.
And at this moment in the Giants season, when confidence and hope are hard to find, the skills that Darren Ford does have could far outweigh his shortcomings.
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