Frandsen Vs. Burriss 2nd base competition heating up

The SF Chronicle posted a good story on the Frandsen versus Burriss Spring Training competition for the 2B starting job.  According to John Shea:

“Frandsen is hitting .304 (one homer, three RBIs) in 11 games while his competition, Emmanuel Burriss, is hitting .355 (no homers, two RBIs) in 12 games. Frandsen has more power, Burriss more speed. Burriss, a shortstop until the second half of last season, might have a bigger upside – the Giants project him as a better second baseman than shortstop.”

I think Burriss’ speed should win that job.  When Shea says Frandsen’s got “more power” he’s referring to warning track power.  Frandsen’s not going to hit more than 8 homeruns as a starter, by my estimation.  Grant over at McCovey Chronicles projects Frandsen having significantly better AVG and on-base percentage numbers than Burriss over the course of the season.  I don’t know exactly how the voodoo works for projecting numbers over the course of a season for a player that was out injured the entire previous year, but I just don’t see Frandsen batting .284 with a .342 OBP.  Frandsen’s high average, OBP and HR totals are a big maybe.  Burriss’ speed is an absolute.

The absurdity of these position battles in baseball is that any player can catch fire for a few weeks and put up big numbers.  Based on the little Giants Spring Training action that I’ve seen so far, Burriss is a lot more explosive on the basepaths.  I saw him stretch a sure single into a double.  An infield grounder moved him to third, and then another infield grounder scored him.  Over the last few years I haven’t seen the Giants eek out many runs like that with only one hit in an inning.  I feel like we need that type of action on the basepaths a lot more than a warning track power second baseman.

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