This weekend had to have been the toughest weekend of the young season. From the opening day loss to the Dodgers until yesterday's punchless loss to the Nationals the whole season has been a disappointment. It is still early, so hopefully the Giants get all of the disappointment out of the way early this season, but it is hard to get the nagging feeling of seeing it all fall apart out of your head.
The list of disappointment is long. The entire Giant offense, Madison Bumgarner's rough start, Brandon Belt showing he isn't quite ready for the show, Miguel Tejada, Pat Burrell's BA, and the long list of injuries.
I think that the biggest key to this season turning around is just getting everyone healthy. Obviously Pablo Sandoval's injury hasn't been the main contributor to the Giants' struggles but it is symbolic of them. Ever since opening day, more than one key piece of the Giants offense, bullpen, rotation, or defense has been on the disabled list.
The Giants opened the season with Cody Ross and Brian Wilson on the DL. Since they have come back, both have struggled. Wilson has had more success than Ross has had, but neither of them has really contributed in the way that the Giants hoped they would coming in to the season. Since that time, Andres Torres, Barry Zito, Mark DeRosa, Santiago Casilla, and Pablo Sandoval have all gone on the DL. All of these guys are major pieces to the puzzle and having one or 2 of these guys on the DL puts the Giants at a disadvantage. Having all 5 of them on the DL at once makes the Giants a completely different team than what they thought they were going to have when they left Arizona last month.
If the Giants can get healthy and get all of these guys back on the field, I think that they will be a much better team than they have shown to this point. Really, considering all the injuries and how many games the Giants have played on the road to start the season, the Giants aren't in too bad of a place being 1 game under .500. One good stretch can make everyone forget these early games and, as guys get healthy, I think we will see the Giants return to their winning ways.
Showing posts with label brian wilson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brian wilson. Show all posts
Monday, May 2, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Spring Training is too long
Today, the Giants found out that Spring Training is way too long.
In addition to getting blasted by the Angels 8-0. Cody Ross got injured, Matt Cain got lit up, and Brian Wilson had a setback in his recovery from what is being called an "oblique strain".
On second thought maybe spring training is long enough! This way the Giants can get all of these little injury bugs over and done with.
On the Cain's outing: He is just getting into the rhythm of things and he doesn't have the luxury of working the offseason kinks out against the minor leaguers the way the other pitchers did earlier in the spring. The guy who hit the 3 run bomb that made Cain's line for the day look so bad? Bobby Abreu. You may have heard of him. Of course we would all like to see Matty continue his scoreless inning streak from last postseason, but as far as I know nobody has ever posted a career ERA of 0.00. Although it would be nice to see one of the Giants' starters do it!
On Brian Wilson's injury: "People might think I'm superhuman, but ... correction. I am superhuman. But, realistically, in six days I'm not going to be 1,000 percent. I'm going to be 990. I'm just going to take it day by day." is what Wilson told reporters after his game of catch. I'm going to listen to him and take him at his word because as he said: "I know my body, I know what I'm capable of doing. I'm not worried about what other people are thinking. I'm going to do what the doctors tell me and control what I can control. Ideally, everyone would have liked to have me healed the night I was injured." I hope he is powering down the Red Bulls.
On Cody Ross' injury: I always get worried when I hear :"calf strain" for some reason this is as troublesome as the old "oblique strain". It sounds minor, but you get guys missing all kinds of time and their performance usually suffers after sustaining one of these injuries. Hopefully, Ross gets shut down for the spring and is OK for opening day. It might not help him be totally dialed in for opening day, but I would rather have him struggle for a few days rather than miss an extended period of time.
One silver lining that the Ross injury could have is that it could affect the possible trading of Nate Schierholtz. With an injury to Ross already staring them in the face, the Giants could be reluctant to part ways with their fourth best outfielder I don't know if it has entered their minds or not, but it's worth getting out there.
Only 7 more days!
In addition to getting blasted by the Angels 8-0. Cody Ross got injured, Matt Cain got lit up, and Brian Wilson had a setback in his recovery from what is being called an "oblique strain".
On second thought maybe spring training is long enough! This way the Giants can get all of these little injury bugs over and done with.
On the Cain's outing: He is just getting into the rhythm of things and he doesn't have the luxury of working the offseason kinks out against the minor leaguers the way the other pitchers did earlier in the spring. The guy who hit the 3 run bomb that made Cain's line for the day look so bad? Bobby Abreu. You may have heard of him. Of course we would all like to see Matty continue his scoreless inning streak from last postseason, but as far as I know nobody has ever posted a career ERA of 0.00. Although it would be nice to see one of the Giants' starters do it!
On Brian Wilson's injury: "People might think I'm superhuman, but ... correction. I am superhuman. But, realistically, in six days I'm not going to be 1,000 percent. I'm going to be 990. I'm just going to take it day by day." is what Wilson told reporters after his game of catch. I'm going to listen to him and take him at his word because as he said: "I know my body, I know what I'm capable of doing. I'm not worried about what other people are thinking. I'm going to do what the doctors tell me and control what I can control. Ideally, everyone would have liked to have me healed the night I was injured." I hope he is powering down the Red Bulls.
On Cody Ross' injury: I always get worried when I hear :"calf strain" for some reason this is as troublesome as the old "oblique strain". It sounds minor, but you get guys missing all kinds of time and their performance usually suffers after sustaining one of these injuries. Hopefully, Ross gets shut down for the spring and is OK for opening day. It might not help him be totally dialed in for opening day, but I would rather have him struggle for a few days rather than miss an extended period of time.
One silver lining that the Ross injury could have is that it could affect the possible trading of Nate Schierholtz. With an injury to Ross already staring them in the face, the Giants could be reluctant to part ways with their fourth best outfielder I don't know if it has entered their minds or not, but it's worth getting out there.
Only 7 more days!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The pitchers and catchers have reported!
This offseason I have been kinda lazy in my posting about The Giants. But now that we have some baseball related stuff actually happening, I am ready to get back in to the swing of things!
As I'm sure you already know, the pitchers and catchers reported to spring training yesterday and the first actual spring training game is in 10 days!
As for the team itself, nothing much to report. A quick view of the front page of Sfgiants.com reveals that Buster Posey is glad to get back to work, Tim Lincecum is driven by his stumbles last season, and the Giants are excited to begin their title defense. Pretty informative stuff!
The biggest surprise is that Pablo Sandoval is one of the few position players in camp already. There was no word of his weight so I hope that is good news since I would expect there to be plenty of articles about how he failed to get in shape if he didn't. We also found out that the ball from the last out of the World Series is in Brian Wilson's possession and it is safe inside of an unused candy jar.
That's pretty much it for now. I am counting down the days until the season starts and by the time I get this posted there will only be 9 more days until the first spring training game!
As I'm sure you already know, the pitchers and catchers reported to spring training yesterday and the first actual spring training game is in 10 days!
As for the team itself, nothing much to report. A quick view of the front page of Sfgiants.com reveals that Buster Posey is glad to get back to work, Tim Lincecum is driven by his stumbles last season, and the Giants are excited to begin their title defense. Pretty informative stuff!
The biggest surprise is that Pablo Sandoval is one of the few position players in camp already. There was no word of his weight so I hope that is good news since I would expect there to be plenty of articles about how he failed to get in shape if he didn't. We also found out that the ball from the last out of the World Series is in Brian Wilson's possession and it is safe inside of an unused candy jar.
That's pretty much it for now. I am counting down the days until the season starts and by the time I get this posted there will only be 9 more days until the first spring training game!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Giants win the Pennant! Uribe's bomb puts the Giants in the Series!
GIANTS 3 - PHILLIES 2
Maybe bomb isn't exactly the way to describe it. But it will show up as a bomb in the box score. As a matter of fact, it will probably go down as one of the biggest bombs in San Francisco Giants history!
I've had a night to sleep on it and I still can't quite wrap my mind around it.
The San Francisco Giants are going to the World Series!
The game itself was typical Giants baseball. It was tied 2-2 until the 8th inning until Juan Uribe stepped up to the plate with 2 outs and nobody on. Uribe hit a line drive over the fence in right field and the Giants had a 3-2 advantage. Tim Lincecum came on in the bottom of the 8th and looked like he probably shouldn't have been out there. He got a strikeout to start the inning but he gave up singles to Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez and then he was pulled in favor of the bearded one, Brian Wilson for a five out save. Some of that Giants magic showed up when he got Carlos Ruiz to line into a double play. The ninth was vintage Wilson torture but he made an absolute perfect 3-2 pitch to Ryan Howard to end the series looking.
The game had it's strange moment in the third inning. After Jonathan Sanchez hit Chase Utley in a situations where he absolutely could not afford to hit him. Utley flipped the ball back to Sanchez, they had some words, and the benches cleared. I don't know exactly what the reason for the benches clearing was but it happned. It ended Jonny no-no's night and it turned out to be the best thing that probably could have happened to the Giants. As Affeldt, Bumgarner, and Lopez came in and shut the Phillies down.
The Giants will go to the world series for the third time that I've been around to see and this team might be my favorite team out of all of them. The 1989 team will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first season that I followed baseball intently, the 2002 team had a few unlikeable guys, this team kind of reminds you of Robin Hood's band of merry men!
But this band of merry men is going to the world series, not sleeping in the forest!
I've had a night to sleep on it and I still can't quite wrap my mind around it.
The San Francisco Giants are going to the World Series!
The game itself was typical Giants baseball. It was tied 2-2 until the 8th inning until Juan Uribe stepped up to the plate with 2 outs and nobody on. Uribe hit a line drive over the fence in right field and the Giants had a 3-2 advantage. Tim Lincecum came on in the bottom of the 8th and looked like he probably shouldn't have been out there. He got a strikeout to start the inning but he gave up singles to Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez and then he was pulled in favor of the bearded one, Brian Wilson for a five out save. Some of that Giants magic showed up when he got Carlos Ruiz to line into a double play. The ninth was vintage Wilson torture but he made an absolute perfect 3-2 pitch to Ryan Howard to end the series looking.
The game had it's strange moment in the third inning. After Jonathan Sanchez hit Chase Utley in a situations where he absolutely could not afford to hit him. Utley flipped the ball back to Sanchez, they had some words, and the benches cleared. I don't know exactly what the reason for the benches clearing was but it happned. It ended Jonny no-no's night and it turned out to be the best thing that probably could have happened to the Giants. As Affeldt, Bumgarner, and Lopez came in and shut the Phillies down.
The Giants will go to the world series for the third time that I've been around to see and this team might be my favorite team out of all of them. The 1989 team will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first season that I followed baseball intently, the 2002 team had a few unlikeable guys, this team kind of reminds you of Robin Hood's band of merry men!
But this band of merry men is going to the world series, not sleeping in the forest!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Giants do just enough to beat the Rockies
GIANTS 2 - ROCKIES 1
The San Francisco Giants offense is like that guy at work who does just enough to get by. You all know that guy, the one who gets to work at 8:01 and leaves at 4:55. The guy who never volunteers for anything and then just barely gets things done when they are assigned to him. But then he loves to take all the credit when the boss is looking. Heck you might even be that guy (or girl)!
The Giants offense is definitely that guy.
After scoring 13 runs last night, the Giants were held to 3 hits and 2 runs. Both of which came on Pat "The Bat" Burrell's 2 run homerun in the seventh. Other than that, the Giants were looking as if they were just going to roll over and lose 1-0. Hell, the Giants didn't even get their first hit until the 5th inning.
But they did just barely outhit the Rockies 3-2 and they just barely outscored the Rockies 2-1 so they did just do enough to get by.
The reason the offense was able to just get by was because of the continued pitching dominance. Tim Lincecum showed why he is the reigning 2-time Cy Young award winner by going 8 strong innings and striking out 9. He allowed one run, 2 hits, and didn't allow a hit until the 6th inning.
The Freak's amazing performance extended the Giants string of pitching dominance. They have now gone 18 straight games allowing 2 runs or less and 22 straight allowing 4 runs or less. A string of 2 runs or less has not reached that many games since the 1917 Chicago White Sox strung together 20 straight. For the record, 1917 was in the dead ball era!
Brian Wilson came in in the 9th to close out a great game and preserve what has to be the most amazing string of pitching performances by any single staff in history.
I would love to see the offense score more runs and really work to get noticed. but with pitching like the Giants have right now, they don't need that much offense.
The fans need it though.
*Update*
I love how Burrell just put his head down and walked to first after he hit his homer which was an absolute bomb. Watch it here.
The Giants offense is definitely that guy.
After scoring 13 runs last night, the Giants were held to 3 hits and 2 runs. Both of which came on Pat "The Bat" Burrell's 2 run homerun in the seventh. Other than that, the Giants were looking as if they were just going to roll over and lose 1-0. Hell, the Giants didn't even get their first hit until the 5th inning.
But they did just barely outhit the Rockies 3-2 and they just barely outscored the Rockies 2-1 so they did just do enough to get by.
The reason the offense was able to just get by was because of the continued pitching dominance. Tim Lincecum showed why he is the reigning 2-time Cy Young award winner by going 8 strong innings and striking out 9. He allowed one run, 2 hits, and didn't allow a hit until the 6th inning.
The Freak's amazing performance extended the Giants string of pitching dominance. They have now gone 18 straight games allowing 2 runs or less and 22 straight allowing 4 runs or less. A string of 2 runs or less has not reached that many games since the 1917 Chicago White Sox strung together 20 straight. For the record, 1917 was in the dead ball era!
Brian Wilson came in in the 9th to close out a great game and preserve what has to be the most amazing string of pitching performances by any single staff in history.
I would love to see the offense score more runs and really work to get noticed. but with pitching like the Giants have right now, they don't need that much offense.
The fans need it though.
*Update*
I love how Burrell just put his head down and walked to first after he hit his homer which was an absolute bomb. Watch it here.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Giants pitching dominates! Offense? Not so much....
The San Francisco Giants played their seventh 1-0 game of the season last night. Bet you can't guess what their record is! I'll tell you at the end of the post.
Matt Cain reinforced his argument that he is the best Giants starting pitcher by going 6 shutout innings. He didn't have his strikeout stuff, but he only allowed 2 hits. Matt Cain, Ramon Ramirez, Sergio Romo, and Brian "Too Much Awesomeness" Wilson are the heroes of the game
The Giants offense strengthened their case to not receive any playoff shares.
Sure, he is still my leading candidate for rookie of the year and I would even go so far as to say he has a shot of NL MVP. But the Giants have scored 2 runs or less in 7 out of their last 10 games. Which means in case you hadn't realized means the pitching staff has carried this team.
Maybe Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean need to have a closed door meeting with all of the hitters like they famously did with the pitchers a few weeks back. I don't know. Bt the offensive drought has really got me worried. What happens if the Pitchers give up 2 runs one night?It's time for the offense to step up in a big way the rest of the season.
The Giant's record in 1-0 games this season is 2 wins, 5 losses. Ouch
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Aubrey Huff wills the Giants into first place
GIANTS 1 - PADRES 0
From the moment Jonathan Sanchez took the mound and rubbed out the "SD" logo that the grounds crew puts on the back of the mound, you knew it was going to be a tense game.
For the second time this season a Giants - Padres game has ended 1-0 with the deciding run having been scored without the benefit of a hit. After what has to be the worst 5 inning 1 hit shutout pitching performance I have ever seen the Giants were able to be the ones to score the run that decided the game.
The game was a statement game. It told the Padres that you can't just come out and beat us whenever you want. It also secured at least a series tie with the Pads which seems to be a minor miracle given the way the Padres have owned the Giants to date this season.
Leading off the 7th inning Aubrey Huff got hit by a pitch in the back of the right arm. He looked like he was in tremendous pain, but when the trainer came out to look at it Huff ran away from him and took first base while trying to work the pain out of his arm. “Funny bone. Tingling and numbness,” Huff said. “Just suck it up. I didn’t want to Roger Dorn it too much out there.”
With Pat Burrell batting, huff decided that he would steal second base. He barely made it to second kicking the ball out of David Eckstein's glove when Burrell swung trough the pitch for strike three.
The next batter was Jose Guillen and Huff violated the cardinal rule of not running to third on a groundball hit in front of you but he wound up being safe. “It was actually a dumb play on my part,” he said. “I thought it’d be in the hole. Once you go, you can’t stop. Good call there, I was safe. It’s not how you draw it up, not a smart play, but it worked out.”
Huff scored when Juan Uribe beat out the tail end of a double play thanks to Nate Schierholtz's takeout of every Giants' fan's least favorite second baseman. “I had it in my mind at first base,” Schierholtz said. “I knew on a ground ball, I had to go into second hard. I was able to slide late and he was right on top of the bag. I was able to get a piece of him."
Back to Jonathan Sanchez's strange outing. As I said earlier it was the worst 5 inning one hit shutout performance ever. It may not have been the worst shutout performance I have seen from a Giants pitcher. On Sept. 4, 1999 Russ Ortiz went 6 innings, walked 7 batters, allowed 2 hits, and struck out 8 Pirates. Now his outing could be classified as better since he lasted 6 innings and struck out 8. But he gave up 2 hits as opposed to Sanchez's one so I think Sanchez did a better job.
Brian Wilson had two great quotes to sum up the game and to talk about Sanchez's performance:
On Sanchez's brief night: "He knows we've got a lot of arms in the bullpen, He went 100 percent on every single pitch. You can't ask for anything better than that. And then our sixth-inning guy throws 100 mph. That's not bad, either."
On the game and his 5th 5 out save of the season: "This is what you prepare for. If you need a breather or a day off, go to bed early. You'll have to suck it up and play to win from here on out."
Bumgarner Vs. Stauffer this afternoon
For the second time this season a Giants - Padres game has ended 1-0 with the deciding run having been scored without the benefit of a hit. After what has to be the worst 5 inning 1 hit shutout pitching performance I have ever seen the Giants were able to be the ones to score the run that decided the game.
The game was a statement game. It told the Padres that you can't just come out and beat us whenever you want. It also secured at least a series tie with the Pads which seems to be a minor miracle given the way the Padres have owned the Giants to date this season.
Leading off the 7th inning Aubrey Huff got hit by a pitch in the back of the right arm. He looked like he was in tremendous pain, but when the trainer came out to look at it Huff ran away from him and took first base while trying to work the pain out of his arm. “Funny bone. Tingling and numbness,” Huff said. “Just suck it up. I didn’t want to Roger Dorn it too much out there.”
With Pat Burrell batting, huff decided that he would steal second base. He barely made it to second kicking the ball out of David Eckstein's glove when Burrell swung trough the pitch for strike three.
The next batter was Jose Guillen and Huff violated the cardinal rule of not running to third on a groundball hit in front of you but he wound up being safe. “It was actually a dumb play on my part,” he said. “I thought it’d be in the hole. Once you go, you can’t stop. Good call there, I was safe. It’s not how you draw it up, not a smart play, but it worked out.”
Huff scored when Juan Uribe beat out the tail end of a double play thanks to Nate Schierholtz's takeout of every Giants' fan's least favorite second baseman. “I had it in my mind at first base,” Schierholtz said. “I knew on a ground ball, I had to go into second hard. I was able to slide late and he was right on top of the bag. I was able to get a piece of him."
Back to Jonathan Sanchez's strange outing. As I said earlier it was the worst 5 inning one hit shutout performance ever. It may not have been the worst shutout performance I have seen from a Giants pitcher. On Sept. 4, 1999 Russ Ortiz went 6 innings, walked 7 batters, allowed 2 hits, and struck out 8 Pirates. Now his outing could be classified as better since he lasted 6 innings and struck out 8. But he gave up 2 hits as opposed to Sanchez's one so I think Sanchez did a better job.
Brian Wilson had two great quotes to sum up the game and to talk about Sanchez's performance:
On Sanchez's brief night: "He knows we've got a lot of arms in the bullpen, He went 100 percent on every single pitch. You can't ask for anything better than that. And then our sixth-inning guy throws 100 mph. That's not bad, either."
On the game and his 5th 5 out save of the season: "This is what you prepare for. If you need a breather or a day off, go to bed early. You'll have to suck it up and play to win from here on out."
Bumgarner Vs. Stauffer this afternoon
Monday, August 30, 2010
Giants literally throw the game away
Is it possible to hate the team that you love?
I guess it is because I hate the Giants right now. After doing all that they could to give the game away to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Giants found a way to give a game to the Colorado Rockies.
Not every Giant was trying to give the game away. Jonathan Sanchez threw 8 innings of shutout ball, I'm not counting the run in the 9th as earned even though the official scorer did, walked Dexter Fowler to lead off the 9th and was replaced by Brian Wilson.
Let's analyze this right here. Johnny No-No had thrown 108 pitches and, after getting ahead 0-2 to Fowler, he suddenly lost his command throwing 4 wide ones. Bochy was absolutely right in pulling Sanchez at this point and bringing in Wilson. Sure Wilson threw 30 pitches yesterday but Wilson was good for an inning tonight.
Wilson got Carlos Gonzalez to line out to Cody Ross....At least, that's what everyone thought. Ross played Gonzalez's liner into a triple and to make matters worse, Freddy Sanchez sent the relay throw into the Giants' dugout allowing Gonzalez to score.
Game over.
I have 2 complaints about this game.
First:
Why wasn't Nate Schierholtz manning rightfield? The only reason, that I can see, that he is even on the roster is as a late inning defensive replacement. Isn't that what you want in a late inning game? Boch, in his infinite wisdom, put Travis Ishikawa in at first base as a defensive replacement, which was absolutely the right move. Why not put in Nate? He would have thrown the ball all the way to third on the fly and we probably would be watching extra innings right now.
Second:
The Giants bats. It doesn't matter who they throw out there, how many runs they scored against the Reds, or how many runs they scored against the D-backs yesterday. This team has a tendency to just go in a top to bottom funk when it comes to hitting and it happens a LOT. Especially when Sanchez is on the mound and pitching well, look at the two 1-0 losses to the Padres that he took earlier this year. I'm not saying that they need to score 10 runs every night, I am just saying they need to score more than 1 or 2 runs a lot more.
The game recap on SFGiants.com is titled: Chance to gain ground slips by Giants. This is actually incorrect because the Giants have had 5 chances in a row to gain ground on the Padres and they are just 1-4 in those games.
Do these Giants really want to play in the postseason?
Following up on yesterday's post about the 2009 Giants and the 2010 team. It looks as if the 2010 Giants are trying to keep their record identical to last year's squad. Both teams own 72-60 records after 132 games. good thing is the 2009 Giants won game 133!
Down on the farm:
Brandon Belt 4-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
See you on Wednesday Mr. Belt. you can take that seat right next to Nate Schierholtz on the bench.
I guess it is because I hate the Giants right now. After doing all that they could to give the game away to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Giants found a way to give a game to the Colorado Rockies.
Not every Giant was trying to give the game away. Jonathan Sanchez threw 8 innings of shutout ball, I'm not counting the run in the 9th as earned even though the official scorer did, walked Dexter Fowler to lead off the 9th and was replaced by Brian Wilson.
Let's analyze this right here. Johnny No-No had thrown 108 pitches and, after getting ahead 0-2 to Fowler, he suddenly lost his command throwing 4 wide ones. Bochy was absolutely right in pulling Sanchez at this point and bringing in Wilson. Sure Wilson threw 30 pitches yesterday but Wilson was good for an inning tonight.
Wilson got Carlos Gonzalez to line out to Cody Ross....At least, that's what everyone thought. Ross played Gonzalez's liner into a triple and to make matters worse, Freddy Sanchez sent the relay throw into the Giants' dugout allowing Gonzalez to score.
Game over.
I have 2 complaints about this game.
First:
Why wasn't Nate Schierholtz manning rightfield? The only reason, that I can see, that he is even on the roster is as a late inning defensive replacement. Isn't that what you want in a late inning game? Boch, in his infinite wisdom, put Travis Ishikawa in at first base as a defensive replacement, which was absolutely the right move. Why not put in Nate? He would have thrown the ball all the way to third on the fly and we probably would be watching extra innings right now.
Second:
The Giants bats. It doesn't matter who they throw out there, how many runs they scored against the Reds, or how many runs they scored against the D-backs yesterday. This team has a tendency to just go in a top to bottom funk when it comes to hitting and it happens a LOT. Especially when Sanchez is on the mound and pitching well, look at the two 1-0 losses to the Padres that he took earlier this year. I'm not saying that they need to score 10 runs every night, I am just saying they need to score more than 1 or 2 runs a lot more.
The game recap on SFGiants.com is titled: Chance to gain ground slips by Giants. This is actually incorrect because the Giants have had 5 chances in a row to gain ground on the Padres and they are just 1-4 in those games.
Do these Giants really want to play in the postseason?
Following up on yesterday's post about the 2009 Giants and the 2010 team. It looks as if the 2010 Giants are trying to keep their record identical to last year's squad. Both teams own 72-60 records after 132 games. good thing is the 2009 Giants won game 133!
Down on the farm:
Brandon Belt 4-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
See you on Wednesday Mr. Belt. you can take that seat right next to Nate Schierholtz on the bench.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Giants dodge a bullet and Bochy is the whipping boy
GIANTS 3 - BRAVES 2
The Giants looked destined for a 2-1 loss last night. Then a couple of errors, a couple of walks, and a sacrifice fly later, the Giants were 3-2 winners in extra innings. They had 4 hits all night and all of the scoring was done on an RBI groundout, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly.
You might say the Giants were lucky. Brian Wilson said: "I don't feel fortunate, we won the game because we played the fundamentals of baseball and we lasted a little longer than they did. We're going to play like the stud ballclub we are."
I agree with Brian.
The Braves struck out 10 times last night against Barry Zito, who continued his excellent season on the mound, and 15 times total against the Giants pitchers. The Giants were outhit 4 to 6, but six hits isn't all that much better than 4 until you realize that the extra two hits from the Braves were homeruns. (By the way, all of the Braves runs in this series have scored via the longball) The Giants drew 8 walks to the Braves 2.
The reason all of this is important is because, after a 90 minute rain delayed start to the game, the Braves spent a lot more time in the field when they got to the crucial 9th inning. Because they had been putting the ball in play all night long rather than striking out, they had been putting pressure on the defense all night to make plays. That pressure finally got to the Braves when it mattered most and the Giants, like thegood stud ballclub they are, took advantage of it.
It seems like Bruce Bochy has come under more fire than ever before this week. Lefty Malo was all over him, so was the Bleacher report, hell there even is a fire Bruce Bochy facebook page! I have my problems with the guy like why is Juan Uribe still batting 5th instead of Pat Burrell? But really, would the Giants be any better than 63-47 with any other manager at the helm?
We will never know.
Link of the day:
Saturday August 14th is Bruce Bochy Bobblehead day at AT&T park. It makes me wonder how in touch with reality the Giants marketing department is. I mean seriously, do they really think that kids will be begging their parents to take them to the ballpark so they can get a bobblehead of THE MANAGER? Also, do they think that the fans actually like Bochy?
I don't know the answer to either of those questions but I have provided you with photographic proof that there is indeed a Bruce Bochy Bobblehead out there.
Oh and last but not least:
The game recap from the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Giants did indeed put in a waiver claim on Adam Dunn. They were blocked by a team with a worse record. Who do you think that team was? Well if you said the Dodgers then you would be correct.
I hate those guys.
The Giants looked destined for a 2-1 loss last night. Then a couple of errors, a couple of walks, and a sacrifice fly later, the Giants were 3-2 winners in extra innings. They had 4 hits all night and all of the scoring was done on an RBI groundout, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly.
You might say the Giants were lucky. Brian Wilson said: "I don't feel fortunate, we won the game because we played the fundamentals of baseball and we lasted a little longer than they did. We're going to play like the stud ballclub we are."
I agree with Brian.
The Braves struck out 10 times last night against Barry Zito, who continued his excellent season on the mound, and 15 times total against the Giants pitchers. The Giants were outhit 4 to 6, but six hits isn't all that much better than 4 until you realize that the extra two hits from the Braves were homeruns. (By the way, all of the Braves runs in this series have scored via the longball) The Giants drew 8 walks to the Braves 2.
The reason all of this is important is because, after a 90 minute rain delayed start to the game, the Braves spent a lot more time in the field when they got to the crucial 9th inning. Because they had been putting the ball in play all night long rather than striking out, they had been putting pressure on the defense all night to make plays. That pressure finally got to the Braves when it mattered most and the Giants, like the
It seems like Bruce Bochy has come under more fire than ever before this week. Lefty Malo was all over him, so was the Bleacher report, hell there even is a fire Bruce Bochy facebook page! I have my problems with the guy like why is Juan Uribe still batting 5th instead of Pat Burrell? But really, would the Giants be any better than 63-47 with any other manager at the helm?
We will never know.
Link of the day:
I don't know the answer to either of those questions but I have provided you with photographic proof that there is indeed a Bruce Bochy Bobblehead out there.
Oh and last but not least:
The game recap from the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Giants did indeed put in a waiver claim on Adam Dunn. They were blocked by a team with a worse record. Who do you think that team was? Well if you said the Dodgers then you would be correct.
I hate those guys.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Brian Wilson - shutting the door
GIANTS 5 - A'S 4
Despite what some in Giants nation seem to think, Brian Wilson is one of the better closers in all of baseball. It isn't always pretty, but he gets the job done. This season, he is 17 for 19 in save situations. Only Rafael Soriano, 16 for 16, and Mariano Rivera, 15 of 16, have less blown saves out of those who have 15 or more save opportunities. Add to that his 2.28 ERA, 39 Ks in 27.2 innings, and the fact that he is 2-0 on the season and you are talking about some pretty impressive stats.
Yesterday's game only solidified his status as an elite closer. BWeez came in with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 8th inning with the score 5-4...
Now let's stop right there for a few seconds. In order to appreciate exactly how tough this save situation is you need to look a little closer at the scenario. There is ZERO margin for error here. There are a ton of ways you can score from third base without a hit, especially with the bases loaded and less than two outs. A sacrifice fly, an error, a fielder's choice, a walk, a hit batter, a passed ball, a balk, catcher's interference, A suicide squeeze, and more. Not to mention the fact that almost any kind of hit not only ties the game but probably puts the Giants a minimum of 1 run down, oh and don't forget the fact that they have 2 chances to get that run home! After that, you still have to come back out and hold the lead in the 9th!
Wilson rose to the occasion. He struck out Adam Rosales and got Rajai Davis to ground to Juan Uribe to get out of the jam. The 9th inning did show some of why Giants fans are so afraid to see Wilson out there. After he got Daric Barton to fly out, Mark Ellis singled, Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out, and Jack Cust walked. All that did was just create a little bit of drama as Wilson got Landon Powell to ground out to Juan Uribe to end the game.
Wilson's high-wire act saved Barry Zito's team leading 7th victory (who would have thought we would be saying that this season?). Zito had a quality start, only allowing 2 runs on 2 solo HRs. He gave up a total of 6 hits and two walks.
You have probably heard by now that,after this win, Zito has defeated each of the 30 teams in baseball at least once. You have also probably heard that this is his first win against his former team. But you may not have known that Zito's career record is an amazing 108-6 when he gets 4 runs of support or more. It's even more mind boggling when you realize that his overall career record is 139-108. That means in 102 of his decisions he has received 3 runs or less of run support. You just can't help but wonder what his career numbers would be like if he wasn't on some of the offensively challenged teams that he has been on. (although during his first few seasons as a Giant he would have needed 6 or 7 runs of support to win a few of the games he pitched.)
The other good news from yesterday's game is that Pablo Sandoval hit his first homerun in over a month. But the story is a little more encouraging than just that. Pablo says he told Andres Torres, before the AB, that he was just going to look for a pitch and then hit it out. You can tell from the replays he was a little too excited to have hit a homerun that gave the Giants a 4 run lead in the 6th inning. The other good thing about the homerun is that it was an opposite field shot. Which when Pablo is right, he shows that opposite field power. Hopefully that homerun means he is on the verge of being right again.
The Big right hander, Matt Cain, is going today. That makes a sweep seem very attainable. It's going to be fun to see if he can keep this amazing run of starts going.
On the farm:
TACOMA 11 - FRESNO 10
Brett Pill had his first professional 5 for 5 day and hit his 8th HR of the season. He also had 3 RBIs. Brock Bond continued his streak of getting on base with a hit, Jesus Guzman was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. His average is now up to .298 after he had been down in the low .200s earlier in the season. Not a lot of positives on the pitching side with starter Matt Kinney giving up 8 ERs in 4.2 IP. Waldis Joaquin took the loss while giving up 2 ERs in 1 IP.
SAN JOSE 12 - BAKERSFIELD 9
Brandon Belt was 1 for 1 with 3 runs scored because he walked 4 times. Juan Perez went 2 for 5 to raise his average to .325. Charlie Culberson was 2 for 4 with a triple, he hit his 9th Homer of the season, and had 6 RBIs. Wendell Fairley was 5 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Nate watch:
Nate got an AB in the 8th and flew out to right. Burrell and Huff each contributed and, so far, have looked OK in the outfield. The only way Nate gets a start is if Bochy decides to rest Bengie and have Posey start at catcher. That, or if someone gets hurt. Even then, there is no guarantee that Nate starts in the OF.
Despite what some in Giants nation seem to think, Brian Wilson is one of the better closers in all of baseball. It isn't always pretty, but he gets the job done. This season, he is 17 for 19 in save situations. Only Rafael Soriano, 16 for 16, and Mariano Rivera, 15 of 16, have less blown saves out of those who have 15 or more save opportunities. Add to that his 2.28 ERA, 39 Ks in 27.2 innings, and the fact that he is 2-0 on the season and you are talking about some pretty impressive stats.
Yesterday's game only solidified his status as an elite closer. BWeez came in with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 8th inning with the score 5-4...
Now let's stop right there for a few seconds. In order to appreciate exactly how tough this save situation is you need to look a little closer at the scenario. There is ZERO margin for error here. There are a ton of ways you can score from third base without a hit, especially with the bases loaded and less than two outs. A sacrifice fly, an error, a fielder's choice, a walk, a hit batter, a passed ball, a balk, catcher's interference, A suicide squeeze, and more. Not to mention the fact that almost any kind of hit not only ties the game but probably puts the Giants a minimum of 1 run down, oh and don't forget the fact that they have 2 chances to get that run home! After that, you still have to come back out and hold the lead in the 9th!
Wilson rose to the occasion. He struck out Adam Rosales and got Rajai Davis to ground to Juan Uribe to get out of the jam. The 9th inning did show some of why Giants fans are so afraid to see Wilson out there. After he got Daric Barton to fly out, Mark Ellis singled, Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out, and Jack Cust walked. All that did was just create a little bit of drama as Wilson got Landon Powell to ground out to Juan Uribe to end the game.
Wilson's high-wire act saved Barry Zito's team leading 7th victory (who would have thought we would be saying that this season?). Zito had a quality start, only allowing 2 runs on 2 solo HRs. He gave up a total of 6 hits and two walks.
You have probably heard by now that,after this win, Zito has defeated each of the 30 teams in baseball at least once. You have also probably heard that this is his first win against his former team. But you may not have known that Zito's career record is an amazing 108-6 when he gets 4 runs of support or more. It's even more mind boggling when you realize that his overall career record is 139-108. That means in 102 of his decisions he has received 3 runs or less of run support. You just can't help but wonder what his career numbers would be like if he wasn't on some of the offensively challenged teams that he has been on. (although during his first few seasons as a Giant he would have needed 6 or 7 runs of support to win a few of the games he pitched.)
The other good news from yesterday's game is that Pablo Sandoval hit his first homerun in over a month. But the story is a little more encouraging than just that. Pablo says he told Andres Torres, before the AB, that he was just going to look for a pitch and then hit it out. You can tell from the replays he was a little too excited to have hit a homerun that gave the Giants a 4 run lead in the 6th inning. The other good thing about the homerun is that it was an opposite field shot. Which when Pablo is right, he shows that opposite field power. Hopefully that homerun means he is on the verge of being right again.
The Big right hander, Matt Cain, is going today. That makes a sweep seem very attainable. It's going to be fun to see if he can keep this amazing run of starts going.
On the farm:
TACOMA 11 - FRESNO 10
Brett Pill had his first professional 5 for 5 day and hit his 8th HR of the season. He also had 3 RBIs. Brock Bond continued his streak of getting on base with a hit, Jesus Guzman was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. His average is now up to .298 after he had been down in the low .200s earlier in the season. Not a lot of positives on the pitching side with starter Matt Kinney giving up 8 ERs in 4.2 IP. Waldis Joaquin took the loss while giving up 2 ERs in 1 IP.
SAN JOSE 12 - BAKERSFIELD 9
Brandon Belt was 1 for 1 with 3 runs scored because he walked 4 times. Juan Perez went 2 for 5 to raise his average to .325. Charlie Culberson was 2 for 4 with a triple, he hit his 9th Homer of the season, and had 6 RBIs. Wendell Fairley was 5 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Nate watch:
Nate got an AB in the 8th and flew out to right. Burrell and Huff each contributed and, so far, have looked OK in the outfield. The only way Nate gets a start is if Bochy decides to rest Bengie and have Posey start at catcher. That, or if someone gets hurt. Even then, there is no guarantee that Nate starts in the OF.
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