by
Greek Giant
Todays Game: Giants (34-52) VS Tigers (37-46) at Al Kaline Field, 1:10 PM
Johnny Cueto (6-7, 4.26) Vs Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 6.34)
The Giants are closing in on the Dodgers. We got this.
Five Questions
- How difficult must it be to have a name like “Anibal” in a Major League locker room?
- Will Johnny Beisbol’s fastball top 93 MPH today?
- Should we be worried about MadBum’s awful outing yesterday in the Minors?
- What nickname should we give Hwang?
- Which Giant will go deep today?
Breckeroni predicts no Giants homers through 8 innings
Isn’t Hwang already a nickname?
Bochy calls him Hwanger.
You’re always interested in different anatomical nicknames.
One of the wags here (sorry, can’t remember who) suggested Jae-hey. Maybe a bit too loaded of a moniker to hang on a guy who’s only been up a week.
Hwang Hwang Doodle.
That would be Hwand Dang Doodle. Nice, Koko Taylor reference.
Hwang Dang Sweet P…..
1. Innings eater…
It’s a real negative when your center fielder has an arm as bad as Span’s.
Which Giants scouts signed off on his arm in CF? The bat works, the range and glove are passable…
Buster’s having a tough, tough series
I think Posey might be drunk.
Getaway day passed ball.
TO in 3…2….1…
Yep. He never makes a mistake without an excuse. This time it’s getaway day.
He never makes a mistake without a TO post.
He never gets a TO post when he does his many good things.
We got you figured out
I’ve said many times that he’s an excellent player. You’re just so in love with the guy that you can’t tolerate anything that you perceive as non-glowing being said about him
Untrue. But keep it up, Grumpy
Here is where your shtick is obvious to all but you: when you can’t stand a guy, you hunt for things. What I said about Posey was meant as a pithy comment, but you jumped on it and said it was an “excuse” for some one I “love”.
The facts are that I have and do , on occasion, criticize every player. But, it’s not my MO to wait, pounce and go negative at any chance on all players.
Oh, I have guys that annoy me. Moore and Span are my usual targets. So, I understand why you get annoyed. But, you get so upset ( yes….you do. I know you claim you’re not, but you are clearly upset on here constantly and cloak it in sophomoric sarcasm and smarmy commentary).
Yes, I do see Buster Zposey as a star. Yes, I give him. Ore rope. He earned it. That’s what MVP awards, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, Rookie if the Year and titles earn in my book.
One passed ball late in a lifeless loss. I said ” getaway day passed ball”. Should I have added ” he should have caught it” to make you feel better? It wouldn’t have worked.
You ONLY say guys like Posey and Curry are good as a defense when your absurd negativity is pointed out. Hey, it’s your gig. You won’t change. No issue there. But, as you call out players and posters who annoy you, so shall we.
May the Force of Gorkys be with you
Those Crick Ks were encouraging.
You can’t spell Crick without K.
Crawfords average may have tanked this past month and he is hitting a whopping .118 with a .145 OBP over his past 12 games, but he is on pace for 95 RBIs based on his 7 RBIs in those 12 games. Atleast he is driving in the runs.
You fan boy you, ha, ha .
fanboy 2hole, this made me laugh quietly within myself.
” Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
John Adams
***Scooter Gennett vs. Adam Duvall watch***
Gennett (.967 OPS) BB, Duvall (.874) K
You love to poke, trying to redeem yourself for the bad scouting job on Duvall, I get it .
Because of my bad call on Duvall, I lost my scouting card 🙁
But how about Scooter Gennett? Where’s the love for a little guy hitting the snot out of the ball.
#notslappy
I’m sure he’s one of the top discussion topics on Together We’re Brewers.
Good call. Claimed off waivers. Hey, at least the Giants didn’t lose Duvall to waivers 🙂
Gennett’s numbers, and the circumstances leading up to them, make me a little suspicious.
How about an Adam Duvall vs. Giants’ left fielders watch? Or the Adam Duvall vs. the rest of MLB watch?
Coming right up. Duvall is 11th among MLB LFers for wRC+. Giants LFers rank 45th out of 30 MLB teams.
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=lf&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=17,d
How about home runs, doubles, slugging and RBIs? You know…the real stats.
Have to have a way for adjusting for different ballplayers and offensive environments. Not fair to compare hitters in Denver to hitters in SF.
And then you have to take into consideration the type of run environments that bad teams with lousy pitching are part of. If a team is frequently in blowouts, the nature of their offensive stats changes. They don’t do this.
At any rate, Duvall is still doing quite well no matter which way you slice it. But there are a few other hitters doing quite well for Cincy, not including Joey Votto.
The limitations of your stat are demonstrated by the fact that Conforto is the leader.
I’m not seeing why Conforto being the leader is a bad thing. He’s having a killer year. Perhaps a look at the LF leaders in RE24, to at least see how good they are at creating runs vs. average?
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=lf&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=3&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=6,d
Y’know. I never use RE24, but am familiar with run expectancy. I take it that it does not use park factor? And uses tally of hits, walks, doubles, triples, HRs…
Yes, I don’t believe it’s league adjusted but not park adjusted, though it may be. It’s a much more useful way of looking at how well guys cash in their opportunities (since all batters don’t get the same opportunities). wRC+ is by far the best stat to see what a hitter is doing without context of baserunners. Combine it with RE24 and you can see who’s putting up a high wRC+ with lousy production, or a low wRC+ with great production. It doesn’t favor guys who just happen to come up in 1 out man on 3rd situations more often. It also seems, from what I’ve seen, to be the best way to determine how well a relief pitcher is doing.
Very interesting. I’ll pay more attention to RE24 from now on 🙂
What’s wrong with Conforto? He can hit. Giants would be thrilled to be able to draft the next Conforto next year.
I’ll put it this way. Today’s advanced stats are interesting discussion points, but they’re not definitive proof of anything. If none of them had ever been invented, no one would’ve had any trouble determining that today’s greatest players were today’s greatest players.
I think they’re more important in identifying the underrated and overrated players. Superstars stand out as superstars. Others need some help.
What’s so advanced about OBP – or not making outs? Confort has a .405 OBP. Is also slugging .548. I’m a bit miffed here.
It’s still odd how OBP isn’t something that gets brought up more. It’s literally “who makes less outs”. That seems way more important to me than “who gets on base by hit”.
Obviously, getting on base is good, and a walk accomplishes that, but it’s not as quite as good as hit. A hit has the potential of advancing runners on base further, as well as the batter himself, so an OBP that is comprised of a higher percentage of hits is better than one that includes a higher percentage of walks. Has anyone come up with a calculation that tries to quantify that difference?
The difference in value of a hit vs. a walk?
I mean as part of an overall calculation, like an adjustment to OPS.
I don’t know if it would actually add all that much. Hits are more valuable than walks, but not by much. “Productive outs” really aren’t as common as people think, and I think you know this. And double plays are brutal, knocking out 7.5% of your team’s scoring chances in one swing? Ouch. The effects of a single are more valuable right away. You see a hit, you see a runner advance and score. With a walk in the same situation you just see the bases get fuller. BUT it often leads to higher runs scoring as most players hit better the more runners are on. Believe me, I’m sure there have been several people who have looked into this.
None of that means that it results in an accurate ranking of players. As much as numbers guys try to fool everyone into thinking their stat du jour is the final word, the merits of one player vs. will always remain too subjective a topic for precise measurement.
You’re mostly right, but it’s a best educated guess. I’m impressed with Marcel Ozuna’s work in Miami. And what Daniel Murphy does with the stick impresses me too.
Duvall update just hit his 25th double, and drove in his 60th run of the season, so 19 HRs,,554SLG%,
NICE !! What did Gennett do?
So the silver lining in this loss is that after Stratton sucked, he was not bad. Got it.
I guess I missed it, but Brisbee pointed out that Johnson actually said “if you ignore the 5 earned runs, this is a great start!” Similarly, if you ignore all the outs, the Giants got a hit in every at bat.
Johnson is a homer – and not an HR. Pretty unbearable.
Giants farm arms have sucked for years since basically Wheeler was traded.
Beede is no guarantee to make it and they so desperately need him to be in the rotations soon instead of having to trade or pick up another expensive FA.
Classic Run Producer Leaderboard (OPS):
Judge, Votto, Harper, Goldie, Zimm, Murph, Springer, Jose Ramirez (CLE), Smoak, Conforto…22nd Posey….40th Duvall…74th Belt…
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=10,d
Classic run producing stats are runs scored and runs batted in.
gotcha, see below…
Nice one.
RBI leaderboard
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=7,d
Runs scored leaderboard
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=6,d
Duvall .554 SLG%, Posey .502 SLG%, Duvall 60 RBI, Posey 35 RBI, Duvall 25 doubles, Posey 17 doubles, Duvall 19 HRs, Posey 10 HRs, so how is Posey a better run producer , explain .
He’s a better hitter but he has fewer HRs and RBIs.
Duvall leads him in every category except singles Duvall 41, Posey 60, and Walks Duvall 21, Posey 32 .
Should they do away with the batting title and have the XBH title?
Posey will not win the batting title anyway , so does not matter, Brian Kenny is not impressed with the batting title, isn’t he your hero .
Spiderman is my hero.
To further confound matters, here’s them by RE24:
Posey, 7.99
Duvall, 7.89
They are back to back. And with their numbers, they should be higher. Meaning they’ve both been guilty of garbage time production.
what’s our boy, BB9 got going?
Belt is at 11.53 this year. Last year he finished at 29.04 (and in RE24 “0” is league average, so this is runs created above average). But his neighbors this season are Stanton just above, and Hosmer (amusingly) just below.
Duvall so in clutch just hit his 20th HR in the top of the 8th, and has driven in the last 2 runs for the Reds in a 4 to 2 game .
He’s really ruining the second season come down party some here were planning for him.
I had streamers and confetti ready to drop. Shows what I know. What an improvement in batting average!!
Like I said to CC, 30 HRs and 100 RBIs in a player’s first full season are a clear sign of real hitting talent. Players like that improve with experience.
Okay, but what say you about Dan Uggla? he put up big power numbers.
I’m impressed that Duvall has lowered his K rate and brought up the average. That shows hitting talent more than pumping long balls into the seats with low batting average to me.
Look at his splits, that’s where the answer to his increased success this year lay, not power.
Uggla had a great career, you just remember the end of his career, but he was a great run producer at 2nd base .
Yes Peter, we can all find instances of clutch players being not clutch and non-clutch players being clutch.
In other words, there’s no such thing as a “clutch hitter” per se.
We can only determine who is clutch after the fact. Some people think there is a magic clutch gene though (really it’s just people remembering select big moments)
Duvall this season:
High leverage: .214/.233/.464, 9:1 K/BB
Low leverage: .293/.346/.558, 3:1 K/BB
Who decides low leverage, any 0-0 game is high leverage to me, so 1st inning HR is high leverage .
I think this is pretty telling about Posey/Duvall this year. Here are their numbers in team wins vs. team losses:
Posey in wins: .352/.452/.543, in losses: .316/.385/.487
Duvall in wins: .400/.442/.840, in losses: .196/.241/.359
Now obviously, players are going to do worse in losses, that’s likely why the team lost! But Duvall this season has had a lot of games where he’s tacking on extra runs in blowouts, and far more games where he just rolls over when the team rolls over. Posey much more consistent game to game. RE24 ain’t wrong, both are producing less important runs that they should be for their batting lines.
Both play on losing teams and therefore have more ABs in garbage time than players on winning teams, right?
Doubles, triples also .
and runs scored
I thought the explanation is that OPS correlates with run production at the team level, but not individually.
OPS has nothing to do with run production, Posey has a much better On Base % than Duvall, and that’s why he has a higher OPS than Duvall despite Duvall having a SLG% .60 points higher than Posey . Run producer is scoring and driving in runs and Duvall has way more RBI and runs scored than Posey .
OPS has literally every single thing to do with run production. It’s literally “not making outs and hitting for extra bases”. A high OPS means without a doubt that runs are being created.
Mrs. TF and I now at Highland Brewery, doing our second four-sample taste test of the trip. These guys got it down: four 5 oz. samples for $8.00! I went with their Gaelic Ale, Highland IPA, Real Big IPA (can you tell I like IPAs?), and a nice Black Mocha Stout.
A 4-2 road trip? I can live with that. Now get home and beat the Marlins two of three and we finish the first half strong.
Giants Beer Goggles are a great thing
Looks like Disqus erased my beer drinking post?
Well, I saw it for awhile. Oh well….
Go Brewers!
https://opentabs.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/bernie_web.jpg
Inner-ear infection. Late scratch, only about 40 min before the game. Poor Chris Stratton had to make his first major league start with literally no notice.
Thanks. How did Stratton look? Gave up give earnies, but did they hit him hard?
Didn’t see the game, either–working
John Jay pitching for the Cubs. Maddon is so cool
Duvall hits his 20th to give Reds a 4 to 2 lead, trying to keep the Giants in wild card race, adjust your numbers Ryan .
Gennett has a double and 2 walks. Maintaining his OPS lead over Duvall.
Coors is great place to pump your stats – as is Cincinnati !
Posey’s numbers are better at home .
Cargo is having a terrible year at Coors .
9 HRs at home, 11 on the road. Overall, his numbers are a little better at home this season, but were better on the road last season…but keep trying.
He sucks at home. He should have 15 at home by now and therefore 26 total!
Ok. Nice angle.
I’d take a .280/.320/.550 hitter batting 5th any day of the week. Know where Giants can find one of those? It certainly isn’t coming from Parker or Williamson.
A related question is whether they can recognize one if they find one.
If he does well in his 6 AB tryout, then he’s in!
Would still have to adjust Duvall’s #’s to SF.
.265/.305/.500 ? Sound about right to you?
He might have a couple less HRs, because he has hit some to RF, but they’d still be doubles in San Francisco. I don’t think his numbers would be much different.
He doesn’t hit many cheapies. He’s a power hitter, and when those guys hit them, they go, even in San Francisco. Nolan Arenado and Jay Bruce have proved that, repeatedly.
Bob Nightengale@BNightengale 7s7 seconds ago
Congratulations to #Dodgers Justin Turner and #Royals Mike Moustakas for winning Final All-Star votes
I agree with that, good picks by the fans .
Quite an NL panel to vote from. Who did Belt beat out last year? I forget.
The Giants first baseman secured his first spot on the National League roster for Tuesday’s All-Star Game at San Diego by drawing 10.4 million votes. That total, which Belt reached with an avalanche of online balloting in Friday’s final hours of voting, enabled him to leapfrog Pittsburgh left fielder Starling Marte, who forged ahead the day before. Colorado shortstop Trevor Story, Arizona third baseman Jake Lamb and Milwaukee left fielder Ryan Braun were the other candidates Belt outdistanced through the mixture of texting and tweeting from his backers.
That’s right, Lamb. Well he made no doubt about his entry this year.
So not a single Cub from the World Series team, and the defending NL MVP doesn’t get a nod. That just seems wrong to me.
If they just went on defending Gold Glove award winners, Giants would have 3 starters.
Had to be at least one Cub, right? Not from last year? Drawing a blank on who made it this year.
The entire infield plus a few others were voted in by the fans.
Wade Davis made it this year. He wasn’t on the Cubs last year.
Thanks. Just one player. Interesting.
I get that the Cubs are having a disappointing year. But you’d think the fans would still have some leftover gratitude for the team that ended a 108-year drought.
I’m not one who thinks the only criterion for an All-Star nod should be the first two months of that particular season. A defending MVP or Cy Young winner should be on the team–especially when that MVP is also on the defending World Series championship team.
If you ever want a real life display of front runner fans, I offer you the Cubs. Though there were MANY of their fans who have been through it all, and they deserve the utter joy and relief they felt last season, too many are simply selfie-taking, intagram posting, social coolness seeking folks that are refocusing their attention to the next cool thing like the cat and the laser light.
You don’t think there are plenty of Giants fans like that?
Sure. I was talking Cubs. I have posted similarly about the Giants if you had paid attention prior
You just described most of the “new” Giants fans dude.
I disagree, an “in season” all star nod should solely be for the season in question. If not, then the same people would continue to be on the team because of sentimentality and “past performance”.
It’s not a feel good nod or a popularity contest, should stay performance based for the season in question.
No need to fix what ain’t broke.
I always look at the last calendar year when voting. I think it’s stupid that every year people vote for one 3 month period, and the 2nd 3 month period gets totally ignored. I want to see who’s been deserving it for an entire year.
then obviously you’re looking at it wring dude, that’s all on you
Ha, naw. I’d much rather have actual stars than someone like Nunez who put up a hot 6 weeks and was on a bad team. Ignoring half a season of play is looking at it wrong?
I agree. I think the previous season’s achievements should be taken into consideration along with the first half of the current season. Otherwise, some guy who had a great first half and fades badly afterwards (think Joc Pederson in 2015) is an “All-Star” but someone who was MVP the previous season is not. That doesn’t make any sense.
It’s an exhibition game for entertainment. It doesn’t count for anything now that it doesn’t determine the World Series home field. So yes, I’d say it is both a feel-good event and popularity contest. Who wants to watch some schmoe who had a good couple months instead of the biggest stars in the game who’ve proven themselves over time?
Unfortunately that’s how your “friend” BB9 made it last year. So a hypothetical: if BB9 or any player had a great first 2 months of the season every year, and then tailed off every one of those years for the remainder of the season – and did this every year for 10 years. As a result, he makes the all star team every one of those 10 years. For example, let’s say BB9 does this very thing every year the same as he did last year. Ten all star games! Is he a hall of famer?
..more to the point, is he really – should he be considered – an all star?
Belt got rewarded for more than a hot couple months. The calendar year leading up to the AS Game saw him hitting .294/.389/.502 for a 145 wRC+. This was not some first half darling.
I thought he was rewarded for his fan base being more tech savvy than the others. That process for the last guy seems like a dumb gimmick to me.
You’re fooling yourself if you believe Belt’s (s)election to the ASG had much or anything to do wirth his 2016 performance.
Correction: meant to say 2015
That’s not why he was put on the final 5, but looking at his calendar year numbers showed he more than belonged there, is what I was saying.
Well that’s true, he had ASG worthy numbers
first of all that is the only time you will see Belt and HOF in the same sentence.
That’s not going to happen because the cream always rises.
All the end of the year awards celebrate the previous season’s accomplishments. This is a new season, how hard is it for you to grasp that.
Take both Bellingers and Judge’s seasons out of the gate, things like that need to be celebrated and cherished. I don’t need to see the same guys all the time, get some new blood in the showcase.
You missed my point regarding my hypothetical as it applied to Belt and the ASG. Anyway, I came way before you regarding my assessment of him. My opinion was already thoroughly attacked followed by my decision to mostly stay out of any further convo about before your first post in here I was aware of. We’re on the same page there.
You’re looking at it in a vacuum. Players can/should get in for different reasons. You’re deluding yourself if you think it’s not a popularity contest once the vote was given to the fans. Which is why I’ve never voted. Take that vote away and you’ll be closer to an ASG you (and I) would prefer. And there are perennially great players who might be having down years I would rather see than a 2 month wonder.
One future Hall of Famer passes another one.
http://m.mlb.com/video/v1580276983/miastl-ichiro-passes-carew-on-alltime-hits-list#
Wrigley gives their boy a round of applause
http://m.mlb.com/video/v1580036683/milchc-schwarber-receives-a-standing-o-in-return#
Clutch I learned recently that Coach Liggett of Carlmont passed away last month. Won 1,000 HS softball games, most ever apparently, and had just retired last year. I knew him pretty well, my HS girlfriend was on his softball team. I hate to hear it when people retire then pass so quickly.
Before that, he was a really good baseball coach at Carlmont.
I played there in the late 70’s, he was already coaching softball by then. How are you aware of him?
I played for a baseball coach who coached against him
One of my former opponents, A’s manager Bob Melvin just won his 500th with the A’s, good for him. We always killed his M-A team though, even with him hitting .500 with lots of pop back then.
M-A always the bridesmaid, never the bride in baseball.
PS35 – after Coach Liggett retired he went down hill fast with apparently ALS attacking him. Like you said he was quite a MAN. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/sports/legendary-coach-dies/article_0293fe1e-4b3c-11e7-81ad-2f9dd05851e7.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/06/legendary-carlmont-softball-coach-dies-at-76/
Tim Tebow Watch:
just 31 PAs in A+ St. Lucie, but .360/.500/.640, 2 HRs, 5 Ks
I love Tebow.
Tebow for Gorky!
Please!!!
TWG style probability links, and therefore causal relationships. We are a funny, odd species.
https://i.imgur.com/JsmLLTz.png
Hahahahaha, that’s awesome. So random.
LOL, we see what we want. Correlation isn’t causality, except at TWG from time to time.
I missed the game so I was shocked when looking over the statistics to see that Stratton started. From his line in the box score it looked like control was his major problem. Crick gave up a run but the good news appears to be his K line … getting 3 of 4 outs via the K. Though it didn’t work out, I like the youth movement. By the way, who was supposed to start tonight before Stratton was inserted?
Cueto. Scratched 40 min before the game with an inner-ear infection. Rough way for Stratton to get his first major league start.
Ooh geez!! All ear infections hurt (I’ve had 15, believe it or not) but labyrinthitis can lead to a persistent condition that can last for six weeks. The worst part is that they really don’t know what causes labyrinthitis. Let’s hope he has the form of this disease that manifests as a quick, hit-and-run attack. We can’t seem to buy a break as a team.
I’ve had middle-ear issues for nearly a year that have caused periodic dizzy spells. And I don’t have to balance on one leg on a pitcher’s mound and throw a baseball.
Yup. If you’re dizzy the mound probably feels like it’s five feet high. I was lucky because I always got an outer ear infection with one exception (middle). Poor Johnny is probably nauseous as hell and maybe vomiting. I looked up labyrinthitis on Wiki and our best hope is that he got the single attack or multiple rapid attacks kind. Then he wouldn’t have to go on the DL. However, if it’s the sustained form, he’s definitely out ’til August at least.
That means they can’t trade him and, assuming he walks, all they get is a draft pick in the comp round. Sighhhhhh
Ugh … so it’s a lose-lose situation. Just what we needed … NOT!!! All teams suffer crippling blows during a season but last year and this we seem to be getting way more than our fair share of prolonged absences. I guess if there’s a silver lining to this dark cloud it’s that we’ll get lots of observation time with our youngsters.
Yikes. I hate that. Went thru about a five year bout til it was correctly diagnosed as Minneares Syndrome. A very low sodium intake fixed that. Dr explained excessive amount of salt traps water and when it hits the ear it can cause vertigo. No more sunflowers seeds. Been about 10 years now.
I have pretty chronic sinus issues–had surgery some years ago–and when they get clogged, it affects my ears and leads to vertigo. Interestingly, I had dental surgery right before Christmas, and they put me on antibiotics to prevent infection. I didn’t have a dizzy spell for two months after that. My theory is the antibiotics also calmed down whatever was going on in the ears/sinuses, too.
You sound like me, Doc. If they cut my head off just about all of my earthly maladies would instantly disappear.
Better or worse in AZ than in CA?
Actually my allergies, ear problems, and clogged sinuses have gotten better in AZ. I always suffered in the Bay Area during those early Spring windy, damp days. It was 60 days of unrelenting a-choo. I do, however, miss those temperate Bay Area temps.
Well, that’s good. But hoo boy, the heat you all have had! It was terrible here a couple weeks ago, but I was talking to a guy from Phoenix who told me it was so hot that planes had to be grounded.
When it’s like 118 degrees, the air in the Phoenix area has no body to it and small, regional airlines had insufficient lift to take off. Tomorrow’s supposed to be 116 but thereafter we dive to seasonal norms in the 105 range. Believe it or not, I find 105 tolerable enough to exercise outside. However, at 118 I go to the air conditioned fitness center. I’m not brave enough to risk heat stroke.
Ah ha. So it has Nothing to do with melting rubber and gaskets?
Reminds me of The Martian. Not enough atmosphere for storms like that.
There’s lots of desert mythology about melting tarmac and disintegrating rubber. In fact, the sun and heat down here have the most negative impact on car paint. The air may be thin here but the 100 days of 100 degrees sure has a bad impact on car paint.
If it’s 120 in downtown Phoenix is the tarmac 140?
I don’t know but it is a tad sticky.
Meniere’s Syndrome is weird because of the salt sensitivity. However, the low sodium diet was a blessing in disguise for you. Your blood pressure will thank you later for it.
Definitely.
So let’s review. Cueto’s been considered a trade chip. He struggles with blisters and has to miss his last start before the All-Star break with an ear infection.
Nunez is absolutely a trade chip, except that he’s a rental who hasn’t played in weeks because of a hamstring injury.
Melancon might have been a trade chip for a contender desperate for a closer–except his chronic arm problems have him on the DL for the second time and he’s been ineffective all season.
So the Giants have hardly any trade chips, even hypothetical ones–and they’re all broken right at the wrong moment.
The 2017 Giants: Together We’re Snakebit (having someone get bitten by a snake is about the only thing that hasn’t happened yet)
Not sure of the bigger disaster, Trump or the Giants? Trump still has a shot at whirled peas though.
Trump. Not even close. This is just a baseball season, and the Giants have played better the last couple weeks, and there are some fun bright spots to watch now with Hwang and Slater. I wish Crick got to pitch more.
If they can’t trade anybody and fall out of top 10 pick, it’s gonna be real close 😨
Nah. Baseball’s just a game. Trump is real. North Korea is real. 23 million people losing health care is real. I could go on, but you get the idea.
The Giants will make some trades. If Belt is one of them, there goes their HR/RBI leader and a surehanded glove at 1B. That might help with the tanking for the draft pick. Same if they trade Samardzija.
Trump is just a symptom of the real disaster: human behavior.
True that. Good talk. I’m going to go cry myself to sleep now. 🙁
Think of the trophies. Think of the good times, mostly before the internet. And I don’t think they’ll actually trade Belt. Posey is catching until retirement does him part, right?
I have never believed previous rumors that they’d trade Belt because they never really had anyone coming up behind him. They do now with Shaw/Jones. And if those young guys are not quite ready this year, so what?–The Giants aren’t going anywhere.
I think they’d have to get a nice offer for Belt because they’re not just going to dump him for nothing, and with his salary, maybe that doesn’t happen. I’m just not going to be surprised if it does this time.
I bet the team takes its time re Belt. After all, no one is going to buy out his four years of $16M/year. They have the luxury of giving time for Shaw/Jones to develop. Meanwhile, bad BA or not, he is driving in runs.
Politically, you and I are definitely on the same side. Trump is turning the White House into a place out of which NO information comes. I’ll never forgive him for getting out of the Paris Accords. This one graph says it all:
https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/
Crick looks great! Much to everyone’s surprise.
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2017/7/6/15930798/sf-giants-tigers-recap
R u serious, Foots.
Read this and get back to me:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/opinion/noam-chomsky-on-trump-and-the-state-of-the-union.html?smid=fb-share
Thank you Paul. I had not read anything from Chomsky since the Trump disaster. Chomsky is definitely My Guy.
Of course I’m not serious about comparing the state of a palliative, distracting baseball team with the converging crises of humankind.
But I am inclined to borrow a note from The Oracle. There is no point to hysterics about about the failed real estate magnate, Trump. Our behavior is the problem. Hegemony. Profligacy. Industrialism. Obsequious obedience to doctrine and “faith”. Supporting political figures and parties that not support our/their own interests.
Lefty is right. Take it all in and you do want to cry self to sleep or walk around in existential daze.
Amen Hermano.
I think one can take it all in and still survive. As Chomsky notes, paying witness to the madness is his motivator.
Way to get it started, Tapper
Shhhhhh. Buzz off, whiner.
Wow. Just wow.
Soon.. We play Arizona in a few weeks
uff da.
🙁
My Guy, Robbie Ray, fanning 13 Dodgers in 6 innings. Nice! Just about Rodney time.
Beedah manages to lower his ERA in Albuquerque to 5.01 in spite of 2 hit batters and 10 hits allowed.
Ronnie Jebavy with three hits for San Jose including a double and triple. Move him up!
Heliot went deep again.
And Lamb had two bombs!
I’d love to get that guy on our team but we’d have to give away the whole farm. He’s a force of nature.
I’m surprised Jebavy is still in SJ. Didn’t he move up to Richmond with Duggar last year? Has he been injured? I remember seeing him playing CF and Duggar playing RF last June in SJ.
Jebavy stayed in SJ last year. Not good year with bat. Injured to start this year
Uh oh. Game not over yet…
I think “Rodney time” is just about over for the DBacks. I think he’s got 6 blown saves to go along with 6 decisions, 3 of them losses. His ERA is 4.45 and last year he blew up in Miami at 5.89. I don’t understand Arizona’s reluctance to make the brain dead obvious decision to make Bradley the closer.
Fernando Rodney about to give the Dodgers a 4-1 come from behind win. WTH
Need a miracle
Yeah. They just pulled him with the score tied, bases loaded and no outs. A miracle. Indeed. And nothing short of one.
Ahhh man. He had been on a nice run
Yep. He has those bouts tho.
Rodney is 40 years old and, to my mind, a sure sign that the DBacks bullpen has serious weakness if a middle-aged man is their closer. When Rodney blows up he does it big time … 4 walks and no outs!!
Yep. Your right. Saw a lot of him in Seattle. With the amount of saves he had, there was always the feeling he’d implode.
His 3.72 career ERA as a reliever is very unimpressive and his 1.35 career WHIP for a reliever is just flat bad. You want your starters to have a 1.25 WHIP and your relievers more like 1.10. The mystery is why Luvullo left him in there for all four walks.
I got the feeling he hung him out to dry. You don’t see it at the MLB level much, but maybe he was flipping off the FO by doing so. It was strange to leave him out there. It was clear cut he didn’t have it.
You’d think the SECOND walk would get him yanked in a critical situation especially given that the DBacks are seriously in contention. You don’t let a 16-year veteran humiliate himself like that. It was weird.
Time to move Bradley into closer role and get some additional pen help via trade.
I totally agree. In fact, Bradley’s talent is so obviously superior to Rodney’s that I’m mystified they’ve got him in set-up mode.
The other day I was looking at the NL Saves leaders and was caught by surprise that Rodney’s name was there. HIs success was in the AL and that was 3 seasons ago…so it seemed like the D-Backs were replicating the Giants “wish upon a star” tactics…like they did with Casilla last season.
I still can’t get past the way he wears his cap. 🙂
Heliot Ramos with another HR tonight. Not bad.
Under “It Could Be Worse” … A’s #1 Pick, 3B Austin Beck: same league as Ramos; 21 AB’s batting .048
http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=675648#/career/R/hitting/2017/ALL
Ramos hitting .458
wow – we’ve gone so deep, we hold up small sample sizes in instructional league. The Internet and the Modern Baseball Fan. Sounds like a working title for somebody with some writing and research chops. Lefty, you want to do a sabbatical and write that book you’ve always wanted to write?
I admit I am grasping at straws.
Yes, it is a sign that so many things have gone wrong this year.
I think the Giants must play better than .500 ball this second half or their going into Baseball Depression.
But as for those A’s, I can’t believe Giants and A’s haven’t played yet. It’s time for the Battle of the Bay! Will the A’s have made their trades before meeting while the Giants stand pat? No Yonder Alonso? No Doolittle and Madson? No Jed Lowrie? And no Sonny Gray?? Just kids in Green and Gold (albeit a future starting to look pretty good).
Richmond picked up a win yesterday (35-49 overall), thanks to the batsmanship of CJ Hinojosa (3 for 5, 2 runs) and Miguel Gomez (2 for 5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI).
Hinojosa is batting .295 overall at Richmond this and now batting over .400 in his last 10 games.
Gomez has a .788 OPS on the year, and is batting over .300.
Both are certainly worthy of a move up to AAA. And if somebody came knocking for Joe Panik, there is an ample supply of players on the farm that can audition to fill the void, and be capable of a league average job.
I just saw a rumor on Twitter via a prospect watcher that Gomez is getting called up–to the Giants–for (at least) the weekend. Seems a bit odd to me unless someone’s either banged-up or about to be traded. But Gomez is on the 40-man, so if they need a 2B for some reason, he’d make more sense than whoever they’ve got in AAA, I guess. We’ll see if it turns out to be true. Be good for my MyGuy™ score, anyway.
Good for MyGuy™ results too … feeling a bit like the Giants Season as I picked:
Duggar (lingering injury; 2 games played)
J-Greg (PED suspension … automatic drop to Last Place in MyGuy™)
Martin Agosta (TJ recovery; not ready yet)
Aaargh, that’s rough. Mine are a mixed bag so far:
SF: Moore (aarggghh), Panik (not bad)
AAA: Okert and Slater (both on the big club)
AA: Gomez (nice year), Moronta (injured)
A+: Halstead (promoted to AA), Miller (bad year)
A: The all-Sandro team–not much to write home about there
Maybe next week 22’sSweetSwing and I will get some MyGuyNumbers™ out as a distraction from the MLB to the Farm System; from the Present to the Future.
As a preliminary I might take the time to add up how we have all done in the past two years. I suspect you will have a high average; Bapah seems near the top too.
I will be in the cellar. Blach in the majors is my shining light, but after that I’ve chosen Pence, and no one at all who has received a promotion. Well, 2017 is that kind of year.
The Bobby Evans MyGuy score is wildly inconsistent
Mine are not very great either:
SF: Panik and Cueto — neither having a great year
AAA: Arroyo (promoted but injured) and Beede (struggling)
AA: Gomez (very good!) and Slania (two promotions? but backwards numbers)
A: Reynolds (good) and McCasland (good outing last night to improve to 4-8)
A: Heyward (struggling) and DJ Myers (whoops!)
Mixed bag
SF Pence Blach
AAA Arroyo Beede
AA Cole Slania
A Reynolds Slatton
A Fabian Woods
Mine are doing great! Who are they, btw?
You LuckyForgetfullScout™
You actually have some winners in here:
MLB: Panik, Blach
AAA: Hwang, Beede
AA: Cyr, Shaw
A+: Arenado, Krook
A : Heyward, Solter
He’s your guy too? 🙂
MyGuy™Gomez … HaakAway, DrLefty, Skweez, stevek
Wait, I got that wrong. Hinojosa is my guy and not the one on the 40 man. I’m getting those two hitting two-baggers confused already.
CJ Hinojosa is your ExclusiveMyGuy™ this year and he has brought up his wRC+ from 81 to 102 but no promotion/bonus yet.
I decided to try to get a competitive edge by going with Gomez rather than Shaw, whom I figured a lot of people would pick for their AA guy. I thought with being on the 40-man, there was a decent chance Gomez could get promoted and I’d get a bonus. 🙂
Other than his first go-around in the AZL, Gomez has hit at every stop. Doesn’t walk much, but he doesn’t strike out much, either.
Applying strategy to MyGuy is just NOT FAIR!!
Probably sending Stratton back down to make room for your MyGuy.
That’s probably right. Stratton can’t pitch this weekend after 106 pitches yesterday, so he can’t help them. Unless they want to call Law up for the weekend, there’s no one on the 40-man in Sac to bolster the bullpen. So maybe another bat would make more sense.
Wow, just looked at the Giants’ 40-man. Other than pitchers already on the SF roster, there’s just:
Law
Slania (back in Richmond starting)
Gregorio (suspended)
Chase Johnson (TJ surgery)
Moronta (injured)
Remember when the Giants had like 25 pitchers on their 40-man roster a few months ago? The depth is…not as deep.
I guess I don’t understand the alchemy that is the 40-man roster. Why would a player that is suspended or out for the year due to injury continue to take up space on the 40-man?
If you are on the 60 day DL, you can be counted as a 41st man, but in that case when you are recovered, you have to go back on the 40-man, and somebody else has to be cut.
A season ending injury is a no-brainer for this rule, but it is kind of tricky if a guy misses 3 months but can come back.
He doesn’t actually take up space. I think it’s the same as someone who’s on the 60-day DL…there, but not there.
No knocking for Joe Panik, please 🙂
The more we talk about it, the more certain I am that trading Belt or Panik mid-season would be a mistake. We’re more likely to get better return in the offseason, IMHO. Belt’s my #1 MyGuy, but we are deep with prospects at 1B.
Given the number of good hitting poor defenders in most organizations and the feeling by many that 1st base is a defensive position that can be played by just about anybody, maybe almost every team is”deep with prospects at 1B”.
Perhaps 1st basemen should always add the descriptor, good, or excellent, 1st basemen. In this organization, there are numerous 1st basemen, I know of only one excellent 1st baseman.
What freaks me out about anyone discussing Panik in a trade is this…
1. He’s a Golden Glover.
2. The best #2 slot hitter since Scutaro…and Freddy Sanchez before him. GIants won 2014 WS with him in that slot. Surprise!…after Bochy placing Belt and others in the #2 slot…guess who’s back there?
3. He’s only 26.
This has been a position they’ve had problems filling in the past…and they trade that away? Proven player…in a key position for this team…so you keep him. Arroyo can play 3B.
I’m hoping most of this chatter is just noise in a bad season. As much as i didn’t want Duffy traded, he was NOT Panik. For all the reasons you point out and more. By the way, this goes for Belt for slightly different reasons.
Downgrading one position to upgrade another is idiotic.
Agree. It would be a head-scratcher to trade Panik. He’s a young, inexpensive guy you’d want to keep and build around.
Unless…they feel they can trade from organizational depth to bolster other weaknesses (outfield, bullpen, rotation):
Arroyo or Gomez can play 2B–IMO, Arroyo looked so good there he might end up being as valuable defensively as Panik is
Hwang or Arroyo can play 3B
Other interesting infielders in the lower minors–Hinojosa (SS) in AA, Howard (SS) in SJ…
“Arroyo looked so good there he might end up being as valuable defensively as Panik”…based on….what? Sorry…I just can’t make that leap after a few games.
Based on a game or two where he played 2B when Panik got a day off and I actually thought it WAS Panik. I agree it’s a leap. Panik is stellar out there. I don’t want them to trade him, either. But they may feel they have to do something to re-tool, and with Cueto ill and Nunez injured, their options may be limited. So…Panik. Or Belt. Or Samardzija. I don’t WANT any of that to happen. But I can’t rule it out.
We certainly aren’t used to this Deck Chairs potential for a team that has been stellar for many years overall…I just think all of the “retool, not rebuild” talk out of the organization is close to the truth, and I would highly doubt either Panik or belt gets used in the rearrangement.
I think the more likely reality is they wash this year off as a Year Of Murphy and make some tweaks
That would be the typical MO for this organization, for sure.
In the off season, and if and only if Hwang has looked like a must-keeper, then the Giants have to figure out how to use Arroyo. Maybe if Crawford’s bat never comes to life, you have the left side IF be all four of them: Crawford, Arroyo, Panik, Hwang starting 2018 with Boyo as the roving backup to the others? Although really crappy luck for Arroyo, that broken finger does give Giants time to evaluate Hwang over enough time to make a reasoned judgement.
I would think Arroyo…if they really needed a spot with Hwang still around…could play LF. Young legs 🙂
The guys who start as shortstop can often play elsewhere – but Arroyo looks a little stocky to me.
I forgot to add that Nunez just doesn’t seem to have a 2018 future with the Giants, even though I kinda like him.
I know Clutchup likes Nunez’s foot speed a lot, but the initial plan for him was to be super-duper utility guy to give other infielders some days off. This was mentioned at the time of the trade…and I believe (probably) before Duffy was sent to Tampa Bay.
I never saw him as a FT infielder and I’ve cringed on more than a few occasions when he’s missed balls coming at him at 3B. Now you have the hamstring issues…so yes…I don’t see him back in 2018.
Given the turmoil in Ceaford’s life and the thought that he’s pressuring himself to make up other players shortfall, I’m not worried about him rebounding
People keep mentioning Craw’s sister-in-law’s death, but the more salient issue might actually be the groin injury that put him on the DL right around the same time. He just hasn’t seemed like the same guy since he came back, and remember, he was raking during the WBC.
His sister-in-law’s death was no doubt a very sad family event, but I doubt it’s affected his performance on the field.
The bad season by the team likely has a larger effect ( it has been the managements belief he’s trying to do too much and it affects his approach), but I don’t think everyone is able to categorize family tragedy as you apparently are able to do.
I guess I think Crawford’s a stronger person than you think he is.
Then what do you attribute the fall off?
It could just be an off year, but he is 30 years old now. Offensively, his career was a steady progression to his best season in 2015. He wasn’t quite as good last season and obviously much worse this year. It might just be a natural career arc.
Great point, and it reminds us that we have literally no idea what us the case with any of these guys.
He’s 30, declined slightly last year from the year before and has now, so far at least, declined dramatically from last year. You also seem to think the Giants aren’t really a bad team and their record is some kind of mirage. When it comes to the Giants, I’d say your confidence tends to be a little misplaced.
They are a bad team this year. They have a bad outfield. I’m not sure where you draw that I don’t think they are bad. My approach is ” don’t weaken the infield to strengthen the outfield”. When it comes to the Giants, your years of lack of confidence tends to be a little misplaced.
Now you’re just making stuff up. I didn’t think the Giants were a bad team until they were. I didn’t predict last season’s collapse.
I’m gonna cut and paste your first sentence, and send it back at you on every one of your untrue claims that I never criticize certain players, or Bochy’s, the that I “love” so and so.
Having said that, my memory seems to tell me that you’ve been 90% negative, specifically targeted to those you have issues with…many of which are Stars for which you have outsized expectations
I know. Getaway day passed ball.
…which, of course, you totally misinterpreted. Because.
Except… Royboy has not proven that he can hit at this level.
Panik is a nice player, but he’s not irreplaceable and there’s no reason he should be considered untouchable. It’s impossible to decide whether it would be a good idea to trade him without knowing the specifics of any trade.
He would be on my untouchable list…along with Crawford, Bumgarner, and Posey…so we can agree to disagree.
There’s no one on my untouchable list.
That’s a low-maintenance approach 🙂
Yah, let’s dump our leading HR/RBI guy asap. There’s plenty of power left to go around.
Yikes, get well soon, Terry Francona. Underwent a heart procedure yesterday and will not be able to manage the All-Star Game.
Seeing more on Twitter that Gomez is flying to SF today to join the Giants. It may be just, as Crawnik suggested, to fill a roster hole (Stratton) for the weekend, but…seems like a lot of trouble. You can also call up Parker or Williamson or Calixte from AAA (much closer) if you just want a warm body. Sounds like they want to take a closer look at Gomez for some reason. Bet he goes to Sac after this cup of espresso.
Speaking of Parker, time’s got to be running out on his rehab assignment. Wonder what they’re going to do with him? Gillaspie, too.
Perhaps the thinking is that these guys have been given a chance to “perform at a high level” and failed. If there is value to be received for any of these guys, it may be that their value is enhanced by being on the 40, and not being snagged on waivers by being released from the 40.
Look for changes to the 40 after the trade deadline.
There is perhaps an opportunity for me to learn something about baseball technical matters here?
The end of July deadline lets the teams trade from their 40-man roster without needing to ask waivers (as they would need to do in August), but surely they can trade anyone at all in July. But you are implying that keeping someone like Gillaspie on the 40-man in July means you don’t have to risk losing him to a waiver claim, if you intend to trade him away?
Yes, July 31 is called the “non-waiver” trade deadline–clubs can trade anyone within their organization without having to put them through waivers first. In August, they can still trade players but have to put them on waivers first (so other teams besides the one you want to trade with can claim/block the trade–as with Cody Ross in 2010).
At any point, now or later, if you take a player off your 40-man who doesn’t have minor league options, you have to DFA them (meaning you either release them outright or put them on waivers for a possible trade within 10 days). So, for example, if they don’t activate Gillaspie or Parker once their injury rehab period is up (I think it’s 20 days?), they would have to DFA them, since they can’t option them. But if they want to send Jones or Okert or Stratton or Crick (etc.) back to the minors, they can do so because those guys all still have options.
Good stuff, thanks.
It is my understanding that a rehab can’t last longer than 20 days, so that Parker would have to be changed from a “41st man”. It isn’t clear to me if that means back on the 40-man and at AAA, or back onto the 25-man. That 20 days has to be close to over! [I’m sure they won’t DFA]
Parker would have to go back to the 25-man or be DFA’d. He can’t be sent to AAA (except for rehab) because he doesn’t have options. I agree–it seems more likely that they’ll bring him back than DFA him, but with Gorkys’s recent improved play, who gets cut? Gorkys? Slater optioned back to AAA? Jones or Kelby back to AAA? (There’s Gillaspie, too, but his rehab got stopped and re-started due to re-injury, so there’s more time for him. Parker’s time has got to be close to up, at least after the ASB.)
Guys like Cueto and Melancon could make their way through waivers, or something worked out in process.
It seems a good idea to let guys like Gomez see the big leagues – I’m sure he has no trouble whatsoever with dealing with the flights. As far as I know, Ryder Jones is still with the big league team, but with a finger owie? Can’t hurt to have Gomez on the bench this weekend.
Good point about why the team might be overlooking Parker, though.
Yes, correct on Jones. If he can’t play, it’s a three-man bench (Gorkys, Hundley, Kelby), assuming Hwang at 3B and Slater in LF.
Jones may as well return to getting ABs in AAA.
Sounds good. It seems this Gomez has a knack for hitting the beisbol. K rate of just 11.2% and a sturdy ISO of .153.
For those who are opposed to the idea of trading any of the most significant Giants, do you believe that, despite nearly a full season’s worth of failure, this is still a good team that just needs a couple of tweaks to be back in contention?
Span
Panik
Posey
JD Martinez
Belt
Pence
Hwang
Crawford
Bumgarner, Shark, Moore, Blach, Beede/FA
Get better years out of some of the guys and this team could get over .500 and compete for one of the Wild Cards. Put it in writing.
in your lineup, Panik would be the only guy under 30. That’s not usually a good idea, but I also know you’re not really anti-shake up.
What’s with the crush on Martinez?
Could be an anomaly and they may treat it like 2009-ish or could be a complete makeover like 1985-1986-87-89. Davenport went 56–88 in 1985. Roger Craig finished 6-12 to close out 1985 at 62-100. The 1985 roster had a ton of injuries but had quality players. The 2017 roster is better in that the 17 Giant infield is better than LeMaster, Brown, Manny Trillo and Jose Uribe.
I’m not in the trade averse category, but yeah, I believe that this is still a good team that needs a dramatic infusion of clubhouse chemistry to be right back in contention.
Our problem is that we either have too many guys at the same position (four 3B’s!!) or the dropoff after our main guy, like Buster, is so steep that we’d become the Phillies instantly. I do NOT think we’re a tweak or two away from contention (bullpen, 2 reliable starters, hitting droughts) so I think we should just put our best team on the field and spend the next 2/3 years looking at the upcoming kids.
The problem is that there are very few current minor leaguers who look that promising. Beyond Shaw and Arroyo, I don’t think anyone else is generating much excitement. Beede has been mediocre at AAA. I also would like to see them look at some kids, but I think they need some more and different kids. If you want to be underwhelmed, look at Augusta’s roster/stats.
Your point is sort of the “invisible” point I was making in my post. We have underwhelming farm system talent so there’s really no hurry in trying to see who develops and who stagnates. Beede is an example of a guy who may need a couple of years to find himself. He’s just flat bad this year with a WHIP of 1.5 and ERA of 5.
If Hwang were show that he can really hit and continue to show he has the leather and arm for the hot corner, perhaps moving Panik and opening 2B for Arroyo isn’t the worst idea. Is it the best idea? Probably not, but it’s an idea. If there’s a strong offer for Panik, for let says a CF prospect, it’s something you have to entertain.
The team has developed an imbalance with excess at 2B (Panik and Tomlinson) and especially 3B (Jones, Hwang, Nunez, and Gillespie when he’s up) yet no fat at all in the OF. Something has to give. I would really hate trading Panik because he’s such a solid player on offense or defense. I’m in favor of a youth movement but since the team isn’t going anywhere for a few years I’m more in favor of putting our best team in the field and not blowing it up completely for a full-blown youth movement. We have plenty of time to look at these kids.
Seems to me like you’d be trading an established player — Panik — who has proven what he can do so you can replace him with another player — Arroyo — who is not established. You hope Arroyo could do all the things we know Panik can do, and maybe even be better. But there’s a good chance that Arroyo can’t do all those things. Panik is young and very good. I would not trade him.
It’s probably not the best idea to bet on a 29 year old player to man the hot corner for your franchise after 7 games.
Hwang’s been a pleasant surprise and has showcased a lot of his skillset in a short period of time, but that happens when a guy is playing with desperation to keep his dream job. I would like to see him stick around the ballculb next year as well but he’s still nothing more than a gap filler at 3B while Arroyo fully develops his game.
Clint tinkering with the Ivories (like he used to do when he owned the Hog’s Breath Inn in Carmel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UzcWOyWKHk
I had NO IDEA that Eastwood played any instrument with that kind of expertise.
He’s truly an amazing guy. I don’t think you could find too many other greats in the arts that maintained their greatness into their 60s, 70s and 80s.
We’re closing the gap … …
No we’re not.
“Never the Twain Shall Meet”
Classic – “What is all that Bro Shit Anyway”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM8iT1UHnjI
His son is a very distinguished musician. I believe he’s also done music on a Clint movie or two.
http://www.kyleeastwood.com/
Once he played an empty chair. It was out of tune.
Okay, I’ve got one too. It’s a request.
Clint, play Misty for me.
Thanx E. Can always count on you for ………………….
Listen to his jazz work in the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Not bad.
I just scanned his Wikipedia page. This guy has had one of the most complicated lives I’ve ever seen. He survived a plane crash, had at least one secret child and his first “official” child was kept secret for decades. Even politically he’s complicated because he’s a Libertarian. I got dizzy reading his Wiki page.
Morosi says Brewers are checking in on Sonny Gray and Jose Quintana, even JA Happ, but no mention of Johnny Cueto 🙁 Brinson or Ray would be ideal for Giants.
Also notes about Giants being hard up for corner impact bat (Donaldson). Panik the speculative trade chip.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/240964470/brewers-eye-trade-market-with-club-contending/
Trading for Donaldson doesn’t look like a smart move. He’s already 31, hasn’t been quite what he has been so far this season and will be a free agent after next year. Since this year is already a lost cause, they’d either have him for just one season, during which there’s no guarantee they’re going to be competitive anyway, or then sign him as an expensive free agent when he’s 32. If this is really an example of how the Giants are thinking, they might end up with quite a few high draft picks over the next few years.
Agreed. If you’re going to give up a good young player like Panik, you should get a nice package of even younger, even cheaper players, not an over-30 guy who may be declining and who will cost a lot for the next year and a half.
And I don’t think Panik is very tradeable. In that, I think he’s worth more to the team who has him. I don’t think the return on him would be that big, and he has skills that are traditionally undervalued in trade market, FA market and in the arbitration process, so his cost should remain low. He’s a great guy to find, but not a guy teams will give up much for.
He even looks like Duffy:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/down-farm-do-giants-have-their-next-matt-duffy-minors
Wonder what his kittie looks like.
Ahhh yeah. He sure has been hitting like Duffy did at A+. Let’s see if he can also hit over .300 at AA. I have a feeling he can. Averages have been up the last couple of years.
No one can ever replace Duffy and Skeeter! 🙂
Here ya go JStreet and his Lady Diane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZsx1lKLKh4
Thanks, Clutch!
This is a pretty good story by the Warriors 2nd Round Pick… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f3e593083996036b2cf27f7d04286890716a5d6d1f33f0ed6571c8baa8e6adeb.jpg
He told the story in his press conference, his team won, despite Durant’s 50 points .
I didn’t see the press conference, but thanks for mentioning that.
You OK fire wise?
I guess, I have not paid attention, just looked it up 25% contained, 1,800 acres near highway 128 and Pleasant view Rd, south west of Winters. I have not noticed any smoke near me, drove to Walmart in Dixon this morning and did not notice anything, so it looks like it is still quite a bit away from me .
Too bad Timmy wasn’t still around …
Giants Acquire Tyler Herb
By Steve Adams
In another minor swap, the Giants purchased Tyler Herb from the Mariners for an undisclosed sum, both teams announced. He’ll actually represent the player to be named later in the deal that sent Chris Heston to Seattle, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, with some undisclosed technicality requiring the particular treatment. The 25-year-old was taken in the 29th round of the 2014 draft. He made it up to the Double-A level last year and has thrown well there upon a repeat assignment. Herb has made it through 98 innings in 16 starts on the year, posting a 3.31 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
“That’s some good herb.”
Baggarly confirms that Miguel Gomez is indeed on his way to join the Giants.
Brace yourselves, folks. I just have a feeling this means our Joey Baseball is on the verge of being traded. 🙁
Haven’t we suffered enough?
I guess not.
They probably view him as the most expendable player out of the core group of players because of his small contract but it really doesn’t make much sense to trade him.
They better not bring in another mediocre pitching talent for our young guys.
They probably view him as the most expendable player out of the core group of players because of his small contract but it really doesn’t make much sense to trade him.
Panik is still a young player/prospect in his own right in my mind. He still hasn’t fully developed his game or reached the peak yet and if they’re trading him away now, they won’t be getting the return that’s worth the cost.
Say it ain’t so!
No, going to be Stratton sent down.
Yes, I’m sure that’s today’s roster move. But why are they flying a AA guy across the country to fill a roster spot for three games before the break? That seems like a lot of trouble when you could just recall Parker or Gillaspie or Calixte or Mac or Law from AAA, and the River Cats are home in Sacramento this weekend.
Gomez was on fire in May and a lot less so in June. He’s not knocking the door down at this moment.
The only thing that makes sense is that they expect an opening/need in the infield. Maybe someone’s banged up (Panik or Kelby) and we just haven’t heard yet.
You are an excellent detective. You’re probably right.
I guess we’ll see.
Tis the month of rumors! Why not this rumor? It’s been stewing for about a year now.
Nunez?
Here’s Baseball America’s mid season top 100 prospects list, although they actually listed 101. The only Giant is Shaw at #86. Beede has dropped off the list. The Braves have the most with 8, including 5 of the top 50. Among the NL West, the Dodgers have 4, Diamondbacks 1, Rockies 4 and the Padres have 6.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-midseason-top-100-prospects-july-7/#1RhH3AcHyQMShx7r.97
Nice. Thanks for finding this and linking. Better to have one than none. Way to go Shaw!
As you know, the #1 prospect, Yoan Moncada, came to the White Sox in the Chris Sale trade, along with #20 Michael Kopech. If only the Giants had a pitcher who could bring a return like that…wait a minute…they do.
How is Moncada doing, last year he came up with Red Sox and looked over matched, the White Sox suck and he has not been called up yet, maybe another bust that was paid millions, like the other Cuban Red sox bust Castillo .
Who? I think for Cueto it might be most realistic to look at guys between 50-100. Lewis Brinson would be a sweet get from the Brewers. But would probably have to settle for Corey Ray (not on list).
Oh wait, you don’t mean Bumgarner, do you? Yeah, that would be like moving Sale.
Of course I mean Bumgarner.
Not happening so I can’t even go there. It’s like trading Posey. But maybe possibility of trading Bum after next year has some legs. But not this winter at all.
Yoan Moncada can’t hit a ML breaking ball. Why do you think White Sox still haven’t called him up yet in what’s clearly a rebuilding year for them?
Moncada isn’t even close to contributing for the White Sox this year and probably won’t be the player they thought they were acquiring, while the Red Sox continue to reap the benefits of that trade.
Benintendi is a much more well-rounded prospect than Moncada is, and Michael Kopech, the other prospect in the deal, is still far too raw and 3-4 years away from pitching at the major league level.
Flipping the team’s ace for just a boatload of prospects is not always the best way to rebuild.
#17 is a guy I give Bapah a hard time about, since Beede is his guy and Vandy pitchers are all that. So I says “what about Walker Buehler”?
Buehler had some TJ surgery, but has been electric since his return. He’s also an arm the Giants could have drafted instead of that pothead Bickford, IIRC.
Suede goats.
I’m tempted to learn to play an instrument so I can start a band called the Suede Goats.
What does it mean anyway?
That is Bapah-ese for “it’s the way it goes”, some coach he knew always said that. Another one he likes is Twirly = too early.
What instrument you going with?
Hey, Beede’s ERA is nearly under 5.00.
Maybe he’ll have a terrific 2nd half. Hue nose?
I still don’t like the idea of using your first-round pick on a guy who needs TJ surgery. You just never know how they’re going to come out of that. Good for Buehler that he’s doing so great, but if the arm blows out again, he’s probably toast, at least as a starter. The Dodgers were in a better position to take on that risk–they had Urias, DeLeon, Alvarez already in the wings.
And now I haven’t heard a peep from DeLeon in Tampa. Urias with shoulder surgery. And Alvarez hitting speed bumps in A+. Are you familiar with the acronym TINSTAPP?
There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.
I’m almost starting to believe it. You hype a guy, then he goes down with injury. You hype a guy and he doesn’t have the command or doesn’t have the IT factor.
Then you ignore a guy because he doesn’t have a big fastball and he goes out and gets outs at the big league level.
Bradley Zimmer, sigh…
Yep. Pitchers are fragile creatures. Hitters seem much more projectable as prospects.
I still believe in Beede.
I’d be willing to bet that a large majority of arm surgeries are followed by a career that fades to oblivion. That’s because there’s a media bias toward hyping the post-surgical successes. Who wants to read a story about a faded star?
“Had some TJ surgery” sounds a lot like ” a little bit pregnant”
Beede’s never had the surgery, but he’s also not fooling too many hitters in AAA.
Read it again. Ryan’s post
Not with 108 hits in 97 innings and a 1.5 WHIP.
Exactly
With Bum coming back soon, can we expect Cueto to be dealt? Cain’s not going anywhere, Blach and Samard have been best on the staff, Moore’s deal is favorable . . .
TWG staunch fanatics will be blowing off ‘Mucho-Steam’ when soon Bum goes back into the rotation and Blach goes back to long man. That is unless Cain actually breaks his right arm.
#NotGonnaHappen
You’re probably right, and that will strengthen my opinion about what a horrendous job Evans and Bochy have done this year. They got it wrong with Cain/Blach out of spring training, and they’re likely to get it wrong again, just for the sake of money and veteran ego. Blach deserves that spot. He earned it last year, he earned it in camp, and he’s earned it since Bum’s been out. Cain hasn’t won a game in nearly two months.
This organization has really taken a wrong turn over the last year or two. It’s sad.
It’s quite possible that this weekend series vs. the Fish will decide who goes to the ‘pen. My money is on Moore. Crick goes back to Sacramento.
To me it seems obvious. The guys who are going to be around next year should get the reps. Moore, assuming they don’t trade him, is one of those, and his last two starts have been better. Blach is part of the future. Cain is not.
If they were in contention, for strategic purposes it might make sense to put Blach in the pen to stabilize the lefty relief corps, knowing that next year Smith will be back and Blach will be in the rotation.
But with things as they are, getting Blach more experience for the future makes more sense that giving those starts to Cain.
Your last paragraph, you may be right, but if this is Cain’s farewell tour, Bochy may very well leave him in the rotation.
I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s one of the reasons I dislike Bochy so much. Seniority over merit. I’d hate to have a boss like him.
Not if you were one of those vets who was on the train with him through those years. He’s not a fan favorite, but we still hear gushing from players in general.
I still wouldn’t like it. Even though I’m now very senior at my own workplace, I’ve always been a huge believer in merit-based rewards, not “you’re breathing and you’ve been here so you get the opportunities.” I quit the faculty union when I was in the CSU over that very issue.
He’s been a manager for over 20 years, and the Aaron Hill Era this year suggests he hasn’t learned a thing. And it went on for months, unlike the Dan Uggla Era. I greatly prefer Joe Girardi’s approach. He had highly paid veterans last year, youngsters who were producing, and he sat everyone down and said whoever was playing the best would get the playing time.
I hear ya, and he’s given you lots of ammunition. I’m just giving a counter point on those that have lived through the “Oh no…. oh, yes” history in the past years with the guys like Renteria, Zito, Burrell and others.
Cain, obviously, gets Zito type rope , but with WAY more justification. He not only was integral to every title, he brought history. Believe me when I tell you I think he is DONE.
But, though he is, here is where we mere mortals simply can’t relate to a clubhouse: there are 25 guys in there, of which many have lived through the ups and downs, and many youngsters on soft footing wondering is their careers will end. They look at the Cain situation, and perhaps they actually approve of it, because they see the payback and loyalty. I get that sports is the ultimate merit-based endeavor. I also get the tenuous life of the athlete. In a team sport like this, there is a better than fair chance that the team is much more OK with this than fans.
I’m not sure Cain hasn’t gotten more rope than Zito. Though I agree with most of what you’re saying, one could make the argument that during Zito’s tenure, there were really only two times when he wasn’t among the best five starters on the team and those two instances he was benched. In 2011, after the break, he was replaced with Surkamp. Had Surkamp pitched like Blach is pitching now, it’s entirely possible that 2012 never happens or happens differently because there’s every indication that had Surkamp been the real deal he would have replaced Zito. After seeing Surkamp in 2011 they came to the realization that Zito, even with a non-MLB fastball, was still the better option and thankfully it worked out. The second time was in 2013 when Zito’s arm speed fell off a cliff and he lost all effectiveness. He was essentially replaced by Petit and Gaudin and only made a few starts in August because it was a lost season and Bochy wanted to reward him for being the ultimate good soldier in 2010 and of course, 2012. My point is, there is clearly a stronger candidate for the rotation than Cain but Cain remains. I would argue that wasn’t necessarily the case during most of Zito’s tenure.
I agree. Bochy is a very poor fit for an organization early in a declining cycle. He values too many variables other than performance on the field. We’ve already got a low-rated MiLB system but it’ll only get worse if he keeps playing the Hills and the Cains at the expense of giving kids a chance to prove themselves at MLB level.
I have been on teams – have watched HS teams from the stands – have been an assistant HS coach where the kids did not care for the Head Coach – and the silver lining is or can be that the team will ‘play for themselves’ – have their own kind of fun – find their own pride and professionalism (small case/amateurism) – and continue to compete vs the opponent that shows up that day. We ‘fanatics’ still – realizing it was an odd year can go to the park(s) and see a ball game – the same game we played as kids or grew up watching. Prices have changed but the core of the game has not changed.
I am not sure if they are gonna treat this as 2009 or as 1985 but the 2017 roster is much better than the 1985 roster….save Chili and a few others.
Phillie fans at less than 30 wins must somehow support their club.
I grew up a Philly fan through a lot of bad years including the 1964 flop. They’re brutal fans but they do show up, even if it’s just to boo their guys. This year they’re 19th of 30 in attendance/home-game which ain’t bad considering how awful they are. I tend to think teams out West have more fickle fans than teams in the Midwest and Northeast.
I thought Jim Fregosi handled his Phillie group really well and then Chollie was the right skipper for his group – until he was no longer.
Charlie ain’t gone. He’s a senior advisor to the General Manager of the Phils.
In 1986, the Giants added Will Clark and Robby Thompson, and 24 year-old Chris Brown hit .317. In 2009, they had young Cain and Lincecum, and were about to add Posey and Bumgarner. Neither of those situations compare to the present team.
No sir.
This was the 1985 team going into 1986
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_San_Francisco_Giants_season#Roster
This —-> became the 86 team https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_San_Francisco_Giants_season#Roster
This is the 2017 team https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_San_Francisco_Giants_season#Current_roster
I saw quite a few of Poseys 7 games in late 2009 – his two hits and .118 BA. His swing was geared to the right side and the ball never jumped off his bat. He had been ‘kept down’ to refine his receiver skills by roving catching instructor Kirt Manwaring. 2010 was hard to predict until he proved in Fresno that he was the SHIP.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/poseybu01.shtml
heading out to see james taylor, and bonnie raitt at the beach.
please stop talking about trading joe panik
You’ve seen Fire and Rain today, have you? We’re just giving us something to talk about…
Hey, we’re going to see them at AT & T at the end of this month!
I would really like to see Hall and Oates with Tears for Fears at Golden 1 Center on July 28th. Then again, we have RiverCats tickets for that night. Plus, it’s Buster Hugs blanket giveaway. Decisions, decisions.
John Mayer is going to be at Golden 1 on July 27–my daughter and her BF are going. Busy week!
Then there’s Tom Petty coming to Sac too!
Oh that one sounds reallly fun!
Oh, my my, oh hell yes, honey put on that party dress….
I saw Tom Petty 3X. I haven’t been out to see live music since 1994 when saw the remnants of Spirit at a Eureka bear bar. I had gone to Spirit shows 3X prior: once at Fillmore West and twice at Winterland; the 2nd Winterland was Halloween 1970 2nd billed to Ike and Tina Turner review. The first time at Winterland was 2nd billed to Sly and the Family Stone IIRC in 1969.
The first time was a free Friday concert at Lower Sproul when I was an undergrad at Cal in late 1970s. I bought his album and my exe wife to be and I went and say him again that Saturday at Keystone. The last time I saw Petty was in 86 or 87 playing separate and with Bob Dylan at Shoreline Amphitheatre, the only time I ever went to Shoreline.
Really this is an opportunity to make a Samantha Fish post (who has grown as a young artist and guitarist/singer in the last three years).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsrgzY4EVW0
You saw Spirit? Did they play the song that became the smash hit for Led Zeppelin? 🙂
Great knowledge. How Randy California didn’t get some cred for Stairway is criminal.
Our music professional, The Sincere, sides with Page & Plant on that one. I wonder where Noce stands. But I think it comes down to the fact that you can’t copyright a couple of chord arpeggios. The way those chords ring is eerie though. I’m sure Page took notes when Zep was touring with Spirit and thought those chords had a real nice sound, then tweaked em a little and voila,
Not necessarily suggesting he should have gotten royalties but he could have been mentioned in the album’s liner notes. Have you check out this documentary on Bert Berns? It’s entirely possible Led Zepplin never happens if this guy doesn’t drop dead of a heart attach in 1967. One of rock’s true treasures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgynAk4SQ-Y
sounds cool – just read his Wiki
In 1964 he brought an unknown 20 year old guitarist named Jimmy Page into the studio to lay down three tracks for Van Morrison and Them: “Gloria”, “Here Comes the Night”, and “Baby Please Don’t Go”. Arguably the single greatest one day recording session in rock history, that or the Ramones debut album, which was also recorded in one session for $500.
I knew that young Page was an awesome session guitarist, but I did not know he laid the guitar on those tracks.
Yep, apparently he also laid down tracks for early Kinks and Who records under Shel Talmy’s supervision. Legend has it that the Kinks weren’t too happy about it but the Who was fine with it.
I think it was a nuisance suit by Randy California’s heirs. That said Led Zeppelin toured with Spirit on first American visit.
Taurus? Yep. Loved Spirit in high school. I think the general riff to Stairway to Heaven has been repeated by musicians over the years. The lawsuit was brought after Randy California was dead.
Best concert ever… Tom Petty at the Fillmore. He did a two week residency, then did another 2 years later. Saw him twice both times.
Out of touch, out of time…
I can’t go for that…
GG should make your remark the post of the day. Indeed, Footy, PLEASE stop talking about trading Panik.
Don’t blame me! Lefty started it with the Miguel Gomez maneuver.
true, that.
But you leapt on it like a Rottweiler on a piece of raw meat
Indeed!! It creeps me out to think that we’d get rid of a proven 26-year-old like Joe. Let’s not stir evil cosmic forces.
No way should the Giants trade Joe Panik, rather trade Arroyo and don’t want to trade either.
I saw James Taylor twice; Spring 1970 and then again Fall 1970 at Berkeley Community Theatre, Both time were optional weekend cultural field trips from a boarding school I attended in the East Bay. The opening acts were Odetta and Pentangle, don’t recall which was Spring and Fall. At one of the shows Taylor introduced his piano player and she sang a song. Later she was a famous Carole.
Didn’t realize Miguel Gomez is a switch hitter. That’s kind of cool.
Just 66 PA vs LHP, but batting .333 off them.
vs. RHP he is batting .298/.314/.452
He started as a Catcher too so he is Hector 2.0
He would fill that “E-Catcher” need they have been dragged down by all season.
Cracks me up that Kenley Jansen was an undrafted free agent catcher before he was converted.
One ESPN scribe said the Dubs acquiring Casspi was highway robbery.
http://www.957thegame.com/articles/report-omri-casspi-took-major-pay-cut-join-golden-state
What gets me about the story is that if Casspi went to another bad team (his 7th) at an inflated salary he’d be dinged for that. In pro sports most guys are all money, all the time and now that we find one that isn’t we denigrate him for wanting to join a success story. So the W’s have yet another unselfish player.
as a player, why wouldn’t you want to come to the Warriors? Players speak highly of the operation, very good chance for a ring, very good system for most players.
Indeed. It’s like Casspi is getting castigated for NOT being greedy. What it means for the W’s is that their greats may play fewer minutes because a competent shooter will be out there while they’re resting. We’re gonna win it again barring catastrophic injury.
Gettin those juicy rumors going. Jon Heyman has Verlander to the Cubs, Quintana to the Stros, Donaldson to the Cards, and Sonny Gray to the Yankees. The Dodgers land JD Martinez and the Hand-y lefty reliever from the Padres.
Whoa! Blowing the lead off the month of July.
ooops – lid got blown off my link
https://www.fanragsports.com/mlb/inside-baseball-9-trades-make-sense-deadline/
Hyman is MR throw things against the wall and see what sticks , he must be your hero .
Hyman? Good one, Pete. Or bad one, depending on POV.
I knew that Verlander to the Cubs might of had some bite.
Then again, Theo went on record saying they need to solve from within and not one outside piece away from fixing their problems. Who to believe, Heyman or Epstein?
Love it when the rumor mill churns at full capacity.
Tis the month!
Span
Panik
Pence
Posey
Belt
Hwang
Craw
Slater
Moore
No surprise there, maybe Craw at 7. Gomez activated for Stratton? Hmmm. Moves coming.
Craw probably should be 8,the way he is hitting, he always hit good in the 8th spot, so why not .
You might be right on that one, PJ….
Bochy and the FO would be absolutely slap crazy to deal Panik and replace him with AA Gomez. Probably gonna get a peek at him before the deal Nuñez. Hwang may have built himself into the third basemans job.
True, he’d grow into a superstar in his own backyard if traded ‘back home’ to the Mets or Bombers.
No one would likely give the Giants anything for Panik that would make it worthwhile. By himself, I don’t think he’d be able to return a top prospect.
Don’t let the Baseball America list get your dauber down.
Slater has arrived on the scene. Blach graduated as did Arroyo (too bad injured).
Shaw made the list, having a great year. Ryder Jones really surprised with his AAA performance. Beede isn’t so bad. There’s still a good amount of potential to be a mid rotation starter. Andrew Suarez is a real nice pitching prospect. There’s some pen arms and a Kyle Crick finding his command is real nice story.
Bryan Reynolds could make his way into Top 100 by end of season with strong 2nd half. Heliot Ramos could be a stud and be actually be the best prospect in the system. They signed Luis Gonzalez’ kid. Their 3rd round pick could be a stud pitcher. And then there are guys like Steve Duggar and Heath Quinn. There’s Miguel Gomez and CJ Hinojosa. There’s Ronnie Jebavy and Bryce Johnson. There’s Matt Krook and Sandro Fabian…
The future is not so wan.
Won for Won equals Dos
Imagine if both Brandon’s added 40 points to their BA in the second half of the season, and Pence hits just a bit more. Not so bad! Plus, I hear there’s a fairly decent left handed pitcher who might be coming off the DL soon.
Reynolds is currently slumping and overall his performance hasn’t measured up with how well the best Giants hit in San Jose.
Maybe he’ll get hot. He’s still batting over .300, right? That’s not a bad place start the 2nd half from. Remember, he started cold and had a real nice June following a solid May.
Down to .294 with an OPS of .769.
It would be nicer if they could get back a better CF prospect than Reynolds or Duggar by trading Cueto. Lewis Brinson has a .993 OPS in AAA – although he plays for Colorado Springs so adjust accordingly.
Blach has mixed reviews. Stinks it up at times and pitches great other times. 4 times he has given up 5 or more runs in 14 starts and he has gone past 7 innings 1 time. He has a 4.6 ERA. He has not been that good in his last 6 outings. In the last 6 outings he has given up 3 or more runs 5 times while averaging 5 and 1/3rd innings per outing in that time span. The league may have built a book on his tendencies.
I don’t think his number of outings is sufficient for a “book” to be established on him. I think it’s way too early to form a carte blanche opinion of him. He does have our ONLY shutout of the year and was very good a few nights ago ’til the 7th. He deceives hitters more than he strikes them out but many greats were that way. Greg Maddux started his career with two years of 5.52 and 5.61 ERAs. Terrible. Precision pitchers like Blach need time on the field above all. I think the least Blach’s merited is continued regular starts. The very least.
SF Giants PreGame Notes
http://mlb.mlb.com/documents/7/9/8/241021798/07.07.17_vs._MIA_Game_Notes_y7m63mxa.pdf
This Date in Giants History: July 7, 2010
Buster Posey hit two home runs including his first career grand slam in San Francisco’s 15-2 win over Milwaukee…Tim Lincecum fanned 10 over 7.0 innings for the win.
GiantFanExperienceDropping™ … I was at his July 5th game there; linked to a family reunion. He was batting #7 if you can imagine that. That series coming after the 15-inning loss in COL was The Turning Point.
Hey everyone, if you would like a free Giants blockprint featuring two of the greatest Giants of the last ten years, send a mailing address to kevinahnart at G Mel Ott dot com. I will mail them in a couple weeks from Hawaii to save on international shipping.
Just emailed you ⚾👍🏻
Just emailed you as well.
http://m.sfgate.com/local/article/Kiteboarder-hits-humpback-whale-crissy-field-11271249.php
If only the whale had opened his mouth, we would have had a Darwin Candidate
Apparently this PRINT from Baseball King can be downloaded in your printer and framed.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9f02a842b8a2830e492121b0d6f7980e576043901e835d0fa04548919685403f.jpg
That’s really cool, but what stadium is represented? The Old Comiskey by chance?
I am stumped too. Old Detroit?
What’s really cool is #24’s side profile on the bottom right. I hear that guy could play a bit.
Looks like Comiskey to me
Why is Rose wearing overalls?
Too soon for Jeter. Griffey Jr. is pushing it. Who are the other shadowy figures in the bleachers?
I love Griffey. I lived through all of Griffey, meaning I’m officially old enough to have lived through a “legend’s” entire career. But I’ve always wondered what other legends were so cumbersome to their teams in the final half of their careers. Jeter’s inclusion seems a bit rich, and gives me a decent guess where the print’s artist is from. I could not figure out who the lawyer was looming behind Farmer Rose.
I have to admit, this apparently went right over my head.
I’m not crazy, right? He’s wearing overalls, in the stands?
……and over his Cincy Uniform….LOL
Wonder what the hidden meaning was there?
Kind of deep meaning perhaps …
I get that he’s watching from the stands, seeing all the greats from the outside looking in, paralleling his Cooperstown and in many ways baseball history….but those overalls are fucking with me.
The Houston Astros are a freakin’ lumber yard.
The Giants are something like Heritage Salvage Yard. Come on by, Petaluma…
Orange Park aka Bob Brian Field is much bigger/harder to hit a Tater.
No doubt about that. 🙂
During my ’70’s-’80s Astros heyday, we swang toothpicks but pitched and played defense lights-out! In 1979 Ding Dong Kingman had 48 HRs for the Cubs, and the entire Astros team had 49!
Greek Giant and I are taking in the Yankees-Brewers game before heading to Finnertys to watch the Giants- Marlins. Scouting for the NLDS and the WS
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/25df2ea2a3ed4f9c15f26e041d08acecced62d63cd086370943a78b1d1eeaaeb.jpg
Wow…just started to pour, I see! Stay dry and go to the bar….
Rain, what is that?
It’s been banned in Arizona
I know it has that’s why I was asking what was this rain you were talking about. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it or felt it.
On our way to Finnerty’s to watch some real baseball. Never saw 5 errors by one team in 4 innings. Those guys are rooting for a rainout. Brewers “defense” shaky to say the least
Scout up Frazier for us. Maybe we can get him in O&B. Send a message to the Brewers that need could use Cueto as well.
new record today 117.
Donde?
Phoenix
Holy crap! That’s a Death Valley #.
Au contraire. Death Valley’s AVERAGE July high is 116.5. It was 127 there today, a number they reached on two other occasions this year. Phoenix’s July average high is 106. Those are 10.5 really important degrees!!
The good news for us Phoenicians is that starting Sunday we’re dropping down to seasonable norms which means 10-12 degrees lower. So far it’s been an absolutely torrid late Spring/early Summer. There’s a HUGE diff between 105 and temps at or above 115. In 105 weather I’ll walk a couple miles. In 115+ weather, I don’t do it. For those who don’t believe in global warming, there’s this absolutely alarming graph and article from NASA:
https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/
yep we are going to cool down in the next week. what part of town do you live in Eleuthero?
I live in south Tempe. I love it there. ASU makes it a vibrant town. How ’bout you? What part of the Valley of the Sun do you live in?
Grew up in central Phoenix area but live in Laveen now. I’ve always liked Tempe.
Laveen is an up-and-coming new town. One thing that confuses me is whether Laveen is part of Phoenix or a separate incorporated town.
We get all the city of Phoenix services so we are part of Phoenix.
You’re probably glad you’re out of central Phoenix. It’s become so congested and the damned traffic meters and parking drive one nuts. When I go to events in Phoenix I just drive in one of those $10 lots so I don’t have to take a roll of quarters with me.
yes it was a good move to get out of central Phoenix. Been out in Laveen just over 13 years now. I have county property right behind me. Cows, horses, ducks, chickens , goats and even peacocks just south of me.
Wow, you’re out in the country. Sounds nice! I do like Tempe especially the part toward Chandler. You’ve got all the services and restaurants you would want but the traffic congestion isn’t bad at all.
You should try using the light rail.
I’ve only been in the Valley for a year and haven’t yet taken the light rail. However, the next Phoenix event I attend I’m gonna take that rail. Eliminates a lot of headaches. How late does it run?
It depends on the day but here is a link.
http://routes.valleymetro.org/timetables/938/transit_route?type=1
Luther, I’m tellin’ ya, it’s all by design. The reptiles are coming back.
As the manager for the Outrigger Apartments in Houston, Texas once told me “ain’t fit for man nor beast.”
It is a little warm out.
There are not too many golfers out playing in this heat so my last 2 rounds I was able to play in 1 hour 29 minutes.
i live 5 min from bethpage black, on LI, home of the 5 hour round. how is 1.29 possible? must be a joy, and you must hit it straight..
Tim McCarver once played ball for a team in Phoenix and described the weather as being about one block from Hell.
correction 118.
The Thrill Is Fried
Definitely well tanned.
I’m pale as a sheet of paper. Thank you SPF 45.
I gave up tanning in 1989, then had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose (lots of T-burns from swimming reflection over the years) in 1999. I’ve had no issues since, but am checked by my dermatologist every year. I’ve come to terms with being pale! 🙂
My dad was a construction worker in Philadelphia and he spent so much time in the sun that in his 60s and 70s he had 5 basal cell carcinomas dug out of his face. Since you gave up sunbathing 28 years ago, I think you’ll be just fine. In any case, basal cells are the least dangerous of all carcinomas. They just dig ’em out and you’re good for the duration.
Yes, it was a laser procedure, and for about a month or so afterward I had a perfectly round, red spot that I couldn’t wait for it to be healed! But once it did it wasn’t really noticeable, especially under foundation. Since I have moles and see new ones every year, my dermatologist annually checks me over, especially the areas I can’t see. Better to be safe than sorry, and the specialist visit is at no cost with my Medicare Part C plan!
So you’re a geezer like me? I’m on Medicare, too. I, being a pale guy, also have a dermatologist who checks me over for suspicious growths. You’re wise to visit yours annually. Even with basal cells, the longer you wait, the bigger the mark left behind when they burn it out. Safety first when it comes to this stuff!
I qualified for SSDI and Medicare at age 48, wish I could still be working! My plan was to retire at 60 in 2021. But you know what God does when you make plans!
Sorry to hear of your travail. I retired at 59 because I came to dislike teaching Millennials. They’re the first generation in world history that would rather interact with technology (social media) than actually get together with friends. Little wonder that birthrates across the civilized world are plummeting. People don’t love one another like they used to.
Re-correction. NOAA had it at 117 but why quibble … it’s effing blazing. Good thing the humidity is only 9%.
“Dry heat” line never gets old I bet.
There was a cartoon years ago in The Arizona Republic that had the map of Arizona with the rim of the map ablaze. The caption said: “But it’s a DRY heat!” However, there’s an element of truth to it. The Gulf Coast is actually the most uncomfortable summer in the country because 92 degrees at 70% humidity is a “real feel” of 112. On the other hand, 106 degrees at 12% humidity is a “real feel” of 101. Truth is stranger than fiction!
After 30+ years in Houston, I do appreciate the drier heat in central CA, but I don’t perspire any less!
Houston illustrates my point about the Gulf Coast. Problem with those humid heats is that your sweat STICKS to you. In Arizona, you just feel hot but the sweat tends to evaporate from your skin.
Man, you know it! Going outside there during the summer is like getting punched, takes the breath right out of you!
Are you referring to Houston or Phoenix?
The Houston humidity, brutal!
There aren’t many places in the USA where the dew point can exceed 80. That happens in Houston when it’s about 95 and the humidity exceeds 70%. It is, indeed, brutal.
Absolutely leave no food out. Bread molds overnight!
Will never forget my first time in Houston. Walked off the plane and the humidity was so bad I could barely get a normal breath. First person I saw from my company I asked “how can you live here?”
We moved to Houston from MI, arriving 7/7/72. I thought we had moved into a blast furnace! We learned from our native Texan neighbors when not to be outside, after we’d been used to pleasant summer days and cool nights!
There are people who like wet saunas and people who like dry saunas. I’m like you because I feel like I’m suffocating in very high humidity. I can’t breathe in wet. Arizona sucks in summer but I’ll take it any day over Houston, Miami, or New Orleans.
thus heat dissipation and cooling!
Yup! Evaporative cooling. I lived here from 1975-1979 so when I got rent gouged out of Palo Alto I knew what I was in for. Palo Alto used to be such a charming, bohemian town. Now there’s no art, music, books. I miss the weather but that’s about it. Paying $4000/month for a 600 sq. ft. studio tells you what the town’s become.
It sounds like they both suck. I’ve been in Palm Springs when it was 117 and I don’t remember looking on the bright side.
I won’t sugar coat it. In no way is 117 comfortable. Even at only 4% humidity 117 feels like 106 and I don’t know anyone whose idea of comfy is 106.
Saw a lot of Az plates in Monterey/Carmel a couple of weeks ago.
Since we’re burning alive here in AZ, the low 60s of Monterey sounds delicious. However, I have to admit that I do like a climate where you can wear shorts a good segment of the year. Monterey is chilly! No month has average highs higher than 69 degrees and that’s September.
You guys hear about the speculation about the tighter, lower seamed home run balls and the new blister epidemic? Pitchers that never had blisters before been getting them, and it’s not just Captain Blister, Rich Hill. Johnny Cueto also be wondering what is up with the new balls.
http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/marcus-stroman-blister-mlb-juiced-baseball-conspiracy-study-data/1jcro9k980kqa1hzfdbfuis2xo
Marcus Stroman, too
http://fe0.84e.myftpupload.com/2017-season/game-88-preview-scouting-prospective-postseason-opponents-at-yankee-stadium/
Dude posts from Finnerty’s! STUD!!
I hear that a baseball game is going to break out very soon. Just a rumor.