by
Greek Giant
Today’s Game: Giants (35-57) Vs Padres (39-51) at Tony Gwynn Field, 7:10 PM
Jeff Samardzija (4-10 4.58) Vs Trevor Cahill (3-3, 3.38)
The rubber game of the first three game series in the second half is filled with intrigue. There are rumors about a trade involving the shark. MadBum is back. Johnny Cueto is on the disabled list.
Five Questions
- Should the Giants have shelved MadBum for the second half and preserve those bullets for next year?
- Has Hector Sanchez’s blast reached Pluto’s orbit yet?
- Who will take Matt Cain’s place in the bullpen?
- Who should bat second, Nunez or Panik?
- Do the Padres have the worst uniforms in baseball?
Breckeroni says Even Year JuJu was wrong from the git go
Five Questions
1)Should the Giants have shelved MadBum for the second half and preserve those bullets for next year?
* Absolutely not …. gotta find out, etc
2) Has Hector Sanchez’s blast reached Pluto’s orbit yet?
* Shortly
3) Who will take Matt Cain’s place in the bullpen?
* Ryan Sadowski
4)Who should bat second, Nunez or Panik?
* #12 should
5) Do the Padres have the worst uniforms in baseball?
* Not even close
no
Planet 9’s
— NI
Panik, (Noonie 1)
Ugly, but should keep them.
Is Noonie getting showcased?
??
Batting 2nd while the GM shoppers observe if they want him
Imagine growing up if he had been groomed to play CF
Lead off. Panik, dos.
As if Bochy would ever “disrespect” Span that way….
Nats get Doolittle and Madson from the A’s.
Great move!
Jim Kozimor can’t make anything more than minimum wage, can he?
All thee of them last night the spin mysters, none of them even brought up the lack of velocity by Bum .
He’s the Gorkys of NBCSN… Williams thinks Elmer is a fantastic studio host
SacTown tossed a huge party when he departed.
Just once, I’d like to hear Krukow launch into his over-the-top positive spin, then stop and say “aw, eff it. They suck.”
How did BB9 sprain his wrist. Wow, hope he wasn’t trying to Turkey Tap the other Brandon.?
MLBSF_Grading BUM
Madison gets a C- from me.
First his Jeff Kent type Injury and in the past he’s been god-awful against the Dodgers so he’s getting marked down for that.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/275ef09b35fd675889cae9ed70190bfdb75ec8b4bc7730cd4fd33df032f4cb15.jpg I agree the rest of the team get a big fat F. True.
1. No. They need to know if he’s OK.
2. 😡😡😡
3. Uh…Stratton? No one?
4. Nunez until he’s traded. Then Panik.
5. No, the 🐍🐍🐍 do.
Day game view. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/334e4ee555bdd26e0910e3c0372ad718727db1cf5efea0f804a1abe9df00225a.jpg
Break up the Bravos!! They’ve been rolling pretty good for a while, like a team that could conceivable make a run at the Wild Card, but more like a team rolling towards bigger things in the near future.
1. Before yesterday I would have said yes and yesterday was a relief. It may be plausible that MadBum is traded soon and needs to show he can pitch in 2017.
2. Disneyland Pluto maybe.
3. Stratton?
4. Panik at 2 with Nunez at 1 and Span 7 or 8.
5. Usually.
1. Use him cautiously in July and August, and give the kids a chance in September.
2. It may have been sucked into Saturn’s gravitational pull.
3. Who’s left? Is Suarez around?
4. Panic, 2, Nunez 3. Get some baserunners.
5. Even the throwback brown ones don’t come close to the ugly that is the Diamondback collection.
I agree with your first answer. But how to get Madison to do it? Maybe not so hard, you’d just bribe him by naming him the #1 pinchhitter.
Perhaps there is a logic to not over stressing his recently healed shoulder. Give him a pitch count limit.
Trevor Cahill looks like he belongs behind the counter of a bait and tackle shop in Louisiana.
Some people are offended when the Pirates and Padres ball parks are mentioned on a par with Willie Mays Field at ATT Park – but both are equals.
Nope.
Have you been to PNC Park in Pittsburgh? I’d love to hear your take, as you’ve seen many and you understand the nuance that makes a ball park special.
I have and it’s excellent but it’s second to Willie Ways Field Because San Francisco > Pittsburgh.
No. It’s high on the list. But I’m sitting in Petco this minute, and I’m not looking out at San Francisco Bay. Case closed.
Thank you.
YUP
Krukow on Pence : “He’s a very disciplined hitter mentally”
Mike, Mike, Mike….. you need a big needle full of perspective shoved into your ass by a mean nurse
1) No way. Bum would insist he wants to help his team, and confirm that he’s fully recovered.
2) No, but there’s a huge dent in the Western Metal Supply sign. That was a blast. ECK-tor got a cookie and knew what to do with it.
3) Stratton
4) Nunez, until he’s traded. Then Panik.
5) No, that distinction goes to the Diamondbacks, with their garish assortment of colors and schemes.
Now you just have to laugh.
no “chocolate doritos”?
I always liked Hector
I had him for “bench” player in Haak’s 2015 season, and am happy he’s still in the bigs, but he’s been brutal to us this weekend.
He sure has.
Me too. I’ve always been a fan.
Chocolate-covered Doritos oddly sound kind of appealing right now but that may be because I’m starving
Oh, oops! That was Bapah’s name for Lefty’s turd emoji a couple of days a go. Have a watermelon beer instead!
Hey! That was me, Hawking
Yes
Ouch.
Looks like another Samardzija game in 2017.
All right, ECK-tor, that’s enough. We loved you, kid–stop bashing us!
I did have to laugh. I did, however, take the Nunez/Panik question with some thought. I like Panik at 1 because he works pitchers. That kid makes a pitcher work to earn his out. So Nunez at 2.
I think the opposite with Panik at 2 so Nunez has more opportunity to steal. Nunez starts the game and batting order swinging with high contact. Panik slows the game and eats pitches before 3-4-5.
I don’t agree since Nunez has never broken 10 steals for a year. Starting pitchers would HATE Panik’s persistence especially at the start of the game and, at other at-bats, before they have to grunt their way through the higher SLG batters.
Nunez has 17 S and only 3 CS in 2017.
Nunez had 27 S in 2015 and 40 S in 2016 for 67 S and only 16 CS.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/30290/eduardo-nunez
I read the wrong damned column on bbref. My bad.
Only bad in the good sense.
Nunez stole 40 bases last year!
Really? Oh for God’s sake I misread bbref!! Silly Eleuthero!! Well, it gives BST’s argument much more weight. Still, I like Joe Panik leading off the first and pissing off pitchers who want an out after a quick hack.
What is silly is what is happening at 3-4-5. Panik and Nunez order is not nearly so crucial.
You’re right Panik vs Nunez is not critical but putting Panik at 7/8 is a waste. You want a guy who works pitchers to come up soon/immediately before the big boys.
Agree. Panik belongs at top of order at 1 or my preference 2.
Nunez, Panik, and Posey are all high contact / low K hitters. Nunez does take pitches and sees balls and strikes well for all his aggressive swinging.
Too bad Posey is so slow and makes so many DPs and ground outs.
The enigma of Buster this year was his long RBI drought while his BA was at Ty Cobb levels. That was an anomaly in a season full of team anomalies.
It’s been past that point for a while now.
You have a near automatic out but the Giants keep hitting his bat. Can’t tell me there aren’t huge mental problems. He’s not that good and the Giants aren’t this bad … Physically
Haktor > Posey
They’re gonna hit for the cycle in the first inning
Shark impressing those Houston scouts.
Perhaps he doesn’t want to get traded.
He’s doing a good job of solidifying that.
The only “impression” is the scout who just took a skull hit from Shark’s latest dinger ball.
That should do it for the Pads.
I CALLED THAT
Need a walk and a fly ball out for something I do not know the name – HR, 3b, 2B, 1B, HB, BB, K, ground out, fly out.
I hope those Astros scouts remember to recycle after they get done tearing up their notes on Samardzija.
A good slugfest would be entertaining today.
A banana slug festival is more likely with these juggernaut Gigantes
UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s–p8VyUOuD–/b_rgb:fffffe,t_Heather%20Preview/c_limit,f_jpg,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1446152912/production/designs/23487_0.jpg
My kid played one season there before transferring to Poly….I have a few Slug shirts
Very common in the coastal redwood and Doug-fir forests of the north coast.
Was out separating the bull and a steer from rest of herd, what would the scouts have to say about Shark in the first two frames?
“chocolate doritos”
“Not good folks”
We can’t catch a break or a legit prospect or two.
💩💩💩
You checked the score before asking that question, I assume
Elevated and up, leaving cookies and they’re getting tagged. A bit nervous, maybe.
Or pissed
Good report
Gorkys sucks! Trade him now
I’m sure the GMs will be jumping through their phones if Evans made him available. Huge bidding war. Yuuuuuge
He’s terrible! How could he not drive that run in from 3rd?
Trade every guy who did that this year!!!!
Trade everyone!!
Wouldn’t it be something if a contender gave up in 2017 a good prospect for Gorkys for his fielding and running.
OK I am delusional.
He walked on five pitches. It’s Hundley and Panik you’re mad at. They both struck out with Crawford on third.
(It’s the Blog Gorkys Trigger….)
Gotcha
Yup
Yep. Two very unproductive ABs. Negative dugout energy.
Huntley has very little offensive skills. Crawford is just a mess
Darn, there you go ditching the vibe again.
Trade Crawford and Buster!
Trade Bochy and Evans!!
..for Hector
No, Achilles.
Point to the bleachers, Hector…
Smarge about to get “unlucky” again?
Myers has become a more dangerous hitter every year. He’s their Posey/Goldschmidt franchise guy, good player to build around.
Does Hector Sanchez have an owner’s manual called “San Francisco Pitchers and Their Psychology”? This is getting ridiculous. Well, another hole to dig out of.
You’re on the right track. It’s mental. Batting Sanchez 4th is a bit of a middle finger from the Padres manager
I thought his manual was “Trade Revenge, A Five Step Process”
Or “How to Release Sublimated Anger”
Or “Tony Robbins -How To Succeed: Face The Giants”
Krukow thinks we’re a DP away from momentum.
Proof the dodo bird did not go extinct.
Someone needs to take Krukow’s cane from him and whack him over the head with it. Shut up, Big Boy!
We sat in this same park just 14 months ago and saw the same three starters…and the Giants swept that series. It’s just amazing.
Now the Padres don’t even care and the Giants can’t beat them.
Don’t you just love the mysteries of baseball.
I know, right? However, 14 months ago was an Even Year!
That’s why you don’t trade Samardzjia, unless you get a *major* package of players.
Oops…
Boy his bad luck just continues
There goes Krukow’s momentum
And that’s the ballgame.
I thought it was batting practice but no this the actual game.
I do not think that Samardzija is playing to be traded.
These guys are really testing the faith of Crawfish Joe.
How are things looking in the reverse pennant race? Giants gaining ground on the Philadelphia Tankers?
The Phillies are just so tough. The Giants are going to need to come up with a thrilling, come from ahead charge.
I feel like eventually the cream of the Giants will rise above the Padres mostly AAA squad
At some point, they’ll need to prove that on the field as a collective unit.
Now what, Sabes?
https://twitter.com/moonwalkmcfly/status/886701798488104961
(Check my post this AM)
Way to show ’em Shark!!
To be fair, I wouldn’t move to Texas either, not even for Shark’s contract.
Good for Shark. Other than Austin seems like a cultural wasteland. Heck of governance and gerry mandering over there. The worst of the worst! I hear the weather is Houston is also bad.
Latest gem: Teen abortions are up sharply since they closed Planned Parenthood clinics all over the state. So the good Christians in Texas are killing babies.
Eff those phonies!
Oh please, he’s a rocks in the head jock, not a poet.
Good instinct.
Fuck the pouch, give me the wine
Sorry folks but I cannot watch this shit. Even bad sitcom is better than this. This Samardzija blow up is really ill timed from a team perspective. That clubhouse is gonna be ugly later this afternoon.
Why would that be bad? However they feel today they should have felt months ago. Someone needs to be embarrassed at how stupid this is.
Bad because losing the first series of the second half to the likes of the Padres just reasserts a first half trend. We had to at least win the Series and Shark was seemingly the right guy to absorb that role. He’s another guy having a career bummer year and he’s on pace to give up 36 HR this year. Sheesh.
I have the game on radio and am switching back and forth between TWG and season 4 of The Americans.
I’m just on TWG with TV turned off. I won’t watch Roseanne reruns. Ergo … no TV.
Have no TV but stream with Amazon Prime.
Prime is Divine!!
So the word is Belt injured his wrist on a check swing last night. Wonder how that played in the clubhouse
You mean the dead clubhouse in which about 22 guys wonder if they’re getting traded?
He’s thinking he never gets injured watching third strikes
Belt leads the team in ABs and games played. Doubt anyone will begrudge him a day if he needs one.
I will be POed if Belt is traded.
😥😥😥
🙂 🙂 🙂
I don’t like the way it happened
Beats dirt-biking
Lefty’s record is somewhere near 5-38 this season
2-2, likely to be 2-3
Giants Wind Chill. My bad
OOOFFFF. Shark scouting report might read “still looks like NFL wide receiver throwing baseball hard”
Hey, I’m watching season 1, of Agents of Shield.
A talented multi-tasker lol
Nah … I don’t think he’s multi-tasking. He’s also not watching the game.
There are many venue’s to watch the game of Baseball be abused, this is one. They should be ashamed.
Hey, I’m watching season 1 of Payroll Tragedies
That’s pretty good!
It could get worse in season 2 and season 3.
You could say it’s already jumped the Shark. 🦈
Good for you, Matthew, but in absolute terms even one of those “Real Housewives of …” debacles is a better use of time than this game.
Okay, Matthew. I think I fell into one of your joke holes but curiosity, and the existence of horrible shows, forces me to ask if “Payroll Tragedies” exists. I’m betting “no” but there are so many such shows that I wouldn’t be flummoxed if it did exist.
GoT Marathon up to S.7 Premiere!
What the heck? Just got in from a beautiful clear and breezy day outside, turn the game on, and this shit show is all they got? When I go seasons lost mind set, its full on. This is not good.
After this, one wonders if Belt is tweeked or buying a ticket to NY.
That was my first thought
So do we lament if that’s so, or celebrate his delivery from purgatory.
I’d be happy for him if he ended up in either Houston or NY
Alfonzo are Bour would be way more likely for Yankees .
Maybe. Just riffing. They may love him way more given Bour’s clankability and Alfonzo’s weighted boots.
These GM’s and staffs look well beyond your stat sheet, also
You’re making me laugh way too much today. Just tweaked a rib muscle. Clankability???? That’s one of the ugliest new words I’ve ever seen.
That Josh Tomlin/ Matt Moore matchup looks compelling
You didn’t hide this joke hole as well as you hid the last one.
I just downvoted your post, you prankster!!
Mrs. Bochy firing up the BBQ, texted Bruce…he’s plotting his exit strategy
The Game of Thrones Party begins!! Q the theme music! Just popped open some Costco Malbec to breathe, gonna go pluck some basil to go on the pizza margerite. T-minus 3 hours !!!
the beautiful game. just woke up.
Pull out the regulars and play the youngsters and the bench guys. Get the point across as a manager
You just made Bruce go into a seizure with “youngsters”
“Why Not Us?” by SFG Productions after the game?
Because we suck. That would be one reason….
Oh…1997? My bad.
One problem with putting our two promising prospects in so they can get playing time, Slater and Arroyo, is they’re hurt. Can’t even take this lost season and prep a couple guys for next year. That’s not good. Looks like we’re stuck with some high paid vets being every day guys.
Yeah. Our positive developments are hurt.
Now, here’s some good news! 👍🏻😀
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/rays-interested-in-hunter-strickland.html
Speaking of trade rumors, are the Giants going to get the worst possible result from Cueto by not being able to trade him due to blisters and then have him walk at the end of the year?
IS that the worst possible result? 🤔
Well, yes. If he’s going to leave regardless I’d like the Giants to be able to leverage him as a trade chip and get something for him. Aren’t the comp picks eliminated, so if he walks the Giants get nothing? Even if they do get a comp pick, Cueto’s most value would come from flipping him before the deadline.
He’s not leaving. He’s opting in to hi$$$$$$$$ contract
I think he can get more on the open market despite his down year. I’m actually ok with it if he stays. I still think he has several hundred good innings left in him.
No way. Nooooo way he can get more than by opting in
Nobody will sign him for 84 Million , so he is going no where , book it .
Well, Jeff Samardzija got $90M. Cueto’ track record is excellent, he certainly could stay but it’s far from a guarantee.
You are bananas and I will bet you he’s gone.
That’s what I think, too.
Honestly, I’d rather take back the $80MM payroll to use elsewhere. Cueto can still pitch some, but we have to avoid at all costs another highly paid, severely declining player.
Oh, and as for who replaces Cueto for two weeks? Bring up Beede. Let’s see what he can do.
A.P. said Smarge has coughed up 20 HRs, J.C. has 19. Wow.
After our data hiding about Duffy why would TBR want to get any other Giant?
Did you start this? Where’s your Kontos-To-NY rumor????
I don’t want Strickland to get traded. We need him for our bullpen next year!! Trade Belt or someone else. Our bullpen is gonna be nasty next year. Plus I like his fire!! This team lacks fire. They boring old men.
I just don’t know if Strickland’s dopey-fied form of “fire” is the kind we want on this team. He’s got to use that fire on the mound not in a fight.
Strickland has value and is replaceable. He’s not THAT amazing.
I think Meat is showing signs of growing skill on the mound and his heat certainly makes him fun to watch. Yes, he’s not THAT amazing but he ain’t chopped liver. Keep him.
They’re pitching Crick?!?! Lefty is gonna blow dart his ass so Tampa Bay can evaluate Bow Hunter
You are on it! Cool that Haft is breaking the rumor. Haft is back, baby!
http://m.giants.mlb.com/news/article/242483948/giants-hunter-strickland-drawing-interest/
I’m really enjoying Haft’s book.
Two reasons why Hector kills Giants.
— he knows what Posey is gonna call.
— he’s a lazy ass with talent and only shows his talent against Giants cause they got rid of him cause he’s a lazy ass.
Posey is not catching today .
So he’s a lazy ass.
What’s it like to live in such a literal place?
Hwang should be playing everyday.
They’re showcasing Nunez for a trade
Well then do it. And rest him when the Giants get home so he doesn’t hurt his ham bone again.
Word. No reason to nail Hwang’s ass to the bench. We liked what we saw, and that guy has earned a legit chance to play.
LOL. Until he does, and then…..
Span pulling a Gorkys today
Put in Mike and Molly’s kid!
These Padre uniforms are not making want to join the military.
Hector looks like a camouflage beluga whale
This is not a talented ball club! They are old and no one in this line up (even Posey) scares anyone!
Except … they aren’t really old. They just play like it
Look at that speed! Span scoring from first on a doub…..
Wait. Hold on. He just Walter Brennan’d into 3rd
It’s not like there were two ou–wait, there were?!
BABIP. Can’t hit it any better than that.
Yeah you can, right Hector .
The Phillies won. This could go down to the wire.
Giants have an opportunity to pick up a game on them today.
Experiment Kelby in the outfield and get Miguel Gomez out on the field. What better game to do that than in this one?!
Didn’t Bill Veck have crowd try outs one year.
Bruce is gonna shoot lasers out of his eyes at you like those Fembot boob shooters in Austin Powers if you don’t stop
You know you agree
I do.
I like Tomlinson, but he has 5 doubles, 1 triple and 0 home runs in his last 180 ABs.
That’s not the point…
He’s not the answer in the outfield.
I didn’t say that. It’s about assessing Kelby as a super utility guy.
Atta babe Gorkys.
The Anti-Span!!!!!
Gorked. Don’t we need him in Center field?
Now, stop trolling TO
Crick looks more like a starting pitcher… Thoughts???
I wonder if Hector and Pablo auditioned for the Kona Brewing ads?
One life. Don’t blow it.
Both good Giants. Hush with your fat shaming.
Who’s fat shaming? I dig those Samoan cousins
I’d party with them.
Hector does not look that fat, last night when his team ripped his shirt, his chest looked solid not fat .
Yeah. Kind of Pudge-like.
Please move Crawford down in the batting order
Four doubles today and we can only make 1 run on 9 hits. What in hell is wrong with this team?
Look at the BAs and the stackup probabilities of consecutive hits. You know that.
Look at SD’s woeful lineup and talk about their stackup possibilities which are vanishingly small.
What does that tell you about Giants pitching?
Tells me that we do teams’ stacking for them.
You shuffle, I’ll deal.
Man …. well said
When you give up 7 runs, Crawford is the least of ones problems.
xFIP looks kindlier upon Shark today: 6 IP, 0 BB, 8 K
So he sh!t in a bag, and not on the couch.
something like that. one outing does not account for due diligence. The next two could impress enough to move the needle.
3 of the K’s were against Blash, a know slugger.
Took Bum deep last night
Well, gosh, he can hit a hanging curveball. That’s a miracle.
Cc has a Samardzija thorn he can’t pull
To know him is evol him.
Hahahahaha!!!
No better argument for not paying much attention to it. He stunk.
Pence misread that one. Catchable with a decent jump.
Start ramping up the situational heat with Crick. I like him a lot but no more mop up duty!
Blessed short flight.
Maybe walking would give them time for thought.
I turned the TV game off. So how am I “watching” the game nonetheless?
TV recorded it?
Nope.
Hhmmmm. That’s all I got.
I “watched” the game on Yahoo Sports simulated game tracker thingie. That’s why I didn’t know Pence misplayed a ball.
Oh. Got it. A riddle. Damn. Sailed right over my head. Love’m tho. Usually go 50/50 with them.
I love Yahoo Sports game tracker but you do miss all the things about plays where an eye test helps you gauge what happened.
Great app when your away from a television. Followed Raider games that way for years till I got the NFL channel last year.
Tough loss. Still hurts. But the sign is in the door of the season now. To borrow a quote from Dante’s Inferno: Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter.
It was a low out.
Astros must have a good farm system. Do it.
Bleacher Report has Houston’s farms at #8 which is way better than their #24 rating of ours. Indeed, do it!!
The way H2 started this weekend, the 2017 Indians will look like the 1954 Indians against us.
they had a 4-0 record against the ’54 indians, so they should kick some butt to start off the week..
From now on, when allowable, 0-2 count, bounce a curve on the plate. Not good as of late with the 0-2 delivery.
“Of late” meaning the last 12 calendar months … it’s ridiculous.
So NBCS saying Spans trade value is ranked last amongst CFs? Fitting, to say the least.
Tim Flannery needs to come back, in some capacity, and be in the dugout.
Gorkys goes honest on every play, on the bases, and tho he doesn’t tear it up at the plate, he doesn’t cheat himself.
Keep Posey Bum Panik Craw Slater Blach Hwang Gorkys (yes, that’s right) and the bullpen except for Melancon.
Current society tends to sensationalize, but I thought about this a bit before saying this:
I’ve never seen an SF Giants team with this much high paid talent fall this flat for this far into a season. Yes, there were holes coming in ( outfield), but this team had holes in the oats and fought through. Even the non playoff years weren’t this….lifeless.
I’m sure the owners and executives are absolutely confused and panicked.
Who has overperformed? Maybe Strickland. Blach. Gearrin. Who has performed to expectations? Maybe Span. Almost Posey.
But the entirety of the team face planted. I know a couple know-it-all’ will claim they knew all along.
No, they didn’t. Not like this. And, rooting for failure to be proven right is weird, anyway
Well I’m weird you know that.
I must ask, the top 3 team payroll only occurred AFTER the run of 3 in 5.
Kinda hard to compare this situation to any other since it’s never happened. And the one time the team grabbed the biggest star in the world via free agency, well we know all about how 25’s exploits basically paid for a new stadium and thrust the team into the big boy status (then they they turned their back on him yadayadayada…).
I think in actuality many of the players are hitting about par, which just isn’t enough.
Who’s hitting par? They are ALL bogey and double bogey
Span, Pence, Belt, Hernandez, Nunez, not to mention the 1000 atrocious OF that have played LF, they are all hitting about where their skill levels are. Not worse, not better.
Hernandez is a 5th outfielder. Span is even worse in the field if that’s possible. No one saw Pence falling this far. Nunez hasn’t played. Belt is hitting with power but his K hole grew, and shouldn’t. It’s worse than expectations… none more than Moore and Melancon.
I agree with you all the way. Even if things didn’t go well I thought this team at worst should be a .500 team. It’s easy to say “I knew it” for people that didn’t have them as a playoff team (I did and was a bit off), but it’s an entirely different thing to say “I knew this was a last place, 100 loss team.” THIS level of ineptitude is shocking.
But what you guys are not talking about is the fact the farm has been a bottom feeder for 3 years plus.
So when you look at the starters, if any are hurt or under perform, who the hell is there in the minors to help? That alone takes a 509 team down a few notches, which is what has happened.
I honestly thought that the mix of in-place talent and new blood would result in around a .500 team. Who could predict that Moore and, to a lesser extent, Samardzija could have career downer years? Who could predict that Buster would have a huge BA but not with RISP? Who could predict that Pence would fall off the wagon so hard? Who could predict that Cueto’s ERA would be a career high only rivaled by his 2nd half of 2015 at KC? There are other “Who could predict” questions but the bottom line is that a lot of talented people are falling down on the job and we added insult to injury by making obvious mistakes with guys like Cain. This is NOT a 35-57 team. It’s MUCH better than that.
It isn’t.
It is. Moore, Cueto, and Smarge are having bottom-of-career years which are likely to revert to their decent means. Posey will revert to hitting well with RISP. If these players just revert to their career averages we’re a much better team. In the pen, Gearrin and Strickland are maturing as true MLB pitchers before our eyes. We have a real infield. Surely our team has gaping holes but what we’ve seen is the entire team fall in that gaping hole all at once. I say they’re a competitive team … not exemplary but a .500 potential.
.500 potential? That’s their “potential”? “Not exemplary” is an understatement. “Competitive”? It’s downright mediocre so if you think mediocre is competitive….then ok.
Mediocre is competitive by definition. A .500 squad is not a pushover. A .500 team is watchable, even entertaining. Long term they’ve got serious sub-.500 seasons coming because of aging players and a lousy farm system. If the entire organization is going to establish long term competitiveness, it’s got to hire guys who are excellent player-finders and, once found, you’ve got to hire guys to develop nascent talent. Right now, I think our farm system is proving that we’re bad at recognizing new talent and lousy at bringing new talent to a professional degree of competence.
I can agree a team can be competitive if a .500 team, which is mediocre. But…you’re kind of contradicting yourself. You said they’re competitive. Maybe so if they were but they’re not a .500 team. Far from it.
I meant they’re CAPABLE of .500 if many anomalies weren’t going on. But all these anomalies and injuries have made them a sub-.400 club.
Moore and Cueto have underperformed, but Samardzija’s performance has been comparable to his previous two seasons. Posey is actually having his best year since his MVP season. Gearrin and Strickland are both mediocre. None of the four infielders are among the best hitters for their positions. The outfield is a disaster. Bad luck doesn’t cause a team to lose 98 out of 162.
And zero team speed to go with their utter lack of power. Nothing to predict there, it was a fact from day one in ST.
Posey had a serious RBI drought until just recently because he wasn’t hitting with RISP. BA is very misleading if it doesn’t produce runs. Gearrin and Strickland’s ERA are good to excellent. You have to learn to love the WAR stat to evaluate our infield correctly. The trio of Panik, Belt, and Crawford collectively have NEVER had a single season with a negative WAR. Their batting doesn’t overwhelm but their defense is way above average. You’re obviously singleminded about their hitting.
No way on Posey,, better years in 2014 and 2015, even in 2013 at the break had a better average more HRs and way more RBI and had about 30 doubles .
It simply isn’t and you keep fooling yourself
I may be fooling myself about Strickland and Gearrin. There’s been marginal improvement not a “wow” improvement. I’m don’t think I’m fooling myself that Moore, Cueto, and Smarge are better than demonstrated. But overall that’s why I think the Giants team upside is constrained to .500 ball and I don’t understand why you dramatize my constrained upside of .500 into being a wholesale endorsement as if I’m saying they’re a contender. I’m not saying that.
The Giants have never been an outstanding offensive team, so their performance in that area isn’t that surprising. But pitching and defense has been atrocious, and that wasn’t true in the past. Everybody wants a key hit in a close ballgame, but in years past, when the Giants led after the 6th or 7th, it was over. No more. What started as a bitching session about Casilla last year, has become the rule this year.
Good points, and that’s why I’ve been barking incessantly about Span and Pence. Though they aren’t alone in their ineptude, they lead the way in killing this team and staff. Then, with some drop off in the lineup, we are seeing a baseball disaster
When upper 4’s are your “stars” on the mound only bad things can happen.
Re the bullpen, I think the 1-batter yank that Bochy has done since he’s been with us is injurious to the minds of the young bullpen we have. The message is “I don’t think you can work your way out of a runner on first”. Our young bullpenners will take such perceived slights hard because they know that one pitch could send them back to AAA.
Agreed. Frankly, these are the kinds of things you’d expect to see with a young, inexperienced team. And it’s pretty disappointing because most of these guys on the roster have been through the grind of playing 162 games and experienced the taste of champagne at the end of the season.
It’s really inexplicable how this team which held the best record at the ASB last season could take a nosedive this far down the standings, and not be able to find a way out of the funk for THIS long.
In H1, 2016 everything that could go right did go right. In H1, 2017 everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Slater’s injury literally felt like God was punishing us.
I was very upset That we couldn’t even score one run after falling behind 7-1 after three. It felt like “OK, this is a loss, let’s just finish the game and get home.” Rarely did we see that nonsense during our halcyon years. Disappointing.
The problem is what you find inexplicable.
What’s inexplicable is the perfect storm that lead to last seasons 1st 1/2.
This team in actuality is the one of the end of last season and this one.
I’ve said this all damn year. They’re not this bad.
They’ve aced their 2017 required Underachievement Tests.
It’s been a year, so it’s kind of hard to say they’re not this bad.
Ok then, they’ve aced their 2016 and 2017 required Underachievement Tests.
And I just finished The Office episode where Dwight calms Jim and Pam’s baby down, and forces Jim to feed him a pepperoni pizza. Best episode of season 7 so far.
The gem lines in this show have to be the most of any I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing.
Dwight is in the Hall of Fame of sitcom characters.
That man never underachieved.
I’m definitely going to get crap for writing this but while Crawford’s an amazing shortstop he’s an average to below average hitter. When he signed his multiyear contract, I liked the term but not the price for a hitter of his caliber. I think he had career years in ’15 and ’16. I think it was his amazing defense that justified the contract, but I think we’re seeing his plateau and his average hitting stats: sporadic pop, a lot of strikeouts, and low BA, OBP and SLG.
He leads the team with 46 RBI, just shows how bad this team is .
Craw is having a dismal year at the plate…I’m not ready to say the prior 2 were career years. These kind of reverse momentum years leave a mark on lots of guys…so let’s see how ’18 goes
I’m just wondering if some of our fat contract players put in a little extra time and study to keep getting better. I knew a MLB pitcher from our area who liked to play cards in the clubhouse, never hit the weight room or put in time studying hitters. Needless to say he was done at 30. And then take a guy like Grenke. Keeps a log on hitters, hits the weight room, super freak diet, etc. Countless hitters work real hard to get better. But my point is, if it’s a overly fat contract, does a player lose a bit of an edge? I believe some do. Not all, but some. That’s why I loved the ’91 Atlanta/Twins WS. The two lowest payroll teams in their respective divisions.
No worries. We have our stopper, Matt Moore pitching tomorrow. Oh, never mind.
Yeah, Matty Moore against a PO’d Cleveland team. Good luck.
No better time for Matt Moore to make a stand than tonight’s game.
27 of the 106 homers allowed by Giants pitchers have been on 0-2 pitches.
25.5% ! Considering there are 11 other possibilities, that’s very impressive!
hey doc.. i just saw this in alex pav’s column..” The Giants have given up 27 homers on two-strike pitches this year, including five in 0-2 counts”… i’m not sure which is correct, but they need to improve either way. anyway, despite the desultory effort today, i hope the w/e was enjoyable, and i hope you and mr southpaw have, or had, a safe trip home.
I got the stat from John Shea of the Chron…don’t know who’s right.
I don’t know either but I believe both of Hector’s bombs came on 0-0 pitches. You’d think that after having him for the better part of three ML seasons they’d know by now he goes hunting on the first pitch.
Strike that…today it was a 1-0 pitch.
that sounds a lot more plausible.
Rags or player error?
Rags didn’t throw those pitches. In cases like that it is always the pitcher’s fault! Not Buster’s! Not Righetti’s! Not Bochy’s!
Kudos Greek George for speaking the finite truth. Managers and assistant coaches help prepare players to execute the task called upon for them.
Likewise ‘it is never the pitch called — but rather the location of where that pitch ends up’ – which proves that looking at the Pro game cannot be watched as if it were a video baseball game. The pitches that Casilla threw to Jake Lamb, and Timmy to Goldy and Romo to Matt Kemp throughout the years were also poorly located.
Game of Thrones night promotions for some minor league parks out there. Looks like a victorious bloodbath for the Rivercats of House Sacramento. Fun box score. Calixte went over the wall twice, Shaw with a nice night swinging the axe, DLaw the executioner…
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_07_16_srcaaa_slcaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t105
Jarrett Parker went 2 for 5, and a head lopped off (sorry, I meant an RBI).
Failed to score at least four runs in two of the three. Why don’t they hit?
They don’t have too many good hitters.
Bad bad two halves
I’m really trying to give up on the season but it’s not as easy as that. This Cleveland series however will be series that, should they lose it, make it clear that the team has truly mailed it in. I said that on opening day. They looked tired and had given up early. Didn’t want to believe it then, or now. Time to face the music. Should they sweep Cleveland, it defaults to day to day.
It’s not that we have bad players. Something is missing. Like drive. Or motivation. Or the energy to compete. Maybe something ugly reared its head and the team can’t shake it. Maybe the in fighting is having a negative effect. Maybe they’re playing not to lose. You really have to be good to be this bad. Something is missing.
Another little gem in this odorous season is one Smarge. He’s tied for the most losses in the NL and never gave up 7 ERs in a game last year. Done it three time this season. Yes. It is not a lack of talent that we are this bad. It is an entire team effort.
This will make it easier for you Joe; The Indians just got smoked by the A’s this weekend, they are going to cross the Bay well motivated to kick some Giant a– and I doubt they will get much resistance.
Especially with Moore, Blach, Cain going up against all that power! Cleveland has to feel they’re underachieving too, just 4 games over .500 in what’s turning out to be a weak AL Central.
I don’t think we should be so quick to count out Moore. You gotta think he’s been challenged for his poor performance, been coached up to pitch smarter, and he knows his career path is in jeopardy if he doesn’t begin to perform to his talent. I think we see much better performance over the next 3-4 starts.
Or, conversely. It is time for Moore to show what he is made of. The Giants, or whoever might have him next year, are watching.
Moore hasn’t started since a week ago Friday, the game we were at where he gave up four runs in the first, was out before the fourth was over, and Baggarly memorably quipped that the fans were “too bored to boo.” He could use a good start or five.
How many “challenges” before the light goes on?
To those who think the Giants are not as bad as their record shows. Here is Their Runs scored vs Runs allowed vs the NL average for the past 10 years. They are scoring 0.7 runs less than league average and they are allowing .39 more runs than average for 1.09 more runs per game differential. They are having their worst runs scored vs league average and their worst runs allowed vs league average of the past 10 years. This season is even worse that the 2008 season when they were 18 games under .500
Season/NLRP /GiantsRS/GiantsR /GiantsvsleagueRS/GiantsvsLeageRA/Run Dif/game
2017 / 4.63 / 3.93 / 5.02 / -0.7 / 0.39 / 1.09
16 / 4.44 / 4.41 / 3.9 / -0.03 / -0.54 / -0.51
15 / 4.11 / 4.3 / 3.87 / 0.19 / -0.24 / -0.43
14 / 3.95 / 4.1 / 3.79 / 0.15 / -0.16 / -0.31
13 / 4 / 3.88 / 4.27 / -0.12 / 0.27 / 0.39
12 / 4.22 / 4.43 / 4.01 / 0.21 / -0.21 / -0.42
11 / 4.13 / 3.52 / 3.57 / -0.61 / -0.56 / 0.05
10 / 4.33 / 4.3 / 3.6 / -0.03 / -0.73 / -0.7
09 / 4.43 / 4.06 / 3.77 / -0.37 / -0.66 / -0.29
08 / 4.54 / 3.95 / 4.69 / -0.59 / 0.15 / 0.74
Average / 4.278 / 4.088 / 4.049 / -0.19 / -0.229 / -0.039
To those who think the Giants are not as bad as their record shows. Here is Their Runs scored vs Runs allowed vs the NL average for the past 10 years. They are scoring 0.7 runs less than league average and they are allowing .39 more runs than average for 1.09 more runs per game differential. They are having their worst runs scored vs league average and their worst runs allowed vs league average of the past 10 years. This season is even worse that the 2008 season when they were 18 games under .500
Season/NLRP /GiantsRS/GiantsR /GiantsvsleagueRS/GiantsvsLeageRA/Run Dif/game
2017 / 4.63 / 3.93 / 5.02 / -0.7 / 0.39 / 1.09
16 / 4.44 / 4.41 / 3.9 / -0.03 / -0.54 / -0.51
15 / 4.11 / 4.3 / 3.87 / 0.19 / -0.24 / -0.43
14 / 3.95 / 4.1 / 3.79 / 0.15 / -0.16 / -0.31
13 / 4 / 3.88 / 4.27 / -0.12 / 0.27 / 0.39
12 / 4.22 / 4.43 / 4.01 / 0.21 / -0.21 / -0.42
11 / 4.13 / 3.52 / 3.57 / -0.61 / -0.56 / 0.05
10 / 4.33 / 4.3 / 3.6 / -0.03 / -0.73 / -0.7
09 / 4.43 / 4.06 / 3.77 / -0.37 / -0.66 / -0.29
08 / 4.54 / 3.95 / 4.69 / -0.59 / 0.15 / 0.74
Average / 4.278 / 4.088 / 4.049 / -0.19 / -0.229 / -0.039
How are the Giants going to get a center fielder that can absolutely get after it, fearlessly, and be at the top of the leaderboard for defensive runs saved? I caught a glimpse of MLBN’s Play of the First Half and was just awestruck by some of the plays made by Kevin Pillar and Byron Buxton. I mean WOW, man.
Below is a link to the qualified CFers ranked by DRS and excerpt of the top guys and how they were obtained. Would you believe some “brothers” bring up the rear on this list? Even Charlie “black mon” is tucked between Keon Broxton, Dexter Fowler, Andrew McCutchen, and our very own Denard Span (virtual tie with Cutch).
Byron Buxton, 23 y.o, 2nd overall pick in 2012: 18 DRS
Ender Inciarte, 26 yo, Int’l FA ’08, part of Shelby Miller trade: 10 DRS
Kevin Kiermaier, 27, yo, 31 st round pick in 2010!, 10 DRS
Odubel Herrera, 25, yo, Int’l FA ’08 by Rangers, Rule V in ’14 by Phillies, 9 DRS
Kevin Pillar, 28 yo, 32nd round pick in 2011!, 9 DRS
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=cf&stats=fld&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
We’ve got to find one of these guys! Preferably by trade, because by draft it’s going to be a while. Perhaps open up a slot for Rule V draft this winter. With one of the worst records, the Giants would have one of the first picks in that draft as well. Lose – Win !
Willie May’s Field requires a good RF, too. Given how miserable the Giants are, they might as well let Shaw and eventually Duggar have a go at the Show.
What’s the report card say about all of the Rule V picks of the Padres? For a poor team, their strategy seems to be working in many regards.
After this past weekend, it is easy enough to belive the Giants won’t be able to crawl over the Padres to get out of the cellar. I’m very bummed out now. Is the only hope to get past the trading season and the accompanying”showcasing”, in order to see what amounts to an early 2018 spring training?
I’m curious about the remnants of trades and acquisitions that occur before the trade deadline. I’d guess there are going to be DFA’s that are part of the fallout of these transactions. How astute are SF’s scouts and fact-checkers? Might there be any nuggets of value? Maybe, maybe not.
Conor Gillaspie might make a throw-in on a trade. The Royals want relief pitching, as they have decided they have a shot, so maybe they’d take one of the O’s? I guess we all expect Nunez to leave soon.
If Belt is really on the trading block, they need to be sure to realize his value. The front office can be sneaky good about trades, c.f. Scoots and Freddy Sanchez.
I was suggesting a freebie. A Rule V pickup that might show up due to another team’s transaction.
usually Rule V picks don’t fare too well, but sometimes you land a Clemente.
I believe Padres started season with 3 Rule V’ers and not sure if they have any to show at the moment.
I think their strategy could be better. They don’t seem all too near to competing.
I thought they had, at least five, maybe more.
I thought Inciarte looked just great when the Giants recently played the Braves…sighhhhhh
I thought he looked really good before the Miller trade. The guys that went to the ATL were a nice get.
A shark or a cueto could have reeled one of those in. And then there’s Bradley Zimmer that was passed in the draft….sighhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Zimmer has 4 DRS in about half the innings as the guys atop the leaderboard. So he’d be up there. The right kind of guy.
You need to let that one go. For one thing, Beede has value. But as I’ve said before, in the context of the 2014 draft, high-end starting pitching was a bigger need than outfielders. In 2017, not so much. But that draft was in 2014.
No way. Bridge of sighhhhhhhhhhhhhs.
Beede’s okay. Would be nice if he was doing better and if he can be a mid rotation arm that doesn’t get pounded.
Hard to say potential mid rotation arm a bigger need than everyday CFer with lots of potential and less risk. That’s just what it was and what it is.
I want one of those guys, too…but what motivation does any of those teams have in trading such a player?
You missed the point. Where do you find a guy like that? Where they came from suggests possible routes. Stay with me now.
There is no way I can stay with you on your deep knowledge of a wide society of ballplayers outside of my purview…I count on The Foots Of Talent Mining
Attababe!
The problem is he has too many “wild hair” ideas being pulled out of his “nether regions”. It would take an army of fact-checkers to rule out the 85% of his “leads” that are just dingleberries.
I’ve got something from my nether region that I’d like to put in a bag and place on your doorstep, ablaze.
Stay with me, Mr. Susac and Beede #1.
Well, it isn’t the last dance yet, but I can see where these guys don’t seem to be panning out. I saw Sonny and Beedah both throw for Vandy and both were pretty impressive. I’m not sure what has happened with these picks. The Giants didn’t believe in Beede the way he came to them so they made big changes in his approach. Sonny stepped in pretty much the way he was at Vanderbilt.
Susac may have tipped his hand as being difficult back in Fresno when the Giants made big changes in his game play. I’m not making excuses, even Madson has had some losers and I’m no Doug Madson. We did both have BP way back at FSU, though. That one was pretty easy.
I’m still hanging with Beedah even though he may be a lost cause while in this org.
Sorry for the misspelling Doug, it is corrected.
Was Beedah ever a “winner” at Vandy? Yes, a big league prospect because of his stuff, but go-to guy, give him the ball to win big game?
Lost cause isn’t right either. He may turn out to be the kind of guy that stays healthy and gives you innings, preserving the pen. And that’s more valuable than a guy whose arm falls off.
He finished the 2013 season 14–1 with a 2.32 ERA and 103 strikeouts.
“He was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy. After the season, he was selected by USA Baseball to play for the United States collegiate national team during the summer. ”
“As a junior in 2014 he was 8–8 with a 4.04 ERA and 116 strikeouts and helped Vanderbilt win the College World Series.” After that he was a Giants prospect.
Holy smokes, I was totally focused on his JR season. I had no idea his So. season was Beuhler-esque. Similar WHIP and K rate both years.
So, maybe I’m not the blind raw-raw guy you thought I was after all?
At any rate, it’s time for Beede to nut up and shut up the rapping lifestyle and hang some zeroes on the board against AAA hitters – and perhaps emulate some of the sophomoric winningness.
That’s the problem, maybe. Tidrow, et.al. may have already made changes that won’t lead there.
“Dyson for Dyson” is a nice headline. The Vacuum still shines in the OF with 10 DRS for the Mariners this year; hitting .250 with 2.1 WAR. He would be a great FallBackGuy™ if Duggar (who is back playing for SJ) is not ready. He also is the real deal for late inning defense.
Do it! BOOOM!
Duggar no guarantee whatsoever. Especially with leg issue. Nice potential backup option though, like a CF Slater?
Saw that Duggar is back. Maybe 2020.
Back in SJ – rehabbing. This is a guy with a nice clean stroke that may be able to hit for some average and get on base reasonably well. Some gap power, not likely have high ISO. Some speed, but not a burner.
He has only played 625 innings in CF in minors – and I think he played a lot of corner in college as well. Hard to plan on him as everyday CF for Giants.
Maybe 2020 he is a groomed MLB player. Maybe next year he gets his cup of coffee.
Good morning TWG. The post of the weekend was from Dr. Lefty: “14 months ago we were here for a three game series, started these same three pitchers, and swept the series.”
12 Months ago in same place , Giants got swept .
Over the cliff, and then down the toilet, at last year’s ASG! Grim stuff.
Yep. Who could forget the Casilla Balk-off Game, and Chris’s dying mother shaking her fist and screaming insults from her deathbed? Who knew that was only the beginning of a twelve-month freefall?
I know I won’t. It was the most entertaining Giants loss I’ll ever see.
In my imagination, Chris’s mom is screaming in Italian, like someone out of the Corleone village in Sicily.
The only words you can understand are when she repeatedly shouts “Camilla!” Actually, I’d like to hear Chris’s take on the season. I have a feeling it might not be very complimentary toward the players or management.
Re Hunter Strickland. It’s no secret I’m not a fan of him as a person, but put that aside for now.
If someone wants him and would give up something we need for him, Evans absolutely should trade him. Let’s be objective. Strickland is actually not all that good. We haven’t seen (m)any high leverage situations with him this year (you could argue the entire season is a low-leverage situation), but remember last year? He’d get up two strikes and either nibble or throw a straight-as-a-string fastball? The couple of times Bochy tried to use him as a Casilla replacement?
Strickland’s FIP/xFIP are a lot higher than his sparkling ERA. A LOT. His WHIP this year is close to 1.5 He has 36 strikeouts in 33.1 innings, which is good but not amazing for a power pitcher, and his walk rate is nearly double last year’s. He’s allowed 10 of 21 inherited runners to score.
The other thing, besides Strickland himself, is that the Giants do need to make some strategic trades. If they can’t trade Blister Boy and Nunez doesn’t fetch much because of his hammy issues, and if Evans doesn’t want to blink on trading Belt or Panik, you’re down to guys like Strickland, Kontos, or Gearrin. That’s not exciting, but it’s something. Could Strickland be part of a revamped bullpen next year? Sure, but so could Kyle Crick, who’s younger, has more years of team control, and similar weapons. Strickland isn’t so amazing that he’s worth hanging onto like grim death in a lost season.
The biggest reason to trade Strickland is to try to get value back. One can parse stats any way they wish, but of the bullpen, he has the best stuff (which should bring the most back) and is the best of the bunch. I think you tried to put it aside, but it permeates your analysis
Finding Dyson, assuming his first few saves aren’t a fluke, means the bullpen is a place to originate some trades – contending teams usually overvalue relief pitching in late July.
Part of what motivates me as a fan is rooting for decent guys to do well. So I’m with Lefty, Strickland doesn’t do anything for me, so let’s get whatever we can for him.
I’m with you on the “decent guys” theory…but when a team is approximately 42-185 over the last year, I’m OK with a brain challenged bad ass sprinkled in to the mix of vanilla cake batter
There’s no such thing as “unbiased,” but the stats (the increased walk rate, the IR scored %, the WHIP, the FIP) are the stats. You can take them or leave them. Obviously the “stuff” is why another team(s) would have interest and thus he’d have value.
The biggest plus for him over the rest of the relief staff is that level of stuff…the game -right or wrong – has moved towards relievers heaving heat and hitters unleashing huge swings. It’s a homers and K’s league. We’re close, and see imperfections. But there are several teams with not-so-good pens, and Strickland or Law would bring back the most.
I’ve seen Osich and Dyson hit 95-96 this year, and I’ve seen Crick hit a number of 97s in Sacramento. And we all know that 98-100 without movement doesn’t fool major league hitters.
I agree that heat is the thing–just saying Strickland’s variety isn’t the only one on the market.
but Dyson and Osich aren’t going anywhere for different reasons
There isn’t a single member of the pitching staff that is untouchable. In my view, I would even consider Bum for the right price. (It would have to be a fleecing). I am of the opinion that we do NOT extend Bum to some ridiculous $250M+ contract he will be entitled to so I would be very inclined to trade him after next season anyway. I do NOT think the G’s front office would act that way, but Billy Beane would. You can decide which is better…..
Whatever assets you can get while changing the mix is a good thing. It obvious this soup tastes like shit. Maybe Sam got those pots mixed up…….
Let’s face it: Strickland’s 1.9 ERA is one big fake-out which Lefty shows via the WHIP, inherited runners, and low leverage data points. Strickland is absolutely tradable but don’t be surprised if we get low-balled on such a trade because other team’s scouts know about these data points, too. Keep Crick and jettison Strickland.
My eye test, too. Remember Crick has spent most of his pro career as a starter, so he has a wider repertoire of workable pitches.
Strickland’s walks this year prove that he knows his fastball isn’t a great out pitch.
“Strickland is actually not all that good.”
Then why would another team make it worth your while to trade him?
Tampa Bay is reportedly interested–the combination of ERA, strikeout stuff, and team control is appealing. I’m not saying he has no value. I’m just saying he’s not so amazing that he couldn’t be replaced, and the Giants should be looking to make deals where they can.
Sure G’s would love to trade him if they can get a nice return. But the stats you highlight are avail to every GM. Teams might be interested but they also might be low balling the G’s. Maybe they think he’ll go cheap after the Harper idiocy.
It’s supply and demand, though. If a contending team needs a reliever AND wants someone they can control for the next three years, maybe they bite.
If your “vague” recollection is that Duffy had achilles problems back to high school why would they negotiate with us after such a burn? Maybe TBR’s scouts/data gathering are just horrible??
that’s a good guess for the next trade wind to blow!
Wish he would just throw heat low and away. He came up doing that — anyone remember that Dodger game when he was first called up. Just blew them away with knee level outside corner heat. It was awesome. Now, it seems, he reminds us more of Casilla — great stuff, but where’s his head? On a team this bad, if the team can get something valuable for him, let him go.
Place yer bets! The next trade wind to whistle through The League has to the Red Sox acquiring Todd Frazier for some lower prospects. Anyone want to venture another guess?
edit…Yankees trade for a pitcher?
sign? Trade for one ? Sign a dude off the dumpster heap? That seems a like a good bet.
Per MLTR….Lot’s of possibilities there besides Frazier…
Martin Prado, Jed Lowrie Yangervis Solarte T.J. Rivera Asdrubal Cabrera and …..Eduardo Nunez
Did anyone catch the tweet and video of Flann coaching a minor league game as the mascot? That’s what the SFG team needs.
https://twitter.com/NBCSGiants/status/886738099295854593
yeah…they played that clip pre- and post-game…reminded me how much we miss Flann
I really thought that once Samardjiza got everything under control, he would dominate hitters and run off a string of wins. Wrong again. Fabulous control seems to be a two-edged sword. Nice not to be walking guys, but the hitters get pretty comfortable knowing that most pitches are coming in the hit-me zone. He hasn’t pitched all that badly, but he’s 4-11, often a victim of poor run support. In the games he’s lost, the Giants only scored four runs once.
He’s so into not walking people this season that he may be trusting his stuff too much, and then BOOM. He didn’t walk anyone yesterday but gave up two three-run homers!
Watching other teams on TV, it just seems like a whole other level of MLB. Hitters making hard contact. Pitchers overpowering, outsmarting hitters. Fielders making great plays. Then, we don’t have to watch long to see a typical SFG inning at bat: weak tapper, pop out to short OF, a strikeout.
I’m really done with the plate approaches I see… the aggressive guy (Pence) tends to miss pitches by 3 feet…the others have a “Protect from the first pitch” passive look. You’re right…i see the same damn thing. There is a pall over this bunch, and the huge decisions for the FO is whether this season is just bad momentum or who the will be next year too
He (Pence) hasn’t stopped pulling off pitches. He’s lucky he’s hitting as well as he is. Why anyone gives him ANYTHING on the inside two-thirds of the plate is a mystery to me.
Hunter is ……… well he is prepared to hit a pitch that he has zoned up location wise (only) Is he a MLB tough sob out most of the time? I don’t think so. When he does have 9-12 pitch at bats – he usually matches up with a good down hill pitcher. Is he a tough SOB at bat when he has two strikes on him. ? Rarely, but his sheer determination allows him to accomplish some crucial RBI’s.
Also, it worries me that Bumgarner threw 102 pitches so soon.
That will get Moore thru 3 tonight
You mean batters, not innings, right?
He really looked fine. There was no high-stress innings, not even high pitch-count innings. He probably could have gone another one if they weren’t limiting him.
Glad he looked good. It was just a lot of pitches in such a lost year. Pushing him on his first time back, and for what? And at what risk? That’s all.
He did look good, he looked OK, IMO. He hung a number of breaking pitches, only 2 of which did the Padres orbit. His fastball averaged 88-89 mph. He couldn’t get/keep his cutter in the zone or on the hands. Bochy was smart to break the ice on his return against the Padres. Against some other teams he would have been shelled. Let’s hope it was just cobwebs and not his real self.
Yup, those Padres are a woeful lineup. The next start will be more telling.
Beedah has made some improvement from his road splits in AA, and PCL is very offensive, so there is that. But not a guy knocking on the door, and one that has fallen out of Top 100 prospect favor. Could still be an innings eater, but may not be as effective as Ty Blach. September cup of joe?
2016 Away, AA: 64.1 IP, 4.34 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, .325 opp. avg, 7 HRs, 68 K, 26 BB
2017, AAA: 102 IP, 5.12 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, .287 opp. avg, 14 HRs, 78 K, 38 BB
See below.
Why yes, the sea is below your deck, as it should be.
Boston files protest over odd interference No-Call
http://www.closecallsports.com/2017/07/boston-files-protest-over-odd.html
For the three games we attended at Petco, we sat in Sec. 208. That’s behind the visitors dugout between home and third, in the second level. It’s an excellent vantage point for watching defense.
We’ve all commented about how horrendous Span and Pence could be out there. One thing I also found troubling is Crawford’s lack of range. A number of times balls were hit to his left and I’d think he was going to get it but then he just kind of waved his glove at it as the ball went by. I’m wondering if the groin injury that put him out earlier in the season is still bothering him? He just seems to have lost a step. His UZR and UZR/150 are notably lower than in his two Gold Glove seasons. DRS, too: In 2015–20. In 2016–19. So far in 2017–1.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=5343&position=SS#fielding
Love the guy, but so much went wrong for him this year. I’ll bet you’re right — the groin is limiting him.
The night is darkest before the dawn…
Was lookin for you in the stands whenever I caught glimpses of the action and camera pans of the crowd.
Giants Nation showed up, but it always does there.
You were somewhere in that sea of orange.
it should be a surprise Crawford would be slowing down around 30 yrs. old.
Newsflash: he’s not the first one with his type of body to do so.
He’s not a superior athlete like Correa or a young Arod, not small and fast like Lindor or a player that would age the same as Omar Vizquel.
But still with less range he’s still one of the best in the biz, just not perhaps in the top 5 anymore. More like 5-10.
Fair observation…we just need to see if it’s the groin injury before we order the walker
I like Lindor
That DRS drop off in Crawford is far more troubling than his tepid BA. However, I think Efrain makes a good point about Crawford’s body type. His body type won’t hold up with age as well as Panik’s or Belt’s.
Velocity off the bat is what caused BC35 to not get to those particular balls + a hard infield by design by the Home Groundskeepers. (+ groin)
Yup, somethin’s wrong, but we may never find out what it really is.
I think his family DNA will eventually move him to third base and he will grow into a stocky Ken Caminiti – Eric Chavez – Ron Santo – Ron Cey – Brooks Robinson – Larry Chipper Jones and George Brett – type body.
When he does his HR’s will go from the teens to the high 20’s.
I don’t disagree. He’s been thicker the last couple of years. Gene pool for sure.
Too bad Lucius Fox went bye-bye. Could use someone in the pipe if Craw has to move in a couple to a few.
But if Craw can’t field like he used to and he hits like he is now, no sense plugging a minus bat at 3B.
Naw, there’s something wrong with him.
Some Giants players (Posey the exemplar) silently bear their nagging hurts. Crawford has missed 16 games this year. That’s just enough to think it wasn’t that he needed rest.
I think the foundation of this team is some/several old-school, no cry-babies allowed, tough-it-out kinda guys. Just about anybody here can list the prominent ones.
something that might not get a whole lot better as gets a little older and past 30.
…the minus bat aspect is an aberration
Crawford is 30 and in a live ball season has 8 home runs. in 309 PA.
As a Cub fan it is blasphomy to try and compare him to the 9 time All Star Ron Santo. Santo had 8 straight seasons of 25 HR’s or more with 4 straight 30+ HR seasons. Santo also carries a decent .277 lifetime batting average in which he hit .300 or more 4 times in his 14 year career.
To think a week hitting Crawford whose best HR production was 2 years ago at 21 with his best batting average at 275 is a disgrace trying to compare him to any of those name
Santo-type body
No chance.
No chance that he ever plays third base?
He looks considerably heavier in his hips and legs.
He’s always been thigh-thicker than expected given his quickness, but I think he’s not in good shape due to something. Just no idea what.
Crawford has only played in 76 of their 92 games. That can’t be explained by a need for rest. So I’m inclined to believe in the nagging injury hypothesis.
Good Post and Craw has never been known for his range. He is known for his glove and arm.
That’s not true. His first step and instincts have helped him cover the holes and accrue some of the highest defensive runs saved and zone rating defense among league shortstops.
I have to agree with Footy.
YAY I just saw that the game I’m going to on Thursday (Game of Thrones night) will be pitched by MadBum! Sweet.
What did you think of the premiere last night???
And by “MadBum”, you mean Sandor Clegane, aka The Hound, right?
It was a little slow but glad they pretty much caught up with where everyone is. That cold open was awwwwesome. Jaime needs to find his balls ASAP and Cersei needs a better wig. Also LOL at Ed Sheeran being an extra.
What a sweet voice by a young innocent Lannister soldier. Wonder what his fate will be. Valer Morghulis!
My guy, Bob, with poll-based predictions on some of biggest trades to come…
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/07/17/mlb-trade-deadline-rumors-sonny-gray-jd-martinez/484205001/
No mention of Giant’s trades except that Stanton is from California and would likely be OK with San Francisco but is not expected to be traded because of contract. I would like Stanton as a Giant but probably not his contract.
Something about agreeing to opt-out in 2020 as part of condition for accepting trade.
Giants payroll is FUBAR as it is. They have the highest payroll obligation for the 2018 season (well before it starts) of all MLB clubs. That’s not a good place to start with a lot of holes to fix.
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