by
Greek Giant
And here I thought Ty Blach was doing very well. The infield defense was terrible in the 2-run third. The bulllpen let it in some of his runs and to be honest, Blach’s era and record are better than indicated in the stats line. This appears to be a thing for the 2017 Giants: starting pitcher keeps the team in the game till bullpen allows inherited runners to score and defense misses balls it should catch. The Giants are second to last in allowing inherited runners to score this year. It’s not your imagination, our bullpen really is awful.
Buster Posey is hitting like an MVP and added two more hits last night. Austin Slater had two knocks as well. The rest of the line up? Don’t ask.
The Giants made Jason Vargas look like the second coming of Juan Marichal and that’s all I want to write about that game.
I have reached the point where I am watching the Giants solely out of love and for the joy of baseball. I am not used to removing the feeling from the viewing experience that every game is crucial and the Giants are on the way to winning the World Series. It seems odd. Welcome to the has been-rebuilding-wait till next year club!
Hey! Eduardo is hitting pretty darn well, too!
Any guesses which uniform he’ll slip into late July?
Giants….
I’m starting to get the feeling that there will be just a trade or two. The Giants Way includes messing with the blog traders. Not gonna be much activity
“A voice of reason in a time of madness…”
Keep up the good words. Ever thought of taking up suicide counseling?
The Giants unravel at the same time society unravels. Coincidence?
The End Is Nigh.
Jesus Christ…here we go. So, did it start in November?
No, my son, the wheels were set in motion long ago.
Is Jesus coming?
Jesus is in my heart every day, so he’s already here
How is society unraveling? How has your life changed?
Nevermind my life. How about the world around? The streets. Shootings. Violence. Drug epidemics. The divisions in politics. The disparity between have and have nots. The limiting of resources. Environmental degradation. It goes on. Koyaanisqatsi was a stage awhile ago. The next stage unfolds…
All of those things existed before Trump. All will continue to exist after Trump. Everyday I go to work, I’m on “the streets.” Nothing has changed. Now if you want to look at the increased violence occurring in the inner cities, that increase has been brought about, in large part, by the fallout from the war on police. One of the biggest and most influential cheerleaders in that war was President Obama.
Again the so-called war on the police was much worse in the 1970’s — especially on a per capita basis. In other words I think a lot more police were shot and targeted in the 1970’s than now.
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/08/police-shootings-not-at-a-record-level/
I did not check this source, but it comports with my recollection that police were under greater fire during the 1970’s. It does look like it is getting worse again, but still not near the levels that were seen in the 1970s.
That’s not really what I’m talking about. Yes, more cops have been killed the last couple of years, but I’m talking about the false idea, perpetuated by the media and politicians (a group that includes many Chiefs of Police) that the police are the enemy. They’ve created a climate that has left cops more reluctant to put themselves in situations where their actions might be unfairly judged. As a result, fewer people are stopped and searched, criminals are emboldened, and the sad numbers go through the roof.
who said anything about Trump? Trump is just a byproduct of the division and chaos in the social order. Europe has been having their Trumps before Trump. DT is just a greater scale of idiot with much more at stake and more potential to disrupt as he obviously has in short order.
I actually think the 1970’s were worse and more chaotic, but in today’s world we are constantly bombarded with real-time and emotional responses to each event. Crime was worse, the war in Vietnam was pretty bad and domestic terrorism and bombings were much more common.
Before our news came in the in form of nightly news and newspapers where one usually had an opportunity to digest the information first and report on it more neutrally. Now everyone with a twitter account is a reporter.
Great points. Very true.
Wish you guys were right that this is status quo and everything within norm and going to be okay.
5 hits. !?!?
3 guys.
Would you believe they are not the worst hitting club in the majors?
Yeah, .236 avg is bad, but that’s only 3rd worst behind the Padres at .230 and the lovable Cubs at .235. A’s and Angels are .238 and .240 respectively.
What of the art of making outs (1.000-OBP)?
They are also third worst behind the Padres and Royals?
And what of ability to slug the baseball? They take the cake in that department by a long shot. I mean not even close.
Put it all together for comprehensive OPS and you get the picture.
Cubs is a strange story. Hitting so bad in a hitters ballpark yet in a division where first and last place are only is just 4.0 games!
The Cubs hitting futility is downright shocking! I can only think that it is a mental issue, the World Series hangover…
Their young hitters have a huge number of weaknesses which have been exposed. Hitting breaking balls, most obviously. It started in the postseason when they were shut out 4 times in 8 games.
More of a Power team 6th in HRs, last year was 5th in HRs, in 2015 5th in HRs, 14th in batting average this year and in 2015, last year in a 3 way tie for 6th was a fluke .
Yes, O’Great One, but why?
And there is very little good news in the minors these days either. Keep waiting for this to hit bottom and yet here we keep going … last place.
I have to think the players themselves are holding in quite a load frustration with themselves too.
What do you do?
I’m thinking a big party where they all get horribly wasted and have to play the next day with the “World’s Worst” hangover.
From the chapter in your book on coaching:
“When Smoking Like Doc Ellis Helps” … ?
Just wondering if any of the “brain trust” is actually watching these baseball games. If they are, why does this team still include Cory Gearrin? I’m sure he’s a nice guy and everything, but man, he’s awful. I remember he had about six good weeks at the beginning of last season, and then he started playing back to his career norms. I watched last night for exactly one batter, Gearrin allowing a bases-clearing triple to take the game way out of reach. His ERA is great, but the pitchers he is relieving cannot be too pleased with his work because, in Jon Miller’s words, “They ALL score!.” Can’t the Giants do any better than Cory Gearrin? At this point, aren’t there other arms to look at, to give experience to? The starting pitchers are the only group of Giants doing anything remotely positive, but they can’t always go deep in games. Somebody in the brain trust needs to help the bullpen. Start by 86ing Gearrin.
…and Gorkys, Hill, Morse, and probably Gillaspie as well.
Platoon Span and give Pence more days off (he should get some time in LF, but the Giants would *never* switch a veteran’s position in mid-season even if it was the right thing to do).
Slater should play every day until he proves he can’t, and give him some ABs in the upper third of the order. Kelby should get more ABs. That’s just for starters. And yeah–to skweezplay55’s point–clean out the dead wood in the bullpen.
Remember 2013 and #rockbottom ? 76-86 is looking pretty good right now.
It’s definitely a new era as far as my fandom goes. There’s no longer any frisson of excitement, I don’t get nervous watching the Giants, and my interest is as flabby as their offense. Well, what did we expect? The core 4 are gone, and you can’t replace them with a single closer. The OF is a disaster and in retrospect we should’ve seen it coming. The IF defense has been good, but their offense has been disappointing and maybe fans should’ve expected the inconsistent hitting that have come from Belt, Panik and Crawford. Like GG, I now watch the Giants (more often listen on the radio) only because I like to follow the game of baseball.
Pretty interesting to see how the Royals and Giants have fallen this year. When they met in 2014, it looked like they were young enough to keep it going for a while.
The Giants have now tied the Padres, but are still 3.5 behind the Phillies, and I’m not sure they have what it takes to catch them.
I was traveling yesterday and missed your question to me to explain why I can call you a bully. I can coexist with you on here just fine. Though no one elected me (or Rob) Blog Sergeant, I do admittedly get annoyed when you time your “opinion” posts to rain on moments of other posters positivity and happiness….and then stand back and claim your an innocent victim. You ca argue endlessly that i am mischaracterizing.
It’s obvious that you are a very intelligent person…witty when you feel like it. You have a nice detached way of observing, which some of us don’t have (our “passions” obviously run deeper). I know you have spent a career faced with diffusing situations, but I truly believe you get joy out of conflating them here, poking, pushing triggers, starting fires, and standing back. Ryan has done that on occasion, and was mature enough to admit it. For you to claim you’ve been victimized by my name calling is a classic Oracle bait and switch.
John Myhill then said I have “issues” Well, of course I do! On here, I get upset by 1) endless political hysteria posited as fact 2) people who troll to start trouble, 3) people who refuse to admit the players are giving every effort ..there are others. That’s a short list
I have lived my entire professional life negotiating people through conflict: clients and suppliers, production and sales, Finance and operations, peers with each other, executive committees and laborers, compliance departments and Marketing. It’s stupid of me to think I can help do that here…and calling out unsocial behavior is probably a wasted effort. Your posts at the pinnacle of a fantastic Warriors season were NOT done to share “your opinion”. They were done to incite folks who were reveling in joy. You chose a very calculating time for maximum effect, and you are intelligent enough to know exactly what you were doing. A friend like Ryan would suggest we all “ignore” and let it go. This is our room, too…why should be “let it go”? Is that how society gets better?
I am total fan62, and I heartily approve of this message.
I’m not a victim. Someone getting mad at me on a blog doesn’t hurt. I’m also not a bully. I’m actually not really sure how anyone could be bullied on a blog, but I guess if you wanted to try to do it, you might try anger, name calling and threats when you don’t like what someone has to say. But it still doesn’t work very well, because it’s all just words. I must admit though, that big, bad Rob’s promise to slap me, followed by him providing his real name, home address and the instruction to “call backup when you arrive” was pretty funny.
As I watched the end of game 5, I honestly thought that Curry jacking up that three when the outcome was still in question was just a dumb and selfish move. That was my opinion and I expressed it, which caused you and Rob to throw tantrums. It wasn’t calculated. It was the thought I had at that moment. It’s not required that you agree with me, and I’m sure there were others who disagreed as well, but they were somehow able to ignore it or disagree without all the emotional histrionics. But react in whatever way you choose. It really doesn’t bother me, but you should stop trying to claim that you were valiantly standing up to a bully.
You’ve been riding Curry’s ass for a long time. You know it rankles, and that’s why you do it.
We know who you are, and as many of us have said…sheet gets old.
I do it because that’s what I think. I’ve said he’s the best shooter ever and excellent player, but is also someone who at times seems more interested in putting on a show than doing what’s needed to win the game. To me, that shot was an example of what bothers me about him. That’s my opinion. Yes, I’m aware that others don’t like it, but I don’t believe that requires me to remain silent.
You have the right to remain silent. You don’t have the ability
(That’s an old Ron White line i always liked)
I waived it, just as you did.
No ‘i’.
Maybe we should all take a step back. Our ‘organizational’ woes are really pretty trivial. Hell the Southern Baptist Convention can’t agree to condemn racism, all we’re worried about is the odd changeup and curveball, or maybe jump shot.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-southern-baptist-convention-alt-right-white-supremacy/530244/
Has CAIR agreed to denounce terrorism?
“Can’t we all get along?” – Ryan, 2017
Email might help with your answering your question, I can’t.
Phillies are .333 clip. Astros were at .667 clip.
I’m already looking forward to 2018. Mrs. Crawnik and myself start our Spring Training vacation in 275 days.
I have no idea whether this year’s draft picks will work out, but I do give the Giants credit for not panicking and taking college players at the top for the sole reason that they would naturally be older and closer, in theory, to being to able to contribute in the big leagues. Whether they were right about the guys they chose is obviously a different question.
It would be nice to know why this played out the way it did. Did they go in thinking high school draftees with a slim chance to even make the bigs, but maybe just maybe be all stars, or were they thinking we’ll just take the very best person left after previous picks? But you are right, they surely accepted a longer time to get impact at the MLB level this time around.
I hope they took the players they viewed as the most talented available.
From Schulman article “General manager Bobby Evans said the top of the draft pool favored high school players. It did in 2014, too, when a lot of high schoolers went off the board, thus reducing the pool of potential college juniors at the top of the draft this year.”
HS def works better for rebuild M.O.
But next year with Top 5, just maybe the perfect collegiate is there for the taking.
Lack of consistency is what confuses me about the Giants. I mean, how can they follow up that 13-run breakout with an effort like last night?! Oh-fers again for Span, Belt, Crawford, and Pence. Overall they’re a weak hitting team but can’t they extend prosperity for more than one game at a time?
They have been consistently bad all season. Bad teams lose games in different ways, just as the Giants have. As you said, they’re a weak hitting team, so it’s not surprising when they have a one game scoring outburst but then return to normal. In that 13 run game, the Twins started a 27 year-old career minor leaguer who had previously been realeased by 4 teams, including the Giants, then went to Heston, who’d been released by 3 teams in the past two years, then got a shot at Matt Belisle, who’s been awful this season (8.59 ERA). They scored most of those runs against truly awful pitching, so it was a misleading game.
If one removes Posey and Nunez from consideration, this team is hitting in the low .220s … against pitching of all calibers. Matthew’s post of a few days ago was right i.e., it’s the veterans who are failing the team, not the one or two MiLB fill-ins.
Yup, Span isn’t hitting or getting on base consistently, Pence could hardly stay on the field, and love me some BCraw but he is the least productive no.5 hitter in the MLB. Those are facts, not my opinion.
Not to mention the erratic pitching by Moore, Cain and even Cueto to some extent this year. Melancon also hasn’t been what we thought he would be. We like to blame the fringe guys like Gork or Hill but our core guys haven’t been leading the way.
Ironically, our team pitching is actually ranked 8th in the NL, right in the middle. Seems like we pitch well enough to lose 5-4 and 4-3 games.
I would argue those numbers are misleading but I guess it’s enough to deflect blame in other areas for our struggles. To me, the offense is just a tad worse than it was in the 2nd half of last year.
They’re a lot worse. In the 2nd half of last year the offense was 21st out of 30 teams in the majors:
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2016&month=31&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=18,d
This year they’re dead last:
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=18,d
The pitchers in general haven’t been bad. The problem is that they were supposed to have one of the best staffs in baseball.
I don’t see how the FO figured they’d assembled one of the best staffs. An inspection of the career ERAs of Smarge and Moore reveal ERAs over 4. Hard for the FO to be in denial about that. Johnny Cueto is at 4.33 for this year, well above his career 3.28. Combine mediocre pitching with sad hitting and you have a lot of games where a decent pitching effort gets no run support.
Last year they had the #6 rated starting rotation in the majors and this year they were going to have Moore the whole year instead of Peavy for 2/3 of the year:
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=sta&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0
And they added Melancon, one of the best closers around. It was a reasonable assumption.
A.P. concurs about the defense:
“— An opinion on those “cheap” hits. The Giants have given up a lot of flares in recent weeks, but watching day in and day out, it sure seems like a fair amount of that can be placed on the players in the field. Two of the singles in the two-run third should have been outs, and that’s on infielders. Hunter Pence couldn’t quite come up with a three-run triple.
The new advanced defense metrics are great, but sometimes you don’t need them. Watching this team every night it’s pretty clear, the defense is a step slower than it was a year ago, and that’s responsible for a lot of these balls that are dropping in.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/giants-continue-bizarre-trend-falling-flat-after-offense-filled-wins
… that it stinks.
Steve Earle on one of the (big) benefits of being single: “If I go to a baseball game I can stay for the whole thing.”
The biggest for me…Not being forced to listen to mediocre music, or even acknowledge it exists in the first place.
Unless you go with friends who want to leave early or arrive there later than you prefer (then you wonder why you’re friends with them… just kidding, only sort of).
There are definitely many benefits to being single though, that’s for sure!
I have “friends” who pull for the Brewers or Royals or Cubs or Cardinals or Twins. I even know a guy I’m still in casual touch with who stayed a Dodger fan in spite of living the bay area for a while. You do have to wonder what is wrong with all these people, when there is the Black and Orange instead. My coping mechanism is to think they are at least baseball fans. Probably works for people who have only a 1 or 2 hour attention span for a game? They are likely, given time, to want to take it all in, from BP to triumphant Giants parade after the game.
Great in The Wire and Treme by the way!
Has anyone ever wondered if the cold weather in SF is partially responsible for our injury woes? Seems like all summer long in the box score summary it says “Game time temperature: 58”. Muscles like it in the 70s or even higher especially with the way MLB players run i.e., from 0 to 60 to get a fly ball or a sharply hit grounder.
If it was 58 degrees here I would be throwing a party. Playing in heat can be worse for an athlete, depending on the athlete. Just ask Tim Lincecum. I think our team’s woes aren’t attributable to injuries accrued through chilly bay weather. Much deeper than that.
speaking of the weather, it is supposed to be 120 here on Monday.
Good gawd. You gotta be kidding me. Where are u? Humidity too???
Laveen, AZ an urban village of Phoenix. Humidity is low now but we get it in August.
ugggh. Just looking at forecast for Chico where I have to do some work in orchards (added humidity) and it will be 106-108
ARGGGHHH! I cut my grass with a push mower bc it’s good exercise, and I actually like cutting grass with Rush “Hemispheres” on me headphones. But summers in PA are so annoying and humid, so I usually start at 7:30ish. Takes me almost an hour and a half.
well it’s only supposed to be 119 on Tuesday and I will play a round of golf to enjoy the cooler weather.
It’s the little things. Or the microscopic things, in this case.
the last few rounds I’ve been playing by myself so it only takes about 1 hour 50 minutes to play so it really isn’t too bad.
The weather is the mulligan.
Gotcha, 22. I live in central PA, and our summers are always hot and sticky. When people here say “the hotter the better,” I wanna say, “you’ll love it in hell.”
Born and raised here so I guess I will love hell.
I guess hell is an acquired taste.
Same as it ever was, though…right, E?
Truly. Maybe the increasing age of their stars (like Pence) has been the key variable in adding to injuries.
Gotta love when the boss sends out an alert to avoid going out in the area because there’s an active shooter nearby.
2 dead so far. several hurt.
Yikes! I am so sorry to hear this. Please stay safe.
4 dead now it looks like (including gunman). The helicopters seem to have gone away finally.
They’re advising people to still stay put, but it looks like the situations been “contained”.
My first thought about hearing this (it is at UPS, according to reports) was thank heavens Slikk went to Fed Ex, so I don’t have to worry if he’s OK.
I’m still wondering if that shark finally stopped swimming around in circles.
I’m wondering if Smardgy was in the clubhouse, or, ….
this song was playing at the end of the show “billions”. great show for anyone looking for something to watch..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIHMAhIe9es
The truth is that Gearrin simply hasn’t been that bad. His ERA is 1.67. He has a positive WPA (0.24) (and that stat takes into consideration what he’s done with other people’s runners). The batting average against him is .232. He isn’t giving up much contact (18% line drives, 23% hard-hit balls, both significantly better than league average). No homers. His only real problem is a huge number of walks (14%), which is a problem but walks don’t necessarily advance other pitcher’s runners and his own runners aren’t scoring much. He hasn’t been great but the bullpen in general hasn’t been great, it’s difficult to understand why he’s being singled out for criticism.
He’s been awful John. Just awful. Slow working, lots of walks and lots of inherited runners scoring. Awful.
See the comments above about IRS. It’s way inferior to WPA.
He’s been awful, John, as he was yet again last night. He is clearly not a bullpen player that’s going to help the Giants out of this year-long losing trend. I’ve seen enough. I really don’t like watching him pitch. Your stats, whatever they are, don’t change what I have seen.
In other words, you don’t have any facts to back your argument.
hahaha — what a stupid I am! Sorry John. Just going from my own eye tests and my lifelong fandom.
I guess what I’ve seen is along these lines: With runners in scoring position, he has pitched 8.2 innings, allowed 10 hits, walked six, and hit four guys. And he’s thrown two wild pitches. So, he’s recorded 26 outs in that situation and allowed 20 guys to reach base safely. Do you think that’s good relief pitching?
So, I don’t think it’s good, but it isn’t particularly bad. I’ll repeat the data I gave above:
Here are all of the situations this year when Gearrin came in with someone on bases and what happened to the runners. The number to the right is the expected number of runs to by allowed given that situation (see http://www.tangotiger.net/r…
April 5, Arizona–man on 3rd, one out, runner scored (0.95)
April 6, San Diego–bases loaded, 1 out, no one scored (1.54)
April 12, Arizona–men on 1st and 2nd, no outs, no one scored (1.44)
May 2, Los Angeles–bases loaded, no outs, 3 runners scored (2.29)
May 5, Cincinnati–bases loaded, 1 out, 3 runners scored (Giants were losing 6-1 when he came in) (1.54)
May 24, Cubs–man on 1st, 1 out, no one scored (0.51)
May 29, Washington–man on 1st, 2 outs, no one scored (0.22)
June 13, Kansas City–bases loaded, 2 outs, 3 runs scored (0.75)
Total number of runners scored–10
Expected number of runs–9.24
So he’s allowed .76 more runs than expected. I wouldn’t call that a disaster.
Why do you say that every time someone disagrees with your opinion?
Not every time. Only when they don’t have any facts.
Slow working seems like a weird criticism of a reliever. Most of them are slow working. Strickland and Melancon work ever slower than Gearrin
You may be right. Guys that work super slow are really tough on the defense. Gearrin works slowly, falls behind in lots of counts, and the fielders have to endure it all out there and be ready to make a play. Just my eyeballs talking, but Gearrin’s innings just seem to drag on forever. Strickland, you’re right, he’s also a little bit slow. Melancon, though, he works around the plate and keeps a better pace.
I read that Gearrin has allowed 12 of 19 inherited runners to score which is 2nd to Boston’s Heath Hembree, who allowed 13 of 23 to score.
He is to blame a bit for all of our starters’ inflated ERAs. I believe Moore has been a victim TWICE, Blach once last night. Smarge, Cueto, and Cain also have been affected by Gearrin’s WHIP that is almost as high as his ERA.
As I’ve demonstrated before with regard to Strickland, inherited runners scored is a stupid stat, much worse than WPA, because it treats a man-on-3rd-no-out situation the same as a man-on-1st-two-out situation.
Well last night he allowed three to score with 2 outs.
I think it was four runners total — the three he inherited, and the guy who hit the three-run triple who also scored.
Here are all of the situations this year when Gearrin came in with someone on bases and what happened to the runners. The number to the right is the expected number of runs to by allowed given that situation (see http://www.tangotiger.net/re24.html):
April 5, Arizona–man on 3rd, one out, runner scored (0.95)
April 6, San Diego–bases loaded, 1 out, no one scored (1.54)
April 12, Arizona–men on 1st and 2nd, no outs, no one scored (1.44)
May 2, Los Angeles–bases loaded, no outs, 3 runners scored (2.29)
May 5, Cincinnati–bases loaded, 1 out, 3 runners scored (Giants were losing 6-1 when he came in) (1.54)
May 24, Cubs–man on 1st, 1 out, no one scored (0.51)
May 29, Washington–man on 1st, 2 outs, no one scored (0.22)
June 13, Kansas City–bases loaded, 2 outs, 3 runs scored (0.75)
Total number of runners scored–10
Expected number of runs–9.24
So he’s allowed .76 more runs than expected. I wouldn’t call that a disaster.
That sort of thing is best measured by RE24 (which considers the runners-and-outs situation when a pitcher enters and exits a game in terms of run expectation) and in fact Moore has the worst RE24 on the team (-10.96) whereas Gearrin’s is #5 out of 10 with 20 IP. Blach is the only starter with a better RE24 than Gearrin. You’re selectively remembering his failures.
What is your reasoning for using ERA as stat to evaluate relievers ? Wouldn’t WHIP be better since they rarely go more than 1 inning?
I’m not just using ERA, I’m using several other stats. WHIP just reflects hits + walks, his hits are fine so it’s the walks which are the problem. I said that 14% is bad but it isn’t THAT bad, and everything else looks pretty good.
A guy with an ERA of 1.67 and a FIP of 4.15 has a problem. IMO, you’re looking for the coin under the lamp post, not where it really is. As to Strickland, most of the time, they protect him from as many LHB as possible. He’s a construct, not a general purpose arm.
https://i.imgur.com/VkmZNrD.png
Actually he’s much better against LHB than RHB this year (avg. .156 vs. .269).
Advanced stats can be interesting and helpful, but you can’t let them obscure your view of reality. Gearrin has been bad. Without looking at any other numbers, you just can’t be a good reliever if you’ve walked 17 and have 5 HBPs in just 27 innings.
I’m not saying he’s a good reliever, I’m saying he hasn’t been bad. Pitchers can be very effective while still giving a lot of free passes because they don’t advance base runners unless they’re forced. If he was really hurting the team with all the free passes in terms of his own runners, you’d see it in his ERA, and if he was really hurting it in terms of other pitchers’ runners, you’d see it in his WPA and RE24 (which is also positive, 1.07).
Giants have to find a way to trade Nunez. Somebody has to be interested in his .300 average, speed, and defense; maybe the Yankees. But in any event, they need to open 3B back up for Arroyo. Playing Nunez out in LF makes no sense any longer. Perhaps a platoon CFer can be found, or some diamond in the rough that can split time with Span this year and next while Duggar and Jebavy continue their development.
Or maybe that CFer comes via Johnny Cueto and Nunez returns a back of rotation starter similar to Ty Blach or Adalberto Mejia.
But keeping Nunez would be an SMH maneuver.
Today’s line-up is only lacking that one part you point out: Arroyo at 3B instead of Nunez. Panik back in is big as defense has proven a key to the Slide into the Cellar [Pav’s today].
I find Nunez an intriguing ball player. But he’s in his very last season of team control, so do for a big pay raise as a free agent. Since his best position is where the Giants have Arroyo, Gillaspie, and Hwang, there’s (a) no chance he’s a Giant next year, and (b) a valuable player at an important position. Surely worth a team trading a MLB OF for.
Astros are calling up potential Johnny Cueto trade piece (my spec.), Derek Fisher (especially with Keuchel on DL).
For Fresno, Fisher has batted at a…
“.335/.401/.608 clip, slugging 16 homers and 19 doubles while also
picking up 13 stolen bases. He’s been caught 10 times as well, however,
so his efficiency on the basepaths remains a work in progress. After
punching out in 27 percent of his minor league plate appearances last
season, Fisher is striking out at a more manageable 19 percent rate in
2017.”
He plays CF and corners.
Did you see what Tigers got for Verlander?
Just watch how Bobby gets snookered.
You ever play snooker?
I have… and… while eating a Snickers.
do tell, I can’t find anything
For 3 guys. CF, Almora, I think, plus 3A pitcher that’s eating up league and a third good prospect.
At least the Dodgers won’t be getting him, at whatever future date you are typing from.
Are you typing from the future? That’s awesome!!
I walked in and MLBNet was on and it was mentioned with a little on what Tigers got. Sounded like a very nice deal for both. Eppy and Evans just aren’t in the same league, though.
You sure it wasn’t a speculative segment?
Evans is in league with the organizer of church softball league.
Names were mentioned of all players and they said it was done deal, short of every person getting new unis.
We need to do a similar trade to Cubs/Tigers with Cueto.
Does Robert Mueller still have a job from where you’re at? How’s DT doing?
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