Nats in Town
The Mets were cute but now a real team comes to town. Washington is hot right now although beating up on the punchless Padres is a little like, well, beating up on the bumbling Mets. Still, of you are a good team you take care of business against the bad teams and that’s what both the Giants and the Nats have been doing of late.
Strasburg vs Voggy tonight and it’s hard to be confident about this match up. But the way this season is going, we’ll probably win easily….
And I don’t believe that for a second.
Should be a fun series……
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Chi posted a link to trade rumors involving Chase Utley. Of course, he would be the perfect fit in SF, the question would be the booty required to secure him. I don’t see Sabean pulling a big enough trigger to get an *Utley.* He’s a California boy though and he and his wife live in SF in the off season so you never know……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Four gamer with the Nats. And as Flavor says, they have been on a bit of a roll lately. But at 42-21, so have the Giants, with their most recent plunder being running off a five-game winning streak.
Here is the link (one of a few that I checked-out last night) re: Utley. If the price is steep for Utley, I see his age being a determining factor in Sabes not going that way (Giants are in the middle of a dance now with an aging second sacker who may never play again). But damn, you put Utley on this squad and holy toledo.
http://fansided.com/2014/06/08/chase-utley-trade-target-giants-cardinals/#!WwWhl
I think most here would agree that the area that could use a tune-up more than any other would be 2nd. If not Utley, realistically who do you think may be available and would be a good fit for our Giants?
Loo’s right, it is the *proven formula*, but it’s also left SF holding the bag and paying 2 different guys not to play 2b. If they figure Panik will be ready in a year, then I think Sabes grabs a vet guy more like Theriot just as a place holder. That’s part of his MO too, tho I don’t have an idea who he’d be looking at. And regardless of what numbers Panik is putting up, it’s still only AAA, where Pill and Bowker gang lit things up.
Utley has obviously been a sounder player in his career than Scut or Freddy S., but what would they do with him next year? As well as they are going, I don’t think Sabes makes a splashy move like this one unless he can fleece Amaro again.
Ryan zim is in the OF now, tho I don’t know how permanent. Yesterday Frandsen played 3b for them. Their SPs are good, could be a few torture games.
Yes Machado over reacted to everything, but Schowalter never should have thrown at and eventually beaned Donaldson Friday after the initial incident. Donaldson is an all star who didn’t do anything wrong in the first place and didn’t deserve a beaning. Schowalter is fortunate Melvin didn’t retaliate against Davis or Jones or someone else and waited til getaway day to send the msg to Machado. Nice going, a-hole.
I tend to agree with wille on 2b. Sure Utley would be nice but not at anything more than eating salary and that wouldn’t do it from the Phillies perspective. If anything I am suspect of the Hudson, Vogelsong, Lincecum trifecta. Less so Hudson but another power arm would be nice.
I would put an upgrade (a vet to carry them through the season) as a higher priority than a pitcher. While Timmy’s numbers are not great, they are not bad for a 5th starter (and while he is slotted fourth, realistically, he is behind Vogey and the fifth on this staff). In May he was 3-2 in six starts with a 2.86 ERA/1.47 WHIP.
Giants have won seven of Vogey’s last eight starts and he has gone 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA with 49 Ks in 52 2/3 innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.15 ERA in six games at home this year.
So again, I would place a higher priority on a second sacker than another starter.
I disagree. I see Lincecum as a pitcher that is still trying to find it and not really reliable. Vogelsong as a guy that’s one bad enchilada from going off the rails and Hudson potentially falling victim to age as the season progresses. I really think 2b, the current #8 hitter, is the least of this clubs worries. At this point it’s just nitpicking. As the summer goes on we’ll see what happens.
We’ll just have to agred to disagree, but you’re wrong. 😉
For 4/5 guys in the rotation, I have no problem with what we are getting from the two.
Vogelsong – 4-2, 3.39/1.28
Tim – 5-4, 4.97/1.54
Yeah, Timmy’s numbers are not great, but if you compared him to other 4/5 guys, you’d see his numbers are not out of the norm.
Hudson? I am not worried at all about him. We’ll see as the season wears on, but 6-2, 1.97/0.96…that shit is MONEY.
Uhh, okay but disagreement doesn’t make someone wrong. I’m speaking more to the question of 2b. Don’t be a James (no offense James).
I was jerking your chain on the agree to disagree but you’re wrong comment, Dirt. It’s all good. I completely respect everyone’s views, even when they differ with mine. WTF, we’re just a bunch of armchair GM’s/managers who happen to love the same team.
I’m more interested in what happen with C situation this week. 3 night games with Thursday day game, then 2 day games on weekend following Friday night. How many (non Lincecum starts) does Posey C? When he’s not at C is SF better with Hector C Posey 1b Morse in LF or with Hector C Posey out completely Morse 1b Colvin/Blanco LF?
Hopefully the more he catches Sanchez improves defensively, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. He’s a puro hacker at the plate, and his O numbers are less than .700 OPS. Back up C is usually a spot for reserved for career non hitter/good D. Is Hector someone to rely on 3 times a week?
If Posey offensive struggles (esp at home) are health related, what’s the solution until Belt returns? This is a tough month with only 2 off days around the trip to Chicago next week after which SF plays 10 days straight. Giants are gonna be busy and have games vs. Rox Pads AZ, division bottom feeders. Should be interesting.
I think they are best with Posey behind the dish. Hector is still a liability behind the dish IMO. Let him get one or two starts a week, but that’s all I want to see. I think Hector brings more value off the bench. With Belt out, I overall like Posey at C, Morse at 1B, and the rotating LF.
I agree Hector is in OJT as catcher. I saw a lot of the Lincecum game on TV. Timmy does not get a lot of help from Sanchez on framing pitches. He’s awkward catching the ball fairly often. And, he tends to “snatch” his glove at the ball to catch it, even in the strike zone. He’s not at all quiet behind the plate. That doesn’t help any pitcher, especially a guy like Lincecum that has trouble finding the zone and needs every advantage he can get to have the umpire call some strikes for him. As for Hector throwing to second, it’s one good throw for every 4 POS throws — this stuff throwing from his knees every time seems weak and a lazy way to throw…
Oh boy, here we go with the old guys…again. Utley? Really. Personally I go with the old adage “If it aint broke don’t fix it”. I am too lazy to look this up, but how many games has Hicks had an error where it cost the Giants the game. I want to say a big fat 0. But someone can prove me wrong if they would like.
Kevin – all the talk about an upgrade is more about what the person brings to the plate, and less about D. Hicks has been very adequate in the field, and as I said last night, has not really embarrased himself there. I listed where he is on offensive numbers (he is 3rd to 5th on the team in key offensive categories), but hitting well below the Mendoza line. Hey, if Sabean could “steal” Utley I am all for it. But again, I think 2nd is the one area in which they could stand an upgrade more than any other position. Just my opinion. And I’ll take an older journeyman there who can handle the bat and play decent D, and also has post-season experience (Scoots, Theriot, Utley) over one who does not have that experience. I am not wanting them to make any huge sacrifices to upgrade, but an upgrade would be nice.
Well, Crawford did nto have playoff experience in 2012. so…I don’t have a problem with Hicks.
To me, Hicks seems like the kind of player that could have a surprising playoff series, and do something like hit a few big homeruns in a short span of time.
He’s definitely an enigma. I like his gamer persona out there. He just seems like an old-school ballplayer.
He’s a patient hitter, but strikes out a lot, hits some extra-base hits, but bats under .200. Plays good defense, IMO.
It’s hard to figure. It seems like he should be able to easily stay above .200, but he doesn’t.
I like the thought of picking up Utley, but I wonder if Sabean still has some mental scars from the Beltran/Wheeler deal. I can’t see him pulling that kind of trigger again, in some kind of Crick, etc. deal for Utley. Plus, the issue of getting ownership to pay for Utley, while still having to pay Scutaro, is a thing.
The match-up tonight will be interesting. While Vogey’s stats have been good of late (see my 8:37), Strasburg has had great success against our boys. He is 3-0 in three career starts against the Giants with a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings.
For what it’s worth, I saw these following numbers on the web.
I don’t think this series is any kind of be-all or anything. If the Giants do great, then great; if they don’t do that well, then they were due to have an off-series at some point, anyway.
The Giants have already proven a lot by going into Dodger Stadium and winning 3 out of 4, and going into St. Louis and winning 3 out of 4.
Nats:
Offense:
18 in hitting average (.251)
15 in OBP (.318)
15 in walks (186)
19 in RBIs (235)
14 in home runs (59)
20 in hits (529)
17 in runs (256)
Pitching:
2 in overall ERA (3.00)
7 in starter ERA (3.43)
1 in reliever ERA (2.17)
10 in hits allowed (510)
4 in runs allowed (218)
2 in home runs allowed (42)
1 in walks allowed (159)
6 in strikeouts (514)
8 in opposing batting average (.244)
As Chi said earlier, the Nats are good, but the Giants are pretty darned good, too. And the Giants have turned AT&T back into a huge homefield advantage.
Machado totally lost the respect of the baseball world. Why do that to yourself? He’s the big loser in all this, and he did it to himself. I used to pull for the Orioles to do something in the AL East, but not anymore. I hope they continue to flounder. I guess that means I’m pulling for the Blue Jays (and Melky) to get it done. I can’t stand any of the other teams in the AL East.
And doesn’t it seem like more of these stupid pillow fights happen in the AL than the NL? How about that big dooosh-baggy series the Rays had with the Red Sox? What a stupid embarrassment to the sport of baseball.
I think it has to do with the pitcher never facing the music as a batter. This thing with the A’s and O’s didn’t involve that, but I think a lot of times it does involve the AL pitchers being safe from retaliation…
I like Hicks’ pop, but it grates on me that a major leaguer can’t get his average over .200 when he’s 60+ games into the season. To me, that’s not a MLB quality player. He’s fine defensively, and has the .OBP near .300 with walks, but seriously, at some point it’s tough to start a player who’s not an absolute stud defensively when he’s swinging a stick that is hovering just below .200. I would gladly take a couple fewer HRs if he could get his BA up to .250 and cut down on the Ks…
Whoops. Wrong guy. I was thinking of Uggla.
blade, respect your opinion since you do all that research for fantasy game stuff. But. Utley is leading the NL 2nd basemen in a lot of offensive categories. Probably hyped somewhat by the park he plays in, but he seems to have something left, at least this season. I just would not give much minor league talent for him, I’m not into older dudes at all (36 this December), they can break down at any time. He’s under contract for next year at around $13.5M, so SF would have him and Scutaro under contract, or about $19 million combined for the use of probably one second baseman (assuming Marco is done), and Panik has no chance to see if he can make it. Not my money, but I tend to gag at $19 million for the second base position. He’s not under guaranteed contract after 2015, there are three years of vesting options at 500 PAs in the previous year — which likely means he’s not going to be re-upped…
I corrected my mistake . . . Snarkk. I get those two guys confused.
U talking about Uggla?
Yeah, I transpose those two guys names all the time.
Hicks is the cheaper version of Uggla, with a slightly better glove…
Just did a quick check in on where things stand this year compared to last at this point in the season:
2014 runs scored: 278
2013 runs scored: 277
2014 runs allowed: 213
2013 runs allowed: 297
As the stickman notes, at 21 games over 500, the Giants have a lot of early season credit to burn, if the offense and/or pitching falter for any extended period.
I agree with Dirt that another arm would offer more reassurance to the club as a whole than a position player, but it would be much easier to displace Hicks than any one of the starting pitchers, even though his relative performance is certainly no worse than Timmy’s.
Displacing one of the SP would be tricky and is a big thing to think about with any pickup of a SP. Either Lincecum of Vogelsong would have to go and I don’t think Sabean will do it. I can just as easily see him just going with the current roster. He’s done that in the past and it is a real vote of confidence for the players IMO. 2010 is an example of that.
I just read Dirt’s post and I also agree with him. Unless we started losing due to anemic offense, I think Hicks is adequate and directing our attention toward potential pitching upgrades is the priority.
Hey, Chi. Happy belated b-day.
Thanks, Micah.
The best arm that Sabean would get is another 5, or another 4, without giving up the farm. I don’t see what that does to help over Voggy and Timmy. One of them would have to be displaced somehow by some guy who might be marginally better. The problem is that there’s nobody at AAA that can sub in if one of those two goes down with an injury. Because this team could withstand that. If one of the Bum, Cain, Huddy triumvirate goes down, then the rotation is in trouble and Sabean would have to go on emergency shopping mode, and would have to bend over to get a deal done for a #3 at minimum. If one of those 3 guys were lost AFTER the trade deadline, that would be big trouble…
Yeah, I see sa deal more around a guy like Ryan the Riot. Shit, Darwin Barney’s young and cheap. He’s decent enough. At least we’d be trading forsomeone who won’t be done in under 1 season.
Utley’s numbers are way better than I expected but I am not sold on how completely healthy he is at 35 with a recent history of bad knees. I am definitely not wanting to pick up his $10 mill for next year with Panda and Romo needing new deals…Phills should be picking up half and asking for a middling prospect….
We’ve all discussed Lincecum going to the bullpen as a jack of all trades, e.g., long relief, interim or full time closer (especially, if Romo and Casilla crash and burn), and occasional starter. Should a situation present itself where we can upgrade the starting rotation and/or the bullpen, I’m all in. I just don’t see the offense as being problematic, as has been the case with our starting pitching on multiple occasions this season.
Timmy as closer? If it conmes to that then we ARE in trouble.
I indicated “situation” . . . I probably should have said negative (him face planting) or positive (Price becomes available) situation. Better?
Not really. I think any scenario that has Timmy as our closer involves some very bad things occurring to get to that point. If Timmy can’t pitch as a long reliever, he certanly can’t close. If it comes to the point where Timmy can’t pitch relief, then they have a BIG decision to make regarding his future. I don’t think iot comes to that because he CAN throw well enough in stretches to keep his 4th (or 5th) spot in the rotation.
Giants won’t get another starter from outside the organization unless one of the 5 gets hurt. There’s no place to put Voggy or Timmy in the Pen. Upsets the staff applecart, IMO. Yes, we know Timmy did a fine job in relief in the 2012 playoffs, and he had control issues as a starter during that season, which didn’t seem to carry over much into his Pen stints. But, I don’t see him as a Pen guy right now, he’s almost always totally screwed up for his first inning these days. Unless by some miraculous mind change a Pen stint clears him of the early lack of command…
I’ve seen no further word on possible arm injury to Derek Law. Probably undergoing tests. I certainly hope it’s not what we think it could be. I’m still trying to understand how OFer Mac Williamson got injured and had to have TJ surgery…
I was wondering about Law too. Haven’t seen anything.
I read today where only 4 horses would have run in the Belmont Stakes (including Chrome) if there were a qualifying requirement that Belmont entrants would have to have run in BOTH the Derby and the Preakness. I’m not at all a horse racing fan. Even to me, tho, that seems a bit nonsensical. Then, I read that for Secretariat and Affirmed, in the Belmont each ran in a field of only 5 horses. No wonder Secretariat won by 31 lengths. Every field since has been larger (11 total this year), and 13 of 13 horses since then that won the first two legs have lost in the Belmont. Seems to be a correlation there. Maybe there’s a happy medium of requiring horses in the Belmont to have run in at least ONE of the first two. Get the field up to at least 7 or 8, give the horse going for the TC a better chance, but not a shoo in. Nice, brief story on Secretariat by William Nack, the best writer for the sport.
http://www.nyra.com/belmont/secretariat-remembered/
Here’s a list of TC winners by some blogger with data on size of fields. Interesting. I assume the data is correct. Affirmed was not included, don’t know why (but as above, his Belmont field was 5 total). Modern day, the Belmont fields are bigger.
“1977 Seattle Slew faced a total of 14 in the Derby, 8 in the Preakness, (7 in the Belmont including 3 spoilers)
1973 Secretariat faced a total of 12 in the Derby, 5 in the Preakness, ( 4 in the Belmont including 1 spoiler)
1948 Citation faced a total of 5 in the Derby, 3 in the Preakness, ( 7 in the Belmont including 4 spoilers)
1946 Assault faced a total of 16 in the Derby, 9 in the Preakness, ( 6 in the Belmont including 3 spoilers)
1943 Count Fleet faced a total of 9 in the Derby, 3 in the Preakness, ( 2 in the Belmont including 2 spoilers)
1941 Whirlaway faced a total of 10 in the Derby, 7 in the Preakness, ( 3 in the Belmont including 2 spoilers)
1937 War Admiral faced 19 in the Derby, 7 in the Preakness, ( 6 in the Belmont including 2 Spoilers)
1935 Omaha faced a total 17 in the Derby, 7 in the Preakness, ( 4 in the Belmont including 3 spoilers)
1930 Gallant Fox faced at total of 14 in the Derby, 10 in the Preakness, (3 in the Belmont including 2 spoilers)
1919 Sir Barton faced a total of 11 in the Derby, 11 in the Preakness, ( 2 in the Belmont including 1 spoiler)
2014 California Chrome faced a total of 18 in the Derby, 9 in the Preakness, ( 10 in the Belmont including 4 spoilers)
Todays horses have to race against more horses and more spoilers than winners of the past.”
Good summary of Giants total 2014 draft:
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2014/6/7/5789842/giants-2014-draft-recap-pick-by-pick
There are some great names on that list, and by ‘names,’ I don’t necessarily mean the players’ ability, but just the NAMES. Stetson Woods?? Awesome! Imagine the marketing potential! The stands filled with people wearing stetsons when he’s pitching! (Assuming he’s a starting pitcher.) Or have a stetsons giveaway night! I’m seeing Flapalooza! The stetsons wouldn’t be as awesome as the sombreros, but then what could be?! 🙂
Who doesn’t want to someday see this as the face of the franchise?!!
http://www.perfectgame.org/Players/PlayerProfile.aspx?ID=284379
Sheez, the kid is friggin 6′-9”. No wonder you like him, zum… 😉
Yeah, not sure having only horses who have ran in both the Derby and Preakness is realistic. I think adding more time between the races is definitely something that should be strongly considered. I don’t follow the ponies regularly, but do get interested about the Triple Crown, since it is such a tough sporting achievement, but I do feel changes along the lines of those posted by Flavor (previous thread) need to be made.
This from one of tonight’s Giant-Nats previews: “Strasburg is probably hoping Tyler Colvin won’t be in Bochy’s starting lineup. Colvin has crushed Strasburg to the tune of two home runs (three total hits) in four career at-bats against.” Queue Renel…”Starting in left field and batting 8th for YOUR SF Giants is Tyler Colvin…”
Tinkering with something that is working just fine is not the way to go IMO. I don’t think the Giants need a “known” player. you just need a someone of equal value or slightly better than Hicks. How do you justify bringing in Utley? $10 mill?, to bad knees? some of you would really pull the trigger on a deal for that?? not me. If the Giants had only a 1 run lead in the West I would consider looking at a “known” player. But not right now. the trade dead line is a long way out. Lets see what the standings are at the end of July. Then look at who is available.
Kevin, did you make the game on Sunday? Sorry, I couldn’t make it.
No, my daughter could not get off work for the day. she was bummed.
My daughter would of loved to go to that game so I didn’t even mention it as we were out of town.
Wasn’t it just 2 years ago that Utley couldn’t even got on the field due to knee issues? Forget Utley. If 2b is a concern, what about Rollins and moving him to 2b? He’s a year younger and has an $11M vesting option for 2015 so a bit cheaper. He could either slide into the 8 slot as sort of a second lead off guy as the LU turns over or the 2 hole (although I think Pence has that pretty much locked down at this point). When Belt returns the LU could be:
Pagan
Pence
Posey
Sandoval
Morse
Belt
Crawford
Rollins
P
That’s a crazy stacked LU.
Currently hovering occupying the basement in the NL East, the Phillies must be going into fill fire sale mode soon. That club has fallen apart pretty quickly.
Hey – don’t shoot the messenger. I just happened to see “a number” of articles last night that mentioned Utley and the Giants. I think it a very long shot, and would not want the team to give up much if they did pursue him. So calm down and don’t get your knickers in a twist.
Hey, Chi, the pot needs to be stirred once in a while around here. Good job. IMO getting Utley is more plausible than getting Samardzija…
Agreed. But you have to admit, Samardzija would look pretty damned good in the Orange and Black…
It’s nice to contrast Pagan sprinting to first as the ball rolled a little ways from the catcher, forcing the throw to first, and the catcher throwing off-line, leading to a game-winning rally; with on the other hand, a couple of Dodgers refusing to run when the ball rolled away a bit from the catcher, thus conceding third outs of those innings, as the Dodgers lost a couple of games to the White Sox.
Yeah, Zume, i immedioately thought of that as well.
Shit, our pitchers blow their legs out trying to beat out hits. The fucking Dogger position players can’t be bothered to try and reach base by any means.
I thought the same thing when it happened.
Our PITCHERS blopw their legs out trying to get on base. Their position players can’t even be bothered to run shit out.
Chuck, great point. Though, the second time around it lost a little something…
😉
Wow. My wprdpress ID is all hosed up. Shit ain;t showing up. Then it does? Got to relog in all the time.
Lay to rest old man Utley Flappers.
Bochy gave Hicks his vote of confidence, though I’m sure he wants a better avg, his 8 bombs are 3 rd among NL second basemen and his 20 RBI’s are 7th on the team and he loves his grit and grind approach…
Kat – I am not down on Hicks (actually been one of his bigger supporters). Again…was just sharing some things I saw that mentioned Utley and the Giants being potential matches.
RE: Hicks, here is a post I did on yesterday’s thread:
“I’m not down on Hicks like some of you. Really, you are talking a 7 or 8 hole hitter. He is 3rd on the team in HRs, 6th in RBIs, 4th in RBIs with 2 out, RISP. So yeah, his average is below the Mendoza, the dude is producing, and producing in the clutch. And he plays a decent 2nd…not spectacular, but certainly not an embarrassment. But I agree, that will be one area in which I think Sabean will try to improve.”
Chad Billingsley of the Doghairs is coming back off TJ surgery soon, with rehab getting him ready for possible comeback to LA by July or early August. If the Dodgers ever stop arguing with each other, they might have time to win some games…
If anyone doubts for a second that Wheeler didn’t intentionally hit Pence here’s an article about him throwing intentionally–at his own teammate.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-wheeler-involved-on-field-incident-led-ethnic-tensions-article-1.1302303
But, WHY did Wheeler throw at Pence? Even this morning Kruk, king of the tit for tat basebrawl battles, had no friggin clue…
Probably just didn’t like his uni and weird mannerisms.
Maybe Babs can relieve. Rotation is solid, bullpen stinks.
I got no clue, what that means…
With ya Snarkk, Maybe Salty had a Brainfart moment…
One “Babs” I’m aware of = Barbara Streisand.
Great voice, lousy slider…
Many here refer to Billingsly as “Barbara Billingsly” and I believe Salt was referring to Billingsly as “Babs” and how he can fit in when he comes off the DL.
I think he means Babs (Barbara BIllingsley) can go into the Dodgers bullpen as their rotations is set.
Yep; in the tradition of great Flap nicknames for players and managers. 🙂
OK, got it. I’ll make sure to tell Lumpy and Eddie…
Gee Mrs. Cleaver…that sure is a nice Beaver…
Philosophical thoughts from Leave it to Beaver:
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: [Beaver tries to call a girl for a date, but hangs up the phone while dialing] What’s the matter now?
Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver: I just thought: what if her mother answers?
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: Oh, it usually pays to be real nice to mothers. If she answers, you should say, um, “Good evening, Mrs. Patterson. I hope I’m not disturbing you, but may I please speak to Betsy?”
Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver: Okay.
[resumes dialing, then pauses]
Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver: What if her father answers?
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: Oh, uh, when that happens, I usually just hang up.
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: [reading a newspaper on the living room couch] Hey, Dad, what’s community property?
Ward Cleaver: Well, community property means that your mother owns half of everything I earn or own.
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: What a gyp! No wonder women get married!
June Cleaver: Wally, why did you and the other boys at the last minute decide not to take dates to the dance?
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: Well, Eddie said it’s better if we go by ourselves. That way, you get to dance with all the other guys’ girls, then you don’t get stuck with them and have to buy ’em stuff on the way home.
June Cleaver: Did you see your brother on the way home?
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: Yeah. He was over by Lake Avenue walkin’ in the mud.
June Cleaver: Well, did you tell him to get out of the mud?
Wallace ‘Wally’ Cleaver: Well, of course not. Why should I spoil his fun? That’s for grownups to do…
Ms. Billingsley in her most famous role:
http://tinyurl.com/m2sk3af
She talks about it, very funny:
http://tinyurl.com/m2lw22y
I
thought the same thing when it happened, Zume (Pagan legging out the K).
Our PITCHERS blopw their legs out trying to get on base. Their position players can’t even be bothered to run shit out.
Man, I’m having all sorts of problems with wordpress and my account. Fallback is posting with my blog page . . .
Again Chuck, to much porn.
You have Cyrus the Virus Con Airing you..
Naah. Nothing else is hosed. Just this dumbass wordpress . . .
Utley? Why chase that dude? Okay, if he came exceptionally cheap ~ maybe. But why the concern about pushing the Panik button if 2B gets a bit frazzled come August or so. Joe’s transition from Richmond to Fresno has not exactly been bumpy. His current BA is a fairly stout .320. Here’s the rest of the story: 42 runs on 78 hits over 253 AB’s. Second is not a place for power numbers so his ten doubles, 4 triples and 4 taters are fairly modest. 34 RBI’s at his position rates pretty decent. Really like his batting eye with 23 walks to no more than 28 strikeouts. OBP of .382 makes him an excellent candidate for the two-hole. SP at .443 is quite adequate for a middle infielder. OPS at .825 is quite nice. All in all this guy has moved steadily through the pipeline and has maintained solid stats throughout. What’s not to like?
Position player number second in case Panda shoots for more than SF can justify when it comes to FA time is Adam Duvall. Here’s some numbers ~ a few of them eye-openers: 205 ABs 41 runs on 78 hits with an even dozen doubles, 4 triples and 8 money shots for a scorching 53 RBI’s. For a guy with some pop his 21-49 BB-K ratio is not all that bad. Duvall’s .373 OBP is quite delicious for a power bat. The .644 Slugging Percentage is ML prospect quality. Together they combine for a 1.017 OPS, a plus range similar to those of Panda and Belt when they first got their calls.
Would it put too much pressure on a kid like Duvall if one of the Giants starters went down in July and SF made a slam-bam trade of Sandoval for somebody like Samardjiza or Price while calling up Duvall to play 3B?
Knowing nothing of their mental makeup and similar intangibles i’d put better than even money on both these kids showing up in The Show no later than September. Situationally it could happen a bunch sooner.
Regarding Panik, I’m all in for giving him a look before September. But it keeps coming back to Adrianza, and him being out of options. As the season goes on, that becomes a more ridiculous reason to hamper player moves, i.e. the Giants’ fear of Adrianza being claimed by another team. He seems like Burriss II, so who cares? Maybe I’m wrong; I don’t know.
Regarding trading Sandoval, that’s not going to happen. That’s just too radical a move, IMO, and too risky. No GM would take a chance like that, I don’t think. Anything short of winning the World Series would have everyone wanting to run the GM out on a rail.
The “trade Sandoval” idea would only possibly happen if the Giants were WAY out of playoff contention. And, sure, it’s still early, and a LOT of stuff can still happen this season, but the Giants seem to be solid and legit.
Gotta agree with zum. With Panda looking like he’s slowly righting his ship, and the team streaking, I can’t see Sabes trading him at the deadline now and putting an untried AAA dude at 3b to head into a playoff pressure cooker. Though, Duvall IS tearing it up in AAA, even allowing for the bloated PCL stats. He does give Sabes some flexibility if they don’t re-sign Panda…
Yeah, the paradox that the better the Panda does, the harder it will be for the Giants to re-sign him. It seems like now is a great time to get that deal done. But with the leverage swinging back to Sandoval, he may just want to wait.
And we all know too well about all those players who tore it up in AAA, only to be total fucking duds at the ML level. Pablo isn’t going anywhere. I truly think that he wants to stay in SF, and that when all is said and done, a deal will be made.
June to Ward…
You were alittle hard on the Beaver last night😱
Mama’s got a squeezebox, Daddy never sleeps at night….
Blanco CF
Pence RF
Posey C
Sandoval 3B
Morse 1B
Colvin LF
Crawford SS
Hicks 2B
Vogelsong RHP
Hey, let the fun continue! Nat’s should be a good test for the offense.
Re Panik: I’m guessing the brass wants him to have a full season of success at Fresno, after he struggled a bit in AA. There’s no rush, especially with the team rolling. Hicks has been more than adequate. Panik will get a call up in Sept, they won’t lose Adrianza and no pressure on Joe. Next year he can be ready to nail down the starting role.
Some of us grumble about Bochy’s occasional “scrubini lineup,” but look at what the Dodgers are throwing out there against the Reds today:
2B Figgins
SS Ramirez
RF Puig
LF Kemp
CF Van Slyke
3B Turner
1B Romak
C Federowicz
P Haren
Lookin’ for some chemistry?…
“It’s always special for me to come here. Feels like home”– says Matt Williams, who never played a game at ATT as a Giant… 🙂
Hey, I don’t know why Wheeler threw at Pence. Maybe Wheeler is just a dick and decided to send the Giants a message for trading him. Maybe he thinks Pence is a fake hustler. Maybe he was pissed off at his girlfriend and he decided to take it out on Pence. Maybe Pence banged his girlfriend.
But there is no question in my mind that Wheeler hit him on purpose. That ball didn’t *get away*. And again, if you don’t think Wheeler throws at guys, ask his freaking teammate who he nailed during an intersquad game torching off racial tensions on the team…
Wheeler’s a dick, plain and simple. Probably not “Machado-dick” league, but same ballpark……
Well, if you’re giving up game-winning HRs to Juan Perez, you might not be a very good pitcher. Cingrini’s given up 2 HRs to Van Slyke, and the Reds look pretty sucky tonight. The pitching coach or manager made a brilliant trip to the mound, right before Van Slyke’s second HR, a 3-run job that busted the game open. Might have been a better idea to have gone ahead and just taken Cingrini out there. I’m just sayin.’
how bummed is The Zen Master tonight? Having to hire Derek Freaking Fisher to coach the Nicks? How many losses pile up before Jack fires Fisher and just says “Fuck it, I’ll do this myself.”
Yeah, I don’t get Phil Jackson’s move to NY. How many $millions more and new headaches do you need at age 68? The only thing this New York deal can do for his reputation is tarnish it. I don’t see how he could coach, he can barely walk apparently — not good on roadies. Train wreck approaching…
I actually didn’t bother to check Utley’s contract status– I thought this year was the end of his deal. He’s got a weird deal kicking in next year that’s 10 mil but could be 15 if he doesn’t have a knee injury this year. And then there are subsequent vesting years if he hits 500 plate appearances in the previously year.
So, you wouldn’t have to give up much to get Utley. If you want him. And I would want him this year and even next year till he breaks down, and he will break down. He’s having a very nice year and he would put this offense over the top.
I’m done with Hicks. If ever a single at bat could sour me on a player it was the at bat yesterday when he was 3-0 with men on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out (though it might have been no out, can’t recall) and the P coming up. The rest of that at bat (once it got to 3-0) was the worst at bat I’ve seen this year, maybe ever (and I’m including some of Rajai Davis’ at bats in my historical memory so you know I’m casting a wide net of terribleness).
Are you sure it was 3-0? I thought it was 0-2, and he battled back to make it 3-2, and then got horribly fooled by a curveball out of the strikezone.
I’m not going back and looking unless I get called on this twice. It’s possible, I guess. I recall 3-0. I’m certainly fine with being wrong about that and it’s easy to find in the game log.
It’s kinda rough not having Pagan tonight. Snarkk expressed concern about Pagan going from first to home. Has Pagan played since then, or do I have the timeline all messed up?
Surprised the heck out of me… Blanco hitting over .400 last 2 weeks….and .380 last mo
Posey digging for 2 and Zimm throws that half-hearted pie about 40 feet? What is that guy doing out in LF if he can’t throw a ball from 3rd to first?
If I’m Flann I run on him every chance I get this series.
Dude needs to get traded to an AL team and just DH if that’s all his arm has left……
We’re getting “bad Vogey” tonight.
he needs to the corner calls, he didn’t get those tonight.
vogs in a nutshell. If he actually has to throw a strike the nats are stickin it 400 ft. I hate nibblers.
and as I say it, Span gets a triple.
Yup. Does look like they are getting at him pretty muchly. Pitch count on Strasburg is only 9 less than on Vogie. If Ryan can settle down for a couple innings and Giants hitters keep working Washington’s ace there still may be a chance.
My mention of a possible trade of Sandoval was totally contingent of the team having a starter down to injuries or whatever and a serious need for reinforcement. Under those circumstances a trade of Pablo for a more than slightly decent starting pitcher would far outweigh any qualms fellow posters might have about bringing in a guy who’s pounding AAA pitchers to replace the Panda. Pitching is the name of the game and with Belt due to return fairly soon the team would still retain a nice run of quality hitters.
Just don’t see Sandoval getting moved. It would have to be a huge benefit to SF to make that happen. I think they’ll try to sign him before season end and qualify offer him if they can’t.
Yay Craw!
WTF Craw?
Lonnie Chisenhall’s (Cleveland) line 5 for 5, 3 HR, 3 runs, 9 RBIs. Glad he is on all of my fantasy league teams. 🙂
Donald Sterling is a lunatic. Two of his fellow lunatics kill 2 cops in Las Vegas the other day before killing themselves? Why not just take out 3 lunatics at once and leave the normals alone? I feel so badly for the families in Vegas. And if someone ever took the time to take out Sterling,man, no one would shed a tear.
They also took out an innocent bystander — murdered at a Wal-Mart.
The male lunatic apparently was a proponent of some sort of that Cliven Bundy turd — the racist moocher arguing he was owed free grazing land off the federal gov’t for 20 years — and supported for a short period by right wing politicians until his blatant racism was exposed. Sometimes baseball seems one of the few islands of sanity left in this country…
Dbacks just DFA’d Trevor Cahill.
Eating $17 million worth of contract.
Oy. Baseball contracts, especially starting pitchers, make no sense at all.
If this is the NFL, he’s cut and it’s adios — here’s some cab fare, if that…
Dollars to donuts that was La Russa’s 1st command decision.
They should’ve given Bumgarner some of Cain’s money.
He keeps this year going, I think he’ll get plenty of his own.
I remember when Gregg Maddux turned down the cubs offer of $20 mil plus to sign with braves. I mean, what really is the difference btw $10 mil and $15 mil?
In 2006, Dbacks DFA’d Russ Ortiz with a bit over $20 million left on his deal. They seem to be good at this stuff…
Nats look like a contender…
Sure. SPs are tough, with Stas plus gio and healthy Fister they stole from Tigers.
But if they meet SF in playoffs, Stras ain’t matching up with Vogs.
Those ball dudes are a hoot.
Beane traded Cahill to the Dbacks in 2011 for Ryan Cook (just back to A’s roster from the DL, and Jarrod Parker (now out on 2nd TJ surgery rehab). Bit of a star-crossed trade for both parties…
Giants D has left a lot to be desired lately. Even Posey has F’d up some throws. Belt probably makes that play…
Kontos making Casilla’s comeback move a little faster…
Giants just giving the Nats the rope a dope, get ’em tired out for the next three games…
Not happenin’ tonight for the Giants, so here’s an amusing story I heard from Mets announcer Howie Rose over the weekend.
When the Giants’ new park opened in 2000, Rose was talking about the big glove in left and how it only had four fingers. Ralph Kiner heard this, and during a commercial break, he told Rose to ask him about it. Sure enough, back on the air, Rose asked Kiner, “Where’s the other finger?” Kiner replied, “They gave it to the Dodgers.”
Cool story, Mac.
I like the Mets broadcasting crew.
—-
Relating to Morse having gotten hit by a pitch; here’s a factoid: Tito Fuentes was hit by a pitch, 3 times in the same game, by the same pitcher.
That’s fucking awesome…love it. Thanks for sharing that…brightened my morning.
Great story Mac!
Bochy needs to put the entire bench in so they can play…
Gnite Flappers, get ’em tomorrow…
K & K earned their money tonight. They had to spend a good part of the broadcast inventing entertaining story-lines about people in the crowd.
Not a genius bit of baserunning by Blanco there.
Burp……..what was the score?
Better beer, Nippy.
Cuts down on the burpage…
I cannot recall the last time the Giants took an old-fashioned ass-whoopin’ like that. Wash that shit off, tee it up today, and go get ’em.
Let’s see how the Nats stack up against our top three…Big Country, The Horse, and Hudson (does Hudson have a nick name yet….other than Huddy?).
Nats have been underperforming all year, especially on offense, up to now. They and Braves are only 4 games over .500 and half game up on Marlins, not exactly how everyone predicted NL East in preseason. While I hope last night doesn’t signal an explosion that gets them rolling, I’m not giving them extra props for lighting up Vogs and Kontos.
Let’s see how they fare vs. Bum Cain and Hudson.
Yeah, our 5 against their 1 didn’t seem like a recipe for success. The way Vogie was hanging shit, it coulda been a lot worse.
Stink Fister (shit, what an unfortunate name) ain’t no slouch himself, but maybe we can pound our way to a win.
This series v. Nats couldn’t have come at a better time. Giants on a roll, maybe thinking a little bit they’re a shoo in to the playoffs. Sanity check time…
I doubt very seriously any of the Giants, both players and coaches, feel this way at all. I have heard many of the players and coaches interviewed, and it is always a very similar answer:
Lot of ball to play. Not even to the mid-point. Guys come in thinking only of the game at hand (not looking ahead), etc. They all really tow the line on “the focus is today’s game, and today’s game only.” If anything, yesterday’s loss (7 runs is the biggest margin of loss this season) will motivate them to get back on track with a W.
Looks like the team with the June Swoon would be Rox, as Blade predicted. Dropped 9 out of last 10, 5 games under .500 12 and half back. Lost last night at home to Braves as top 4 in LU (Blackmon Stubbs Morneau Tulo) combined 0-15 and they got 4 hits total.
Kid pitcher brought up as replacement starter last night, Cargo and Cuddyer now on the DL, and another kid starter Butler on DL now too. After a couple more with the Braves (who have beaten them 15 out of last 18 since 2012) they head here for weekend at ATT. Road record 12-21, almost worst in NL. Not good times in Sherp land.
Yep. Good call by our man on the beat in Colorado.
I hope Tulo goes “0-fer” for the rest of the season.
Yeah, Blade’s a fun guy to talk to. Meeting up with he and Snarkk to watch Jose Giants was great. Casilla is supposed to pitch there later this week according to Hank. I just don’t think Kontos is mlb material.
Meanwhile giants will likely have their hands full with Nats; expect torture games next few days. Hope Pagan is ready to roll, he’s been fabulous at top of LU. NY Times had wistful column on what Mets are missing out on from him after weekend series here.
Kontos has his stretches of damned good pitching. He just seems to struggle doing it consistently. His numbers are actually not bad. 3.75 ERA and a WHIP of 1.167. Lifetime 3.54/1.239. There have been, and certainly are, worse.
He did so well in 2012. Hard to figure whay he can’t channel that earlier success.
Kontos will be out of options after this season. He’ll likely end up with another team with a less stellar Pen, and probably stick at the MLB level. He said as much, in between the lines, earlier this season in an interview with Marty Lurie…
Enjoyed your company too Willie. Looking forward to our next meet! 🙂
Not that I’m wishing for it, but through historical observation, isn’t it about time Tulo gets the annual groin pull or quad strain and on the DL for at least a month?…
Thanks Chi . . . Me Too 🙂
What is up with Pagan? 2 days rest? I haven’t head a peep out of the team re him.
From a piece by Hank Schulman last night: “Angel Pagan hopes to be back Tuesday. He has a right shin bruise from a collision with Mets catcher Anthony Recker and will miss his second consecutive start. But he is supposed to be available off the bench. Manager Bruce Bochy also said he hopes and expects Pagan can play again Tuesday.”
Ahhhh, didn’t see that. THanks, Chuck.
What “collision”? A bruise? Sounds like his knee is barking, and this is the PR line for two days off…
Since then, though, here are the pitchers the Giants have promoted from their farm:
•Eric Surkamp
•Steve Edlefsen
•Waldis Joaquin
•Dan Otero
•Mike Kickham
•Jake Dunning
•Heath Hembree
That’s three-plus years of pitcher graduations, and other than Otero, none of them have done anything in the majors. And considering the Giants thought so little of Otero that they let him get away on waivers, I’m not sure how much credit they should get for him. Really, since Bumgarner’s debut in 2009, the Giants haven’t developed anyone noteworthy.
This is from an article on Bleacher Report
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/ddgvr?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=san-francisco-giants
Beede has a nice, smooth motion, looks fairly polished, for a college kid. Big curve ball. Let the Giants pitching brain trust get to work on him for control and command, maybe work on the change up so he’s got 3 pitches when he comes up. Looks like maybe he could be a two year guy down below, maybe less, if things worked right and/or the wheels come off the rotation after or during the 2015 season…
Yep. This is the season to make hay. Next year? Timmy – who knows what happens with him, but he’s under contract. Huddy strong or declining? Voggy gone for sure. Who’s going to step up? Escobar? Crick? Trade for somebody or a FA to replace Voggy? Doesn’t look like Petit is the answer…
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