Quietly Dominating…..
A tale of two pitchers:
Pitcher A has given up 2 ER’s in his last 31 innings/4 starts. He has 26 strikeouts against 8 walks. He’s given up 17 hits. He is 4-0 over those 4 starts…..
Player B has given up 1ER in his last 34 innings/4 starts. He has 23 strikeouts against 5 walks. He’s given up 17 hits and is 3-1 over those 4 starts……
Player A is on the cover of every baseball magazine that doesn’t have Strasburg or Clown-Face all over it. His name is, of course, Mr Pitcher of the Month “Ubaldo Jimenez”…..
Player B is our Matt Cain. Not bad…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
The fact that Cain has done this while Timmy has been going through a tough stretch has made it all the more impressive.
By the way, I’m getting greedy when it comes to Uribe. My feeling used to be that he has to be in the line-up somewhere every day. Now, I feel like he simply needs to be the everyday shortstop from here on out—regardless of Rent’s status. He makes all the routine plays and he allows us to get another bat in the line-up when he stays at short. Not to mention the fact that he is absolutely mashing.
Everyone who said we should trade Matt Cain might want to rethink his value to the team. For as bad as the Giants need that MOTO bat, not sure you can touch Cain, Timmy or Dirty to get it done, especially since they are truly gunning to make a run for the playoffs.
I would hope there are some trade possibilities out there that could provide some more impact (ala an Ellis Burks type of deal that serves as a strong presence, but maybe not a Fielder’esque) but at this point, Posey, Torres, Sanchez, Uribe, Huff should be in there everyday. Burrell seems to have found new life so find spot starts for him as well until he shows he can’t do it. For those bitching about Posey’s ‘lack of power’ over the last few days? The dude is building confidence, having great at bats, and hitting them where they ain’t – when’s the last time we could say that about a young guy on this team?
Went a couple days ‘blog free’ and fixing up Room B for my permanent residence. I know you missed me.
Pickle, agree with you on Posey, He fits AT&T park perfectly, hitting the gaps for extra bases!! Cain should be an automatic NO when other teams ask about him!!
Cain is 6th in the NL in ERA (2.10), and 3rd in WHIP (1.00) and average against (.195).
Complete game shut-out last night…the dude is dealing. AND one of the 3 RBIs.
Lack of power for Posey? Sure, would like to see him park a few more, but I am completely down with the kid if he continues to play as he has since this call-up. Kid’s the real-deal.
Burrell goes 2-4 in his first start, and Pablo goes 2-4, too (with a walk).
I had predicted a 4-3 roadie…and of course hoping for better. I’ll be jacked with a 5-2 trip, and fucking estatic if they sweep the “Hot Reds” in their bandbox of a ballpark.
Contest update: 5 wins, 29 runs, 5 HRs. Projection is 19 wins, 111 runs, and 19 HRs.
No complaints here . . . Giants .561 win/loss record would have them in 1st in two other divisions. In short, outstanding pitching (albeit, a bit concerned about Tim), reliable relief pitching, good defense, and timely hitting are keeping us more than competitive. Just my take, but trade discussions are a moot point until next month, i.e., Sabean will get it done if team is still in it (doing what they are accomplishing now) in July. Book it.
Go Giants!
Oops…wasn’t Burrell’s first start…but still good to see the 2-4.
Like Blade, I am not worried about a trade right now. I like the team composition, and the way they are playing ball. Go Giants!
Rox pen blows up again and they lose at home to Lastros, and remain 4th. Unfortunately LA getting much better pitching lately too. But I still think SF has best SP in the division. I think SD kids will fade as innings mount, Garland too.
I love Uribe, but he is a pretty ordinary SS. His range isn’t much better than Rent’s, really. He could just as easily play 3B, imo, with Sando to 1B and Huff in OF. I thought SF D would take a hit, but hasn’t happened. By contrast, Blake leads all Nl with 9 errors at 3B, Furcal is second in errors at SS with 9 (despite a turn on the DL of 15 missed games) and Martin leads C with 5 errors. Burrell can’t be any worse than Manny in LF. Torres makes up for it anywhere he plays.
Zum, Meg buying her way in reminds me of Dick Gregory’s old line about Chicago, “Best police force money can buy. Some judges too”.
As far as Benjie goes, he has not lost anything on his throwing arm, which is one of the better ones in the league, still. Gunning Phillips out was a big play to end the inning, and another let down for Reds. The SPs, at least Cain and Lincecum, love the guy for what he brings to them every time out, and that should not be lightly dismissed. These are two guys SF has a lot of time and money committed to, and learning to C them is going to take time for Posey. Ruffling their feathers and breaking up a winning combo of successful PS by dumping off Molina completely doesn’t make good baseball sense to me.
Molina has not hit the ball hard often lately, so it was good to see him smoke a line drive up the middle for the all imp insurance run. Bat him 8th if you have to…but if Posey is going to C more often and begin to learn the rest of the SPs, 3 Cs is dumb.
Chron lists Wells still as Thurs starter…
That’s my point Wiilied. Uribe’s defense is comparable to Rents with a much better stick. If Uribe goes to 3rd, the domino effect knocks Burrell out of the line-up. Not good.
By the way….I loved the Cornell Green/Contra Costa JC hoops tidbit. John Q Trapp story also a beauty. Reminds me of one time I went to see a minor league bball team play in San Jose in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Ozell? Jones shattered a backboard and Richard Morton got tossed for pretending like he was going to throw the ball in the ref’s face.
Something tells me I don’t have to explain to you who Richard Morton was.
San – It doesn’t have to knock Huff out of the line-up. Huff, Burrell and Torres in the OF, Pablo at 1st, Uribe 3rd, and Rent SS, etc. They have done it already (had Huff, Burrell and Torres in the OF)…is can/will happen again.
Bottom-line, there will continue to be a lot of line-up juggling…if you are hoping for a set line-up anytime soon, you will probably be severly disappointed.
Uh, I meant…it doesn’t have to knock Burrell out of the line-up. Fuck..I hate the no edit/delete issue.
Then you knock Bengie out of the line-up. I haven’t given up on him yet. My primary line-up would look like this:
C Bengie
1B Buster
2b Freddie
SS Uribe
3B Pablo
CF Torres
OF Huff
OF Whoever is taking good swings between Rowand, The Bat, and Nate.
” Whoever is taking good swings between Rowand, The Bat, and Nate.”
That leaves us with two…
…yeah “taking good swings” was a poor choice of words.
Willie–I’m disappointed you haven’t hit me back with a Richard Morton story by now.
I thought I knew you, man.
I was feeling pretty chipper this morning till I look at the standings, and realized that the Bums have the best record in the National League. How the fuck did that happen?
I really don’t know of anyone who thought Cain should be traded NOW but it’s curious thinking that has it that because a guy is pitching or playing well, he’s suddenly “untouchable”…
“Look Doug, we want Fielder but we’d like to wait until Jonathan is pitching shitty to do the deal. I’m sure you understand. Thanks, pal..”
“looked” Don’t worry, I’m on my way back to Room B now…
Well the really big news from DC? My 10-year old’s team had a convincing 11-1 victory in their semi-finals last night. My kid had a nice throw from third to second to nab the third out in the first inning, tagged two other runners out at third and went 1-3 at the plate driving in the 10th run and scoring the 11th to force the end of the game in the 4th inning!!!
Onto the Finals Saturday…
Good luck to your kid next Saturday, GH. You must be very proud. 11-1, eh? Who was managing the other team, Bochy? 🙂
Nice article in the Chron about the draft choices
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/09/SPTA1DRC9I.DTL&feed=rss.giants
Yes, good luck to your kid, GH.
For the minor news out of DC, Strassburg went 7, 2 ERs, no BB, and 14 Ks.
Couple games behind the LaBumbos on the 9th of June. Looking better than last season. Could be LA is peaking right now. Doubt whether they have the SPs to keep it up. And yes, Dagos should fade. Though they may go down fighting. Sassy bunch. Giants have not peaked yet and may not for some while, though of late they have become a force. Peak should happen sometime after the return of RentMan and the arrival of Bumgarner. Also when Bochy learns some of the highest levels of the art of juggling this amazing cast of interchangeable parts. It’s not really his brand of baseball, being a conservative type, but he’s picking it up.
Few days back when Wilson had blown the save and was brought back for a second inning of work and began to muff that too, i made the call that it was Santiago Casilla time. Damned if Bochy didn’t have the exact same notion. So he is getting into that thinking on one’s feet thing and it couldn’t happen at a better time. Right now i see him as managing at a much higher level than previously. He is no longer the stick in the mud, hanging constantly with tired vets and never changing his approach. With this bunch that is a must and kudos to the Manager for doing that.
Appearance of Buster and the return of Sanchez, as well as the pickup of Pat the Bat has given this team a whole new look and feel. They make things happen. Nobody seems to be waiting around waiting for someone else to do the job. Playoff bound.
Hey, I’m at JFK fresh from seeing Strasburg last night in DC. Electric. Pix. Mo’ later. Fun watching our boyz winning on the scoreboard while Stras struck out the side.
“He is a Scott Boras client, . . . .”
Great. Thanks for the info, Kevin.
GH, this is always an exciting time for LL. I won’t go into too many details, but how about this:
runner at 2B takes off and rounds 3B after a drive over 3B runs to deep LF corner. SS goes out for the relay, which is pretty good. SS then pivots in shallow LF and fires a strike to the plate, no bounce, to nail the runner. Parents go wild. Some even spill beer (thus risking detection by the LL police).
Totally bullshit take on Bochy. (As always here)… he has more pieces, so he SEEMS different. He’s the same solid manager he’s always been.
“He is no longer the stick in the mud, hanging constantly with tired vets and never changing his approach.”
To be fair, if Nate/Bowker/Velez/Ishikawa/ etc. had put up the kind of numbers Posey and Torres have, they may well have won spots in the line-up everyday. Also, Bengie and Rowand are in TERRIBLE slumps. I have to go back to what Michael has constantly repeated: Bochy does things by the book, and these decisions are fairly simple.
“more pieces” is a good, clear way to describe it. Making out the Giants’ LU card every day is a Rubik’s puzzle that seems to fascinate everyone here (I will resist the monkey at the typwriter analogy) and to challenge Bochy in a positive way. He’s using the mult-option opportunity well, I think.
Stix accidentally pointed up why Bochy is a “better manager” now: “Appearance of Buster and the return of Sanchez, as well as the pickup of Pat the Bat..”
Funny how better players make that ol’ stick in da mud a genius… he’s still a wizard with the pitching staff but now he has what is probably his deepest positionplayer pool. Again, he’s not doing a damn thing differently. As I’ve said, he’s a “chalk” guy, and that’s a good thing.
Kev – thanks for the link on the draft picks.
Pawlie – looking forward to picts, etc. 14 Ks…pretty amazing.
Given the interchangeable pieces, and the changes to those pieces and the 25 man roster throughout the year so far, I think Bochy has done a pretty damned good job.
Twin: That was NOT an ” accidental” observation.
It reads like one, Stix. The notion that Bochy is managing differently is absurd.
I think the thought was to trade Cain later before the 2012 salary year of $15 mill. But the point may be that Cain could still be the more valuable commodity at the end of the day. That may make Cain untradable and Lincecum open to offers. Will see, hopefully Lincecum rebounds as I expect.
But give willied a star…did you all notice the extra hug Cain gave Molina? Cain and Lincecum are certainly fans of Molina and keeping them two happy is paramount unless Molina has completely fallen apart. Looks like his swing is making a comeback. I would bat Molina 7th though, Rowand 8th and Posey 6th if the three of them are starting.
I think Uribe will start to wear down a little anyway like he did last year playing second base everyday for a while. No reason not to have:
Renteria – 4 games a week at short;
Uribe – 2 games at short, 2-3 at third;
Panda – 3-4 games a week at third, 1-2 at first;
Posey – 2 games a week at catcher 3-4 at first;
Huff – one game at first, 2-3 in left, 2-3 in right;
Burrell – 3 starts a week in left
Torres – 1-2 starts in left, 1-2 starts in center, 2 starts in right
Schierholtz – 2 starts in right
Rowand – 4 starts in center
Molina – 3-4 games at catcher
Whiteside – one game a week catching
Everyone of the old guys gets at least 1-2 days of rest a week…stay fresh, kick ass in September. If Burrell can hit .260, smack 12 homers play 3 days a week, I think we may not need a blockbuster trade if Renteria and Uribe and Huff continue to hit…
Thanks Dennis, Chi and other good well wishers. Fun watching them play pretty close to mistake free ball, but they are clearly the superior team in only a 5 team league. But proud dad regardless!!!!
DC was electric all day and everyone at the little league game was talk about Strausberg the entire time…
I liked that story xoot…I am waiting to break out the cigar for Saturday’s game!!!
Mike is probably right, if the Bowker gang had produced, Bochy probably would have benched Rowand sooner rather than later. My question is what do you do with Uribe when/if Rent comes back?
Kev, check out my ideas on how to use everyone when Renteria is back. Uribe would still start 5-6 games a week in my mind…
“I think we may not need a blockbuster trade,,”
They don’t need any trade at all for this year… the trade of one of the Untouchables ( Tim, Matt, Dirty) would be evaluated after the season and pending the evaluation of Bumgarner and Martinez.. the closest they have to real power bats in the system right now are Chris Dominguez ( currently 10 HR 41 RBI at low-A Augusta) and Tommy Joseph ( .214 6-30, also at Augusta). Dominguez is probably a good two years away, Joseph 3-4 years. This off season is as good a shot as they’ll get at adding an under 30 established power bat…
I wont say his managing is different because of the obvious personnel differences, but I like Bochy’s moves to bring in Ishi and Nate and move Torres to left if Huff or Burrell is starting.
I dont think Bochy made such moves before on this scale for defensive help, but I may be wrong…too bad our lineup cannot hit everyday in Cincy and our pitching get to stay at home…
Twin, thanks for clarifying. I definitely meant to say we may not need either a blockbuster or any trade. All the pieces seem to be fitting right now. Plus we dont have to give up any talent. Adrian Goinzalez would be interesting at first, but I am not sure I would go more than 4-5 years for him either…and who knows what Boston will throw his way…what I like about the draft choices, it seems like they are finally drafting guys with speed to fit our park rather than just potential power bats or pitching…let’s see if 1-2 of them pan out…
Molina catches Timmy and Matt, Whiteside catches Dirty, Posey catches Zito and the Bum…
Matt Cain continued his “Studly” ways in Cinn last night.Tossing a 7hit shutout against a good hitting team(.351 OBA 1st in NL)not only that he had 2 hits and knocked in Buster Posey in the 8th to make it 3-0( and yes some props for Bengie too that inning with a much needed hit and Rbi).What a great player Cain is.Cain came into the game with a .0996 whip, 9 base runners last night(7Hits 2 BB)his 1.000 mark puts him 3rd in the NL behind Jimenez and Wainwright.
Cain doesn’t overwhelm you,he doesn’t have Lincecum’s electricity or his hardware.He doesn’t have swing through stuff that Dirrty Sanchez flashes ,but he has 85 1/3 innings,5th in the NL,behind Halladay(93) Wainwright(88)Haren(87 2/3)and Jimenez(87 1/3).He just keeps it coming,with all of his pitches for as long as he can.He was still throwing 93mph fastballs in the 9th last night.Cain gives up alot of fly balls,and you think that would hurt him in the Reds ballpark,but it didn’t.The Reds seemed liked they got good swings but not solid contact.Matt Cain is only 25,but he pitches like a grizzled veteran.He was so bloody calm all evening,mixing it up,trusting his arsenal,hitting his spots,just exuding confidence and control.Matt Cain is one big time pitcher heading for another A/S game no doubt.
Here’s a stat to enjoy Busters first 10 games: .444/.487/.556 Go Giants!!
When Rent comes back he becomes the backup shortstop and gets the occasional spot start to give Uribe a blow. That’s gonna be a harsh toke for proud vet like Rent, but I think that’s the best way to go.
San Dog, may be the best way to go, but my money is that Renteria will get the majority of starts at short if he is 100%. Good thing we dont have to deal with DeRosa and his roster spot at this point as well…
I fear you’re right regarding what Bochy will do with Rent. I also agree that DeRosa coming back only complicates things. I suggest they bring in the same Doc who diagnosed Aurlilia last year and see if we can’t set them both up with say a 60 day stint on the DL.
Renteria, if he does get back healthy, will definitely be the starting SS. Uribe will play all 3 spots. THAT is the best way to go.
I can’t tell you who will be the “starting SS” when Rent returns, but if he is healthy, and continues to produce as he has when healthy, Renteria will get playing time (which will mean that Uribe will find starts elsewhere when Rent is in the LU).
I agree with Twin…I have mentioned a couple of times yesterday and today that the line-up will continue to have many different looks, and that won’t be anything new when Renteria returns…just more of the same.
I was looking at the top 10 stats this morning, and noticed that Uribe is only 7 ribbies behind the NL leader. No way this guy comes out of the regular lineup, no matter who comes back.
And that homer was a bomb, even in a pathetic band box park.
He won’t come out JBat…but he won’t be playing SS when Renteria IS in the lLU. And again…if Renteria is healthy and continues as he had when healthy, he will be in the LU regularly.
Uribe is going to get plenty of starts, the 1-2 off days for him will actually keep his bat fresher. When they come back east this summer, the humidity will take its toll out of these old guys, so the 1-2 off days for them all is going to do wonders for them as a team…
Two possible Hall of Famers debuted last night. If you look at all of the pitchers who’ve struck out 14 batters and walked none, almost all of them are HoFers, or Cy Young candidates. It’s too late for him to win the Cy Young, Jimenez just about has that locked up, but he just put himself in the conversation about who’s the best pitcher in MLB. BTW the top five or six candidates for best pitcher in MLB are from the NL. I’m one of the few people who wouldn’t trade Cain for Lincecum, regardless of the Cy Youngs, but I would for this kid.
Mike Stanton had a nice debut also. He’s one of the few prospects I’d be willing to trade Buster Posey to acquire
Couple things about Cain that are amazing.
One is, he’s only 25. Plus he’s the longest tenured Giant on the team. Crazy.
All the accolades thrown around, and Cain’s one of the top ERA guys for the last 3+ years. He gets little fanfare or acclaim. Just the way he wants it, I suppose.
The Cy is never locked up in June, ferchrissakes. That’s just fucking dumb. There are probably a dozen guyswho could win it, hell , 3 of them are Giants..
When Renteria returns from the DL he will start the majority of games until it becomes apparent that it was the wrong decision. Renteria’s range is unacceptable and he’s nowhere near the hitter Uribe, Sanchez, or whomever he’s taking ABs away from. The team is clicking with the right players playing. Renteria should be used to rest the infielders, as a backup. Three vets, all champions, are going to have to accept a role on the bench: Molina, Rowand, and Renteria. Things change.
Zito winning the Cy Young? How absofrickinglutely mind-blowing would THAT be?
Hey Unca…The Giants 8th rd pick in the draft Joe Staley!!!!
stum – Uh, Renteria is hitting .326 with a .372 OBP…certainly not bad numbers. And you’re wrong…if Renteria comes back healthy and continues as he had at the plate…he will not be a bench player.
TF, I am surprised you didn’t banish Stu to room B for the “Too late to win the Cy award”, Naming the Cy Young award in June?? Would be anyones guess. That is like predicting the batting champion right now.
Regarding the Cy…hell, most would not have picked Tim to win it at the end of the year last year. Still way too much baseball to play…
In re: Strasburg’s debut yesterday, did anyone notice this little tidbit in the paper today? Three modern era major-leaguers have struck out 15 batters in their fisrt start:
Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians 1936 beat the St. Louis Browns in a complete game 4-1 victory. He had thrown 6 games in relief
Karl Spooner, Brooklyn Dodgers 1954 threw a 3-hit shutout to beat the New York Giants 3-0
J.R. Richard, Houston Astros 1971 threw a complete game to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3
Only one HOFer in that group. And he’s not the one who beat the Giants. All meaningless but interesting
CF Torres
2B F. Sanchez
3B Sandoval
RF Huff
SS Uribe
LF Burrell
1B Posey
C Whiteside
P J. Sanchez
I like that line-up.
Boy a win tonight would be an awesome way to nearly finish this road trip. Any bitter taste from Wellemeyer’s start tomorrow would be negligible with a win tonight…we better kick some A’s ass tomorrow…
A’s ass this weekend!
Jimenez looks to be having a season of the history books. I think he will win 25 games…in my money fantasy league. I have Jimenez and Cain! I also had Josh Johnson (traded him for a closer) and Felix Hernandez and Hernandeez whom I drafted before the others and second overall is having a very mediocre year.
Catch you meat heads during the game!
Awfully quiet on here… Must be because the team is doing well… insert smilely face….
I liked Jed’s “I’m going to eat a Happy Meal” post yesterday. Now the real question is will he still have the same frame of mind if the Giants stumble and go 3-6 or 4-5 on an upcoming homestand…
Still waiting for the links Flav… Any luck? Was looking at the MCC over on yahoo…. Does anyone here think its a big mistake to give Burrell a couple starts a week instead of Sheerholtz at this point?
Hhahaah… always good to see Jed coming around….. Hope he enjoys his meal…
Speaking of Cincinatti:
Bat Rose used for final hit up for auction
By JOE KAY, AP Baseball Writer
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
(06-09) 13:48 PDT CINCINNATI, (AP) —
The black Mizuno bat that Pete Rose used for his final, record hit — No. 4,256 — is being auctioned by a New York firm that expects it to become one of the most expensive bats ever sold.
The 34-inch, 32-ounce bat is the featured item in a collection being sold through Lelands.com. Rose has authenticated the bat, saying he used it for his single off San Francisco’s Greg Minton on Aug. 14, 1986. Rose is baseball’s all-time hits leader.
Leylands.com president Mike Heffner says the highest auction price for a bat was $1.3 million, paid for the one that Babe Ruth used to hit his first homer at Yankee Stadium. Heffner thinks Rose’s bat could go for something close to that amount.
Cincinatti?
Decap – I see no problem in giving Burrell a couple of starts over Nate. WTF…let’s see what Pat the Bat brings to the dance. I think it was especially smart to give him those starts in Cincy with their yard. Maybe he goes yard tonight.
My good mood was once again soured today. Henry Schulman tweets that Wellemeyer will indeed start tomorrow in CINCINNATI (that’s for Ted).
Forgot to add, something about roster moves being an issue as to why Martinez (or another) pitcher from the minors wasn’t called up.
Whatfuckingever.