Showdown in D-Town…..
As I said yesterday, this is going to be an exciting series to watch unfold. I am really interested in seeing how we match up against one of the best teams in the National League. Sure, we stride into town with our shiny rings in tow, but the Rockies are the current measuring stick. For starters, they’ve got the best record in baseball. And while they have a decent pitching staff, it’s their offense that will be waking Bochy up in the middle of the night. You guys have probably all seen the “double rainbow” guy on youtube. That dude could just as easily have been looking at the Rockies starting line up: “Oh my God, OH MY GOD!! It’s so beautiful! What does it all mean?”
For starters you’ve got Fowler on top and while he’s only got 2 sb’s this year, that guy has speed to spare. Plus, he’s killed us in his short career. Then you get into the middle of the LU and you’ve got Bonds and Kent….I mean, Cargo and Tulo—the NL MVP voting could easily come down to a runoff between those two. Pick your poison, especially in their park–either will kill you. Then there’s the resurgence of Todd Helton to follow, he’s *only* hitting .342. Steer clear of him, if you can, at least till his back gets balky again. And their catcher, Iannetta, is waiting near the bottom of the LU to pounce on you if you aren’t careful. I predict a very strong year from Mr Iannetta. He got squeezed last year by Tracy who never really gave him a chance and kicked him down to the minors for much of the season. But this guy has big-time power emerging. He’s not going to hit .280 but he could easily hit 25 bombs this year with an OPS over .850. Seriously, watch out for this guy……
How will we do? I’ve got no clue. We are throwing our 3 best pitchers at them, 3 of the best pitchers in the league. But I am far from confident that they can buzz through this line up. We are the World Champs and the Rockies have to go through us to prove they’re for real. But part of me feels like Rocky in his first fight vs Clubber Lang. Prediction: Pain……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I still give our bullpen and closer the edge over theirs….but I had the Rockies winning the division and going to the World Series this year…should be a very intense series…
Troy Renck, is the Denver Post beat writer . . . Think Baggarly of Denver. He has a weekly Q&A. This is what he had to say regarding Helton (I note this because his back is acting up again):
“We’ve seen a couple stories this spring on how much better Todd Helton’s back feels. But similar optimistic stories were written this time last year, and his regular season was still a bust, back-wise and otherwise. Is there any reason to think things will be better this time around?
— Ben L., Boulder
Ben – Based on what happened in Pittsburgh, I would say no. He’s 37 with a back issue. As anyone who has had back problems knows, you have good days and bad days. Helton did everything he could to prepare for this season. His philosophy: “I will go until it blows.” He looked as strong as he has in five years the past week. Then it locked up in Pittsburgh as he was jogging. He took BP on Sunday. He’s hasn’t started since Thursday. And has had one at-bat.
He will likely take BP on Monday. It’s a day-to-day proposition. If he’s out for a week, they might have to reassess. For now they have depth to cover Helton with Ty Wigginton and Jason Giambi.”
Also, you’re probably interested in Chacin (I had him on my FL team last year) . . .
“Hey, Troy. Jhoulys Chacin looks like the best pitcher on the team right now. How soon before he takes over as the team’s ace? Thanks.
— Jeff G., Denver
Jeff – Easy now. Walk away from the keyboard. Relax. I kid because I care, but Ubaldo Jimenez is only coming off the greatest single season in Rockies’ history. He’s the ace. End of story. Get his thumb right, and he will be an elite pitcher again.
Chacin is going to be a front-end-of-the-rotation starter for years. As you saw Sunday, he still has bouts of wildness. When Chacin controls his fastball, he’s dominant. His recent start against the Dodgers was evidence of that.
Two things have left me convinced he will win 15 games this season: his poise and willingness to throw his changeup to righties. That pitch wasn’t even in play a year ago. It’s another weapon to make him less predictable and more effective.”
Rogers, Jimenez and De la Rosa are the pitchers pencilled in for the series against the Giants. Maybe Jimenez will be rusty.
Any series with a division opponent is important. of course how important is always up for debate. Being 7-1 on the road makes the Rockies look even more impressive. up throught the all star break it is all about positioning. Granted the Rockies and every other team in the league has to go through SF since they are the reigning champs. I think the Giants can win 2 this series.
I don’t know…the Rox have as many holes in the LU as SF does (Ianetta definitely one of them), and without the pitching. so far they have had the good fortune to play bottom feeders of the east and central. Sure they play us tough in their yard, but fold up offensively at ATT. Even with Ubaldo, they managed to lose what 13 straight last year, under the genius Tracy.
Reminds me of some of the horses I used to bet on back in the day at Bay Meadows…early speed, died in the stretch…just out of the money.
Willie, I bet the jock on half those mounts was Roberto Gonzalez. Bobby G. always seemed to be on the front end.
We are not up against the ’27 Yankees in this series. They do own the Box of Rox, however. But they are facing two of the top ten starters in the game and perhaps, 3 of the 20 best. Chacin and Sanchez may have quite similar ERA’s and secondary stats by the time the season is over. They strike me as fairly similar overall.
When it comes to hitting, Colorado has a decided edge, particularly when its in their own venue. The series may come down to Timmy this evening. If he maintains his composure throughout, the Giants should take this one. Such a victory could also herald a series win. For that to happen, though, SF’s rotation would have to virtually freeze the Rox bats while, conversely, Giants hitters would have to do a lot more than smack solo-shot dingers. Yesterdays last six innings of “hitting” against a tawdry Arizona bullpen was simply pathetic. If the ducks do not get on the pond over these next 3 days Colorado might just have some brooms handy and be ready to do some crowing.
So i see the possibility of a series win vs a Colorado sweep being about equal. No matter how good our starters, and pen, may be, it ultimately boils down to the need for Giants hitters getting one base and then batting em in. Most probable outcome? Rox take two of three as Giants bats are pretty quiet.
Following last night thread..if/when Belt goes and Torres and Ross are back and healthy, then by default Nate would be the Ishi LH PH off the bench, with deRosa the only back up at 1B, right? He just seems the weakest player out of the bunch to keep, hacker type with low OB and no pop.
With the Gamer’s hot start (roll of the eyes), SF does have a plethora of RH guys that can play the OF, which would seem to bode ill for Burrell’s ABs. Didn’t he hit his HRs off RHP tho? Mostly on stuff left over the plate that he yanked dead pull as I remember.
Did we ever resolve the debate about whether Burrell’s cheap contract makes him easier to keep or easier to cut? I feel very strongly both ways.
Yes.
Pretty interesting splits on Fowler, a guy who has hurt us in the past. 2010, at home hits .313, on the road .211. OB at home .401, on the road .297. 11 triples at home 3 on the road. Ahead in the count he hits over .300, behind .160….this in about equal number of ABs 200+ home/away.
My,my. Even Stix is dooming it up. Based on pitching match ups it’s 2 of 3 for SF. If you have money, go that way..
Almost dooming it up. Sorta hedging my bets and pointing out that it could easily go either way, with SF taking two vs Col. sweeping depending almost entirely on Timmy’s performance tonight. I think we can agree that the Box of Rox is probably the most worrisome venue the Giants will encounter this season. That means i think we’ll do better at the Latrine next go-round. You are absolutely correct about the pitching matchup, Twin. If Timmy holds em tonight we shock the Rox.
There isn’t a place I dread the Giants visiting more than Coors, where no lead is safe and the pitching staff comes away in tatters due to a bunch of bloop singles because the outfielders have to play deep, an endless parade of doubles in those enormous gaps and the occasional triple in the RF corner. But as Willy mentioned, at least it’s counterbalanced by the Rox’s mighty offense getting cut down to size in their annual trips to SF. Sorry to set my standards a bit low, but I’m always content if the Giants can escape that mile-high madhouse without getting swept.
At least Zito is gone for a while. Give him a one way ticket to Maui.
Hey, it was good to see Ford finally get an AB. 3 pitch K, but what the hell? He’s going right back to Fresno when/if Ross is ready. Is Ross ready? I hope so. Heard he played in AAA. They’ll need him in the big empty . . .
Missed yesterday’s game and forgot to tape it. Guess i didn’t miss much. Bad D? Huff hit a dinger finally. But he got off to a slow start last year as well dinger-wise. Not-counting the inside-the-parker . . .
Yeah, Mac. It’s not like the pen comes in very fresh either. They’ve gotten a lot of work lately. But it’s early yet. Not a huge concern.
Today is a big game in the scheme of the series, though. Timmy wins and all is well. If the Rox take Tim down, it gives them a boatload of confidence for the next 2.
It IS early, and the Giants are still not at full health. Once Torres and Ross are back, (Belt and Ford are Fresno-ed), then the team should settle down defensively. What happened with Tejada? He looked great on Fri and Saturday. Well, competent. Did he implode yuesterday?
Actually, you missed a lot, Chuckles. It was hardly a boring game.
BTW, Ford almost got his first hit- a bunt, took a great play by Montero to get him.
They lost but it was an exciting game. And good stuff for Miggy bashing..
My memory of the Rockies last year is how hard they played against the Giants. They are HUNGRY to get somewhere this season. The Giants will have to bring their A-game to this series, which I think they will. These will be three hard-fought games, with playoff atmosphere. Should make for some memorable games.
Reading Baggs, I was surprised that Tejada got most of the blame for the 8th, but there was no mention that Fruckie should’ve made the play that would’ve ended the inning and kept the Giants in the lead.
The thing about Tejada’s misplay is it’s the kind of thing that leaves doubts in the fans’ minds about Tejada; wondering if Tejada really “gets” it about what it takes to be a champion. The mental focus necessary. It was the misplay and that horrible at-bat, swinging at those curveballs in the dirt. He’s contributed to some Giants’ victories this season already, I just hope he becomes more consistent.
K and K gave Fruckie a pass, as well. It was a routine play, they made it seem like it took a great effort to even get to the ball…
Jon Miller was pretty incisive on the radio side when he explained what Sanchez had done. He suggested that the play was not really as difficult as Sanchez made it look, that perhaps Sanchez could have made the play without sliding to get the ball.
“Missed yesterday’s game and forgot to tape it. Guess i didn’t miss much.”
I disagree. What the Giants showed is the heart and fight in them that has served them so well in the last few years. They could have easily rolled over and just phoned it in after falling behind 4-1 on a blah afternoon in Arizona, after having won the first two games of the series, and looking forward to the Rockies series; but they battled back, took the lead, and had a chance to win the game, before it slipped away. There’s no quit in this team.
“swinging at those curveballs in the dirt”….you mean like the 112 that Huff has swung at since he’s been here?
Baggs seems to agree ( as I posted) that Belt is the most likely to go down, but he’s not as cavalier about Burrell as Flavor and Snarkkles are. The Bat is hardly safe..
Come on. Burrell’s Huff’s buddy. That’s gonna sway Bochy and Sabean and Neukom to keep Pat. We all know that.
I fucking said that Belt would be the likely “victim”. I’m just pointing out that Baggarly also agrees that Burrell is not safe. Very amusing that some think that the decision would go through Huff..
I really don’t quite understand the “psychology” involved. Would Bochy be afraid that Huff would become despondent without his college buddy around? Poor fragile Aubrey. Or did Huff simply negotiate a veto clause in his contract no one’s talking about? Superpowerful Aubrey!
Sshhhh — don’t tell Ray Ratto: “Robot Journalist’ Out-Writes Human Sports Reporter” http://www.npr.org/2011/04/17/135471975/robot-journalist-out-writes-human-sports-reporter
fwiw, looked up the 3 game series last Sept at Coors. Giants took 2 of 3, with Lincecum winning game 1. Game 2 was a tough beat in 10 innings with Zits starting. G’s showed something coming back and winning the final game behind Cain.
Per espn, against Sir Tim:
Tulip .188 6/32 1 hr,
Godzilla .238 5/21 1 hr
Giants should be very pleased to take 1 of 3 in Coors. Rox have been hot. But, I’m not ready to throw in the towel for the Division to them this early. They beat the Mets 4 straight in NY, so that makes up a big chunk of their road wins so far, but everybody’s been beatin the Mets like a drum, including the Madoff trustee….
4 out, 147 to go? Why would anyone be ready throw in the towel?
Sheesh. Everybody on the rag this morning?
Did a scan of the play-by-play. It did look to be an exciting game. Sorry I didn’t tape it.
Shit, Burrell SHOULDN’T be safe. He won’t be the 1st (or even 2nd) casualty, but he’s close. Belt and Ford are the 1st 2 to go, but Burrell is right there. Best case scenario (for him) is he stands to lose a lot of playing time when Ross and Torres come back.
Finally, some good news . . .
http://tinyurl.com/3snennw
Where will Tommy Lasagna go?
Isn’t Burrell off the bench exactly the role he should fill?
Looks like The Pathetics made a trade today. With the glut of Burrell, Rowand and DeRosa maybe Sabean has something in the works.
Dirt— I totally agree, Pat would be a great guy to bring off the bench, if he’s in one of his hot streaks you could ride him for a while. He would probably be fine with that role, sitting in the dugout chillin’ with his hommies.
And to be clear, I could care less how many games out we are after this series. I think it was Denny who talked about the potential *Silky Sullivan* situation if we get swept. I just want to enjoy the games and evaluate how we stack up to the Rox at this point in the season…..
Silky made his famous comeback from 41 lengths behind. If we get swept, we fall 7 games back.
7 GB maybe, but if we fall 41 GB I’m calling it quits!
http://tinyurl.com/cys4cm
Colorado will coma back to Earth after they start playing some quality teams. At this point it may not be us.
Although I do like our chances with Timmy and Cain. Sanchez? He’s due for a dominating start. So, yeah, a sweep.
I’ma notta so sure.
Nice to know Chico Marx has an opinion about the Giants rotation.
then you’re suggesting, and I’m not saying you’re wrong, that their offense might not be as scary as I made it out to be. Fair enough, I guess we’ll find out. We are throwing three of the best pitchers in the game at them. If they put up mortal numbers that will be awesome. If they go “Arena baseball” on us that’s not a good sign for the rest of the year…
uh, I don’t think you can judge one series against a division rival as defining the whole year against them. I am old but if I remember correctly the Giants went 1-3 against the Dodgers opening series. and like last year the Pads took off like a rocket for most of the year last year, but then their after burners failed and the Giants never looked back. So I am sticking to 2-3 against the Rockies
Between Rowand and Burrell, which one would you bet to have at least a .796 OPS after 450 PAs? Defense aside, is it more likely that Burrell is finished, or that Rowand will finally have an up year? FWIW, Burrell is 10 mos older than Rowand.
They split time, and Bochy rides the hot (ro)hand. Neither will do anything long enough to win the job outright. Rowand gets more nods because of his defense.
If allowed to play Rowand would give us what he has in the past- mid-7 OPS, 15-65, good defense, long dry spells.Nothing to indicate he might be finished, he’s just not real good. So, yeah, the question is whether Burrell is done or slumping. It’s a legit question…
I’m not basing my opinion on how the season will play out off one series. I said that in the main thread I think. It will just give us an indication of how we stack up against them RIGHT NOW. Would it be a good sign if they beat us 8-2 every game? Of course not, but it would be nothing to trip on either–long way to go, fellas…..
Flav, yer 12:21 and 1:10 posts are pretty much direct opposites of one another . . .
well then I didn’t express myself clearly. It would not be a good sign for the rest of the year. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of time left to play our best baseball and be right where we need to be at the end of the year. Put it this way: getting blown out 3 straight would hardly be a GOOD sign, right?
Zito is such a pussy for hurting his foot on that play. And not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill pussies, I’m talking about all-time great pussies in history. A famous pussy from the big screen. A pussy that’s had it’s name up in lights. Right now I’m hearing Sean Connery calling out Honor Blackman’s name in “Goldfinger.” That’s the ticket: “Goldfinger” now starring Barry Zito as Pussy Galore.
POTD candidate. Yeah, the least he could have done was hurt his foot in a collision covering first, for Pete’s sake. But, no. Zito can’t even hurt himself properly…
Or even Octopussy… Puss In Orthopedic Boots… Faster, Pussyzit, Kill, Kill…
What’s New Pussyzits?
DMD, POTD material. If the rest of this thread is included POTW. IMHO.
One of the biggest changes in the Giants last year was that they were finally able to slug it out away from home. Colorado doesn’t have the offensive advantage it once had in Denver. It’s also way early to take the Rocks’ road success seriously- they were 15th in the league hitting way from home last year. And they’ve changed very little, same guys..
I think one of my posts disappeared. I posted something about Burrell remaining on the roster as a late-inning pinchhitting longball threat.
Nate or Belt would go to AAA.
Never been a Nate fan but off the bench he’s far more valuable than Pat would be. Pat plays or goes away, IMO.
Bochy said the other day that Zito could be out a coupla weeks, or maybe a coupla months, hard to say yet. If Vogelsong shows well, my guess is the Zitfoot might require a really long rehab period…
I’m not so sure I’d call this the same team, but again, we will find out. If Tulo and Cargo have taken ANOTHER step forward (and it looks like Tulo has) AND Helton stays healthy and hits .300+ AND Iannetta hits 25 bombs, I’d say this is a significantly better offense then last year— remember, last year they were still suffering through the end of Hawpe and I think Atkins (though he might have left a year earlier) major drains of nothingness.
Again, I’m not saying they’ve taken that next step offensively, just that I could see it happen and three games against our 3 best pitchers would at least give us an indication of where they’re at. Certainly the Mets don’t offer you a barameter of where they’re at……
Zito’s pussy injury was described as “a rare fluke (pussy) injury that normally afflicts football players and ballet dancers. Now way in hell can I see Zito spraining his foot playing football. I can’t even see Zito playing football in the first place. But I sure in the hell can see Zito spraining his foot doing ballet. Hell, the Diamondbacks could have used Zito behind the plate yesterday. He could have subbed for both Montero and Baryshnikov as The Nutcracker.
You’re killing me dude
I just re-read a few of my posts today, and Chuck is right, I’m not making much sense. My point, I think, is that it wouldn’t surprise me if Colorado is better than us right now (maybe significantly better) but I’m just not going to sweat what happens in this series. There’s too much baseball left to play, our team (and theirs) could look very different by the Summer. And remember that while Clubber Lang dominated Rocky the first time around the end of the movie had very different results.
Well, it’s a series that has Giants fans on edge. The Rockies are playing their best ball right now, and the Giants more or less aren’t yet; so the possibility of going 7 games behind the Rockies is there on the table. That’s why winning at least one is fine. Being 5 behind instead of 7 is a big difference. Winning two of three would put the Giants at 3 behind, of course.
I’m not thinking defensively necessarily, but win at least one of the three, and go from there. It’s still super early of course, and there’s a good chance two playoff teams are coming out of the West anyway.
I’m absolutely confident the Gs would do well against the Rockies in the playoffs.
The Rockies (potentially) hitting 25-HR catcher is batting 8th. Ours is gonna bat cleanup. “Pain”
Fowler CF, Herrera 2B, Gonzalez LF, Tulowitzki SS, Helton 1B, Spilborghs RF, Lopez 3B, Iannetta C, Rogers P
But this Esmil Rogers fella, I’m not scared of him one fuck. Denny, name the movie, : “You know, I don’t like you one fuck”.
And for those of you who would like to relive one of the best comedies ever made……
http://movie.subtitlr.com/subtitle/show/605894
Flav, saying things like that will get your shoes lit on fire at the rail when Hot to Trot runs at 8-1.
I WAS wondering, Flav . . . .
Anyhow, the G’s are by no means full strength. This is very true defensively. The water buffaloes out there are shakey at best. The shots hit to them last year seemed to be a lot easier to handle than the stuff they are seeing this year. Esp Huff in RF. RF at home is tough for the best of them.
They just get to ride Rowand in LF when Torres comes back and hope against hope he keeps fairly productive while giving Burrell the occasional game.
This series? Sure. A sweep by the Gyros. Why? The bats come out hot. They got a nice long 6 inning rest yesterday . . .
Itz friggin April. I’m not sweatin whether the Gyros or Rox sweep this one, and no heavy breathing for sure if itz a split one way or t’other. Enjoy the games, see how they match up. Last year shows that either or both clubs could look different, way different by mid summer…
Flav, it is Monday, and just getting up in the morning can be challenging for me, much less writting something coherant on a blog.
It’s especially challenging to spell words like “coherent” early on a Monday morning. 8)
Or even 3:30 in the afternoon . . .
Lottsa pussy on the mind today. My main puss just hopped off. Quite the laplander. Name’s Mulligan. Pusswife MandaPanda presented him at the stroke of Midnight leading into my 60th birthday. So we’re kinda close.
May divorce MandaPanda, though. Couple weeks ago she devoured a couple of her grandkeeks. They were about 6 weeks old and one of em showed promise of being another Starkat like Mulligan. Third keek, a little grey, is getting called Lucky and has reached the terrorist stage now ~into everything. Pussy all over the place, though some may get deported. So if anyone else on the board keeps chattin up the pussy, i’ll need an address.
Huff at 1st, Schierholts at RF tonight
I wondered yesterday if they might start Nate. Don’t know where they go from here, but Huff shouldn’t play anymore RF.
Ross probably will be activated for tomorrow’s game.Belt probably down…
Brian Horwitz was better in 2008 than Belt has been so far.
Haven’t hear a Will Clark comparison here since the solitary moment of glory.
That was a perfect swing and a perfect HR, however.
DFA him!!!!!!!!!!
I he enjoyed that hr before he gets cut
That’s how you get yourself off the bubble…
We’re the World Champs, dammit!!! Fuck you, Rockies!!!!
It’s about fucking time Burrell hit a homer with someone on base.
Upper tank for Shitholtz. WTF is going on here.
Rogers over and out.
I’d love to see Timmy go deep.
Geez, if Nate can do that, maybe Burrell’s back on that bubble 😉
My goodness, gracious, mercy sakes alive. Does Rogers normally pitch for British Petroleum? ~ B.P. that is. Now who the hell is on the bubble?
Burrell: like I said, HR or strikeout [insert gay-ass smiley farce]. FECK YOU, ROCKIES!
Rogers merely proved that anyone can take him deep-reeeeeeeeal deep. Wow, Nate doesn’t even dream of one like that
Some fan base there in Denver. Stands are pretty empty.
It’s a fuckin’ all out air attack!!!
Freddy, my high school sweetheart!
GREASE references
Tracy should tell Rogers BP ended an hour ago.
Now its Runt Power at the Launching Pad and Huff damned near repeats. Somehow this game appears slightly different from the last 6 innings in Arizona.
If for some reason Tim blows this 6-0 lead I’ll say this; the season IS over. Rockies are you division champs.
Stop. If Tim blows this lead, it’s the gas pipe for Mr. Kokonuts. R.I.P.
“One of the biggest changes in the Giants last year was that they were finally able to slug it out away from home. Colorado doesn’t have the offensive advantage it once had in Denver.”
Who unplugged the humidor? 🙂
Maybe the Rox mixed up the balls.
Not only can Shitholtz launch ’em into the upper deck, he’s a pretty fine kicker as well.
His PAT puts the Niners up 7-0 over the Broncos. Tejada just added the rouge, make that 8-0. Hey, this isn’t Canada.
Anybody else catch those glimpses of Carney Lansford pacing in the Rockies dugout, with a PAINFUL look on his face?
The press has been pretty quiet regarding the Giants, ignoring their Basking WS status. Esp. on the East Coast. Watch: the lead story will be Jed Lowrie and Dice-K’s performance or Joe Blanton’s limiting the Brewers to 2 runs. You watch.
Since the AS break 2010, Giants are second to the Reds in HRs in the NL…