Hector Has 2 Weeks to Produce
I like the move to bring Sanchez up. Even though he isn’t hitting for power in Fresno he’s got to be a better offensive threat than either of the guys we trot out there these days. Sabean is taking a look at this kid NOW, maybe it’s one less piece he has to go get before the trade deadline. No harm in seeing what’s in-house. I’m a little worried about his game calling ability but we’ve got a vet staff that SHOULD know how to call their own game anyway…..
Nice to see Ross get going a bit. He’s been hitting the ball much better lately, though he has only the one HR in his last 7 at bats. I think Bochy sees that Ross might be entering one of his hot streaks and will play him more over the next week. Rowand will start today in place of Torres. His average has come down a bit vs lefties this year but he’s still hitting .350 against them with an OPS near .900–that train gets ridden until it runs out of coal……..
The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings
(things have gotten awfully bunchy in the 5–9 spots. Berra’s B’s continue to impress and surprise…)
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
And is all field – no hit Crawford our SS?
we had a good defensive team last night and one center fielder/lead off guy that shined. He is crediting Meulens. Not to take anything away from the man himself; let’s hope this is a beginning and not just a big inning.
this from hayward Dave on the SFGs site:
Maybe so, and in the past they called it “winning with pitching and defense.” The lalas won the WS one year when their only .300 hitter was Don Drysdale.
I do not see management sitting pat, they’ve got a taste of winning and the fans want to continue to bask.
BTW
Orbofwisdom had 7 hitters going 0 fer last night; impressive, not!
I’ll give you credit for backing the Pirates; I didn’t see them being competitive with STL, Brewers and Reds. A part of it has to be dumping off Capps, as the twins are finding out. Losing in the end after you have fought all game to get ahead is demoralizing. Some guys can close, others just think they can (like Marmol who was better as a set up guy). STL is finding this out too.
3 catchers set up shouldn’t last too long, I wouldn’t think. Just like with OF, anyone that shows they can hit is going to get more ABs (note, Nate’s 2 for last 11 since break in clean up spot and doesn’t hit lefties well either). As for SS I think it’s crawford’s job, with font/tejada only in there to give him a day off. Esp as long as his D remains solid, I think these 3 cover the 2 mid IF spots. Getting a major upgrade at this position, I don’t see Sabes going that route, and I wouldn’t describe JJ Hardy/O Cabrera types in that ilk.
Outside of a middle order bat type that would take over an OF spot, what you see, which is romping the west as most here predicted despite all the injuries and distractions, is what you get.
Good synopsis my man, but I think we are still hungry enough to not stand pat. Question is: is Sabes good enough to pull the trigger on the right deal?
Ross has been leading or second in OBP and OPS for weeks now( he wasn’t playing as much because he was HURT)… and it’s funny how the farther the Giants get ahead , the more the snarkkidiots say they MUST have help. They don’t. As I’ve said from day one, the’yll win this division in a cakewalk. Beltran or similar may happen, but with an eye to the postseason. It’s looking more likely now that help will come from within-Hector, Belt, Dirty back…
Now-Torres. He’s hitting 303 this month with a .364 OBP, he’s shown shown signs before last night that he was returning to form. And as the “brained” know, he’s the key to the offense.
Crwaford: he has to either hit or play impeccable defense. He’s not really doing either. There were two plays last night that would have had the doombeciles all over Miggy.The nice lead is allowing them to play him but they won’t stick with that- the middle will be Tejada/Fonntenot.( Miggy is hitting .321 with an .849 OPS the last 4 weeks). Even with shaky defense. they aren’t leaving that on the bench if your crawdaddy doesn’t step it up. Remember- Crawford is still ot considered the top SS prospect.
Everybody says they’ve got to get hitting help, because they do. Sabes made all those moves last deadline, and they were hitting far better than this season. Baer on KNBR as much as waved a green flag that they will making a move for outside help. The quality of help and what is given up are the only questions…
I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. Yes sir!
My clock says it’s past noon. You know what to do.
Guzzle away.
I DVRed the Giants game and went to the Modesto Nuts/Inland Empire 66ers single-A game last night. The Nuts are a Rockies affiliate, and the 66ers are a Dodgers affiliate. The game started with the 66ers being up a half-hour in the top of the first, as they scored 12 runs! The Nuts spent the rest of the game shutting down the 66ers and trying to mount a comeback. They ended up making it close, even getting the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but losing 12-10.
Then watched the Giants victory on the DVR when I got home.
Everyone also says they don’t need help to win the division. As I’ve said- whatever they add, if anything, will be with an eye to the postseasdn. That’s vastly different from from last year when at this time they were in a dogfight for fourth place and needing help to stay in the race.
Wake me when it’s Game 1 of the NLDS. And of COURSE any add of Beltran and the like is for the postseason. But they DO need it for the playoffs. And any start that Miggy gets at SS we have it coming if we lose. He shouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere near SS. Disaster, meet waiting to happen.
Miggy will be in there tonight. At SS.
Dennis, how did your prediction of Arizona leading the division at the All-Star break work out?
Miggy has an OPS under .600 His Fld% at SS is .949 this year as compared to .983 at 3B. His Rtot at SS is -8 as compared to +27 for 3B. Like I said, Miggy should not be allowed anywhere near SS.
And I could give a rat’s ass about the “Miggy plays hard” bullshit. Bonds didn’t run out half the grounders to short or the infield pop ups. Touch choice there. I want results!
He’ll be there tonighrt. Maybe you should take that Ledger and skip the game..
“They HAVE to hit more!!!”
Actually, therte’s no evidence that they do. Everyone agrees that it would be nice but it’s tough to make a case for mandatory as they steadily expand their lead..
Baggarly writing a Bochy quote after the game, regarding Pablo’s hitting streak:
“That’s why these streaks are so difficult and you appreciate what a (Joe) DiMaggio did.”
The “(Joe)” cracked me up.
I thought of some similar ones:
(George) Washington was the first president of the U.S.
(Adolf) Hitler led the Nazis during WWII.
(Bruce) Springsteen has sold a lot of albums.
Ah, I’m being too rough on (Andrew) Baggarly.
Well, there were two other Dimaggio brothers in the big leagues for a while. I’ve heard people say Dom was a great guy, and he had a 34 game hitting streak of his own.
“Take A Walk” (3/2) just won the 5th at Belmont. We took 6 last night. Maybe the Giants are starting to figure this game out. Nah, the Padres pitching just sucked last night. I say we don’t get half that many tonight…
it will be interesting to see how zito pitches tonight (well, I guess it’s interesting to see every time he pitches!). Will he keep that bulldog attitude? Can he get hitters out with an 85 mph fastball? Can he get the fb up to 88-89 where he needs to have it to be effective? What to expect out of sanchez? All in all, could be an interesting game to watch.
Also going to be interesting to watch sabean for the next two weeks. I think I said earlier that any move he makes won’t be what we expect. It’s just a matter of whether it will pan out.
If huff and ross can get hot in the second half, pablo stays steady and torres finds his groove, I’m actually not too worried about the postseason. But that’s a lot of ifs.
Very excited about the upcoming phils series. In the long run, it doesn’t make any difference what happens but if the giants can take 2 of 3, that’s going to send a message. if they get swept, it could make philly overconfident and won’t have any bearing on the post season.
With all the prospects in the minors, it’s starting to look like the road to the WS is going to go through SF for a few years. Not that they’ll win it obviously but at some point, someone is going to have to beat them for a shot at the title. Hopefully it will be like those years with the niners where the road to the SB went through SF.
Ross has been hitting to his career numbers. Why do all of you ignore that? He doesn’t need to get hot, he just needs to get rid of the nagging injuries and play everyday again.
I think Ross could be starting ahead of Nate by the end of the year in rightfield. Nate’s been hot, but he could also go 2 for his next 30.
I really hope the Giants get Beltran. He would be a great fit with the Giants. Plus, I just like the idea of sending a jolt through the National League when they hear the news.
Burrell with his foot problems reminds me of my numb feet. Foot problems cannot be dismissed easily.
The ballpark will be a help to Zito. Should be some long flyouts during the game. He’s done a good job of cutting down the number of walks. If Zito can be a .500 pitcher the rest of the way, that would be huge for the Giants.
I’m intrigued by H. Sanchez, as we all are. Krukow couldn’t resist the “baby Panda” reference last night, and who could blame him. The mind boggles at how cool that would be if he turned out to be a baby Panda, and he turned out to be the catcher of the future. Posey would end up at firstbase. Belt in the outfield. This team would have its core on offense set for a long time. IF all those players pan out OK.
It’s best not to think too far ahead or assume too much. Baseball is a very easy game until one has to play it. Atlanta with all those superior teams over the years and the great pitching won only one title.
I have no idea what your point is.
Posey at first base……I really don’t think so.
For upside, Tommy Joseph still surpasses Hector. But for being just 21, Sanchez is just further along now. He’s caught more games than Buster had before he came up.
SI’s Jon Heyman just tweeted that we’ll be unwilling to part with Wheeler for Beltran or others like him.
They best be willing to part with somebody. Standing pat just won’t do for the postseason. Especially with teams like Philly and Atlanta likely to add to their already potent arsenal.
Heyman probably knows very little about what the Giants plan to do.
I see that Dennis and Flavor have recently abandoned the notion that they need help just to make the postseason. I’ll see if I have room for you in the back of the bus.
Some of you still don’t get it-this team does hit-on the road, And their pitching is lights out at home. Or maybe you should just leave the thinking to me. That would be best.
Good idea.
Twin, how does all that ego fit into one skull?
The ego is theirs- yesterday Flavor worried that Sabean was over his head making a Beltran-like deal. I just try to bring these nincompoops back to Earth.Sabean probably has more experienmce than any GM in baseball. The reason high profile rentals aren’t often done is because usually it would be stupid to make he deal- not because Sabean would be over his head.
ahh. continue then, but play nice.
I expect for the blog author to know why Ross wasn’t starting..
Right on!
Heyman now tweets that Beltran will likely approve a trade to: Giants, Tigers, Rangers, Yanks, Sox and Phillies.
I could see the Sox making a big push. They haven’t got shit outta their RF position.
Thinking about what Sabean isn’t willing to give up, and what NYMs would want in exchange for Beltran, my guess is that either the Giants bite the bullet and trade away some folks they would really rather keep, or a 3way deal gets done for Beltran. Sabean would put off biting the bullet as long as possible, and complex deals are, well, complex, so either way I don’t expect anything before the deadline.
And again, whatever the team, the prospect hit is less if they take on more salary.Wheeler is considered front of the rotation stuff. I’d love to be around when he’s winning a Cy in New York
First and foremost the Giants need to pay the FULL freight for Beltran then work the deal from there.
It’s only fucking money…
I will be watching tonight’s game under an official protest. Tejada playing SS and batting second are bigger crimes that were committed by Casey Anthony.
CF Rowand
SS Tejada
3B Sandoval
LF Ross
RF Schierholtz
1B Huff
C Whiteside
2B Burriss
P Zito
That’s not a humorous reference,
It’s funny cause I’ve never heard of her, thought Casey was a man’s name.
Now I am sad having looked up the info.
sniff……
Yeah, using her in any joke is over the top. Fortunately, we all know that Dennis doesn’t mean most of the stuff he posts.
Dennis is upset now, but not wronged.
Zito – “Jeez skip, as if i don’t have enough problems!”
Heyman is a total waste. He never breaks a story or demonstrates any insight. All he does is state the obvious.
Naming Affeldt the POTG was suppoosed to be in fun., BTW.
Just like naming Casey Anthony Mother of the Year was supposed to be fun.
I’m concerned about your new twitter addiction Dennis. Your jokes are getting elliptical, and you’re actually trying to be plain and profound once in a while. TA, man, call TA.
T and A? OK, just so happens that Phoebe Cates turned 48 today. I can’t believe it. But I’m sure Phoebe will always look like this to one and all…
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/115124/phoebe_cates_fast_times_at_ridgemont_high/
That image of Phoebe Cates is forever literally embedded in my psyche.
Best…BB…ever
Uh oh. The obvious joke in response. I avoided calling your new style pithy because I was worried that you’d respond with some sort of Paul Lind imitation. But TA? I really thought you’d resist that one. Sort of a compulsive, knee jerk off reaction, huh?
A Paul Lynde imitation? I think this ties in perfectly with the Phoebe Cates video.
Bip Roberts with the ludicrous statement of the day:
“Now that the pressure of the streak is over, Pablo can go back to how he was swinging before the streak.”
Bip actually said that.
I understand what Bip means but…you’re right. It boggles the mind
his name, for the love of god, is Bip. That should tell you all you need to know.
Is anyone else surprised and maybe even a little disappointed that Hector isn’t starting tonight? I thought with his rapport with Zito down in Fresno might give him the nod tonight. I dunno. Nonetheless, regardless of who starts at catcher that still leaves two others on the bench. That’s plenty for me to bitch about…
I posted about this a month or so back, but it probably bears repeating. I’ve talked to some people very close to the situation who say Bip’s four-year tenure as head baseball coach at Skyline High in Oakland was a complete fucking disaster. Also, the lapels on his suits suck. He must’ve met his tailor while waiting in the lobby of a cheap massage parlor.
Why does it bear repeating?
Maybe it doesn’t. I don’t give a fuck. Now are we going to see dozens of chuck posts declaiming “Damn!” “Mother of god!” “Christ on a bicycle!” “Whaaaaa?” Don’t disappoint, chuckles.
Nah, we’ll just take your gems of inanity, xoot. Bip was a lousy HS coach? Wow! Really? Golly Gosh! Tell me more!! Who’s his tailor?
Let’s hear about SD stopping Pablo’s hitting streak.
Haw haw. Really, now. Like they give a shit.
Well, got my laugher last night. Bubbles is looking a little bubbly tonight.
Yikes. He’ll take 3rd if the attention span remains the same.
Hey, I proposed another trade to you — five days ago! Check your team and stop slacking off!
Bubbles has to go fastball, and I can’t believe denorfia let that go.
I’m going to state the fucking obvious…Zito reverts to form!!! Motherfucker.
Jesus diidn’t let ot go by . . .
Jesus vs. the Anti-Christ: It was no contest.
Gee Zusssss. Look what comes back to haunt ya with Zitsmeister on the mound. May have been the only ML starter he could be counted on to take deep. Silver lining behind the cloud is that upper management may have just received their essential booster shot regarding their big investment and may fast discover the drrrty secret that their rehabbing starter is doing quite well, thank you and raring to return.
How ironic. K&K answer the question about PFPs, and Zito fails to cover first in time.
I guess he was too busy playing his guitar or riding his unicorn in Spring Training.
Just turned on the Giants game in time to just see that homer, I didn’t think Zito would go back to his old self for a few more games!!
yeah, so did I. walk, fly out, base hit rbi,, hudson 3 run HR.
Cue the mindless pyscho babble of zito explanation. If I’m tipping something, it ain’t my cap.
Cool. I hope Bochy leaves him in for 6 . . .
This really messes up the rotation. I’m going to two games next weekend. wtf’s going to be pitching?
Probably not Bubbles.
Fucking brilliant.
Somebody should have the answer for this: does the Bay Area suicide rate go up when Zito pitches?
maybe the pawn shops for sat night specials.
Sorry, Dennis, I like my closer. I nixed the deal.
Beer sales skyrocket, that’s for sure . . .
Jesus and Hudson drove some nails into the coffin of notions of Zito’s resurrection. I’m sure the howling from the fans will be reverberating loudly in the executive suites.
Shit, at this point, they should think about giving Mota a couple starts Til Sanchez comes back, and Barry mysteriously hurts himself.
Zito reverting to form, as if he ever unreverted. He’s bringing his shitload of stinking, maggot infested bad karma back to the team. It has to be stopped, now. Crosses, holy water, silver bullets, whatever it takes. This menace has to be stopped before it takes over like a life threatening case of jock itch. I suggest a re-sprain of the middle foot….
If Barry doesn’t mysteriously hurt himself, maybe he should be careful when showing up alone in public. Maybe he could hire himself a couple beefy buddies to hang around him 24/7. There may be some fans in NoCal as crazy as those two from LA on Opening Day. The experiment was good for three games. Hope they don’t give Z. too many more starts before deciding its contract eating time.
That is one ugly pitching line for Barry tonight:
3.2 7 8 8 4 3 2 21 85
He’d a done fine if there were only 2 outs to an inning…
It’s ok, Dirrty is almost ready.
Is he the cure, or the disease?
Zito reminds me of the Big Lebowski line from one of the Nihilist “I fuck you in the ass, I fuck you in the ass, I fuck you, I fuck you, I fuck you, I fuck…”
I don’t think Zits liked night life in the valley. I’d put some police officers on Dirty for his own protection..
So anyone been over to the splash, the doomers should be having a field day, and Soph the troll, well, she is probably in heaven!! Or Troll hell, which ever makes her more happy.
One of the cool things about watching the Giants on the MLB package is hearing the announcers from different teams…Nearly every teams telecast pans the camera to Kruk and Kuip and talks about how great they are…Except Dick Enberg…Mark Grant just stated they were the best teammates he ever had…Enberg acted liked he had no idea who they were.
Give Dick a break, he’s 112 years old..
Oh, my!
DeRosa is 1 for 1 with a double and walk in SJ. I hold out very little hope that he can help but the guy could have just collected his checks..
More comebacks than Steve Howe . . .
Zito is the Anitchrist…
He can’t be. A*** S**** is the Antichrist.
for the cult fans, I notice Nate is 2 for 13 since the break, in a non hitters park like home. He had picked up his home stats quite a bit with the recent hot streak, but…his numbers vs. lefties are awful, under .600 OPs, no pop. And in the month of June, when he got his most ABs of the season the numbers look like this: .268, .696 OPS, zero HRs. Which is about what I think the guy is capable of.
Watching him hit Friday night, he had two deep drives to CF for fly ball outs, and his only hit came on the one he served into LF on the outside pitch he got in the big inning. And that’s Nate in a nutsell, a spray hitter who when he tries to go deep in a big yard like ATT or Petco, doesn’t have a chance.
I’m sure he’ll get plenty more run, so let’s see what happens when he gets back home. Can he keep up the good numbers? Or has he shot the wad, and this is as good as it gets?
should read “thursday” night,
Chris Stewart at first?
Realize too, Ross Torres and Rowand can all play every spot in the OF, including RF. If SF were to acquire Beltran or another middle order type OF, I think they send somone out of here in a trade, and I doubt it would be Burrell, who rarely plays the OF and had a bad experience as a DH. 4 man rotation for 3 spots is one thing, but for 5 guys it would be untenable, with someone’s ABs taking a big hit.
Basrd on what you said, Burrell SHOULD be the one to go.
maybe chuck, and I agree he has been way less than advertised off last year performance. but he also doesn’t make much, rarely plays OF as much as the others anyway , and would have the most pop off the bench for a RH/PH. I just don’t think any of the others would take real kindly to severely reduced PT if SF picks up an everyday type OF, and a guy like Nate would bring way more back.
Like you said, though, the others are all more versatile than Burrell. If they complain about losing ABs at the expense of Beltran, then start hitting. They certainly understand the reasoning around getting someone else.
Huff should be looking behind him as well.
Zito is who he is, I just didn’t think he would revert so quickly!!!
Nobody wants Burrell, he’d just get released.
like twin said before, all these guys are better hitters on the road. Rowand or Nate, I’m sure, are confident they would put up a lot better numbers playing every day in a different park.
Man, nice shot, I hope Torres gets rolling, that would be a huge lift, he has looked much better lately, and that was a cool move by bochy to get him some more ABs vs lefties.
Do I get a Croix de Flapperstick or something for staying and watching this entire ungodly game?
You get nothing and like it, Spaulding . . .
You get nothing? Or, even worse, you get a “joke” from Chuck.
What a shitty game. This team won’t put up with this kinda crap. The next four game winning streak is on the horizon.
Unfortunately, Hector didn’t look so sharp on the breaking ball, did he? Be nice to have a catcher who can catch, throw AND hit. I hope a couple of Sabean’s staffers are working late tonight putting together some feasible options for team to pursue.
Really? Thank you Cap’t. Obvious.
That was a tough pitch.
Zito is bringing back the krap karma. This guy is the crazy uncle, the black sheep, the only guy in the family behind bars. What to do with him? It was sooooo good without him going out to the bump every 5th day. Next season, they have to deep six this tool somehow, someway. Everytime I see that Showtime show opening sequence showing him driving his convertible at dusk, I want to projectile vomit on his windshield…
Think you’re overreacting just a bit? First 3 starts were pretty damn good. He saved their ass in Detroit. Is this time released krap karma? Did someone break a leg tonight?
“Shit happens”. -Forrest Gump
They will be gunning for Latos tomorrow. Don’t think this team likes him much. Perhaps if there is a trade for Beltran, Mets would like an OF replacement as well as a pitching prospect.
Well, maybe he’ll punch through still, and the grunt level staffers’ will quit searching for leads on an interim catcher and return to work on the memo summarizing why it made sense to cut Jesus Guzman loose.
Trade Lowry!
Anybody watching SNL? Andres Torres is a dead ringer for one of Lady Gaga’s dancers…
Keppinger doubled and homered tonight. He’s much more realistic than Beltran.
Brett Pill is tearing it up at Fresno…Hit a grand slam tonight…..309, 17, 76…Moved to 2b from 1b and has been holding his own defensively…I would DFA Burriss and bring him up…Burriss is adding nothing to club at this point.
The last Giant 2B to hit a grand slam was Chuck Hiller (off Marshall Bridges)…
Keppinger was just moved to 3 hole as well…Tells you how bad the Astros are…He is definetly a doable addition…Beltran will be too…Giants will just have to eat more of his salary than they would like to.
Sometimes you have to eat things you don’t want to….
As long as it doesn’t come back up.
Beltran taking the plane to the ASG with the Giants…WIlson’s recruiting effort on national TV…Beltran will be here on July 31st…Contenders will be looking for pitching and Beltran isnt even the most sought after guy anyway.