More Defense Please

Posted in Uncategorized by Flavor on April 28, 2012

Carl Steward at the The Merc already blogged about this last night but I thought we could kick it around here, too. Last night, Bochy went “all offense” with his LU. The flip side of that is that you really expose your defense.

Cabrera in RF: worse (I know he gunned down someone at third and he didn’t do anything egregious out there, I’m just saying, if he’s playing RF he’s *worse* than Nate)

Arias at SS: worse than Crawford

Theriot at 2nd: worse than Burriss (from a range standpoint)

Pill in LF: definitely worse than Cabrera

Posey at 1st: worse than Belt

Hector at C: worse than Posey

Pagan in CF: worse (than Blanco)

That’s 7 positions where you weaken your defense. And Steward is correct, with Hacker on the mound, you are going to get a LOT of balls put in play. You’re just asking for trouble when 7 of your 8 positions are weaker defensively than the replacement player.

How much are you really strengthening your offense with that LU? Is it really THAT much more?

Cabrera > Nate? Yes.

Arias > Crawford? Definitely yes

Theriot > Burriss? No. I’d rather have Burriss in there for his offense (and his defense, frankly)

Pill >Cabrera? No

Posey > Belt? If Belt ever starts producing the way everyone here says he’s about to start doing then I would go with *no* on this one. Posey puts up great numbers for a C but as a 1B his offensive numbers are average at best.

Hector > Posey? No

Pagan > Blanco? Yes

There are just not enough resounding *yeses!* on that list to justify putting such a significantly substandard defense on the field together. And I’m not talking about what that defensive alignment would do game-to-game or what they did last night. I’m talking about what it would do over the course of time. And the end result, I think, would be a defensive unit that would make a lot of errors. And that’s not even counting the errors they don’t make because they don’t have the range to get to the ball that the *other* guys would have gotten to. In other words, there will be balls hit to LF that Pill doesn’t get an error on but he also doesn’t make a play on because he can’t get to the ball in time. Same with Theriot. And all of them, actually.

This is your best *all-defense* LU:

Blanco CF

Cabrera: LF

Panda: 3rd

Posey: C

Nate: RF

Belt: 1B

Crawford: SS

Burriss: 2B

And I’m not saying go with this LU every game. Just mix some of it in instead of going with the *all offense* LU Bochy went with last night. The offense those guys will produce just isn’t that much more than their replacement player would produce and it certainly isn’t enough to make up for the defensive gap that is created when they have to stop hitting and go play the field…….

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Flavor said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:16 pm

Casilla Time! I never thought I’d look forward to that time…..
WilcoJoe said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:16 pm

Anybody see that seed of a throw by Harper? Fucking catcher couldn’t hold the ball and the Dodgers tie the game.
- Macdog said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:24 pm
  
  Just saw it — and you’re right about that catcher. Didja see the bullet he hit off the CF wall for his first career hit?
Del Mar Dennis said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:20 pm

Bad call at first, but Casilla’s bobble gave the ump the opportunity to fuck that up. Our D. still blows.
- Flavor said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:23 pm
  
  you can’t put Casilla’s fuck up on the D dude. The defense is considered the other 8 guys, NOT the FUCKING closer.
Nipper said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:25 pm

Yes! Nice win!
Macdog said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:26 pm

Yeahhhhhhhhh!
WilcoJoe said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:26 pm

Brian who?
Flavor said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:26 pm

fucking OUTSTANDING. Shit, Casilla is throwing up sickness to the plate right now. Brian Wilson, even with a good arm, threw up this and worse even in his best appearances.
blade3colorado said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:28 pm

Timmy battled all game and wouldn’t be denied. Guts.
eddacker said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:28 pm

got a smile on my face, nice win
snarkk said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:29 pm

Nice job again by Casilla.
Suggest he and Flannery get together for some work on fielding grounders and throwing to 1B…
WilcoJoe said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:29 pm

Should be a nice confidence builder for Belt and Timmy.
Flavor said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:31 pm

Did you guys see how Casilla’s ball tailed away from the lefty to start the at bat? Bochy is a master at match ups but he fucked up that game where he took Casilla out after a hit and 3 lefty’s coming up (vs NY). Casilla can do it all it he can just not turn into a maniac. And you know what? He seems calmer as a closer. He’s throwing better pitches, more strikes, then he ever did in previous years.
And it is ALL the SICKEST shit. He’s scary…….
- snarkk said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:32 pm
  
  If he has the fasball and that Hook both going, he’s damn near unhittable…
WilcoJoe said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:37 pm

I still think we have a lot to be concerned about regarding Timmy’s loss in velocity…Loss of velocity is okay as long as command is still strong…Tonights command was outstanding…Question will be can he keep up that command every fifth day to remain a Cy Young caliber pitcher? I am not so sure.
- blade3colorado said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:42 pm
  
  I wouldn’t bet against him though . . . Of course, it would be nice to pitch against the Friars every 5th day, huh?
- Flavor said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:42 pm
  
  At 89-90 he won’t be the Timmy we know and love. He just won’t. He can gimmick the Pads shitty LU into submission but if he’s going to be *CY Timmy* he needs to go put on some weight and start throwing the ball harder. Seriously, if it’s not the weight, what is it? And what is he going to be like in August if his whispy ass can barely hit 91 in April?
- twinfan1 said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:46 pm
  
  He has to be near perfect with a sub-90 fastball. Tonight he darn near was. The plays by Melky might have fired him up, just a bunt hit after the 4th.
snarkk said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:43 pm

POTG — Timmeh.
POTG #2 — Belt.
I think Timmeh will pick up a mile or two on the FB as the season heads forward. He’s still fighting his mechanics. He was a true gamer tonight. I hope that solid, clutch double propels Belt to some more success. Hopefully, Bochy doesn’t criticize the double as too low a trajectory…
- WilcoJoe said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:49 pm
  
  That’s certianly the best case scenario and what we would all hope for…As Krukow mentioned, his velocity in the first inning was 89 and it was the same in the eigth…No way he would have made it 8 innings had it started off say 93 and then bottomed out at 89 in the sixth.
- blade3colorado said, on April 28, 2012 at 9:05 pm
  
  Good point snarkk regarding Timmy’s fast ball MPH. ESPN has shown evidence of this for most pitchers, i.e., their FB gains 1-2 MPH after the first or second month of the season. Perhaps, this is because of the cold and/or getting into the rhythm of the season.
twinfan1 said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:52 pm

With his fastball diminishing in velocity year by year, I don’t see it eas his weight. Where’s Poppa?
Macdog said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:52 pm

Harper go-ahead sac fly, Nats 2-1 in the 9th.
WilcoJoe said, on April 28, 2012 at 8:53 pm

Harper may have just gotten the game winning RBI right there!
twinfan1 said, on April 28, 2012 at 9:30 pm

The way Bass was going it looked like a 1-0 game. The question now- is there a perverse business relationship between Lincecum and Zito? Can they both succeed or must one struggle?
Anyway, good game. ‘Night