Buzzkill Beginning to Series
Lots of attention paid to Mota’s positive PED test. That’s a non-issue in terms of how this effects the team. Tolbert calls guys like Mota “5-guys”—you see him when the team is up 5 or down 5. That doesn’t reflect Mota’s contributions, especially last season, but Mota has been less than *contributory* this year. Zito said “We just keep taking blow after blow” but not all blows are created equal. The Giants will get by without Mota…….
We saw a few more glimpses last night of the dangers of the *all offense* line up. Did anyone catch Pill’s *stagger-catch*? I forget what inning it was, maybe 4 or 5. As I’ve said before, for what you give up on defense you just aren’t getting THAT much more in offense with that LU. And we haven’t even seen the great defensive implosion yet from the *No Defense* line up–but it’s coming if Bochy keeps running that crew out there together……..
At this point, you have to play Arias every day. He should be starting in front of Crawford but if Bochy decides to keep giving Craw starts then Arias should slide over to 3rd base in place of C-Gill. That guy is not a major leaguer………
Huff is back and while I’m happy for him personally it doesn’t do much to help the team–in fact, it probably hurts us if it means Blanco is going to lose starts.
Our bullpen is looking…..shady. Here’s a surprising ranking. This is the bullpen batting average against stat:
Normally, I just look at NL stats but when you’re last in all of mlb that’s worth noting, too. For what it’s worth, opponents were batting .310 off Mota this year so the upside is that our current .281 baa is likely to get better just with his subtraction……
Zito was pretty below average last night. When you drop a 2.00 WHIP on your stat line there’s not really any other way to view it. But we still could have won that game if we hit a little bit. Unfortunately, the Dodgers had their way with us. Lots of areas to improve starting tonight……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Giants seldom play well in LA. This game seemed typical. Bad defense little hitting or scoring for the Giants. LA played like ALL STARS.
To be fair, Pill has not really cost them in LF yet. The early double is one Melky might have reached, but the runner didn’t score. The problem was largely at the corners, which does beg the question of Huff. I first made a joke about that a while ago, but as TF pointed out, it has to be a consideration at this point. There’s also no reason for Hector Sanchez to continue to play as frequently as he does.
I listed it as a consideration in my May 3rd thread.
https://oneflapdown77.com/2012/05/03/one-loss-one-broken-hand/
It’s a bold idea that absolutely should be looked at
It wasn’t a consideraion then.
it should have been. I’m fine being a few days ahead of everyone else in terms of *creative thinking*
You mean Huff at 3rd?
Craig did not list it as a serious consideration then. Because it wasn’t, of course.. the first time it was brought up as a serious consideration was last night. I’ll accept the credit *or* blame for that.
utter bullshit. I brought it up on May 3rd. As usual, you didn’t bring it up but now seem to want to take credit for it. typical.
Why would you link to something that proves you didn’t consider it a serios consideration? “Aubry Huff. Despite being currently on the DL and not having played the position in years, third base IS a position that Huff is familiar with. He’s played 2,900 innings at third base. I can’t imagine the Giants turning to Huff to play 3rd with all the stuff he’s got going on right now, I’m just throwing it out there—he knows how to play third base……..”
That was after listing 6 other options..
as I said, it was a “longshot”. And as I posted below, you summarily dismissed it. Now you want to take credit for an idea you summarily dismissed. Fuck that.
It was dismissed THEN because it wasn’t a consideration THEN. Maybe we need a refresher course on changing circumstances. Example: Hembree wasn’t a serious candidate to close when Wilson went out. He could become one depending on how the first choices fare.
I addressed it at the time, saying Gillaspie was the obvious choice- and obviously he was. The
longshots that Craig listed after listing 5 other choices were not serious considerations then. It’s ONLY after Gillaspie’s poor play that other options are a consideration, including Huff.
belt does make a difference at 1b defensively, and the melk blanco pagan OF is also good. Nice to see Nate slap a base hit into LF–that’s his game, imo, not trying to drive stuff in the air for long distances. Too bad we don’t have a couple Arias–he looks like he can play anywhere, and hit some. Burriss seems to be getting less PT, and I hope bochy has seen enough of Theriot for that to end.
Bochy is not a flip the spread guy, but I think he gets his point across pretty well to the team, which is that the defense behind the PS is unacceptable. To be fair, some of the pitchers have caused their own problems when fielding too, but it’s not up to them to strike out every single hitter. Kind of funny this was a blog topic here week ago or so, Sf best D LU vs. the offensive one, esp vs LHP.
Oh man, I remember Youngblood trying to play 3b for SF, and 37 errors wasn’t a fluke. Actually, there were everyday guys who used to make 30 errors in a season at 3b or SS–Twin would remember Z Versalles made i think 39 at SS the year he won the MVP.
IO
Giant’s defense plays like their all wearing an “Underwear Explosive Device”
Weatherproof games: Marlins-Astros, Reds-Brewers, Cardinals-Diamondbacks and Tigers-Mariners.
Rays-Yankees, Mets-Phillies and possibly even Braves-Cubs and Angels-Twins will all likely be interrupted by a midgame shower, but a postponement in any of these games is highly unlikely. Gmen and Bums no problemo.
I hope Buster can break out against Kershaw this evening . . . He is 2-for-18 (.111) with five strikeouts in his career against him. Then again, who does do good against Kershaw (rhetorical question)?
I’ll have to watch tonight’s game on DVR late tonight; I’m going to the San Jose Giants/Modesto Nuts game tonight.
Zumie, I am not certain how often you go to minor league games, but you are going to have a blast. I try to attend at least one when I am in the SF bay area, albeit, I didn’t get to this time around. I love how these games are family oriented, with give-a-aways/contests between just about every inning. Barbecue area rocks and the games themselves are like watching a high school game, i.e., not a bad seat in the house. Great weather today ensures you and yours will have an excellent time. Have fun!
Thanks, Blade. I like all those things; I really like the closeness to the field. All the sounds of the game. Really hearing the mitts popping and all that. I’ve RARELY ever gotten to sit that close at major league games.
There are certain prices for major league tickets that I just rarely spend, kind of on the principle of the thing.
Yes, I am always amazed at the prices for tickets and especially, food and memorabilia at the ball park. My cousin and his wife scored a crab sandwich for $16. Say what? I just chuckled to myself, while I ate my hot sausage on a bun (which came in at a not so cheap price of almost 10 smackeroos). I must admit that I did buy one of those things when I first attended a Giants game at the new park, just to say, “Yeah, I had one.” The Giants and other baseball teams are making money hand over fist and I am not resentful about it at all. The genie was let out of the bottle years ago when free agency occurred and personally, I am happy for the players now being on an equal footing, as other “entertainers” in show business (music, movies, television) are being paid. In short, inflation has gone up for everything and baseball is no different. Baseball, is a game that deserves to be seen at the ball park, unlike football, where I like to be on my Lazy Boy lounger in front of the big screen TV.
Making a judgement on Mota’s contributions, or rather potential ones, is ridiculous after 10 innings. And dismissing what he’s done after actually watching last night’s game is absurd…
And as I pointed out above, Huff wasn’t and shouldn’t have been a consideration for third base. Craig didn’t propose it as ” a bold idea that absolutely should be looked at” at the time, he just threw it out there, in his words. As I said last night, it’s a now a possibilty because of Gillaspie’s play. Arias is not a good option unless you want to see
Crawford play. They need Arias’ bat at shortstop.
Keep in mind that before any bold idea of Huff at third is seriously considered, they’ll need to see if it’s a bold catastrophic move. So he’d need to work out there some. In the meantime they might have to use Burriss or stick with Gillaspie, or even Arias until something better becomes a possibility. They have nothing in the system,it would be a last resort to try Dominguez. I suppose if they could get him for nothing, McGehee is a possibility now,
that would make Loo ecstatic.
We all said that this team would evolve as the season progressed, with Bochy needing to mix and match with different players at different positions, including a bunch of players new to the team. Ok, been doing that. I think it’s time, and I hope Bochy is very close to deciding it’s time, to go with *starters* at some positions. We’ve all seen enough of the different-lineup-every-day thing. Pick some starters and *start* them. It’s why they’re called starters. Why does Burriss have only 2 more at bats than Theriot? Burriss surpasses Theriot in every offensive (and probably defensive) stat there is. Start him, most of the time. Does anybody remember Jim Gantner’s backup at 2nd on that ’82 Brewers AL champs team? How bout even closer to home: who played 2nd other than Kent in ’02? Sheesh. This one example is not why the Giants are sub-.500, but to me, it’s a worrisome example of Bochy’s thinking, which is something I haven’t worried about in a couple of years.
Arias obviously instead of Crawford. Belt obviously at 1st. Posey obviously behind the plate, the hell with 1st very often. The OF can be a bit more flexible, but Blanco needs to start more too, that will be a work in progress. 3rd? Yikes. Most of the above posts allude to that one being tricky right now if Gillaspie doesn’t step up. If he cant do it, _____ can….
To have an everyday LU you need everyday players. We have 3 or 4 of those. We should get used to different line ups because that what’s done when half of the 8 starters are really part time players.
Are you trying to say the team sucks?
No, that’s your thing.
The Modesto Nuts?
Go Nuts!
Chuck – you’re rooting for a Rockies affiliate over the Giants? WTF???
I don’t care. They might as well be the Nads . . .
In fact, here’s what you said in that thread:
“twinfan1 said, on May 3, 2012 at 8:59 am (Edit)
Gillaspie should be the obvious choice. They’ll need Arias to replace one of the middle infieders, with Pablo out they can’t afford both weak bats. Posey and Huff are not choices.”
Look, I’m happy you came around to seeing it as a viable option. Just don’t take credit for an idea that you dismissed at the time I proposed it.
It was dismissed THEN because it wasn’t a consideration THEN. Maybe we need a refresher course on changing circumstances. Example: Hembree wasn’t a serious candidate to close when Wilson went out. He could become one depending on how the first choices fare.
fuck all this *then* vs *now* bullshit. First of all, Bochy just said that Huff is primarily playing left field so I don’t get where you are seeing it is a consideration *now*–that’s just all in your mind, I guess. I said in the May 3rd thread that I suspected the Giants would give C-Gill first shot, which they did. I threw out the *Huff at 3rd base* as a longshot–which it was then and it still is now. You, on the other hand, summarily dismissed it. You didn’t qualify it by saying *right now* or anything close to that. Had you done so, i would cut you some slack.
But again, it is no more a consideration now then it was then. Unless you have public Bochy comments that I don’t know about and that’s a possibility since I haven’t read over everything this morning yet…..
I dismised it then because it wasn’t a consideration then.
“Then and Now” are always considerations. What I said last night was “It was out of the question not long ago, but with zero third basemen close to ready, Huff could become an option with the way Gillaspie has played.”
Anyway, you’re a hoot on how selective you’ve become about going with Bochy’s pronouncements. And how little you’ve learned about him changing his mind. Is Nate the everyday RFer? Is the back up catcher’s spot only between Whitey and Stew?
Is this an argument leading to a fight?
This was in the Sac Bee this morning
Huff said he wasn’t bothered by the fact that manager Bruce Bochy said he primarily will play left field.
If that’s true, then there goes more playing time for Blanco. Or… Pagan…
I doubt that it will come at Pagan’s expense, even though his fielding and running skills have been mediocre/poor to date. Blanco, Nate, and Huff will share the outfield duties, until someone separates themselves from the rest (unlikely) or Bochy will continue as he has done – just go with match-ups du jour for that day. In my mind, you will see Huff at 1st too.
I just listened to one of Paul’s first interviews (Tampa radio station I believe) about his book and was quite impressed. Send me more radio podcasts if you have them Pawlie. Thanks!
Thanks. So far, KTGR was my fave. Need to ask them for file.
“Now you want to take credit for an idea you summarily dismissed. Fuck that.” Sounds like how the Obama camp might respond to Romney’s latest stupid quote of the day…
I said a while back the squad needed 40 games to sort things out. I’m still going with that, so they’ve got another 10 or so for Bochy to get this ship sailing away from the shoals. If they are still clanking along on defense at the 1/4 mark in the season, I don’t see it getting a lot better. The 2010 squad had 75 errors all season, this one looks to have that near the All Star break. I do think a big reason for the bad defense so far, and it’s been horrible, is the extreme LU changes from day to day. Plus, this team may have been overrated coming out of ST. It looked like it could hit a little and had speed, and compared to last season’s horrible hitting team, that was a relief. Truth is, there are few real major leaguers on the usual position rotations. Sanchez, Belt, Burriss, Blanco, Crawford, Arias, Pill, now Gillaspie — eight guys that are not even close to proven, dependable, consistent major league players. Melky and Pagan and Buster are the only 3 position guys with a recent fair to good track record, and Buster hasn’t even played one full season straight through. Nate is up and down at the plate like a yo yo, and Huff I’m not counting, I don’t know why he’s back already, There is no basis to assume Huff is going to give this team much of anything…
Cogent analysis snarkk . . . Traditionally, most people would give them the All Star break, so that is where I differ in your post.
Blade, I’m going with the 1/4 mark as far as defense goes and getting roles fairly set. They can still improve certainly at the plate over the season, and make a trade or two for offense at the deadline. But, IMO if they are still booting balls team wide at the 1/4 mark, that’s 40 games + 35 ST games = 75 games to get your gloves in order, and I doubt you can change that a lot the rest of the year….
Gotcha . . . Thanks.
What was your prediction on what you now say was an oveerrated team coming out of ST?
I said it “may” have been overrated out of ST. That’s why I’m waiting for around the 1/4 season mark. I certainly did not see such horrific defense team wide. They could still hit the 91W mark that I projected, but given Panda’s injury, now that seems doubtful…
“Blanco, Nate, and Huff will share the outfield duties….” Blade, really? No Melky? That’s not going to happen…. Ah, maybe you meant Melky instead of Blanco…
No, I meant what I said – ONE POSITION BETWEEN THE 3. I probably should have said that though. Melky, obviously has been playing good baseball and he will be in there EVERY DAY. In any event, no way does Melky come out.
Got it…
Gillaspie has to sit, IMNSHO. Hitting a buck fifty eight and a sub-9 FP. Sure, small sample…but I’ve seen enough. Hell, put Burriss over there.
But, as Mike said earlier…get used to the mixed-and-matched line-ups…without a stable of everyday guys…it is what it is. But regardless…I sure as hell thought it would be better than it has been.
It’s depressing, because I still feel this team has what it takes to win the division. But to do that…they need to start playing some fundamentally sound baseball (see ball, catch ball, throw ball, hit ball…) to win games, win series, etc.
They should bring back “Billy Bow Tie” to rally the troops (remember “The Giant Way”). Eh, right… 😉
Right now, Bow-Tie at 3rd isn’t the worst idea conceived.
hehehe. Good one double Bill.
Patience is a virtue.
If Bochy does his mix and match routine throughout the season, I don’t think the Giants will finish much above 500. At a certain point, effect will look more like cause.
So who are your everyday 8?
I don’t see how you can have an “everyday 8” with the current 25 man roster. Like you said earlier…there just are not enough “everyday players.” I think Arias should be in there consistently. I would like to see Burriss in more (even if it means at 3B), and Theriot at 2nd.
Hell, right there…it is apparent that there just is not a set starting 8 for this team.
One big step towards understanding whether the team is going to the playoffs or not is to play Belt everyday. Brett “walks are a bitter” Pill and Hackin’ Hector should not be taking away ABs from him. Those 2 guys are not very good bets to produce sufficiently over the long haul. You may as well use Burris every day, he’s faster than Theriot. Arias looks like he has a Juan Uribe-like season in him at SS. Stick Huff at third until he proves that defensively he isn’t close to on par with the worst current ML starter. Bench him when Pablo returns, unless he’s hitting. Pagan, Blanco, Cabrera.
Oh hell, lets just shit can the youth movement and call Orlando Cabrera or Miguel Tejada. Now there were two solid acquisitions that the Giants made. So if the Giants have known for years that they have had shit for position players why have they not done something about it? One of the big problems that Giants management has had over the last ten years or so is that if a rookie comes up and does not produce “right now” they get sent back down. what kind of message does that send to your farm system?? IMO this is what is wrong with Crawford, he was given the job at SS and he does not want to make mistakes, and he is worried if you does management will just say bye bye. So instead of just sending Crawford back down, now Bochy just benches him!! Nice way to treat your players!!
Let youth be served!
It may not be long before he goes down. But he deserved benching, in fact he shouldn’t have been on the team in the first place. They were wrong about him.
And the first thing that needs to happen with the line up tonight is put Buster back where he belongs. Catcher!!
As I posted before they started playing Buster at first-it was a bad idea. A lot of their problems would be addressed by abandoning that. For one, we’re seeing just how bad he is defensively there. For another, Pill should be getting starts against selected LHers- at first base, backing up Belt ocassionally. And Hector should be catching once every 5 days, that’s it.
I agree on that. Belt should get most of the starts at 1st. Buster predominantly behind the dish.
The fact that we don’t have 8 bona fide MLB regulars does not make us a bad team. Look at the guys in front of us NOW- A.J. Ellis, Gordon, Rivera, and Abreu are all borderline, I wouldn’t take any of them. Now I would take Uribe back if the Dodgers paid most of his salary, and see if he can rekindle the fire of 2010.
So would I, but it would never happen. Last Giant Dodger trade…….Maldonado/Trevino?
yep, agreed, he is their starting thrid baseman and not much else to take over for those bastards..
I’d be curious what the plan is for Buster during Pablo’s absence. Is he capable of catching 4 of every 5 games after just a month into his comeback from a horrific injury? After Thursday, the Giants will have 20 straight games before their next day off, so we may find out. And on days he doesn’t catch, my guess is we’ll continue to see him at 1B since Bochy probably doesn’t want a Buster-less lineup with Pablo on the DL.
I have no idea where the “Buster at 1st on occasion” is coming from. Are the trainers driving that decision? Is it Buster asking for a break from behind the dish?? Or is it just Bochy wanting to get Hector in there on a somewhat regular basis???
Buster has played full back-to-back games catching and said he felt fine. 20 games without an off day, well, Buster won’t be the only one needing a day off here and there.
I think they have been going with Hector with Zito automatically…I think Buster has said publicly that he prefers to catch all the time….
A trade really needs to be made and since they have nothing to offer that they would actually give up, the obvious answer is to send a low level prospect to a crappy team and pick up a vet and a little salary. That’s why I think McGehee makes sense. Do any other garbage teams have anyone who fits that description?
Maybe Pujols, but it might be a bit more than “a little salary.”
I take Uribe in a heartbeat right now..with his contract. Kharma baby.
But I raised the Chris Dominquez idea last night…what does it hurt??? I have said for a couple of years now that Gillaspie is not a major leaguer…sorry, but cold hard fact. When he made that basd throw last night and Krukow says he does not have a strong arm, I asked myself, “what the fuck has been doing his whole mionor career at third then???”
Let’s give Dominquez a shot..at least he can catch the ball and throw the ball. It would be a good chance to give him a look…McGheeheehee or however you spell that is not exactly Brooks Robinson either…
Young players either have the attitude that they belong in the major leagues or they dont. Bryce Harper exudes and personifies confidence. Buster had it when he came up. Panda had it from the get go. Belt had it at the start of last year and then they fucked with his head. Crawford has the attitude, but he has lost confidence in his performance….Gillaspie exudes pantomime…
How about this lineup (not against tough lefties though)?
1) Blanco – CF
2) Arias – SS
3) Melky – RF
4) Posey – C
5) Pagan – LF
6) Belt/Pill – 1st
7) Dominguez/McGheeheeheehee – 3rd
8) Burriss – 2nd
Dominguez is a man who has played in teenie leagues. He’s now at AA- and he can’t hit. At this point, McGaga is a possibilty, if he’s free, or they’d take Crawford or Gillaspie.
Take my 3rd baseman. Please.
Didnt he play at Louisville in college?
also I know that the Eastern League is less hitter friendly, so he may be hitting better at AAA. I dont know if he will hit here at the big leagues, but I have mroe confidence in his glove and arm than Gillaspie and think he has more hitting potential than Gillaspie….
I would prefer a trade (moving Gillaspie) for McGehee if available. He is making 2.5 this year. So, if the Giants took on his salary…you would be looking at around 2 mil. Hey, a serviceable 3B until Pablo returns. Hell yes…do it if you can.
No way I see Dominguez as the answer…he is nowhere near ready for the bigs (if he ever will be).
Well, they’ve got Sanchez catching the lefties now, instead of just the Bubbles games. I can see why Bochy doesn’t want Buster out of the lineup two out of every five games, but just let Buster rest completely one of the days, and he can play 1st one out of five games.
Casey McGehee took a big step back for the Brewers in 2011 and found himself on the Pirates for that reason. After breaking out with 23 home runs and 104 RBI in 2010, he hit .294 over his first 22 games last season before the wheels came off. He batted just .210 the rest of the way and finished with 13 homers and 67 RBI in 546 at-bats. He was losing playing time in Milwaukee due to his lack of production . . . Fast forward to the Pirates, this is the kind of guy the Pirates buy outside their organization. Equally important, they have him learning a new position at 1st base.
Loo, please tell me why the Pirates would be interested in trading McGehee, when they traded a pretty good reliever, Jose Veras (who has wicked stuff, including a high 90s fastball), to get him? Sorry, I don’t see them dumping McGehee for what we would have to offer them. In fact, they would probably laugh at us and say, “Sheesh, why don’t you just offer us a bag of balls,” then hang up on Sabean.
He doesn’t play regularly, Blade, and they’d save a couple of million which is all the Pirates care about. Bringing McGehee home could revitalize him. He’s already got 2 great nicknames here and we didn’t even
get him yet.
Well, I’ll go with the one GH gave him earlier, McGeheeheehee.
As far as middle infielders, more specifically second basemen if Fruckie doesn’t return, they may have to give Noonan or Culberson a shot. Probably Culberson.
I think they’d stick with Theriot and Burriss before doing that. But, if one of the two, like you say, probably Culberson (he is already on the 40 man).
Noonan 7 errors in 25 games and Culberson 6 in 31 games…Arias had 6 himself while he was down there…my boy Brock Bond has 16 hits and 7 walks in just 16 games:) I realize that is a pipe dream, but what I can say, he was very nice guy when my son and I met him a couple of years ago. When we met Crawford, he had that aura of confidence I mentioned previously…we met Pill as well apparently becasue of his autograph, but I dont remember him…
I’m sure Brock is a nice boy. What happened to him last year? I presume you know, you’ve always been his biggest supporter.
But Culberson in particular is considered the far better prospect.
A couple more “where are they”
Thomas Neal- AA in the Indian organization 0 HR 6 RBI .260 BA, playing regularly
Marc Kroon-retired
Darren Ford- signed with Seattle, hasn’t played at any level this year
Chris Stewart-as we know, went to the Yanks. Hitting .238 with 4 RBI in 21 AB
Always popular Fred Lewis- signed by the Mets in April, hitting .240 in AAA
Henry Sosa- back in AAA in the Astro system. 2-0 5.12 ERA
Alex Hinshaw- in Padre organization 14 games at Tucson, 3.72 ERA 10 BB in 18 innings
Ryan Rohlinger -Cleveland org, .233 3 HR in AA
Enough for now. Brock played Chad Bradford in Moneyball, BTW. Below is Bond, not Bradford.
You left off our beloved Whiteside? Is he playing anywhere?
For Fresno. And not very well.
Zack Wheeler just went on the 7 day DL (fingernail) with AA Binghamton. 1-2, 1.75 era. 30 K’s 14 BBs.
Wish we still had Wheeler in our system…
Wish Beltran had a better August for us. (grin)
Pagan CF, Theriot 2B, Cabrera RF, Posey C, Pill LF, Arias 3B, Belt 1B, Crawford SS, (Vogelsong P)
-at least C-Gill isn’t at third base…..
Anybody out there still drinking the Pill kool-aid?
after last night Im drinking the play-him-at-third-base flavor of Pill KoolAid.
Remember the Kool Aid competitor called “Funny Face?”. There was a time when they seemed almost like equal competitors like Coke and Pepsi and then Kool Aid blew them off the map. My mom was one of those moms who would never buy shit like that or Tang or Wonder Bread. I’d be so envious of my friends who were always bringing Pop Tarts and HoHos to school while I had graham crackers and celery to snack on.
I was as skeptical as anyone, but there’s no reason for the negativity about a reserve hitiing .265 with a .340+ OBP and .780+ OPS. He may still show why he was considered a AAAA guy, a poor game or two doesn’t do that.
Though I’ve never tried it, I understand it’s got a pretty bad after taste
theriot hitting in the two hole has me shaking my head. Hell, it’s got me trying to shake ghead. and belt in the 8-hole. hmmm.
Belt is 7th. Against Kershaw that doesn’t surprise me. Obviously Bochy is trying to strike a balance between defense and offense.There’s no team he can put out there that will please everyone.
right, seven. I must have counted one of my fingers twice.
Comparing this team to the ’10 in regards to defense is bogus, IMO. The ’10 team didn’t make a lot of errors, but there was also limited range going on with some of the guys on that team on defense.
At least 3 of the errors last night were guys trying to throw to get an out that was never going to be gotten in the first place. The throws were clearly going to be late. They need to stop the “throwing the ball around” stuff. They have a great pitching staff. They need to trust it more.
Kinda funny that Belt gets a rare start against a lefty and its Kershaw.
I think Belt’s other start vs a lefty was against Cliff Lee. Read into that what you will……
Belt has never faced Lee.
I recall he had a start against a super tough lefty earlier this year. Who was that?
maybe I’m thinking of his start against Halladay (I know he’s right handed, but I remembered Belt getting a start against someone very tough)
I don’t know, I checked on Lee and he hasn’t faced him. I don’t know that he’s any starts against lefties this year. Maybe your’re thinking of the Cliff Lee/Cain game where he got a pinch hit and scored the winning run in the 11th-but not off Lee.
It’s a pretty tough assignment putting together a LU against Kershaw.Belt is 1-4 this year against LHers, .348 last year in 46 AB with a .900+ OPS.
I don’t have Hamilton on a single team but I’ve got Andrus on all 5 so I’ve noticed that Hamilton has hit a bomb in his first 3 at bats tonight (with Andrus aboard all three bombs).
I have Hamilton. That was actually his fourth AB. His third AB resulted only in a double. Slacker.
actually, he’s 4 for 4 so he must have gotten a hit other than a bomb in some other at bat. Still, they’re in the 7th, he could hit 4 tonight…….
SanDog, I have many questions…
1) Was there an appreciable difference between Ho-Ho’s and Yodels?
2) Would you agree that Yankee Doodles were nothing more than Devil Dogs in cupcake form?
3) Can that also be said about Sunny Doodles and Twinkies?
I don’t understand even 20% of this post
Had Hamilton last year. Things were looking promising until he fell apart. Having a good year so far this year.
Blade, saw your email. No thanks.
Dirt doesn’t fuck around with sugar coating his responses to trade offers that he summarily dismisses……
Hamilton’s up….
He did it!!!!!!!!
Josh just hit #4 for tonight. Wow.
If I were him, after a night like tonight. I’d go out and have a few drinks.
Amazingly, this feat received almost no reaction from the remaining crowd at Camden Yards….
and my main man Andrus was on base for all 4! That alone has to be a record for 4-bomb games. The same guy on base all 4 times?????????
think about the odds against a player hitting 4 home runs in a game and each time there is exactly one guy on base and it’s the same guy each time. Those are astronomical odds……
Was he in scoring position each time?
🙂
What are the odds that the guy on base all 4 times would also be only one of 2 players in MLB history with name “Elvis”?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/penael01.shtml
Hamilton has two more homers today than Giants have this month.
Maybe he will have 4 drinks then .Don’t rule it out, poor fucker.
He seemed remarkably composed in the dugout after the 4th. I know that has nothing to do with anything but it’s another example of Josh Hamilton just being a different type of dude. All hell breaks loose when he starts boozing, apparently……..
I thought Loo had the franchise on home run drought counts.
Now he has only one more.
No one seems to be bitching about how disappointing the Giants minor league system has turned out to be…Specifically for position players…Just a few years back guys like Villalona, Neal, Gillaspie,Noonan, Dominguez, Peguero,Adrianza and others were suppose to be the future of the organization…Everyone of those guys has turned out to be a major disapointment. Throw in disappointing starts by Brown and Panik and you have to wonder if Sandoval and Posey were outliers….I know I was a proponent of the drafting of position players, since your going to struggle attacting FA hitters to our park…Know I am not so sure.
don’t sweat Brown and Panik…Yet.
Hitting players in the draft is tough to do. There are just so many of them drafted in baseball.
I have a friend who’s daughter is dating a guy who starred at Paly over the last few years in baseball. He asked me this weekend where I thought the dude might get drafted. I thought he was clueless until I did some light googling on him and surprisingly he will probably get drafted (for this area that’s unusual). I’m guessing somewhere in the 30’s to 40’s.
What are the chances of his success? Not good if you come from Palo Alto, No one from PA ever makes it big in mlb. Tony Scruggs was the best player I’ve ever played against growing up and I think he had a cup of coffee at the show. Dave Farrell, one of my main men who tragically died unexpectedly, was drafted by the Indians in a random round but never made it. There’s a kid who’s in the Dodgers org (drafted like 11th round a couple of years ago) who will probably stall.
There are probably more but Palo Alto is probably not the city to come out of and ultimately make it at the mlb level…….
I was in the same leagues as Winn through age 16. Not in any way saying I was better at all but he wasn’t even close to being the most talented player in the area and he made it to the show. Baseball is funny like that I guess.
I’ve discussed all of them.
I’m disgusted with all of them.
But you’re always on the look out for worse.
Wouldn’t cost a thing to bring in Sean Burroughs for a look (DFA’ed last week by the Twins).
His best years were in the NL West…
He did have a decent year in 2003.
Glad you’re on board…
It would cost sending down a better player. But give him a look in Fresno? Sure.
No problemo Dirt. By the by, anyone know who has Josh on their flap team?
4HR, same guy/single game: only been done 15x since 1894. Two of those instances, the hitter’s team still lost. As far as the 2nd RBI being the same guy … need to call Spock for those odds.
Sounds like Carlos Beltran is trying to match Hamilton. Now, talk about the odds . . . .
I’m sure we would have signed him except that our GM knows that he can’t perform in the strategically important month of August, when each loss counts twice.
haha, good one
Funny but his non-performance did cost them a legit chance by the time September arrived.
No, the relatively lousy month by the pitching cost them their chance.
September, that is.
Wrongo.
Hey, how bout that Defense?!? I sense a G’s upset tonight. Improbable? Hell yes. A14K night from Kershaw is more likely but so depressing.
PILL!!! Holy crap.
The hell with patience at the plate…
THE “Pill BoxDelievers! !!! This guy needs to play more,he produces.
The Big Pill!
As I said yesterday, Kershaw has not been dominant this year. Nice start after last night’s embarrassing performance…….
Belt is standing too close to the plate when he addresses the ball vs Kershaw, IMO
Lemon or lime, Z?
If Vogelsong doesn’t allow Loney to score, will it be a quasi-shutdown inning?
I miss Uribe’s *jazz hands((!)* a little bit. But glad they didn’t show up there. He looks fat and disinterested—completely different dude. That gay-ass uni will do that to ya…….
Funny but true
How come when Kemp got a single I felt we got out lucky. I wonder how much he is going to cost the Dodgers to keep when he is a free agent?
Ahh ….Nothing like a taylor made double play ball to get you out of a jam.Amazing the D even have turned one.Oh by the way “Fuck the Dodgers”.
Taylor made?
Robert Taylor
Infield fly rule?
Mrs. James asked the same question and I excoriated her for her ignorance, Ted.
Well, if you excoriate me–please wear a condom.
And it could have been called by an ump. It wasn’t. So Arias shoulda booked
Her first name isn’t Jesse is it?
I told Mrs. James i was throwing you a softball, Ted. 🙂
Yah 😉
Jesse . . . I may have to ask her to change her name.
No Stupid Baseball on Arias part.Totally legal play and heads up thinking by the fucking dodgers.
You have to have multiple runners on consecutive bases (i.e. First and second) for that to apply.
Yes, you’re right. So is James. I am wrong. Typing. Drinking. Not thinking
Arias get ready to get yelled out for not running and a stiff fine in kangaroo court!
Manny — Kemp signed an 8-year deal this last offseason; $160M. He ain’t going anywhere soon….
After seeing that 2o1o vid I would put Uribe about 10 years older now then at that 2010 vid, if we’re just going off looks
That Pablo Chia head looks kinda like Moms Mabley.
Ouch
Thanks Snark, so far this year looks like they got a good deal, of course eight years is a long time.
It’s backloaded, too. If he stays healthy and hits anywhere like he’s been doing for the next 8 seasons, looks like a “steal” — if you can call an average salary of $20M/year that. Sure looks better than the Pujols contract…
@Loo: sorry to leave you hanging on the snack foods. i went to hit a small bucket and then did a spontaneous hike of Cowles Mountain where I saw roughly 43 women I would like to have sex with in the space of 75 minutes. its a good time to live in SD.
I think you’re coming at it with a strong east coast vibe….Im a west coast guy through and through and we’re all about Hostess products out here, with maybe some Zingers and the occasional Little Debbie snack mixed in.
its kind of like comparing Jay Z and Dr Dre to Tupac and Snoop Dog.
Flav can probably clean that metaphor up a bit for me.
Sandog ….Can we split the women up 21 1/2 each?
There’s something morbid in that request
Dre is from Compton
Big inning here for V. Get through the heart and …