Taming Those Dirrrrrrty Snakes
How quickly things can change in a year. The D-backs were rolling last year. They had tight starting pitching, a stud closer, hitters getting timely hits up and down the line up– I was so certain they would come back to the pack and they never did. Well, things haven’t been so easy this year–at least since we left town and gifted them a 3-0 record to start the season. Strangely, we are back in Arizona again, they don’t come to our yard until the end of May.
Let’s take a quick looksie at their gaps, shall we?
1) Last year Paul Goldschmidt looked like the second coming of Mike Schmidt. This year he’s been more like *GoldBelt*. Or *FoolsGold*. Take your pick. He’s only got a single bomb on the year, and while that bests our *good at bat* first baseman, he’s still coming up ant-small so far this year. Luckily, he doesn’t get to face Lincecum this series to fatten up that .611 OPS……..
2) JJ Putz has got some problems. And they are hard to identify. He’s got a 9.00 ERA in 10 innings and batters are hitting .333 off of him. Normally, I’d suspect a hidden injury from a guy who’s been injured as often as Putz in his career but he’s got 12k’s and no strikeouts. Still, he’s off and apparently imminently hittable these days……
3) Justin Upton is not competing for the NL MVP as so many predicted he would do this year. In fact, at .235 and a .679 OPS, he’s been horrendous. He had a couple of minor injuries so maybe he’s sludging through those, but he’s not someone to fear at the plate right now……
4) “Paging Trevor Bauer. Trevor Bauer to the white courtesy telephone….” Their starting pitching has been flat out bad this year. Ian Kennedy, so good last year, has been getting knocked around this year. Collmenter has already been replaced in the rotation due to general suckitude and the back end of that rotation is shaky at best. Two Winters ago I blogged about an unreal prospect that I had the pleasure of watching pitch at Sunken Diamond vs the Cardinal. This guy was 50% Lincecum, 50% Cain and 100% Nasty. Trevor Bauer was his name and I was devastated to see the D-backs draft him with the third pick in the 2011 draft. He will be up soon enough and while I’m happy to see the Giants and their rack of limp bats miss him in this series I am looking forward to seeing this guy pitch in the major leagues. He’s sickening……..
5) Ryan Roberts has sucked this year. Mr *Neck Tat* who came out of no where last year has been quite beatable this year. In fact, the corner spot OPS’ put up by Roberts and Goldy add up to an uninspiring 1.243. Not good from 2 spots that should be close to 1.600 combined….
6) On the plus side, Cody Ransom seems to be taking a nice cocktail of something. He’s twice the size as I remember him to be and he’s crushing the ball since he got called up a few weeks ago. Take a look at this guy this weekend and tell me he isn’t getting injected with something……
Hey, we are in a hitters park, right? So all these dead bats should start hitting, right? That’s what everyone is telling me so I am hopeful to see it happen this weekend………
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Hitters park…giddy up…time to score some runs and give the D-Backs some of the medicine they gave us on that trip to open the season.
The Giants have MadBum, Cain, and Zito going against the Snakes.
Vogey and Timmy line-up agains the Rox for two when they come home.
MadBum and Cain for the Redbirds.
Zito, Vogey, and Timmy against the A’s.
Would love to see them take the series in Zona, and then come home and rip-off a 5-2 homestand. A good friend of mine was saying he wants to see a 6-1 home…would love to see that, but wouldn’t hold my breath.
I returned to Colorado yesterday and got on a scale . . . Yikes! That’s what happens when your Mom makes sure you eat well 24/7. Ha. By the by, I couldn’t match Loo’s record, insofar as games attended and won, but I was above .500 . . . 2-1 (Snarkk’s bad mojo overwhelming my good mojo at the game we attended. 🙂 ).
Weatherproof games: Mets at Marlins, Cubs at Brewers, Giants at Diamondbacks.
The forecast for the Northeast is predominantly sunny and breezy, with temperatures ranging from 68-73 in Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Boston has a chance of a shower during the day. Mostly sunny skies and 74 degrees are on tap for both Chicago and Cincinnati. St. Louis should also see clear skies, with a high of 78. Thunderstorms may once again cause some baseball delays in Texas and possibly in Minnesota as well. Oakland will see some fog, and low clouds are expected to be present in Los Angeles.
Ya putz, the only bad mojo at that so-called game we attended was the maloZitomojo provided by the $126M man himself. 😉 Have a good Rocky Mtn summer….
Quite true. Amazing that we weren’t blown out in the game despite the high pitch count through less than 4 innings and all the walks (4) he gave up.
By the way, Upton is 7 for 10 off Bum. Of course, he’s a throw out for me in the BTS contest. I took Kemp and Pill today— subject to change. I probably switch my picks 5 times before it locks each day lol
Article by Pavovic in today’s Merc on Belt (and Bochy being aware of the call for more playing time).
Get ready for Bochy to spin his “Mystical Wheel of Matchups.” From the article:
“Asked about Belt’s playing time when the Giants face the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend, Bochy wasn’t ready to give an answer.
Belt won the first base job with a strong spring in Arizona and then started the first three games of the season at Chase Field. But the Giants are facing two left-handed starters this time around, and despite Belt’s .327 career average against left-handers and strong at-bats against Kershaw, Bochy said he will continue to mix and match.
Bochy likes the way the right-handed-hitting Pill has been swinging against left-handers and acknowledged that Posey will continue to get more time at first than the Giants anticipated.”
We all know it’s Bochy modus operandi…but doesn’t mean I won’t continue to be one of those many who clamor for more playing time for Belt.
The good is the bit about Pill…until he pukes all over himself in LF…I want to see him getting his share of starts.
Putting one in the drink (swimming pool) would be cool!
Chi…Pill has yet to make a error in LF.He has been more then capable out there IMO.
Just wish he played more along with Belt.
Sick of Bochy ‘s matchups BS .Pill makes things happen with his limited amount of of AB’s with a good OBA and POP they desperately need right now.
I know, Kat…I am a big proponent of getting Pill in there regularly…even at the expense of Pagan being in there. OF is another place where you will see a lot of mixing-and-matching. I want to see Blanco in there regularly, too (put that speed to use). Dude flat made shit happen in ST.
Cards slapped around saunders and kennedy; DBs (played softball for many years with a guy whose wife had a brother known as “douchebag”) are under .500 at home despite how the season started. If their pitching isn’t near as good as last year, particularly out of the pen, that would spell trouble for them. Let’s see how Mgr of the Year handles things from third place.
If our SPs can keep the ball in the yard this weekend, should be interesting. This is a yard I’ve come to hate lately.
Yeah…not exactly enamoured with this yard…but one thing they did right is put real grass in the damn thing. It reminds me of a REALLY LARGE aircraft hanger that someone decided to plop a ball yard into…
I get my hair cut (very reasonably and I always leave nice tip) in a place run by a Vietnamese lady and her husband, and have had the great fortune to meet two stylists that are huge basketball fans. We talked a lot about NBA playoffs–they like OKC and the Heat for the finals, Lebron. One of them, who is less confident about her english, knows all the players by number instead of name, and like me was raving to her friend who did not watch tuesday denver game about Javale McGee and his slams while embarrassing doofus Andrew Bynum.
I’ll give Barkley credit–he had Denver winning this series and got a ton of grief from his cohorts on the show (great theater, that, and good b-ball talk too) after they went down 3-1, but they are making Lakers strain and play way more than they want to while other teams are resting. I can’t believe this ends well for Kobe, who was the only guy to show up. He is surrounded by knuckleheads and lesser lights, and I’m sure doesn’t think highly of coach or GM that brought these guys in and dumped his buddy DFish, who meanwhile is doing great for Spurs (a team I think might have something to say about OKC getting to finals).
OKC won’t get by the Spurs and neither will the Heat.
fish is on OKC of course, and hitting his usual clutch 3s alongside J Harden. They are tough, with good D and rebounding from sefolosha and ibaka alongside all the scoring. SA has the “vet presence” and the best coach in the NBA, and good young players too. Nice to see memphis and clips at least relevant and playing well. Would be quite a coup if Clips were the only LA team to make it out of the first round.
No way!
Are the Kings in the playoffs? I heard they were getting a new arena, too…
The Kings are not only in the playoffs but they’re kicking ass and taking names–they’re actually my pick to win the Stanley this year.
Craig, just want to say thanks for your lead, leading into the AZ series. Being on the other side of the world from the real-time happenings there, I really appreciate the review, set up, and insight about a coming series. Stellar work.
de nada, Asian Paul
I agree – tremendous job, Flav.
Craig mentioned “Hey, we are in a hitters park, right?” And yesterday someone mentioned the ballpark stats that I had shared a few days back. Went to check them out this morn. Chase Field – 7th (7th in being “hitter friendly”).
What amazed me was that some of the “bandboxes” were actually down on the list:
Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati, Ohio) – 13th
Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) – 15th
Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas) – 20th
Our yard comes in 29th out of 30.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor
A little preview (courtesy of MLB.com):
“Since dropping his 2012 debut on April 7 to the D-backs, Bumgarner is 5-0 with a 1.54 ERA, 19 strikeouts and seven walks. The left-hander has gone at least seven innings in four of his last five outings, surrendering just one earned run in each those four starts.
Bumgarner is 3-1 with a 3.11 ERA in seven games (six starts) lifetime against the D-Backs. Arizona tagged him for four earned runs on seven hits over four innings on April 7.”
That is what I wrote about Cody Ransom last week….something is going on there…taking two seems to be very doable, especially with Bum and Cain…
Cody may look different, I haven’t seen him this year, but the power is not new. He’s off to his best start as a major leaguer, but there’s nothing to suggest he’ll maintain it. He’s a career scrubini.
What tells us they should start hitting is not “everybody”, it is the *facts* on how they have fared in some ballparks previously.That previous success is no guarantee of anything, but their history on the road is the best indicator we have. They scored 14 runs in the 3 game set in AZ previously. Of course, they had Pablo then, so there is a difference. So all that can be said is that they should hit better in selected ballparks based on their history this year, last year, and in 2010. Last year they actually had more success hitting in SD and LA- over 4 RPG in each vs, 33 against AZ in 9. Arizona IS pitching worse this year, so we can hope..
If you guys want Bochy to stop mixing and matching, go get a SS, a second baseman, a CFer, a RFer, and get Panda back…
Or just get a manager who hasn’t taken the team to a World Championship…
Excellent point, and I’m sure that former flavor of the day Bobby Valentine will be available soon.
Mike – I know the mixing and matching is going to happen. It is the nature of the beast (when, as you and others have pointed out) that the Giants have maybe three regular “everyday MLB ball players.” I don’t have a problem with that. But, I do want to see Belt get a majority of the starts at 1st (until he proves he doesn’t belong there), and also want to see Pill and Blanco get some regular action in the OF.
I am all good with Bochy and his Mystical Wheel of Line-ups…
Bobby V? I shudder to think…
It wouldn’t a bad idea to read the entire piece by Pavlovic, it focuses far more on Belt than Pill. Pill will get his share of starts, but I suspect that some are expecting that he’ll be a regular- not going to happen. They go against two lefties, so I’d think Pill will get a couple starts this weekend. Despite his fiddle farting around with Belt, Bochy and everyone else in the organization know he’s their blue chip hitting prospect- Pill is in a different category- a suspected AAAA player who will have to show they’re wrong-quickly. He’s not going to get multiple chances. Thus far he’s answered the
bell but like it or not, guys like Brett don’t have the luxury of slumps or slow starts.
Two predictions:
Huge weekend for Melky
Nate will be traded by July 31
At least the Diamondbacks let the guy they think is their best bet at 1B play consistently, which is kinda the way most teams figure out what they have. Given the assumptions that were made about Huff, Freddy, and Pagan, and the injury to Pablo, there’s an even stronger case for taking that “risk.” Belt might still have zero HRs or 3 or 4, if he had another 50 PAs. The Giants record would be no worse for having found out.
In general, I’m highly skeptical the Giants record is better than it might otherwise be because of the line up volatility. The win NOW strategy (which is really the same thing as “mix and match”) is a zero sum delusion that eventually needs to be replaced with a stronger commitment to players you’re willing to believe give the team a collective edge over the entire season.
Well said. Bochy is way overmanaging, even for him. Go with the best players you have, or project to be the best and let em play. Everybody else has a role, let em know what it is, and when it is. This everyday matchup mixup is doing nothing but getting every player’s head on a swivel, and turned the defense into a sieve. Belt has no matchup history worth anything against anybody since he’s just a pup, same with career minor leaguer Pill. And with Huff basically playing some kind of expensive cheerleader role now, it seems, his “matchup” history is meaningless…
It’s not a *theory* that either of you can support. And I defy either of you to name the 8 best players and find any consensus support. Most people agree on maybe 4 , but the other 4 are “pick a straw”, which is all you’re really saying…as far as Huff, they weren’t going to release the guy fresh off the DL after he’d come forward with his problem. He deseves some time ( not a lot) to see if his problems were affecting his play. This IS a guy with a track record of major production. I suspect he will get LF starts along with Pill, with Pill also getting some 1B starts. There is a caveat with Huff- he could still be having issues and they could 60-Day DL him… but bottom line- there will be different line ups depending on the match ups, the way a Pill, Burriss, or Blanco can change that is to excel often enough to force the issue. Nate the Not So Great should be an object lesson, if there haven’t been dozens already- throwing a modestly talented player out there every day does not make him or the team better. I spent an entire afternoon defending Pill, so I’m liking the guy- but it never dawns on some that he’s having success because of the way Bochy is using him. BowWow can be another lesson in that vein, he got over exposed.
No manager can get a position player to outperform his talent and skill level over time by playing him selectively based on “what have you done for me lately.” That is just guess work, and it evens out over time. Yes, Nate is an object lesson.
Consensus support from whom? If Bochy thinks that a consistent starting role for Huff is going to make the team better, he should define it and stick with it until he’s truly convinced that Huff won’t perform over the long haul.
Who said Huff should sttart consistently? He should share LF with Pill. Anyway, I’m not going to argue Bochy’s strategy with you anymore, the reality is that is he’s going to go with match ups and there is no way it can be shown he’s wrong to do it. And it’s simply not true that players can’t benefit by having their playing time selectively chosen. I’m astounded that James, of all people, dismisses splits. But anyway, why doesn’t everyone list their regular 8, since the experts here say it must be? Absolutely zero platooning allowed.
Here are mine, with Panda back and a couple of liberties:
Andres Torres CF
Joachin Arias SS
Melky Cabrera LF
Panda 3B
Posey C
Belt 1B
Kieschnick RF
Culberson 2B
Bench is Hector, Burriss, Pill, Blanco, Theriot
How many in a row have the Giants lost to the Snakes? I’ve lost count. That has to stop this weekend, preferably tonight behind MadBum. We won’t have Pablo, of course, but the D-Backs are without Chris Young, who had a very good start to the season, including 2 doubles, 1 HR and 4 RBI vs. the Giants, before getting hurt.
Don’t know if this is old news or not, from Comcast
The Giants summoned right-handed pitcher Shane Loux from Triple-A Fresno to join the big league squad in Arizona for their upcoming series with the Diamondbacks, according to a source close to the situation.
Saw that last night on CSNBA…he has been lights-out in Fresneck this year. When we were kicking around names last week (might have been in conjunction with the Mota news)…he is a guy I mentioned as a possibility.
A journeyman whose ML numbers are not that great.
Also mentioned last night on CSNBA…Vogelsong got a shot in his back for soreness.
Loux is 32, a career minor leaguer, with a few cups of coffee in the bigs. Career WHIP of 1.42+. Has appeared in 39 MLB games, with an MLB WHIP of 1.62+. He’s been good in Fresno this year, but his entire history suggests don’t expect miracles. On Vogelsong, don’t worry about that injection. Only “maintenance”….
I’ll guess we’re presuming it’s a cortisone injection. Not sure what else it could be unless the wife complained of his sex drive… anyway, unfortunately cortisone injections are commonly used by sports doctors. It may or may not indicate a serious problem. The team says he won’t miss a start but others think it could be major and the team is hiding it. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Why would anyone expect miracles from Loux? Unless they ARE lying about Vogelsong, Loux is only up to help in long relief. If he can get out of an inning without a throwing error and just 2 runs or less, he’s gold.
By journeyman, I meant that he has been around…yep, I know he has not had many chances in the bigs…and when he did, the numbers were, well…not very good.
But he is going so well at Fresno…what the hell, he deserves a chance to see if he can add any value.
Remember Vogelsong didn’t exactly have a stellar career before getting his chance with the Giants.
Chi, I wasn’t arguing with anything in your post. Snarkk had said to not expect miracles, I can’t imagine why anyone would or even suggested they would. Our current long relievers have set a pretty low bar.
They obviously need some decent long relief. Mota’s value ( forget 10 frigging innings this year, he’s been a rock for us) has been conclusively proven since he was suspended…
In a non-sports anecdote, let’s say your brother sees the doctor for a stomach ache and the doctor informs him that it could be cancer. “OMG!” your brother excaims, “that’s what the tests show??!!”
“Tests? We haven’t done any tests yet”
“So it could be just indigestion?”
“Yep”
regarding the mixing and matching, i’d just like to see that when someone does well, provides a critical hit, ala pill’s homer, or belt’s double, that they don’t sit the next game. it seems almost automatic right now and to me it’s a real head scratcher. If someone is providing critical hits, on a team that is DESPERATE for them, ride that bad boy! Nate in NY. great couple of games. so they trotted him out there until it stopped (which wasn’t all that much longer :).
On a separate note, i was at the very first game of what was then called “The Bob” when they opened against the g’s. had seats way up, almost to the top, behind the plate. Lord is that stair steep!! it’s almost like a ladder. going up with 4 beers (no, not ALL for me!) was tough. but going down AFTER the four beers was down right scary. lose your balance and you’re looking at a long fall to the lower deck. I believe it was a g victory and someone hit one into the pool.
Thing is, cortisone doesn’t cure anything, it reduces inflammation, but it doesn’t treat the reason for the swelling in the first place. So, if there is a problem, Vogey will likely need downtime/surgery after the season. Or before.
Just because he (Vogelsong) is experiencing inflamation, doesn’t mean that he isn’t structurally/muscularly sound. I trust the Giants staff to know what the hell they’re doing. They said it was not a set-back, and he won’t miss his next turn. I doubt it results in surgery…time will tell.
I have herniated discs in my neck. Over about a 6 year period, I have had to go in for epidural steroid injections. It takes care of the inflamation…no surgery required (been good for 3 years since my last injection).
It’s true about what cortisone does, what Chi says is also true. What he got and what I’ve been taking for over two years off and on ( for brain swelling)_ are much heavier duty stuff than what’s used for injuries like Ryan’s. Treating the inflammation could very well be all that’s required to fix him up- inflammation is common well after the original injury and does not necessarily indicate any complication or reinjury.
Chi, its cool that the injections work for you.
But, when’s the last time you pitched in an MLB game?…
Although the team medical staff has made errors ( like all team doctors and all doctors period) I’m interested in Snarkk’s expertise in thios field. To paraphrase Mr. Snarkk himself , ” When’s the last time you performed a surgical procedure?”
To be clear before someone distorts my position. it is certainly possible that Ryan’s back is troublesome enough to cause him to miss a start. That doesn’t mean anyone is lying or that his injury is any different than reported. BTW, “maintenance” in this case, is accurate. Swelling after an injury or surgiucal procedure is rarely treatable in one try. He had an injection after the injury, a follow up or “maintenence” injection would not be unusual at all.
He injured his back lifting weights. Lifting weights often cause a disk issue. Giants never really said what was injured…
Yes…could be. And could be a herniated disk (no rupture or leak). Point being…just because he is getting injections, I don’t think you can make a definitive statement that he’ll probably need surgery (pitching at the ML level, or not).
Hank Shulman reported it as a “back sprain” back on February 20th. I don’t remember anything subsequent saying it was more than a strain. Again…the point I was making was that just because he gets an injection, does not necessarily translate to him needing surgery.
It was said to be a strained back. There’s no reason other than idle conjecture to suggest he suffered a disk injury.He did receive an MRI, which along with the examination,should reveal a disk injury.
Not Giants related but interesting baseball story here
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/kim-ng-general-manager-aspirations-vp-baseball-operations-051012
Glad that’s working for you, Chi. Neck pain is a real pain in the, well, you know. . . .
I’ve have varying problems with my neck since I nearly broke it skiing 15 yers ago. I had them MRI my neck when they did my shoulder, and my ortho surgeon said that all the nerve openings in my neck were closing up. No compression fractures, but spaces between the vertebrae kinda squished together. Hence, stingers and varying degrees of neck pain all the time. Turn my head ‘wrong’ and it’ll result in 3 weeks of pain.
Luckily this is kiept at bay by seeing a chiropractor.
Chuck, have you tried acupuncture? As a result of rehabbing my shoulder and arm, an imbalance was caused – my PT says because I was unconsciously favoring it – where I had chronic neck pain and “clicking” (nitrogen being released from the tendons) for approx. 1 year whenever I turned my neck to the left. This was resolved 100% after 2 sessions with an acupuncturist at Kaiser Medical Center. You might try it. My GP and PT said to exhaust rehab, massage, and acupuncture, before even considering a chiropractor. No judgement on chiropractors, but my GP was fairly adamant about trying other things first. Glad you are having some success with it.
Does Kaiser have massage therapiist? I have been having lower back pain and Sacroilliac joint pain and Sciatic nerve issues. I have had a Sacroiliac injection and have done the acupuncture. I would really like to find a good sports medicine massage therapist.
Kaiser Colorado* does Kevin . . . Acupuncture, massage, and Chiropractor services all come under the heading, “Alternative Treatment.” I can get a one hour massage (no blow job included 🙂 ) for $50. Acupuncture one hour session is $60, but the initial treatment is $90 because they want you to fill out a long questionnaire regarding your medical history and current issues/problems with your health, consequently, it’s a longer session. No idea how much a chiropractor is.
*Kaiser California is technically a different organization than the one in Colorado, although they are one company.
Yeah, I am a regular with a chriopractor, too. I started experiencing numbness/soreness. Went the whole chiro route, physical therapy, nerve conductivity tests, etc., and finally, via MRI found out about the herniated discs (not ruptured…no leakage). And luckily, I am getting good results with the injections (for some they do not last this long…again…three years since my last).
Lower backs are usually more problematic, as there is more stress on those vertibrae.
Welcome to Big Flavor’s Infirmary…
I read that De Rosa re-tweaked his ab muscle strain while high-fiving Bryce Harper. True story.
At least it wasn’t due to him hugging his kid or slicing frozen burgers…
Pagan CF, Arias 3B, Cabrera RF, Posey 1B, Pill LF, Sanchez C, Burriss 2B, Crawford SS, (Bumgarner P)
Torres just pulled a Pagan on what is probably ruled a Reyes triple.
8 more and he’ll be even.
Only 8?
It surprises me that no one has done any positive updates on Andres ( except, surprisingly, Loo). Regardless of last year, he seemed to be one of the more popular Giants in a long while, deservedly so. Since he got off the DL, he’s off to a great start.
Since he’s been injured most of the season, I haven’t really seen much of Torres. But in the interest of fair and balanced reporting, I’ll post an update if I see him do something good. The play tonight was so Pagan-like it was shocking, and as I told a Mets fan I don’t ever remember seeing Torres make one like that with the Giants. Just a reminder, like you I was one of the very few against the trade.
For me, I don’t usually think about former players too much unless they’re playing the Giants on their new team. I knew he went on the DL but I hadn’t heard he came off. So he kind of slipped my mind. But I’m glad he’s doing well
Baggs says Theriot is on the DL, has some “right elbow inflammation.”
Mac, any word on who is going to take his spot?
“The Giants purchased Loux’s contract. Ryan Theriot has some right elbow inflammation. Giants back at 12 pitchers. No 40-man move needed for Loux because Mota’s suspension created a vacancy.”
TY
Theriot’s elbow got really inflamed right after he almost threw away that double play relay in the Kershaw game, where Belt saved his ass and the game with a great pick. Bochy may have inflamed it for him. The Giants have the DL injury / need another arm exchange and dosey doe dance down cold…
Is it ever even a consideration that an injury might have something to do with subpar play?
Yes. That’s what I said when wilson’s velocity dipped dramatically and he barely held on for the save in Col.
So you don’t think the injury was a ruse?
Well, here’s what I said.
“twinfan1 said, on April 12, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Well, he gutted this one out because he’s one of the best competitors in the game, but he’s not going to survive on Timmy-level fastballs.”
The “ruse” was the sprained ankle. And regarding Voggy, all I said in my post last night was “this could be a big deal” (something like that I’m on my ph headed home now and can’t check). I absolutely think hidden injuries (and I don’t mean the team is hiding them, just that the player is injured, or compensating for an injury) can be reasons for bad play. I don’t think it excuses a year or more of bad play– maybe a few weeks. Obviously, it depends on what the injury is.
Voggy has a back issue and there is zero way to predict how those pan out. Let’s just hope the cortisone shot worked
It’s true that you suspected a ruse on the ankle right away, it’s not true that everyone was on top of it. In fact, no one had a clue the day after, and many didn’t even think he was injured. Chuck thought he hurt his hip. It’s also not true that I didn’t know there was something wrong with his arm. Besides the post on the day of the injury, there are probably a few dozen going back through 2011. He was hurting long before the “final straw” on April 12.
My final word on this subject- I’m fine with believing what a player or coach or doctor says rather than mistrusting everything. That is not directed at you but to whoever the shoe fits.
I can live with that, just don’t diminish a blogger who questions something that the team says about a player.
Twin I posted about andres helping SF out by having two good games in a row vs. DBs back in NY. I think that was when he first came off the DL; also that the kid we saw in CF with the long name was moved over to the corner spots….I hope his health holds up and he doesn’t run out of gas or have more leg problems.
Instant dividends on the “hitters park” weekend!
I missed it, glad to hear it. Despite the criticism I got for saying it, I will always consider him a great Giant, his impact was so great, even if it was too brief.
I don’t remember it quite that way. I remember it as you saying that all Giants fans should consider him a great Giant. And then it all morphed into a long debate over what constitutes a “great Giant.”
Melky!!! No.2
Beltran hit another homerun. Is there anything more annoying in MLB for Giants fans than Beltran hitting homeruns for St. Louis?
I said loud and long I’d have re-signed him; to me he proved he could put up .900 OPS here, and Sf doesn’t have anyone beside Sando that can do that right now. Attitude and sub par defense? could easily be. could also be he wasn’t that interested in coming back in the first place. STL is a lot warmer and hitter friendly I guess.
Honestly makes absolutely no difference to me what Beltran does. What might piss me off is if Wheeler goes on to become a star.
If Beltran had led the Giants into the playoffs, then it would all seem different.
I’d thank him and wish him the best. Losing a guy like Pablo to another team would be tough, but not a guy who was here for 2 stinking months.
Angel Pagan pisses me off to no end. Just watching him play irks the shit outta me. I wish he wasn’t on my team. He just rubs me the wrong way in a BIG way. I’d like to beat him over his head with those sunglasses he wears atop his cap on a sunny day. It makes no sense. Much like my rant.
Carry on and Go Giants.
I was coming in from the other room, but didn’t I see him do a Torres and make a fine catch?
It was a fairly routine play that he made harder than it looked…He did a dramatic jump at the end, as if he was going to run into the wall which was a good five yards behind him.
Yeah, like he’s supposed to know where the wall is – gimme a break…
Touch a nerve there Loo?
You’re kidding, right, Loo? He *is* supposed to know where the wall is.
I think it would be cool for Ryan Roberts to get a big ass L tattoo on his forehead.
One of the funniest sitcom episodes from “Married with Children” was when Al and his neighbor Steve were trying to put together a workbench. Steve reading from the directions…”take the ‘L’ shaped pieces and attach them to…Al replies, “all we have are these ‘7’s.” 😀
Great show.
Wasn’t he once known as Ryal Roberts? was that pre-tattoo?
That when he was doing gay porn..
I have a question – bases loaded, one out and a delay is called – if the game is postponed, do they start the new game with the same aforementioned situation or do they start the entire game over?
I would think they resume the game with the base loaded Blade when it is resumed.But the Oracle will give us the proper scenario.
Thanks Kat . . . Moot point, i.e., they just re-started the game. I was hoping that they would cancel it and I wouldn’t be stuck with the gazillion ERA and WHIP that Wilson (LAA) got tattooed with by Texas. Wilson is on my Flap Fantasy League team. 🙂
Hill showed tremendous power with that pop up. And Montero, will be sucking his thumb while goo gooing all the way home after that blast back to the mound.
Anyone else here think Posey might be dragging a bit? His numbers are trending down, but “fuck the numbers” aside, he just looks pooped.
And it was Flav who was the first to mention that the lack of ST seasoning a la Mauer ? would be to our, and more importantly, Buster’s detriment.
I see Craw is back to not catching the ball again. But damn, that hair looks good…
The scouts right…Posey does look tired….Really surprised at how much he’s played so far this year.
Posey looks tired which is understandable since he didn’t play for almost a year and only sparingly in ST. But he didn’t fall victim to Mauer’s syndrome. Bochy is resting Posey as much as he can at first base. Frankly, until Panda comes back, it’s probably the right call…….
As I mentioned below, they shouldn’t be putting Posey at first and calling that an “off day”.
Crawford’s gotta go…It’s all mental at this point.
yeah, this is getting ugly. I play a Friday evening *HORSE* game with neighbor buddies at least once a month. The kids rip-stik around, we have a few beers, talk shit and play *HORSE*. But the rules are, you HAVE to bounce the ball off something before you take your shot. As you can imagine, the *bounce offs* have gotten pretty crazy. The hardest part of the shot is the first throw of the ball off something. We are aiming shit from 30 yards away and calling the next bounce off a nearby tree before we actually shoot the ball. It’s a fucking blast of a game. Anyway, I am quite good at the first part—I am hitting the side of a tree, I’m bouncing it off the corner of the house 50 feetaway , crazy shit……
But I have a mental block with a standing lay up. I’m talking about throwing the PERFECT impossible throw to start the shot where I am then standing next to the hoop and taking a 2 foot shot. It’s not like I’m missing all of them but maybe half of them. And when we aren’t playing this game I can hit 20+ in a row easily as you would expect. It’s just…this….fucking……game……
Anyway, I thought of my monthly *HORSE* game when I was watching Crawford biscuit all these ground balls……
When you’re not confident, the ball has a way of finding you…
Buster should not be playing first base, besides the fact that he’s playing more than he should, he’s a lousy first baseman.
Agreed…I would prefer they just sit Posey once in a while and let Belt play first…It’s almost as if their using his games at first as “off days.”
Perhaps Roberts could just get a sweater with an L sewed on it, like Penny Marshall in Laverne and Shirley.
If Bochy is going to give Buster a night off from behind the plate, then sit his ass on the bench and let Belt play first. Playing 1B is not a “day off.”
Discussing Orioles 2B Brian Roberts, a friend alerted me that the O’s have worked out Miguel Tejada for infield depth at 2B and 3B. You have been warned…
Ed–Got your email with photo–loved it. And can you imagine what it’s like to stand there serving the President his lunch. If that guy works all those White House luncheons would he ever have the sack to ask him to sign his Giant’s hat? I’m sure it’s disallowed in some form they make you sign during the vetting process but if I’m that dude, on my last day on the job, I ask him to sign my hat—and I bet he’d do it. Romney would probably turn me in……
Either that or get the Vice President and another aid to tackle you and cut your hair off.
Here’s the White House photo I sent to Flav from Obama’s visit to Cartagena. Note the server’s hat on the right: http://media.talkingpointsmemo.com/slideshow/obama-white-house-april-2012/1-265536
Yeah we heard that Ed..,.I was saying the Orioles would be better off bringing EdgarRenteria in over Miggy.
O/U July 4 when Burriss gets his first XBH of the year?
The only truly set in stone for now in the Bochy revolving matchups is Hector will ketch the lefties Bum and Zits.
Now Burriss is playing SS better than Crawford.
Damn fine play by Burriss!!!
It was just a matter of time. That’s on Bochy. Pill should not be playing LF.
He made Pagan look like Willie Mays on his route to the ball.
S(c)H(m)I (d)T!
It’s on Bochy? Not if anyone expects Pill to play at all.
Bochy wrote out the lineup card. The buck has to stop somewhere.
Throw Huff out in LF. I’m sick and tired of all this L/R, R/L bullshit.
Fuck me a running, damn Goldschmidt again.
What was wrong with Pill’s route? Looked like a perfect 66 to me..
while I had been hoping he’d been improving as a LF with all his *reps* that biscuit play by Pill is why he can’t play LF. With Goldy’s bomb that’s 3 runs scored this inning that shouldn’t have. And Pill just doesn’t produce that many runs a game to justify him in LF. And as I’ve said, the defensive fuck ups by him are coming. Based off that stagger-run to the ball, there will be more of these……
Now if you’re Roberts, you just gotta be thinking “Damn man, I can’t even get the ball over Pill’s head”.
I’m thinking the game ends 6-4 Giants with Roberts making the final out.
Giants defense is absolutely gawd awful. I can’t remember a Giants team this bad with the glove, even going back into the ’70s. Pill botched a very catchable ball. Crawford is now making an error a game at least, whether it’s called an error or not. Obviously that Pill screwup PO’d Bum, he lost concentration and boom, there goes the HR. If they can’t turn this around by the end of the next home stand, some radical changes have to be made. You can’t be giving away an extra 3 or 4 outs every dam game…
Bum bears the responsiblity for losing his concentration and giving up the HR. And Pill has produced enough to warrant playing LF. When they take care of the biggest defensive liabilities ( Pagan, Crawford, Posey at 1B), maybe Pill can be discussed. He made a mikstake- a big one- but the defensive problems are on about a half dozen other guys more than Pill. IMHFO.
classic Twin. Are you fucking kidding me? You’re putting this on our 22 year old pitcher who had to deal with 2 brain dead moves by Crawford, an ump who has been fucking with him all night and a play by Pill which can only be described as *absurd*. And you’re heaping all the responsibility on Bum? What a fucking joke. Seriously, you are losing tons of credibility if you are putting that bomb on Bumgarner and not acknowledging the bullshit that occurred before that might have led to his lack of concentration on that pitch to Gold-Belt. Timmy, as I said the other day, was an ignoramous for losing concentration on that pitch to Gwynn. But fucking Bumgarner had multiple reasons to blow that pitch to Gold-Belt. Of course, you don’t get it but that’s a given at this point……
PH for the Hick here? Nah. On second thought, with our depleted pen and this generous park…
I let Bum get another inning…
Maybe it is Kieschnick time?
Just 4 errors in 308 Minor League games…If I recall he has a pretty strong arm as well.
I’ve always liked Roger- think Nate with real power
“A lefty-hitting corner outfielder, Giant prospect Roger Kieschnick is a potential five-tool talent with both power and speed potential, and it’s not at all surprising that he shares his nickname (‘Hawk’) with Hall of Famer Andre Dawson. In the field he’s a giant with deceptive speed, a highlight-reel daredevil without any detectable fear of walls or other barriers. He’s got above-average range which should improve as he polishes his routes and jumps, and an arm that has moments of true cannon-power”
Sounds like a bad beer commercial that never made the airwaves…
So lets have the alternative lineup sans Posey against LH pitching.
Blanco Pagan Cabrera Belt Hector Arias Burris Craw?
With the exception of Crawford, I think that is the best option for days in which you sit Posey…Burriss possibly moving to SS, with a callup of Culberson at second could be an option too?
I’d be fine with Belt playing first against lefties. Hell, play him every game. I don’t share the same optimism as all the rest about him but he’s at least got some upside……
Who’s this fucking Meathead who just went deep?
Mike Stivic?
I haven’t got over the fact that he and LaVerne DeFazio got divorced.
Get ready for more Nate…
That’s going to solve all of our problems…
😦
G’night folks. This one’s done. I’m sorry, but this team is dog meat now that Panda is gone. Crawford has to go to Fresno. No way he can stay. If you can’t field AND can’t hit, what’s the point? They better get it together else they may they find themselves 10+ games back when Panda returns….
Just 10?
Hope this series isn’t like the Miami one ie; slumping team wakes up.
Vungo goes 0-3 in loss to Marlins, but draws two walks and sees 25 pitches. Now at .308/.426/.462…
But does he wear his sunglasses atop his cap on a bright sunny day?
You can’t put a price tag or any other number on that.
With just two reliable postion players (sorry Angel) you have to come to terms that it might get worse before it gets better.
because of Pagan’s shoddy play in CF you simply can’t play Pill in LF. The outfield HAS to be Pagan in left, Blanco in CF and Melky in RF—at least until Blanco proves he can’t roll at this level……
Is it just me, “watching” the game on Gameview, or do the Giants’ half innings at bat go quickly…. Giants coming up, I go down to refresh my cup of coffee, come back upstairs, and their half inning is over already. A Mad Bum unfocused moment, some bad defense, sure.. but 3 hits and only Melky’s bomb to show for the offense… just like in LA, the team was one Pill swing away from being swept… it’s like a very very bad broken record at this point. Really didn’t think that would be this team’s problem this season, even without Pablo for a month.
they are all a group of impotent bats since Pablo went down, as I indicated. It has nothing to do the park, as we are seeing tonight. Someone has to step up. No one is going to regardless of the fucking park, as some have suggested…..
If memory serves, Pablo really hits well at Chase Field. We miss the big guy.
It’s not just you Paul…I have taken leaks that lasted longer than the Giants half inning…No really, I am not kidding.
Bryce Harper needed 10 stitches above his left eye after slamming his bat up against a wall and having it bounce back and hit him in the head. Harper took his frustrations out on the wall after going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts on Friday night.
It’s a wonder Cole Hamels drilled this prick? I’d plunk his sister sitting in the third row behind the dugout for good measure.
that’s fucking hilarious and another testament to what an idiot this guy is. Of course, not everyone *gets* it yet…..
And Beltran hit his second homerun of the game. Blimey!
Over/Under on Josh Hamilton passing the Giants HR total?
2 More “Bombs” tonight thru 5 gives him 17 HR”s Giants struggling at 22.
lol
6 other teams at 22 or less also, BTW.
I guess those first 8 games of the season spoiled me when they scored 4+ runs in each of those games. In April, they scored 4 or more twice as often as not. In May so far, well under 4 runs twice as often as 4 or over. Something was clicking and now is not (Pablo’s absence obviously is huge but cannot be excused as the only factor). Many of us here keep saying this: someone has got to step up, and when they do, they should play, and the mix and match will continue until someone does (and likely will continue anyway to some degree). The hangover that was 2011 is very tiresome in 2012.
Are AL pitchers just stupid? When are they going to start walking Josh Hamilton?
Shaddup! My fellow alcoholic is keeping the Pussies atop the Flap Fantasy Standings. I told ya about Adam “I’m not” Dunn being the CBPOY. But now my P has taken a turn for the worse. I need to remain quiet. Every time I start to boast and brag about the Pussies, they dry up.
‘Tis better to remain silent and be thought the fool then to speak and remove all doubt.
Would TF kindly remind me how we’re going to score 700+ runs this year?
By my calculations we’re on schedule to tally ~ 577. Just a shade over last year.
3.56. I’m gonna box those three numbers a week from Saturday in the Preakness.
We? You are not a part of any “we”. You wagered and rooted against the success of the Niner QB and have awarded the division to the Dodgers. Move along, trolliot.
Me wager against the 49ers, who have sent me to jail twice and the hospital thrice?
I’ve sold my soul many a times over to the Devil in hopes of a win for my 49ers.
Have Zeke go bark up another tree. Not even close here…
Being untruthful about your wagering habits will do you no good. You have betrayed the teams that you might have loved once upon a time..
They do seem to need some changes. Some are obvious- Buster stays behind the plate, Belt plays every day, Melky plays everyday. Culberson takes over second, Arias third…until Panda gets back, they make do with Burriss at SS. Huff and Pill share LF, Blanco CF. They cannot do better than that with the position players available here and in Fresno, IMO. There are no players ready in A or AA…Kieschnick available if/when Huff, Blanco, or Pill fails. And hell, m
make GHead happy. Waive Gillaspie and give the big galoot Dominguez a call.Before they saw him hit he was likened to Richie Sexson.I’m not sure if it was a compliment..
There’s a lot to like there, with the first priority being sending Crawford back to AAA. He needs to work on his game more. Belt’s already proven he can dominate AAA and needs to get a chance to play regularly at the major league level.
Agree, I would go with all of those changes and see what happens. Also agree that they cannot do any better than that with what they’ve got, but it’s got to be better than what they’re doing now.
“Culberson at second, Arias at third, Huff and Pill share LF and make do with Burriss at SS?”
Where’s Allen Funt? I must be on “Candid Camera.” Because this is a FUCKING JOKE.
The famous old Chinese book “The Art of War” has a lot of good insight in it. And one of the principles in the book is “You have to fight the battle you are in, and not the battle you WISH you were in.” The Giants are going to have to try to find something with the pieces they have at the moment.
I really did want them to sign Beltran. I know, I know, Baer/Sabean, it was money and years. But the guy hits waking up out of bed. Obviously not much for small talk with teammates, imperious in the field, and inflexible laterally. But he can hit. And probably will hit well for another 4-5 years even after his knees give out.
I’ve said it before-I’ll say it again.
I think blade said it best when he said—pfffft
For extra emphasis, add another “f.”