Tim Lincecum Needs to Get His Head Out of His Ass
I love Tim Lincecum. He was *The New Beginning*, the little guy who put the team on his back and carried them out of the Bonds Era all the way to a World Series title. This image of him celebrating on the shoulders of his teammates is burned into my soul……
And for those reasons along with his 2 Cy Young trophies, I’ve cut him some slack when he has a bad start or two. But you earn slack with consistent performances. Bank it, and use it down the road some day if you need it. This season, he has been consistently horrible. The Giants are 2-7 in his starts this year and everyone is boo hooing about the Dodgers being 7 games in front. But if the Giants were 7-2 in his starts, a perfectly reasonable expectation given who he is, we would be right there and no one would be worrying about the Dodgers fast start.
So despite the injuries to Pablo and Wilson, and the fact that the Giants have gotten nothing out of Huff and Belt (two guys who were counted on by some to produce this year) the MAIN reason that the Giants aren’t close to being tied for first place in the NL West is because of one man: Tim Lincecum.
I don’t think it’s lack of effort. And despite his velocity drop I don’t think there is a hidden injury that’s looming. Some theories have focused on it being mental and I think there’s probably some validity to that. He’ll be sailing along and then always seems to hit an inning where he can’t throw a strike. And no major league pitcher, much less a 2 time CY pitcher in the prime of his career, should EVER get knocked out in the 4th inning against an A’s line up featuring mostly triple A players. He should be embarrassed by yesterday’s *performance*.
I still feel like he’s getting too cute with his slider and change up. He seems to be throwing them more often, especially early in the count, and the 2nd time through the line up the hitters are on to it and they let those pitches sail harmlessly by for balls. By the time he starts throwing the fastball again he’s down 2-0 or 3-1 and then they’re hitting it. And if you’ve walked a few guys that’s usually going to result in an output of runs. And when you’re ERA is over 6 after 9 starts that’s not bad luck. That’s *you*.
I also think it’s possible that he’s having trouble throwing his off speed stuff from the stretch…….
I’m assuming his dad has been a big part of the solution-finding process. Obviously no one knows what the problem is since he’s had 9 starts and I would argue that only 2 of them have been passable (at least from the standpoint of how we grade Tim Lincecum vs how we grade Barry Zito).
Regardless, the free passes are over for Timmy. At least from me. I am now dreading his starts the same way I dreaded Zito’s starts pre-2012. And while *ABZ* has been temporarily retired from my vocabulary, I am chanting *ABT* for every single one of Timmy’s starts until he gets his head out of his ass and starts pitching AT LEAST as good as Barry Zito. Good God, what has happened here?
The guy in the World Series image above is dead to me right now. Here’s the new guy: >>>>>
And I don’t like this guy………
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Lincecum has just one quality start to his name through nine outings with a 6.04 ERA. Not exactly the Timmy we all know and love. I find this hard to believe, but I have seen a couple of baseball sites that indicate his hyperextended thumb (glove hand) may keep him on the bench for his next start. Anyone else confirm this is true?
Unrelated to baseball, I give big props to Twin for helping me perform “surgery” on my PC’s abdomen. Ha. The PC was overheating per the software temperature program I had installed and was shutting off numerous times yesterday. Twin indicated I needed to open up the PC; pull the fan and heat sink (WTF is that????) from the CPU; clean the aforementioned parts with a vacuum cleaner; and, inspect the “thermal paste” application (OH OH . . . Again, no idea WTF that is). Anywho, with the additional help of an online Youtube video, I was able to “operate” and the patient lived. I also shut down a slide show video display I had going on in the background and game/work booster software I had going 24/7 (again, Twin asked if I had made any changes recently to my PC and these were two recent ones I forgot to mention to him, but remembered this morning).
Temperature is down to a more manageable 47 degrees Celsius (normal load). Again, thank you Twin for the assistance. 🙂
IT’S ALIVE…IT’S ALIVE!!!!!!
Is this Giants baseball, or PC Repair 101?!
Glad you are back up and running…it sucks to have your hardware go south while you’re in the middle of that kick-ass porn video. 😉
“Tim Lincecum Needs to Get His Head Out of His Ass” – Yes he does. It makes it very difficult to concentrate on the batter when you’re looking at your prostrate.
Concentration, a tell, pitch selection, who knows? I do agree that it seems like he is relying more on the off speed stuff. Is he comfortable with his fastball? Maybe the velocity is an issue with him and he’s afraid to throw it, I don’t know. Second thoughts on the contract thing? Who knows. I do know that without him producing, it will make this year that much harder.
BTW, the Dodgers record at this point in the season means nothing to me, NOTHING. But…
“We’re dealing with a lot of shit.”
“Okay, well, uh… candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she’s registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let’s get two! Go get ’em.”
Now go kick some Brewcrew ass.
Good one, Bozo, funny scene….
Lincecum just doesn’t seem to be pitching out there. More pitching. Less throwing aimlessly.
Blade, a heat sink distributes heat on a circuit board. Often used around the more robust computer chip. It helps keep it cool
Grin . . . Yeah, I knew what it was (exaggerating in my post for effect. 🙂 ) . . . Nevertheless, I’ve never dis-attached one from the CPU, much less taken the fan apart either. Shit, the 3 times I have been inside a PC was to upgrade the SDRAM memory and I was freaked out when they warned you how easy it was to “fry” your chip by personal static electricity. Anywho, Twin’s assistance and that step by step video was key to doing it myself.
Weatherproof games: Rockies-Marlins, Blue Jays-Rays, Cubs-Astros, Giants-Brewers, Dodgers-Diamondbacks and Rangers-Mariners
Evening thunderstorms could cause a delay in the majority of roofless venues on Monday night, but none of these games should be in jeopardy of a postponement. This includes Braves-Reds, Red Sox-Orioles, Royals-Yankees, Nationals-Phillies and Mets-Pirates.
Where’s Twin…..we need some insight! Some perspective. Some wisdom.
Nipper, he probably is on a Himalayan mountain top with the Dalai Lama, performing morning prayer wheel chants, including the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra, in preparation for today’s Giants game and our idiotic comments/questions.
Let’s not disturb the Oracle until he himself is ready to appear. 🙂
Wise move!
Putting mental and mechanical , if any, issues aside, I sometimes wonder how much Timmy wants to stay a Giant…. I always had that trailing thought when he would sign one year contracts… especially when Cain and Madison went multiple…… I sure hope his pappy has a long talk with him……
Pappy was on KNBR yesterday. He’s not worried.
Given the way the year has started…I truly am concerned. And with that said…I am so happy the Giants did not lock-and-load on a 5, 6 8 year contract. Whew…
Now days I just wait for the inevitable Lincecum blow up, don’t know when it will come but pretty sure it’s coming. I imagine his agent is going, ” Shit, we should of took that contract they offered”.
Kruk says it’s all mechanical but I think that’s only a part of it. Breaking ball/change up location is a tough thing to control for him. They seem to be either too far out of the zone to fool a hitter, or too hittable. He’s walking too many guys he used to be able to blow away; the idea that a hitter could sit on his fastball and hammer it seems foreign to me, but I guess that’s a product of the loss of velocity, or getting behind in the count from too many breaking balls that are not strikes.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall and listen to the pre-game discussion btw tl rags and posey on their plans for the LU they will be facing. Obviously the book on how you get certain hitters out has to be re-defined based on how tl is throwing these days, since what’s going on now isn’t working the way it was supposed to. I wonder what advanced saber stats are down….it sure seems like out of the stretch he is much worse than I remember.
Timmeh ….Might need to run more between starts and strengthen those puny legs and get more leg drive.Then talk with a Sports Psychologist for a better mental approach.
So the Warriors are moving to SF?
Off subject….Looks like the Dubs are close to the move to SF, looking at that site next to Reds Java House between Pier 31 and 32 and opening up in 2017…
I think it would be great to have the Warriors in SF. Personally, I haven’t had any interest in over a decade but a good buddy of mine is a longtime season ticket holder. I haven’t seen anything on the topic other than the SFGate post. Will privately finance the arena?
Couldn’t agree more about Lincecom. He needs to skip a start, get his head out of his ass, stop throwing so much off speed stuff, and spot his fastball. Hate to say this, but he’s starting to look like Sanchez. Just looses his concentration and can’t get out of jams.
I agree with the Clown’s post earlier about not being worried about the Bums. Their schedule to date has been 30/20 (home/away). They are 19-4 at home, 9-9 away. Also, the schedule has been heavy on the Padres, Pirates, Rockies, etc.
In June, they face some stiffer competition, and they play only 9 at home…19 on the road (4 in Philly).
I suspect they don’t look quite as rosy in June as they have to date.
Timmy? I think it is probably a combination of mental and physical. When I say physcial…I don’t mean an injury…but just having problems with keeping his mechanics in order. Regardless…as mentioned earlier (and I don’t give a fuck if his dad ISN’T concerned)…I am concerned.
Until he puts together a short string of GOOD outings (7 IP, low BB count, and WINS)…the jury is still out.
fyi, I looked at fangraphs columns on TL, and in one written by dave cameron on 4/17 (after the Philly game) there is a post in comments section by a guy JB Knox who has a long article he researched and posted on another site, to which he provides a link. Interesting stuff–his take is the issues are part mechanical (release point is different/less break on the off speed stuff/ more recognizable by hitters) and velocity ridden (less diff btw the change and fastball). He also comments about possible injuries to labrum and or elbow and pitch selection. I’ve way over simplified here, so check it out and draw your own conclusions.
In saber stats what jumps out beside all the walks and hits allowed is BABIP, which is way high (over .300). So far batters over all have hit him at .263 cliip, way higher than ever before. He is allowing more hits than IP, something far worse than he has ever done. The numbers are right there in front of us—so why are they so bad?
You have the link handy?
chi i don’t know how to do that but I found it by going to FG site, entering lincecum’s name and then at the top is a list of colums written about him. The one on 4/17 by dave cameron, interesting itself, has the blog comment underneath by a JB KNox, with a link–site is 1313sports or something like that. Not sure I understand what he is saying, and he has diagrams about pitch location, etc.
Here’s an article from yesterday’s “Chron” you all may have seen …if not…good read on Timmy…
http://m.sfgate.com/sfchron/db_41694/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=zGDeCkM3
Ah, the daily smear of Belt- don’t leave home without it..
The team is underperfoming because of Tim Lincecum, long relief, and defense. The negative defenders (worst first) have been Pagan,Pablo, Gillaspie, Burriss, Arias,Posey, and Huff. Even with some recent improvement, Pagan “leads” that group. Crawford actually rates positive due to his many excellent plays.
For Dirt- there may be several heatsinks on a motherboard. The one in question on Steve’s PC was the heatsink/CPU fan on the CPU. Any others would not be candidates for anyone but a qualifed tech- to deal with.
Twin, I’ve worked in PCBA manufacturing for over a decade now and know but thanks.
Re Belt. I see that Bochy is clamoring for Huff to get some starts on the upcoming road trip. I didn’t see the game yesterday but apparently his bases loaded K was bad. No shame in a young player getting outfoxed by a smart pitcher like Colon (who has been around a while for a reason). Do you think SF’s handling is screwing up Belt’s development or that he is just blowing his opportunities? Or both?
Belt struck out with two outs on a 3-2 pitch, the same pitch that Pagan struck out on with ONE out, the more crucial AB, as Pagan could have driven in a run with an out…
You seemed to be questioning what I had Steve do. And I don’t know why Steve made it seem that I didn’t explain anything. I spent a lot of time helping him get his PC running properly again, happily so, and I will replace the heatsink/CPU fan at no charge if this happens again. It’s unfortunate that it’s made to appear as if I basically left him on his own other than telling him to do things that I didn’t explain.
No, I was not questioning your direction to Steve. I thought he was genuinely asking for definition of a heat sink and gave a simple response. Come to find out Steve was really just being a wise ass. Having received numberous FL trade proposals from him I should have known.
Blade? A wise-ass? Who woulda thunk it! 😉
Until this problem with Steve’s PC, the only problem reported to me ( other than replacing a SATA cable for Craig), was from Stix. I had it returned and nothing was wrong with it. I built him a new one anyway. He reported that one didn’t work either. Considering his description of his living arrangement, I suspect he has dirty power. So I offered to replace that one some other electronics item, maybe a netbook or such. But he’s never returned the unit or cashed the check I sent him to cover shipping. Even though these were all free, I take care of you guys who won PCs as if you were million buck customers.
Twin has been 100% attentive to any issue that I’ve ever had with the computer he gave me. In addition to the sata cable he sent me a new hard drive that I installed with him walking me through it.
So see? I’m even good to a guy who is 100 percent wrong about Belt 😉
You almost have to laugh at the Dodgers winning on a rookie hitting a 3-run pinch-hit homerun to win the game. And the guy (who happens to be Andy Van Slyke’s son) had the chutzpah to do a curtain call after he got to the dugout.
My favorite LiveFree quote of all time:
“As a Giants fan, you learn to accept Dodger luck, like accepting ants at a picnic.”
Milwaukee homerun predictions:
Posey: 2
Melky, Angel, Sanchez, Pill, Belt, Burriss, Bumgarner, (one each)
What Bochy said about Huff pretty much confirms my theory that Huff is on the team only because they won’t commit to Belt. Even though there are major flaws in the new wRC+ stat that Craig used to trash Belt, even by that stat, Belt has outproduced 11 NL first basemen ( minimum 70 plate appearances) and he is overall 8th. So while we all would like to more production out of him ( and others, we have no hitter on pace for even 70 RBI), production wise he is so far right in the middle of the pack at his position.
I depend on my belt, right on the fifth hole.
Probably not hot enough yet in Milwaukee for Belt. Maybe in Miami.
If he plays at all. Or maybe they could trade for Loo’s guy-McGehee, to replace him. He’s rippin’ it at .198 BA .288 OPB .552 OPS 58 wRC+
Back from the gym. Yeah, what is this a baseball blog or CNET??????????????
“And I don’t know why Steve made it seem that I didn’t explain anything.”
Ahh, the written word getting in the way of what I meant. Clarification – Twin explained everything EXPLICITLY to me, but it wasn’t until I saw the video that the light bulb went off in my brain and voila . . . I was able to do this myself versus getting a friend to help or sending it back to Twin (which he offered to do). Unlike Dirt and Twin, if it involves a tech issue, I have to SEE it before I am comfortable doing it, i.e., I am a visual person.
One other thing, even after I did the repairs he recommended, he offered to send me a larger fan (free) and I tried to refuse, but may accept his generosity if the problem reoccurs . . . Albeit, I better be careful with my comments about Belt and Pagan. 🙂
Seriously, this PC has performed better than all my previous PCs and is more powerful then all previous ones I have had too. Regardless of our differences about baseball – he’s right 99% of the time – the PC support has been outstanding when I have had a question.
Hey, where is Stix? I miss that guy. Here’s my Stix poll of possibilities:
Stix….
A. …found something to do besides post on a baseball blog
B. …was eaten by a bear
C. …was eaten by a mountain lion
Oh yeah…I remember him. He also created artwork out of driftwood and stuff. Lived up in the boonies in Minnesota or someplace like that. Same guy, right?
Stix is well . . . I’ve spoken with him a few times and exchanged emails too. To the best of my knowledge, he still posts about the Giants at another blog.
1000 words a posting?
Be nice Nip.
Ah shucks!
There’s a certain troll-like element to Nipper that makes it highly possible he is one of the trolls on the Splash under a different name or names.
And we got NOTHING in return?
d. …consulting with CERN scientists about alternate dimensions.
So BF has fallen out of “love” with Timmy!
I did not see yesterday’s game, but was listening off-and-on while out and about. I did hear the two strikeouts (Pagan and Belt) with the bases juiced. The way that the pitches were described (think it was Miller) is that they were both “nasty pitches” (and from the description, my deduction is that the pitches would have buckled the knees of most hitters). I am still a firm believer that the club is best served by playing Belt a majority of the starts at 1B (regardless of the L/R thing). Kid needs consistent playing time/ABs.
Twin again posts numbers on him (comparing him to other starting NL 1st basemen)….not the first time. Thanks, Mike.
Colon had great stuff yesterday. That ptich was really swerving.
As I pointed out at the time- it wasn’t a question of either guy screwing up as much those were two geat pitches- Colon schooled both of them. Sometimes do you tip your cap. A couple of those from Timmy in the 4th and we might have won that game..
Yeah, I mean look at Crawford. He’s getting run out there and has almost realized his potential with a line of .234/.280/.339/.619. I’m not tring to be a wise ass. My point is that he is improving with consistent PT and so would Belt.
dirt, not to be a wise ass back at you but if Belt played SS Crawford would be sitting. At least, I would think so.
Bozo, I know and have posted the same numberous times. Not every hitter is going to arrive at the show fully formed like Sandoval and Posey. Hell, if I remember right Posey slumped in June when he first came up. He still got run out there every day. At this point there is no legit 1b other than Belt and if Bochy must, an occasional Posey start. While I am genuinely pulling for Huff, either he or Pill at 1b is nonsensical. Belt should be getting the same run as Crawford.
numerous
Takes a wise ass to know a wise ass…and John…I think you was being a wise ass there…
Just an educated (or lack thereof) guess…
Not to mention Belt saves the other infielders errors. IOn fact, maybe some others noticed this- Crawford consistently throws short hoppers to Belt and perfect strikes to Pil… it’s like he relaxes when Belt is out there.
Chi, I really wasn’t trying to be on that one (although I can be, that’s for sure). It just seems that argument about Crawford and Belt come up a lot. Although I do agree with dirt and many others, that Belt is the best option out of the four at first, there still is three other guys wanting to get playing time. With Crawford, not so much at SS. Coming out of ST I said the log jam at first would be a problem (at the time though I thought Huff would be playing more in the OF but I also thought that Posey would need more time at first). Pill is what he is, although he has surprised. Huff, I don’t really want to get into that, but this road trip may just be it for the guy.
I like when Posey needs a day they just let him sit, when Panda gets back that might be easier, but I have a feeling they’ll still want him to get playing time at first.
Again, I’m really not trying to stir things up. I’m just saying the SS position doesn’t have as many options (at this time) as 1B does.
Crawford does maintain his job pretty much by default. No SS in the system is close to ready and those here are, as impossible as it might seem, worse all around than he is. Arias might be the only improvement but the poor guy can’t play 3 positions at once.
Whatever the opposite of a stopper is, that’s what Timmy is lately. That’s twice in a row now he’s pitched after the Giants won 3 straight, only to kill the momentum with another crap start. Losing at home to the Rockies and A’s just should not happen, so what could’ve been a 5-2 or even 6-1 homestand instead is 4-3. About the only positive was that my fantasy opponent had Lincecum and those two lousy starts.
Tim’s a bleeder now, Mac. As in the Bayonne Bleeder.
Crawfish’s improvement came from his move up to the 2 hole. At least that’s what he said. . .
Belt IS getting the majority of the playing time these days, so there’s not too much to bitch about there.
Timmy? He’s head-fucked. He gets into trouble and gets too cute. He said it himself. Where he used to have a 95 MPH fastball to get out of trouble, he’s trying breaking balls to bail himself out. It isn’t working.
Mystery injury? Who knows? His fastball has been on a slow and steady decline, so that doesn’t seem to be the case. His first few starts, he couldn’t get through the 1st. Then the 2nd, now it’s the 4th. If he keeps it up, he can get to the 6th before he implodes. Then the pen can (hopefully) bail him out.
Crawford was hitting .258 for 4 weeks before the 2 change. Anyway, he will not be the permanent 2 hitter, he will be moving back to the 7 or 8. Book that, bippy…
As far as Belt- what SHOULD be worrying people is Bochy saying he wants Huff to get some starts at first on the road trip. There’s plenty to bitch about as to how Belt has been handled.
Timmy’s head-fucked? Indeed he is, good to see that being picked up on. Absolutely no better example than the Dodger game. Blows Kemp away and gets destroyed by Tony Frigging Gwynn, Jr. Yesterday it was Cowslip. Mechanics Smetanics, he’s not competing when things go wrong…
Belt has started more games at home and has sat over 50% of the time at Hitter friendly ballparks. I find that interesting. You know, that whole ‘put the young player in a position to succeed’ idea.
Stix…Posts over at Jon Dowd’s Giants blog alot….
He gradually developed a real dislike for Bochy. There’s plenty of that here but perhaps not enough for him.
Blanco CF, Crawford SS, Cabrera LF, Posey C, Pill 1B, Arias 3B, Schierholtz RF, Culberson 2B, (Bumgarner P)
Ah, Nate gets a bone thrown to him.
Does have a .966 ops on the road.
One game in Colorado and the Met double header are his season. But everybody does need starts
Forgot the sarcasm face
Craw hitting .333 in the 2 hole but 6K’s in 19 PA.
Never thought I’d look forward to Theriot’s return but…
Arias .200/.246obp/.464 ops in May, (Last 2 weeks — .118/.200/.318)
Burriss – .114 for May
Culberson – .111
Sorry, .147 for Manny.
Theriot .179 .217 OBP
For anyone who thinks Crawford’s future is in the 2 hole, last train for Gooberville leaves in an hour. Be on it.
Is that near the Petticoat Junction?
I loved that old fuck that was on that show Chi. Forgot his name, but he always cracked me up. Women in the show were easy on the eyes too.
And that’s Uncle Joe, he’s a movin’ kind of slow at the junction…
Yep…that is why I made reference to PJ…the young lasses who were real easy on the eyes. Took place in Hooterville (precursor to Hooters restaurants?).
That would be one of the scarier roadsigns ever.
Gooberville, I think that’s between me and Gum Neck. Nice place, but the Land of Stumps (where I live) has so many more options for sitting.
Where’s the luv?
The Boston Globe reported Monday that further examination on Ross’ injured left foot revealed the possibility of a fracture, according to baseball sources. Ross underwent an MRI on Monday which revealed a fracture of the navicular bone in his left foot. That is the same bone that Dustin Pedroia broke in 2010. Ross will go on the disabled list on Tuesday and Kevin Youkilis will likely be activated off the DL at that time.
Did I hear right? Another parking lot beating at The Latrine?
Gooberville is prit neer Possum Grape…
Here is the link that WillieD mentioned in an earlier post.
http://1313sports.com/2012/04/17/tim-lincecum-a-pitch-fx-breakdown-of-the-freaks-struggles/
I haven’t had time to read/analyze it…has a lot of graphs on pitch location, etc.
Oh, so you expect us to do the work?
We want a single space analysis report by game time. Hut hut . . . double time cadence soldier!
Steve – some of us still work for a living…get on it you retired mofo…
Chi, people always say that hard work never killed anybody.
Oh yeah??? When’s the last time ya ever heard of anyone who “rested to death”.
🙂
That’s a lot of words. Here’s the cliff notes;
Lincecum has lost some zip on his fastball and isn’t getting as much movement on his breaking pitches. He’s leaving the ball in the middle of the plate and up.
MLB hitters tend to hit fat pitches over the plate.
Also, his delivery is unorthodox.
Ah, Hooterville….
Who can forget Hank Kimball?….
Oliver always liked when Zsa Gabor made pancakes for breakfast,they were rock hard and he would use them for Shingles on the roof.Classic!!
I think the key to the LU is right at the top with Blanco. Gotta hope he can continue to do the job. They have plenty of flexibility from 2-6, even when Panda returns – they’re almost interchangable…
“Angel Pagan is out because of food poisoning, or something like it.”
Rest of the LU:
1 Blanco CF
2 Crawford SS
3 Cabrera LF
4 Posey C
5 Pill 1B
6 Arias 3B
7 Schierholtz RF
8 Culberson 2B
Bumgarner P
I remember having something like the stomach flu once.Too much 7 in my 7 and 7
I’ll bet Beltran remembers having “food poisoning or something like it”, too. 🙂
Is that different from the one I posted? OK, it’s vertical.
I looked for yours and didn’t see it. Still can’t find it.
Check 1:16pm. I just didn’t say anything cuz you explained Nate
Sorry, Bill. It’s no BFD. It’s a long story but to make it reasonably short, there is a website that seems to have the line ups earlier than anywhere else. I found it and a small pleasure for me was getting the line up to the guys here before anyone else had it, even Baggs. Like I said, a small pleasure. Anyway, Denny asked me where I got them and I stupidly told him. So he spent the rest of the year making sure he got there before I did and posting it first. I suppose beating me to it was his little pleasure…anyway, I’ll quit posting it again. Usually it just gets the bitching about it started early..
As long as the 5 best hitters are the first 5 spots, it’s not a really not that a big a deal who hits where. Looking at tonight’s LU, with Crawford hitting better for now, it’s as good as it gets with these 8..
What is up with the camera angle behind center field? It’s like its in LF almost
Scorsese’s directing
Loud. He needs to do more of that…
THAT’S the way to start a road trip,2 walks and a Mammoth Buster Bomb!!!!!!!
Well, Loo gets his first of 2 for Posey.
I think Burriss might be tougher…
LoL. If Loo hits half those, I’ll give him my Vegas money.
Watching both the Rockies and Marlins game and this one with the GMen . . . Stanton just hit a grand slam bomb. Fucker was out of here in a nano second.
They might have to seriously consider putting Pablo at 1B when he returns to keep Arias at 3B.
They’re not getting any production at that position as it stands of now anyway.
No, that will not happen. Arias will go to second. If Fruckie returns, he’ll wait a day until Fruckie gets hurt again. Pablo will not be the first baseman.
You tell them Twin!
Hell of a pitch from Bum.
Brandon Belt sure does get the shaft from the Giants,Mike Trout of the Angels who was called up April 27th is only 8 AB’s behind Belt.That’s the just Pathetic considering how many games Belt has saved their Asses with his glove alone.
Bochy’s quote in the today’s Chronicle showed some frustration with Belt’s strikeouts yesterday. OK, I get that. But I don’t quite get Bochy saying “a batter should go down swinging” rather than take a pitch. IF you want your team to be more patient and get more walks, then that means they are going to take some called third strikes once in a while. Yes, the Giants took too many called third strikes yesterday, but still- Bochy’s quote shows some lack of insight in regard to patient hitters.
I guess the manager wanting the batter to go down swinging instead of taking a called third strike is the equivalent of telling the pitcher to throw strikes but don’t give the batter any good pitches to hit.
Kat, that’s very true . . . However, Trout was almost immediately successful when he was called up. I should know, I anticipated him being called up and selected him off the waiver wire for all my FL teams. He is on an unbelievable tear right now – he has had four multi-hit outings in his last six games, pushing his average from .283 to .355 after a 12-for-23 (.522) stretch. The 20-year-old looks to have caught up with major league pitching already.
Clarification – “Very true” insofar as him being only 8 ABs behind Belt.
take a look at what Trout is doing at the plate. THAT’S why he’s playing. He’s earning his playing time, something Belt isn’t doing. Belt struck out 5 of 7 at bats this weekend and is hitting .241. Trout is hitting .355 with bombs and sb’s, 2 other things Belt doesn’t do.
I’m not sure how many outfield assists Trout has but Belt digging some throws out of the dirt, something all first basemen are supposed to be able to do, is hardly a reason to tolerate his impotent bat in the line up……….
“impotent”
The Melk Man.
He’s a hittin’ machine.
Shit.
He’s a tough Melk Man.
BLEEP!
By the way, my dad is claiming to make a blog appearance tonight and if he does, please respectfully welcome him.
Can we still say cuss words (at the appropriate times of course)? 🙂
Well, he doesn’t swear much but don’t hold back, he’s from the south he can take it.
Braun celebrated like he hit a walk off there. Fuck that. It’s dumb that baseball players get into that macho-unwritten creed shit but we could see some fireworks later because of that (in the series).
for the record, I loved bobby bowden interviews.
Double BLEEP! …..Braun
MVPED
With the bug eyes Braun had, I have to think that HR was delivered by FedEx.
Potd when I get home
I watched Bochy’s post-game (yesterday’s game) press conference today on the Giants’ website specifically because the headline to the link said it was about Lincecum’s performance. I really get a kick out of how Bochy handles the press. He is measured but honest; he backs his players but, it seems to me, sends coded messages without going all Bobby Valentine on them publicly. It’s worth viewing. Boch does not think Timmy’s woes are mechanical; he gently leans to the mental theory. He diplomatically chided Timmy for not covering bases properly. When asked about velocity, Bochy said 91 doesn’t bother him; he said it’s what Tim pitched in the playoffs. So, what is it? Timmy has rejected the mental theory, but how can he when he pretty much admits he’s overthinking. Why is he overthinking? Contract status? Lack of confidence? Jealousy of other pitchers? Personal life? I have no clue. None. It’s disturbing. I wish him the best. But if he doesn’t get his mind right, his career will suffer and so will our team, I suspect. It’s a delicate thing. Maybe he needs to get married, as Zito did.
Naw.
Trout was going to play if he hit right away or not. Instead of taking juvenile shots at Belt, pay attention to Flavor’s stat de jour and take a look at the first baseman producing less.Wigginton, Helton, Loney, Jones, Gamel, Goldschmidt, Rivera, Mayberry, McGehee, Sanchez, and Ike Davis.All except Gamel and Rivera have more plate appearannces. Belt is 8th among NL first basemen in the stat Craig claims is the most important in showing run production., wRC+ .Among first basemen with 75 or more plate appearances, 11 are less productive. We all hope he climbs ino the upere echelon but the daily trashing of him is totally unwarranted.
That’s hilarious, every 1b you listed sucks, they are almost all on the waiver wire in my nfbc leagues
There are still 7 starting first basemen producing less.
And some are young hitters with potential who are being allowed to play without being threatened with benching everytime they have a rough day.
Would you get off this guy’s dick? You’ve spent 2 months beating off to Belt and you’re digging around for random saberstats at this point to try to support your stubborness. I shut that down with more accurate saberstats….
Just let it go. Go find another guy to yap about. Until Belt, a first fucking baseman who hasn’t hit a home run all year, starts to hit your constant unearned support has grown tiresome. This is more about your shit call on Belt and Huff at this point than any true support you have for Belt. Just suck it up and admit you fucked up on another prospect prediction. I’d respect that more than this daily bullshit support for a guy who is afraid to swing the bat…
Fuck with one of the other couple dozen who know you’re wrong.
How about every other day?
Milwaukee’s Home-Grown Hero.
Shite. I leave the scoreboard to come here and we lose the lead. I’m sorry I caused that.
Hi, Mr. MagnusFlavoris the Elder. We won’t bite you.
The pitcher is going for the full General Custer look.
Cody Ross out with broken bone in foot.
Bochy has to be kicking himself. for letting Bum face Braun with Romo ready to go,but of course if Crawglove fields that grounder their out of the inning.
Also in the top of the inning,Melky on 3rd Posey on 1st against a RH pitcher,why the hell didn’t. he PH for Pill with either Belt or Huff?
He’s just not the brilliant tactician you are, Kat. .
So True Mike (grin) You see I’ve learned from the “Ultimate “Master Oracle”
But of course I can always use my bailout line….You can “Dazzle them Brilliance or Baffle them with Bullshit”.
Was watching Moneyball the other night and there was a scene that stood out to me….One of the scouts is talking about a ballplayer to stay away from cause he has an “ugly girlfriend.” “Ballplayers with ugly girlfriends lack confidence…Stay away from them.”
That was a hilarious line, I noticed that too
Sup with Bigger Flavor?
It’s worth noting that BF’s reference to the critiques of OPS yesterday failed to acknowledge that the chief problem most of the statheads have with it is that it doesn’t place enough value on the walk and it privileges slugging percentage. In other words, they prefer a player like Belt to a “potent” hacker like Pill, who would never dream of taking strike 3. It’s also funny to see the reference to the 241 BA, when the OBP clearly shows that Belt has been far from ineffective.
Given the alternatives, there’s no reason not to tolerate Belt. Bochy is being a fool.
Hilarious. So you ignore the many, many critiques of this stat, ignore all of them, and then come up with this post?
“head in the sand”…..
What are you talking about? The primary criticism of OPS has been exactly as I described it. I don’t give a fuck about wOBA because it’s a refinement that doesn’t offer any closer correlation to runs produced at the team level. At the individual player level, here’s a quote from a comparison of OPS and wOBA in 2010:
“When we take the top 10 in wOBA and look at where they rank in OPS, we find the same top 4 in exact order, and places 5 & 6 are switched. The OPS top 10 includes Adrian Gonzalez and Adam Dunn, which wOBA does not. So, 8 players are on both top 10 lists.
The 2 players that wOBA has in the top 10 that OPS does not (Uggla & Fielder), OPS ranks 11th & 12th. Therefore, the entire top 10 for wOBA can be found in the top 12 of OPS. And the 2 that OPS ranks in the top 10 but wOBA does not, wOBA ranks them 12th & 13th.”
nip, this bud’s for you: yesterday Strasburg homered to raise his avg. to .375 and a Padres SP got a pinch hit single in the 13th and scored the winning run vs. Angels…and of course you saw Zito walk twice the night before. Stay thirsty, my friend…but no DH!
I second that willie. No DH.
I couldn’t help but laugh at this one. This is from Burriss’ Wiki Page.
Emmanuel “Manny” Allen Burriss (born January 17, 1985 in Washington, D.C.) is a “Major League Baseball” “second baseman” for the San Francisco Giants. He is a switch-hitter who throws right-handed and has “played” second base, shortstop, and third base.
Gotta love those quotation marks.
You probably put it there. It’s the kind of snarky little crap that would slide by. Go take it out.
You probably did put it there. It’s already been removed.
If you think that I’d even take the time and effort to learn how to change their page — you don’t know me very well.
So I rallied behind a thong in 2010, now I’m rallying behind a knee brace,. WTG Alffeldt.
At least Burriss is getting closer to that first extra-base hit.
speaking of sandawg, who famously played a round of golf with the messrs. flav, there was an article in today’s chron about a kid at USF who became a pitcher after being a .400 hitting3b and who is reputed to be one of the top picks in all of baseball. Name of Kyle Zimmer from La Jolla HS in SD.
and all props to kawhi leonard of the aztecs who looks great starting for spurs, for whom he could wind up with a ring in his first season, as one of the youngest players in the league.
my older, eldest elder does what he likes. He’ll drop in when he gets to it. As I said, he’s from Virginia, he does everything on his time, not our clock………..
If he’s in Virginia, he might not be on our clock, but he is in my time zone and I’m sinking fast.
There’s a thing called Philippino time amongst a lot of my friends including my ex. Kinda a gimme
He’s From Virginia. He now lives in Oregon. Just left California a few months ago after he retired. He still sounds exactly the same as he did when he left Richmond, and that was in 1963. It’s funny though, when he talks, I can’t hear his accent at all. Weird……..
A Cavalier Man who drums to his own beat…Stay thirsty Flappers cause my mystery and intrigue is second only to Bond,James Bond..
OK, Belt swung at that third strike, so he’s starting tomorrow, right?
No, of all the outs tonight, that was the key one.
Damn it’d hard to post here lately
Anyway, I love extra inning games. The drama of baseball beats/matches anything Shakespeare wrote.
I think Olivier would agree
If I hit reply, postings no problem. Otherwise, lately, it’s a little hard to post an original thought.
Not that I ever really have
I’ve gotten several emails about that and have contacted wordpress support. They are, as usual, unsupportive.
At least they’re consistent. Thanks, Flav. Perciate it