Barry Zito: My Theory on Who This New *SLI*(der)-E Guy Is……
Let me start by saying, I am nothing more than a humble *Thirteen Percenter*. An outcast, really. Last week, I had the audacity to vote in Denny’s Comcast poll in favor of Zito having a better end of year ERA than Timmy. The horror. It’s not easy rollin’ with such a sparse crew. Those who mock us don’t understand us. Yet. But you might at the end of this thread. I believe that Barry Zito will continue his usefulness for the rest of the year. Though he teased us (falsely) into believe his string of 5 starts in 2010 were signs that he was *back* I believe that 2012 is different. Allow me to explain:
In 2010, he had 5 very good starts to start the year and then the lemmings all fell off the cliff into the ocean. That can be explained simply: the beginning of a season is weird, you’ve got the transition from ST to the regular season, some guys don’t like hitting till it warms up, and 5 games just isn’t that representative of your year. Plus you’ve got a lot of players coming and going, teams are sorting themselves out, it’s just a time of year that sees a lot of fake numbers pop up. And that’s what I think his start to 2010 was all about. Twin did an excellent job of pointing out an example of this when he educated us on the *under .200 batting averages in April compared to the end of the season* debate.
But 11 games, for a starting pitcher, is definitely statistically noteworthy. That’s 1/3 of his starts and he’s only had 2 bad ones: the game he walked 7 vs Miami and the game in Milwaukee where he’s never pitched well.
Most people (I’ll say *exactly* 87% of Giants fans) don’t expect this run of success to continue. But not “The Thirteen Percenter’s.” Most of those visionaries point to the theory that lefties get *craftier* and *wiser* when they get older and THAT’S the thing that can explain Zito’s success this year. But that’s an incomplete statement. I think that’s just something guys like Marty Lurie like to SAY all the time, It’s not just for lefties. Any big leaguer, regardless of their dominant hand, will tell you that their baseball IQ is higher at the end of their career then at the beginning or middle of it. At least the smart ones will tell you that. Stubborn players might not make use of the knowledge that comes their way over the years but most do and that’s why their careers are long and prosperous…..
So I am now going to explain why Zito is better this year and why I am *predicting* that he will continue to be useful for the rest of the season. And if he implodes for the rest of the year, smear the egg all over my face.
The Theory:
Zito finally accepted that the fastball is not his friend and that if he’s going to pitch at this level he has to stop trying to re-capture those long lost 3 miles per hour. Now, if you’re going to stop throwing pitches you suck at throwing they need to be replaced by pitches you’re good at throwing. Otherwise you’re just standing on the mound doing nothing. Keeping all that in mind, here are the pitch type % that he’s thrown each year since he came into the league:
Now if you look at this, you should notice 2 dramatic numbers. This year, he’s throwing his fastball (2 seam+ 4seam) only 31% of the time. And you know what? When you throw a shitty hit-me fastball that’s probably a pitch you should throw even less often than that–20% less will do, though. The 2nd number to notice is the whopping 38% sliders he is throwing in 2012. He;s also throwing the CB and CU less as they are both at near career lows (17.6% and 16.7% respectively). Keep in mind that these percentages do not include today’s game but I went through the log for a few innings and they seem to match up. But those type of statistical differentials are not accidental. He’s doing it on purpose, clearly. He’s replacing the fastball (~20% of the time) with a slider. The numbers support this…….
A final thought on this is that Zito has appeared to pitch *afraid of contact* in recent years. I think that’s because he’s been afraid that the fastballs he throws in the direction of the hitter will get sent the other way at a furious speed if they are allowed to stray into the strike zone with an ultimate outcome being some downed NASA satellites. But if he’s only throwing it 31% of the time he doesn’t have to be afraid of contact anymore. They can’t EXPECT that a shitty fastball is coming when you only throw it 31% of the time. Now he’s got everyone off balance and even if they realize he’s throwing the slider considerably more often it is a pitch he clearly trusts this year. Boom, now you no long have to pitch afraid of contact…….
So maybe Barry Zito has just decided to give up on all his hocus pocus and crouching rain man dances to bring the fast ball back and he’s just out there throwing the pitch that is working for him this year: The slider. I haven’t done any research on this so maybe someone else has already written this theory into the blogosphere but when I went to fangraphs today I was shocked to see those percentage discrepancies (and if I was *shocked* then I haven’t heard anyone else note these glaring differences. I actually stumbled upon this, I went to the site to see if his FB and off speed mph averages were at a bigger gap than they have been in previous years (and they aren’t).
So that’s my theory on why he’s pitching well this year and if any of you have an alternative theory that’s better I will respectfully examine it….
Now, do I think Zito will have a better end of the year ERA than Timmy? I’ll continue to say yes on that because I think Zito has discovered a new way to pitch to save his career. And I think Timmy HASN’T discovered what adjustment he needs to make. Plus, Zits has a pretty big head start. But I wouldn’t put it past TL to figure this out so if he does steamroll by Zito in the ERA department I’m fine with that, it probably means are team is winning many more games.
But I’m going on record TODAY to say that I think Barry Zito has finally made an adjustment that is the *reason* we can look to to believe that this is real. And just as I said on December 7th 2011 that ” I’m on record as liking both the Melky and the Pagan acquisitions, and if they both fail then feel free to remind me later” I give you free reign to throw today’s prediction in my face *at the end of the year*.
Barry Zito has finally become serviceable……..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
St Louis is working on their third straight game of not scoring. That’s pretty hard to do……..
April 2010 1.53 ERA
May 2010 4.50 ERA
One June start 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 8 K
Total 8 “Quality Starts” through this date, 5 in April
11 total starts
April 2012 1.67 ERA
May 2012 4.94 ERA
One June start 8.1 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 5 K
Total 7 “Quality Starts”, 3 in April (of 4 starts)
11 total starts
His performance in 2010 and this year is almost eerily similar, even the WHIP in April and May is very close, 0.877 in April of 2010, 0.926 in 2012. 1.563 May of 2010, 1.677 this year.
However, like any fan, I hope Craig is right about him continuing to pitch well. Hope. I do think Timmy will end up with the better ERA ( if both finish the year).
Lets hope!
Lets pray!
I’m easily wowed by certain things, some unmentionable here. So, Magnus, consider me wowed.
It’s an impressive treatise, absolutely…
Day baseball tomorrow.
It’s always day baseball for you my man. I know. Trip out on it. 🙂 🙂
There’s cooking meat rare, and then there’s cooking the shit like ya just nailed it in the forest a la Robin from Loxley. Tally-Ho!
it took me 4 times of reading this before I figured out what the fuck you were talking about with this post, lol. Glad you agree, I’m interested to see if this theory has been floated before. It’s obviously well documented on a free site……..
You give that George Foreman Grill quite a workout, Denny. They allow them in the rooms?
The point of this thread is to highlight that Zito is CLEARLY pitching differently this year. And if he’s abandoning that shitty fastball and throwing a glorious slider in it’s place then that’s a perfectly reasonable theory for why he’s having such a good year: and a reason to expect that he can keep it going. I don’t mean keep a 2.98 ERA going, but something serviceable. Maybe 3.75? Timmy has some work to do…….
I don’t disagree that he’s pitching differently, and that may continue. But the results have not been better than at this time in 2010 . 3.75? I’ll take the 2010 4.15 in a heartbeat if he can just spread the horrific starts around a little more.
VUngo’s having himself a night, 3-4 with 2 rbi’s
Why can’t everyone hit in the two 😉
And a runner thrown out at the plate in the sixth that kept the scoreless streak going.
Giants 3 back feels comforting. Not a lot of offense these days, but getting the key hit at the right time. I suppose it will always be about the pitching with this team. With all the praise for Zito, Matt was a rock the other day. Just kept them in it until they could get that extra (winning) run. With Pablo (hopefully) coming back within a week’s time, could be a really fun month of June baseball.
Reliever’s ERA came down a full point in May. No one is as deep- if Casilla stayed out, they still have 3 guys who can close—effectively. I believe they have yet to lose when leading after 8.
Panda was 2 for 5 with a HR today.
I hope that chick was wearing one of those moronic Panda hats when he banged her.
Imagine hearing that from the witness stand.
I dont want to seem crass so I will just say: LVQTM
Pietrus kicking ass on the offensive boards as OT winds down. 21 sec left, Boston by 2.
Sometimes it seems like I haven’t seen a right hand hitting Giant hit one into the left field seats at AT&T since Cody Ross in 2010. Before that…………..Marquis Grissom?
Fuck. Slow day
Yep, slow day yesterday (I didn’t even know about this thread). Flav makes some very good points that can’t be ignored. As Pawlie said, I am “wowed.” Good job!
I will post the “Weather Report” again, if another thread comes up after my morning workout.
Weatherproof game: Rockies-Diamondbacks
Cardinals-Mets should be able to complete a cloudy matinee before thunderstorms drench Flushing in the late afternoon. Showers could delay the conclusion of Cubs-Giants on Monday afternoon, but the rain will pass through rather quickly. The start of Dodgers-Phillies could be delayed by possible showers, but the contest has little chance of being postponed.
Where’s Willie D?
No idea Nip, but I am getting really pissed off that he is late for breakfast every morning. 🙂
Nip, ur a classic. My ? is, if the fb from Z is at what high 80s, what speed is the slider? The hitter is fooled by the slider because it comes in looking like the fb, only slower and dives to unhittable zone. What I’m saying is, if Z is rarely throwing the fb, then all the hitter has to look for is 80-ish pitches or slower—and then react to the “fb”.
So the key has to be location, because the hanging slider is going to get raked, since the speed Z is throwing it at isn’t going to fool anyone. The curve, slower and bigger break, would be more deceptive (ask James Loney).
Location seems to be lincecum’s biggest issue too, tho in the opposite way of Z, at least so far.
I have zero idea what either of them will do rest of season, but I am willing to accept that what Z is doing so far is remarkable and tremendous boon for the team.
The end of the game and OT, the Heat were hard to watch when they had the ball. Everyone stands around, screen and roll, no spacing, drives only to middle where it’s easy to help, dumb shots, most of which didn’t go in.
Boston at least runs the curl play for ray allen, who is a good passer if the post switches out on him. Plus they will post up people and throw the ball in there—I still think that is what I would do if I had Lebron on my team. Post him up, and make a team collapse on him. He’s a good passer and can hit cutters or spot up shooters, and he is quicker and stronger than anyone his size. On the perimeter he is easier to defend, imo and not as good a shooter from distance, esp when guarded.
Like the Indiana coach said, with bosh out that means james and wade get more shots…if somehow they lose to boston, someone has to go, besides the coach.
Lets hope Boston wins. ….in Miami.
I would love to see that scenario play out. The 3 that Wade took – it seems like no one is upset. If that had been Lebron, they would have run him out on a rail.
Maybe Timmy should have a BP session with Tom House,seems to be working for Zito.
well, House was the one who had him doing that ridiculous crouching stuff. He could be responsible for the dramatic increase in sliders thrown (and fastballs NOT thrown) but I suspect that has much more to do with Rags then House………
So all is forgiven for 6 years of crappy pitching for 1 good year, I don’t think so. Zito for me is what Alex Smith is to Denny. sorry but I just can’t forgive or root for the dude. glad he is winning for the Giants, but the faster his contract ends the better!! You guys make it sound like you would give him his 2014 team option?? Hell no!!
A good time to throw this hypothetical nonsense out again……..If the Giants were starting postseason play this week, is Zito in the rotation or even on the roster?
Hey Kevin–don’t look now, but that 2014 club option could easily be picked up. That is, if he keeps pitching in the same ballpark as he has this year (and next year).
Don’t believe me? I’ll do the math for you, slowly:
Zito’s club option is for $18 million (that’s actually 1 million less than he’ll make this year and 2 million less than he’ll make next year). The buy out is a ridiculous 7 million. So by buying him out, the Giants save 11 million but if they need to fill Zito’s vacant bought out spot in the rotation they will likely have to go the FA route. (And since Timmy is likely gone after 2013 it is perfectly reasonable to assume there will be spots to fill in the rotation in 2014.) Anyway, so let’s say you go the 7 mil buy out route, you’re still going to need to sign a FA pitcher to fill his spot and to get a guy who’s decent you’re probably going to have to go 2-3 years at 6-10 mil a year. Even if you find a decent 1 year contract candidate, you’re going to be paying him 8-10 million dollars for that single season. So, AT BEST, the Giants will save a million or two by buying Zito out and replacing him with a FA pitcher. And if he pitches decently through 2013 why would the FO go with an unknown pitchers when they have something *known* in Zito and something that looks like a very decent #4 or #5 right now……..
If he continued to pitch at the level we became accustomed to since his arrival in SF (The SHIT level) then he’d be an easy buy-out candidate, but if he continues to pitch seviceably then guess what>>>>>> the Giants will pick up that 2014 club option…….
Zito has been the worst POS FA signing ever and he owes the Giants big time. If they want to keep him, the least he can do is take the $ 7 million buyout and sign a one year deal with them for 5 cents.
There seems to be general resistance to examing numbers here. I can understand it if we’re talking UZR and fryjkstat, but the numbers I’ve propvided for 2010 and this year are clear, understandable, and irrefutable- and 2010 is no more influenced by a great April than this year is- the trend almost identical- with April of 2010 being marginally better than this year and May of this year marginally worse than 2010. The “Ground Hog Day-ishness” of the two years to date is even magnified by the first June start each year. This is not to refute that Craig’s chart clearly shows the difference in fastball usage- but he had almost identical results through this date in 2010 throwing the fastball 50% of the time vs. 31%. And I’ve read research that shows that he’s not just throwing the slider more, but that he’s changed it- it’s more effective than in the past. But since he had similar results in 2010 using the fastball half the time, you have to presume something else is at play- and keep in mind that after a mediocre June 2010, he bounced back with a solid july- and ended that month with a 3.38 ERA for the year- everyone would agree that we’d take that happily were he to finish with that this year…but it was actually after July that he fell off the end of the Earth. And why was the new slider regime effective in April and not in May? Fact is, there has been a time in every year that Zito has appeared to be baaaaaaccccck and a different reason for it everytime. I’m not trying to rain on the parade, maybe a drizzle- this year *is* the first year with a dramatic change in pitch selection, as Craig’s chart shows. Whether that translates to long term success remains to be seen. My guesstimate? Way better than I thought when the season started- 11-11 4.00 ERA, and I’d be just fine with that.
When he jiggles his left hand from the stretch position it means he’s losing it and will either get bombed or walk everybody. He’s better when he doesn’t jiggle. His RPJ (Runs per jiggle) backs that up…
I actually buy that..
Hmmmm . . . Flav’s “Slider” theory or Loo’s “no jiggle” theory????
Since he had one great month with the new pitch selection, and one poor one, it’s too early to tell on that. The jiggle theory will need more research. Didn’t work this weekend for Lefty, as Tiger showed *he’s* baaaaaacccck…
OK, a third of the way, my highly anticipated 😉 thumbnails:
Blanco- the catalyst
Theriot-Burriss properly got his shot, the vet provides some Fruckishness
Melky-what can be said? MVP
Posey- strong bounce back
Pagan-even improving in the field, been a surprise (for me)
Belt- it’s warm up here, time to rock it
Arias- properly a utility guy, been a respectable fill in
Crawford- as expected at the plate, settling down in the field
Hector- ouch! Huggie time! Anybody miss Whitey?
Pill-aimed to prove he’s no AAAA guy, proved he’s a AAA guy
Huff- the man can draw a walk, but come on- .150?
Burriss- thought he’d be better, me wrongo
Nate- I’m no cultist, but he can use more playing time
Whadyaknow? Nate in RF and leading off..
Schierholtz RF, Theriot 2B, Cabrera LF, Posey C, Pagan CF, Belt 1B, Arias 3B, Crawford SS, (Vogelsong P)
THAT’s an interesting development.
It’s a dumb development. Nate sucks and now that he’s not even being used as a reliable pinch hitter it’s time for him to go. Blanco may be struggling a little bit the last few games but even so he’s scored 3 runs in his last 3 starts. And, he’s still got a .378 OBP out of the 1-hole this year. Anyone here think Nate with get on base 3 times today?
Well, he either has to go (preferable) or get enough starts to ward off atrophy. I don’t think this has much to do with disappointment in Blanco, they’re giving a spot start to Nate. It’s no BFD, IMO.
I think it’s exactly what it appears to be: a spot start for nate and a break for GB. What’s interesting is the one-hole. with freddie gone and pagan not off to a great start in the leadoff role (though he’s settled very nicely in the 5-6) and panda out, bochy has really been experimenting. crawford/burris/theirot in the 2 hole, now nate and i want to say arias had an appearance near the top of the order. it will be interesting to see if it has any rejuvanating effect on Danville’s own. any word on the weather?
See my 6:48am post ewisco.
It’s raining in Palo Alto right now, but not hard.
I think the 2 hole guys were less of an experiment and more a tool to get them going. Both Crawford and Theriot were hitting poorly before they went to that fastball spot in the LU.
No doubt at all the 2 spot was a temporary attempt to help Crawford, it’s not magic. Eventually, you can hit or you can’t hit, in the 2 or in the 13. If that stay helps him by 5 points or so in the 8, good deal. I’m afraid they may keep Theriot in the 2, but that pushes Pagan, Melky, Pablo, or Posey to the 6. There is no frigging way Theriot should be getting more PA than any of those guys. Craig thinks Pagan should stay in the 5 and I’m fine with that. And we all agree that Blanco is the one. 3-4 can be Panda or Posey, I really don’t think it’s that important either way. So Melky in the 2. Fruckie, despite being the stereotypical scappy fart, actually had some cred there- he WAS one of the best hitters…
It’s raining in Auburn . . .
I feel like it’s rainin’ all over the world…
Shit, isn’t this Blade’s area of expertise?
Light rain here in Sacramento.
The game will be played. Book it.
Whoops! Wrong dance. 🙂
“Whoops!”
Did you guys see that the idiot Mets fan who ran on the field and jumped into the Santana dog pile got two days in jail, missed his kid’s bday party and…..wait for it….has been banned from Mets games FOR LIFE!!
I heard that Mets employees will carry around the picture of the dog pile at each home game and use it to identify the dude and evict him if they find him. 🙂
Mets Fan Evicted for LiFE! News at Eleven!
I’m surprised they were so lenient. Dodger stadium newly revised regulations call for execution at dawn . . . sans the last cigarette/meal of your choice (you get a left over Dodger dog with stale bun).
Blanco is just getting a day off, he needs it. Nate starting is no big deal, it’s a one off. BTW, this time I did not have to log on to WordPress to post. I did nothing different or hit any buttons. Weird…
Snarkk declares WordPress as “Weird…”
Besides agreeing on this, did you notice we had eerily similar “mojo” posts about Zits and Timmy? I’m spooked.
Well, a stopped clock is right twice a day, too. Plus, it’s hard to disagree on the disaster that has been Zito. I may be giving him a little more credit so far than you, but I remain skeptical like you that this first third of the season’s success can continue all year…
Did you accept that invitation I sent you through wordpress a few days ago? I thought I saw that you did. You are now officially an “author” at wordpress. Add it to your resume lol
Tom House claim to fame catching Hank Aaron’s 715 th HR off of Al Downing. Idiot gave it right back to Hank.Could have made “Huge” bank if he sold it later.
I believe it was House who blew the whistle on alleged widespeaed “greenie”, HGH, and other ‘roid use by players in the 60’s. Aaron’s possible use was inferred more than asserted. But his HR percantage climbed after age 36.At age 40 he hit 40 HR in less than 400 AB. Other Braves produced unreasonably high HR totals, as well. Led by Davey Johnson’s 43 in 1973.
Enjoy the game- tough young pitcher for the Cubbies. They cut me off home therapy, have to go out patient. I’ll watch the game this evening. Ta-Ta..
Schulman on the Splash has a pretty long discussion on Panda. Not just the legal hassle he’s now in, but some info that the weight problem now is clearly pissing off management. IMO, the gloves have to come off, and maybe that’s becoming the Gyros position, too. Pablo has extraordinary skills, and the Giants showed confidence in him with a 3 year deal for good coin, when they did not have to do that, they could have gone year to year. So, he needs to man up and get control of his weight, and whatever other appetites he has. This is the major leagues, not Food Network…
What the hell’s going on out there? 5 singles this inning. This wouldn’t be happening if Zito were pitching.
Showed Panda in his Rehab start last night.Easily packing 260 plus.He’ll. look just right when they go for the “Gigantes ” Uni night.
He can still hit as Michelin Man, but we know the defense suffers big time. They could play him at first, but that position is already crawling with candidates. I don’t understand how management lets his weight balloon right under their noses….
well, he didn’t hit that well in 2010 when he had REALLY packed it on. His divorce *could* have been affecting his performance that year but it also could have been the fact that he was 270+. I agree that his defense is something to be more concerned about, though.
And I also agree that it is INEXCUSABLE for the Giants to just let this dude eat whatever the fuck he wanted while he was on the DL. It was his hand that was hurt, not his legs. They should have had him doing cardio 2 hours a day, minimum……
I assume while he was on rehab he was doing stationary bike or other cardio under Groeschner and the trainers’ supervision. Maybe he was, and he’s still snarfing his way through the City’s eateries? For what it’s worth, I saw some poster in SFGate say that Panda’s mom and daughter sit in his section, and they are both overweight. The surmise being it’s a family issue, plus Panda has mama cooking for him here, and she’s not exactly cooking like Jenny Craig. Giants must be providing some eating supervision and/or diet, but it’s up to him as an adult and a well paid player to get his ass in shape. It’s getting to the point where the fans are not going to give him much more slack about it, especially is he starts booting grounders and making bad throws again. Same goes for Timmeh, if he’s not in shape to go 7 or 8 innings, he needs to do whatever it takes to do that, whether long toss or more running or bulking up a bit, or whatever it is…
by the way Snarkk, I just checked and you are indeed now an *author* here at the flap. Here is a list of the different roles bloggers play depending on their, well, *role*
Summary of Roles
Super Admin – Someone with access to the blog network administration features controlling the entire network (See Create a Network).
Administrator – Somebody who has access to all the administration features
Editor – Somebody who can publish and manage posts and pages as well as manage other users’ posts, etc.
Author – Somebody who can publish and manage their own posts
Contributor – Somebody who can write and manage their posts but not publish them
Subscriber – Somebody who can only manage their profile
It says that as an author you can publish and manage your own posts–not sure if that means comments or main thread posts. You’ll be able to tell if you are able to edit your comments if there’s a (Edit) after the time stamp of your comment.
An additional benefit of being an author is that wordpress won’t fuck with you by accidently sending you to spam or having you sign in all the time. I did it for FH back in the day and it worked immediately. If any of you other regulars want this role just email me and I’ll send you the invite.
I got back on/off several times this morning, and it still made me log in once to post. Seems I’m a sporadic “author”…
Well then I will bump you up to editor. That should fix it.
Does that come with an increased pay grade?…
later move on the pay scale, unfortunately,
Interesting stat comparison by both you Craig, and Michael. Before reading Mike’s post, I would have said it has to be the change in the pitch percentages, but then Mike threw out the comparisons, and they are almost identical.
Hasn’t Zito’s wind-up delivery changed some this year? I know he was going with the crouch early on, but scrapped it, but I still think he has tweaked-it this year.
Regardless, time will tell. It will be interesting to track his pitch percentages over the next month or so, and see how he is doing.
I was an 87%er (saying Timmy would end the year with a better ERA).
Nate is simply getting a spot start today (as a few have mentioned). And I think it was easier for Bochy to put him in the 1 hole and not disrupt what has become his “standard line-up.”
Pablo needs to get his shit together and lose some weight and focus of fucking baseball. Put his ass on a REALLY SHORT LEASH.
It is raining in Folsom (and Camino, too).
Arias’ at bat was dumb (wtf was he swinging at a ball at his eye level 1-0 with bases loaded and the pitcher unable to throw a strike?) but Castro out-dumbed him in that inning. Thank you very much.
Don’t look now, but the Cubs starters have pretty damn well contained Giant’s scoring this whole series. Their position player corps pretty well sucks, but starting Cubs pitching looks pretty damn serviceable. Cubs are 12th in WHIP in the NL, but 6th best in BA allowed, but then again 5th worst in runs given up. So, it’s not just that the Giants are doing their usual non-scoring thing. Better pitching by the Giants has been the series difference…
These friggin tight games are where the Gyros lack of pop really really comes into play. An HR here and there would sure help, given their usual RISP difficulties…
Hey, I have some of you on my email list and my yahoo account got hacked, i.e., do not open up the link in the email, with the subject heading “hello.” I have changed my email password and tracked down the POS hacker in Nigeria. Obama has taken care of his ass with a SEAL Assault Team as we speak. 🙂
Well, I think it’s absurd to expect mgmt to baby sit Pablo. What are they going to do, watch him 24 hrs a day making sure he doesn’t scarf down a few tacos at midnight?
would that be the vertical taco?
Management should have wired his mouth shut during the hamate bone surgery.Loss weight guaranteed.
Would it be better to call it “tending to their investment”? I don’t see anything wrong with demanding good physical conditioning for players, and monitoring that if the player can’t seem to be consistent in doing it. Timmeh supposedly did a lot of swimming work in the offseason for conditioning. Is that good for pitching? I have no idea if the Giants had any role in supervising that regimen; it seems to me they should have had one…
Agree with snarkk (hey, did you know that your account now says, “darwin?”) that if these guys come into work every day, it should be fairly obvious if someone needs a reminder about their weight – lack of or too much.
Shit, do what Pan Am use to do with their stewardesses – make them hit the weight scale once a week. I remember when stewardesses were hot to trot . . . Now, they are either overweight old ladies or gay men.
There needs to be clear expectations on weight, etc., and they need to monitor it.
As Snarkk said, they made good with the 3 year deal (damned good coin) and did not have to. They could easily be paying him a hell of a lot less year-to-year.
Pablito needs to pull his head outta his ass.
I was laughing at the post someone made wondering (if he did indeed assualt the chick) if she was wearing one of those gay-assed panda hats (sorry if I offend any of you who may own a panda hat). 😉
Arias should just stop fuckjng swinging the bat and just go for the walk every at bat lol
Funny, though-he had a hit, a ground out, and a DP ground out this week end- each drove in the lead run.
go watch his 2 at bats with the bases loaded. They were horrendous, especially the first one when he inexplicably swung at a ball at his shoulders 1-0 after the pitcher had walked a couple of guys and clearly had no idea where the ball was going.
Woo hoo! Sweep!
Four game sweep, now hoping the Phillies do some Dodger ass whipping.
How Sweep It Is! FUCK YEAH!
Go Phillies!
We pitch a run and a half better at home vs. the road, and score 1.56 more RPG on the road than at home. It’s probably something to get used to.
Winning?
That and not bitching about the hitting at home. I know-no way.
ok Snarkk, you are now an editor. Use your power wisely 🙂
Pedro Borbon died at age 65. Most people don’t remember as him an ex-giant but he pitched for us in the 1979 season. He was a mid summer pick up, we traded Hector Cruz for him…….
I remember. I think Hector was Heity by then . . . .
Wasn’t a trade that rocked the baseball world, was it? Pedro had a fine career though, and at 65- waaaaaay too young to go. R.I.P.
I turned on the mlb draft today excited to watch Appel go first and was surprised to see that he dropped all the way to 8th (Pirates). Houston made a curious decision to say the least with their first pick (Correa).
If Panda is too out of shape to play third, leave him in Fresno until he is. Putting him at first because they need the bat is just a horrible example to set and a guy with, uh, eating issues, is going to celebrate with a night of hog’s ass empanada splurging. They could use his bat, they don’t need it.
fuck that, what is leaving him in Fresno going to do? He’s not going to drop 20 pounds in a week. We need his bat in the LU, period. I don’t care where he is in the infield but without him we have THE WORST infield in baseball (offensively).
Apparently Bochy pulled him into his office to give him a talking-to. Sorry, that’s way to late. Again, I have to ask this, WHERE WERE THE FUCKING GIANTS DURING THIS GUY’S DL STAY??????? Fucking stick a babysitter on him if you have to, that’s been done before for players with drug problems. A *food problem* is no less an addiction just because food isn’t called a drug………
He stays in Fresno in my opinion. The Giants bringing him up earlier than the scheduled next week date (Tuesday) is a tacit admission that the lunatics (players) are running the asylum. In short, they need to send a message to him and other players that this is a BUSINESS and no one is irreplaceable.
That being said, the Giants totally fucked up not monitoring his weight while on the DL. It isn’t like they weren’t aware of what was going on – I saw him in the dug out on more than one occasion during games and he was throwing cream pies at the female reporters post game.
Denying someone a cream pie? It’s un-American!
As I said, they could use his bat, they don’t need it. He gets in acceptable shape to play third or he doesn’t play. Otherwise, they’re virtually condoning this…
Shit, they are as guilty as Pablo is in all of this. *contributing to it* comes before *condoning it*
I don’t disagree that the team has fault- never even insinuated otherwise.
So they have a fat guy at first who can’t field THAT position, and they’re forced to continue playing Mario Crawford at SS- sorry, not much improvement.
Bochy said exactly that…..he has to be in the proper shape to play third.
Giants first round pick is coming up at #20, Cleveland just picked at 15.
these analysts are hilarious. I understand why they are doing it, but all this “he reminds me of Joe Morgan”, “he reminds me of Justin Upton”—it’s all nonsense. Maybe one of these guys in the first round will turn into a guy who “reminds” these guys of someone….
Dodgers just took a HS shortstop. He’s Seager’s brother (dude who plays for Seattle) so I’m assuming they’ll be saying “he reminds me….of his brother”.
I have been offline all day…what is the story on Panda’s “date rape” allegations? Last thing we need right when the team is hitting their stride and Dodgers sucking balls…
Giants on the clock
giants have to be taking a pitcher here, right?
got to be a college arm
Chris Stratton, RHP Miss St
Strastton was the one my son and I had looked at
analysts are raving about the pick. Nice.
Stratton that is
here is the $64K question..we have been praying for years on how to get out of the Zito contract. Now he looked so good yesterday and overall for the year has been much more good than bad, if the Red Sox or Yankees start asking, can we afford to lose him? Very scary to think that right now, we probably cant afford to lose him….what say you? Do you trade him to get out of his remaining contract?
no one is going to trade for him, ever, even if he keeps this *under 3.00 ERA* going—which he won’t do. Teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees have a lot of $$ but they aren’t stupid. They can find a guy who’s younger and who makes a hell of a lot less money. Supposedly the Yanks are going to try to acquire Garza—that makes more sense. He’d obviously cost a hell of a lot more than Zito.
Put it this way: I don’t think the Yanks or Boston would take Zito FOR FREE. That’s how difficult it would be to trade Barry Zito, you couldn’t give him away……..
He’s also got a full no trade clause, so if he didn’t want to pitch in NY (and why would he?) he’d nix the deal even if the Yanks agreed to take him for free……..
No way Jose . . . Number one, you are talking about a league that is distinctly better than the National League – despite the Cards and Giants winning the World Series the last two years. Second, the The Yankees and Red Sox reside where? Uhh . . . The American League east – there are no San Diego in this division to feast on. Even Baltimore is tough. Third, the ball parks are made for hitters, especially the band box that the Yankees play in. Zito would be eaten alive there. Moreover, both clubs aren’t being run by imbeciles and would never take over his outrageous contract. Be thankful he is pitching decent for us and accept the fact that no one else is going to ever touch that contract, regardless of how Zito performs going forward.
Blade demands everyone “be thankful” for Zito!
Damn right you trade him.We will trade contracts of Zito for 2B Robinson Cano.LMFAO that would ever happen.
More likely they would offer Chris Stewart back
..Yippee ..
Interesting that Baseball Prospectus had Stratton going to the Indians and us taking Hensley.
15. Cleveland Indians ($2.25M): Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
The Indians are also looking at college arms, but not exclusively. They seem to only have interest in Stratton and Heaney, and if both are gone, they could order off the menu with a college position player and Stanford’s Stephen Piscotty could be a surprising dark horse candidate here.
20. San Francisco Giants ($1.85M): Ty Hensley, RHP, Santa Fe HS (OK)
The Giants are looking at high school arms, and Hensley’s size, current velocity and projection could move him to the top of the pack. Florida high school righty Walker Weickel might lead the list of other considerations.
That’s why you take analysis like this with a grain of salt. None of these guys KNOW what’s going to happen. Intuitively it doesn’t even make sense. With Lincecum and Voggy likely gone in 2014 (and probably Zito too) and with the Giants having a pretty weak pitching stock in the minors right now, taking a HS arm would be the last thing they would do.
Love, Love, LOVE the Stratton pick……..
It also contradicts the wrong thinking that Sabean, scouting, et. al., were going in a new direction the last few years – taking position players because free agent position players didn’t want to play at the Phone Park. Sabean and staff have always taken the best player available, obviously putting more weight on their current situation (that you pointed out Flav in regard to the cupboard being bare in the minors insofar as pitching). Things turned out perfect where they were able to get the man they wanted. I like the pick.
It’s hard to imagine, like you say, why anyone would think they would prefer HS arms now. I stopped my BP premium subscription this year, they’ve become more and more unreliable.
The poor state of the system as regards to starting pitchers is not a revelation- it’s why trading the only blue chip prospect for Beltran was not wise. I said then that they had exactly 6 viable startng pitchers in the entitre system-and 5 of them were already here.But anyway, young arms are always a gamble, but I agree that Stratton looks to be a good pick. It would be nice to see him winning games here before Wheeler gets his first CY 😉
It *is* difficult to imagine Zits being successful in the AL East,but he’s, as I said yesterday, the Great Equalizer-I don’t know how much his pitching is affected by anything as much as Zito himself- he’s much more successful at Coors than he is at Petco- he can get bombed or baffle without regard to reason. 5th place hitters have hit .205 against him in his career. Think about that- .205. That’s in about 1100 plate appearances. There is absolutely no explanation why that is. Except that he is……..not of this Earth..
Goodnight
impressive W for OKC, on the road. James Harden incredible 3, great ball game, durant with fab second half. They moved the ball better and defended harder…weathered the ginobli storm.
A’s Parker with a no hittter thru 7.