Hey! It’s hot and humid up here in the Northwoods of Minnesota ~ relatively anyway. Hey, who called it first on Osich? Stats indicated the move and then his transition to Sactown sealed the deal. But instead of Broadway going back down my call there was for Machi. I think he’s cooked. Lollis for Ishi was also a surprise as was DFA of Bochy Jr. Lollis has done well at 3 levels this year and now gets his official elevation. He may be a better outfielder than Travis, but my read on him has been that he’s essentially a system guy. Well, something new and different anyway and who knows?
Any of you guys that are minor league gurus, if Peavy and/or Cain crater of go DL again, who is the next most likely minor league starter that could come up? Or is there one? There’s gotta be somebody. I’m looking for starter options not named Lincecum and Huddy…
Joe Biagini at Richmond. Last i checked his ERA was under 2.0 and his WHIP good too. He kinda came outta nowhere as his previous record was not so hot. Maybe he learned to pitch somewhere along the line.
Whew! Peavy didn’t fool em in the 1st, but being a clever old codger , he induced that DP. Keeping the fingers crossed though and hoping against hope for a SF conga-line.
Criminy.
What would it take to put a small camera on the bottom of a foul pole looking straight up on the inside or outside of it — the ball will be seen either going past the pole on the foul or the fair side, or hits it. Decision made. Seriously, MLB is clueless on some of this stuff…
I feel the same way about putting cameras on runways. Would solve a lot of *what happened to the plane* issues if they just had a camera on the runway instead of relying on some dumbass flip phone chump who’s too far away to get a good pic of anything……
Good article about ESPN.com surveying 50 scouts, front-office executives, big league coaches and media analysts and asked them to select the game’s best managers in a multitude of categories. I disagree about the players results, a side bar which is different from the article results (my choice is Bochy. Duh.), but then that’s probably why they figuratively “suck his baloney poney” in the first couple of paragraphs to allay criticism from Giants fans.
Bochy not even listed on best at developing young talent. I’d say that’s been disproved a bit over the last season or so with Panik and now Duffy, not to mention Crawford (though Giants had to play him, they had no other choice when he was brought up from A ball). Though, Bochy and Sabes did their best trying to avoid Panik before he proved he could get it done…
Peavy’s done pretty darn well, working out of some trouble.
Let’s see how he does in the 5th, this is the time of the game before his DL stint that he was “getting hammered”. If he could work through 6 relatively unscathed, that would be encouraging…
And his hip/back was locking up somehow.
Maybe his gluts were “not releasing”, which is what was bothering Tiger Woods for a while as he missed cuts this year. I think Tiger solved that problem after meeting up with Amanda Duffner…
Pagan needs to go on the DL for his knee/back/mental recovery.
Isn’t the first rule of baserunning at second that you don’t leave the base until you know you were thrown out?
That was a ridiculous mistake, and brutal..
Sounds good to me. Or, what happened to either of the base coaches? Aren’t they supposed to yell or gesture to stay on the bag? I don’t know if they did…
Well, Peavy did pretty darn well. I don’t think anyone here expected better than that.
Now, Giants need to regroup and win this thing.
Else, this roadie is looking uglier by the minute…
Peavy is always a good bet through 6. So is Hudson. Maybe they can trade places on the DL for the rest of the season, IF the pen can finish their games
Side note: Rondo to Sac, w/ Cousins? And Cauley-Stein flying in? Maybe Karl should take the Zephyr outta town and let Calipari move in. Just kidding. But still, the new arena is rising in SacTown and the team seems to be growing to fill it.
My friend author Hart Seely suggests that umps should be young techies with iPads or whatever. The strikezone could be all high tech. Period. Doesn’t bother me.
This road trip is reminding me of the utterly dreadful road trip just before the ASG in 2012. It was 800 degrees in Pittsburgh and DC. Giants were dead: tired, dragging. I met K&K in Pittsburgh. And Steve Blass. The Giants were flat. Oh. By the way. That year turned out pretty good. (So far, my tiny pleasure in this game is that we got Dan Uggly out.)
Osich’s cutter is an amazing pitch. 90 mph but it moves like a curve. Two times Nats batters flinched away from it and it got called a strike. His 95-96 mph FB sinks heavily. If he can throw strikes he can find in place in the 7th and 8th.
Missed this whole game till the bottom of the 8th, who’s this kid Josh Osrich? Who got 2 big outs, and what moves did they make to bring him up?
And btw screw the Nats, and are freaking losing streak!!!
Since this was another one of those boring baseball games without a lot of scoring, and because I like a challenge (“highly nebulous”), and because K&K made the beyond ridiculous insinuation that because Buster was playing 1B, he might somehow grow as a hitter by being able to talk to Bam Bam in the dugout, I looked at the starting pitchers in all of the game logs for Posey’s starts at 1B:
L – 69 games
R – 58 games
Over 127 random games, those numbers would be more like 85-42 in favor of the right handers.
That’s not being totally fair to K&K. Their point was him being mentally free of the catching responsibilities when playing first base, and how that could possibly help his hitting.
In light of what Snarkk pointed out a few days ago, how long do the Giants wait before putting Posey at first full time? The stats are pretty compelling. If there’s any way Belt could be transitioned to the OF and be successful there Posey would have that opportunity. Susac seems to be coming along, though I admit to not seeing him enough to comment on his defense. He’s getting enough playing time that I think the Giants already have the plan in place to move Posey to first.
Today was the halfway point of the season and Belt is on pace for 18 HR’s, 70 RBI and a .268 BA. Not exactly jaw-dropping numbers for a corner infielder. More like serviceable. Maybe he could be traded for a quality starter.
Posey is squaring up a lot of pitches right now, at both positions, and having a great year. 28/114/.304 or better if he keeps it up. A Giant hasn’t had that good of a season since Bonds retired. If putting him at first makes him a better hitter by relieving him of the rigors of catching, then I’m for it. It was clear to most Giants fans that when Panda squeezed the last out of the 2014 WS Buster had nothing left, completely gassed. IMO, at this point in his career, he’s more important as a hitter than he is as a catcher.
Because of all that, James, I don’t think K&K were being ridiculous at all.
Lurker John, rather than go into tedious detail (ala Zumie’s Bumgarner analyst) about why the stats I posted above pretty much make it clear that Buster’s superior 1B numbers are largely a result of lefty/righty splits, I decided to drink a cold one instead. 🙂
all right lads, a little more than a week until the ASG. i’ll trot out my mantra, what i’ve told myself every year since somewhere in the ’80’s: play .500 ball until the ASG. Don’t get too far behind the leader. get healthy. get hot. get in. get deep.
it takes all the ups and downs out of the early season for me. so we’re not there yet, but we can see it from here.
A very happy fourth to all of you. it’s a country that’s far from perfect but there’s not another i would prefer.
Watching the Dodgers/Mets game on ESPN. I loved Todd Frazier’s description of going up against Kershaw. You guess right on one pitch, you foul it off, and better luck next AB.
That says more about a major league AB, and playing the game than all kinds of useless, petty small town gossip about the clubhouse.
Puig’s decision to dive-slide at 1B avoided what could have been a very nasty collision there, and Puig might’ve walked away ok from it. For all his buffoonery, I’ve never seen that guy try anything dirty. Now, just the opposite. He’s a puzzle, and the dodgers’ inability to figure him out and find a way to make him fit says more about them than him, I’m beginning to suspect.
it’s not kershaw, it’s not the dodgers, it’s blowing chunks against the d’backs and rockies and fish and other shitty teams that’s gonna hurt. the key to beating the giants: toss out some stiff from AAA and he’ll look like the next cy young. it won’t be a big surprise if he gets a key hit, if not a home run, as well. especially with two outs.
ok. deep breath. mantra, repeat the mantra. and pour another couple fingers.
Before the game, the broadcasters were basically calling Kershaw the second coming of Sandy Koufax. That comparison doesn’t really hold up so far in Kershaw’s career.
Zumie at this point in his career Kershaw is much BETTER than Koufax.
Kershaw after 7 seasons (not this year). Koufax after his 1st 7
98-49 54-52
2.5 era 3.97 ERA
1.06 whip 1.41 Whip
1450 K’s 952 K’s
422 walks 501 walks
In his last 5 seasons he was 111-34 1.85 era Maybe best 5 year stretch ever.
I’m not going into the protect Posey argument that I think is ludicrous, but I would definitely question the idea making Posey a full time 1b, putting Susac at C full time and dumping Belt make the Giants a better team.
Belt is an .800 OPs guy who is tied with Crawford for most XBH on the team, with a high OB pct and second best slugging pct behind Posey. He’s an excellent fielder and with regular PT becoming a better line drive hitter who can use the whole field. He is also cost controlled and imo a decent bargain. Frustrating at times, sure.
Susac is not as good a hitter and struggles mightily vs. RHP, which he has often avoided so far when Bochy will put Posey in at 1b vs. LHP. Susac would not be able to C 162 either, so you would need a back up which would likely be another player not near as good as him, let alone Belt.
So bottom line you have swapped an .800 OPS guy for a .730 one at best, weakened your D at 2 spots, and negatively impacted calling a game. Whatever is to be gained offensively from Posey at 1b full time will likely be given right back with Susac and a back up now in the LU every day.
I don’t see SF with a problem at C or 1b…it’s CF where Pagan is doing his best Rafael Nadal impersonation.
Zero slugging a .184 OB pct for June and a .600 OPS for the season are awful numbers, and his baserunning gaffe suggests his physical isses and sliding performance all getting to him. Aoki returns, let him go the DL and start recovery process.
there was a similar discussion on Baggs blog re: Bochy blowing it by leaving Peavy in btw a blogger and Twin yesterday. If a guy is going well, I have a hard time taking him out.
Yesterday was also b-day of a trumpet/flugelhorn player I really liked, Johnny Coles. He played in Mingus groups big and small, did some nice ’60s Blue Note stuff, and a fantastic LP now CD for Uptown with Frank Wess and Kenny Barron, “Two at the Top”. This was great LP with nice versions of Minority, Bud Powell tune Celia and a hauntingly beautiful Ill Wind, one of my fav tunes. Saw him live a couple times, good stuff.
May have mentioned this before, but saw him as part of the quintet backing Frank Morgan when he first came back. One of those names that pops up on many oft-played albums.
As I said, yesterday, this trip reminds me of the black hole of 2012, but we emerged from that with confetti showering down Market Street. (And we beat these b*tches in the playoffs.)
Agreed. Esp with craw up and the right side open, down 3 runs.
I really dislike these guys, esp Harper..off to work, looking for Bum to settle in and a comeback.
The pick off is one of those plays where the anger of the victimized manager matches that of the pissed off fan.
The Giants have now had 6 players picked off, which puts them right in the middle of the NL pack, 11 being the high and 3 the low figure. Fascinating . . . .
kuiper makes me crazy listening on the radio. i ran out to the store and i’m listening to the game. bochy takes bum out. no fucking mention by the lazy asshole at the mic about what inning, how many outs, how many men on. just kept rambling on about this or that. he’s AWFUL at reminding folks about the game situation. Duane,
dickwad, there’s no fucking box on the radio screen with the count and the amount. if you don’t say it, i have to know it and the reason i’m listening to your lazy ass on the radio is because i’m out doing things!!!! so i miss parts of the game and need YOU to fill me in. but NOOOOO.
He’s probably used to doing too much TV, which makes for a lazy announcing job.
I’m not that down on him as you ewisco, but he has definitely declined in his quality of presentation. Miller is missing stuff now, too. Today he mixed up Panik and the new guy Lollis at the plate, but caught the error after the out was made (or somebody caught it and told him).
And, yes, per my usual rant, I can do without Kuip’s un-professional lip smacking / eating during the silly post-game “wrap” session. Can’t he grab a dog or a coke or a beer during the commercial breaks?…
Roark is a real good pitcher, but yeah, your point is a good one.
Looks like the Nationals have gotten their act together after a very slow start to the season.
The Giants were going to be a Wild Card contender this season, and they still are. It looks like the main challenge may be the Cubs. The Pirates look to be solid for the other Wild Card.
Now “sporting” a 4.50 ERA, it would seem that Petit has seen his better days as a longman. Slop-artist seems to be his current description. Maybe its time to call up Joe Biagini from Richmond for the long spot. He has at my last checking an ERA of under 2,.00 in the Eastern League.
Anybody bet on Voggy to get it done vs. Zimmerman tomorrow?
Yeah, this is a good sign. A horrific Ecoast roadie already, possibly a disastrous one with a loss tomorrow.
Means a trip to the playoffs like before…
An embarrassment of a game.
Giants just didn’t show up today, other than maybe Posey when he scored on that middling sac fly, when it really didn’t matter. Good hustle play, unless he gets hurt at home, then it’s a head scratcher.
Base running gaffes are pretty much on the players — Belt and Blanco — but I think our two base coaches aren’t exactly doing a fine job so far this season…
Willie, feel free to reply to or address me directly when countering one of my posts. My name is John and I’ve been hanging around here for a while.
Posey is the best player on the team and with a perpetually offensively starved lineup. His batting is rounding out as he matures and this year he’s putting together his best season from a production standpoint, and he’s still hitting over .300. My opinion about moving him to first is less about “protecting” him than it is about extracting the most offense out of him as possible, and a catcher’s legs give out over time. It’s a brutal position. He calls a great game and is an important part of making the pitchers successful and winning 3 WS. I’m confident Susac can mature into the same kind of player. The Giants are certainly giving him a hard look so they must think he has something.
You paint Belt as if he’s some kind of invaluable commodity in the Giant’s lineup. He’s frustrating at times? He becomes a goddamn black hole in the lineup for long stretches every season. But if he can transition to a successful OF, you’d still have his beloved bat in the lineup. Alex Gordon did it and became a Gold Glove LF. Why not Belt?
Belt has been an .800 OPS man once in the past 4 seasons and it remains to seen if he ends up one this year. His season numbers remain below par for a corner infielder, but he continually gets a pass for that fact. 67 RBI is his career high. At this point, with his size and strength, he should be doing better. He’s not consistent and that’s the worst thing a ML hitter can be. And who gives a crap about XBH if it doesn’t result in runs driven in? With Belt it doesn’t. With Crawford it does. I like the Belt and I want him to do good, but to brush off the idea that having Posey at first as a bad idea is shortsighted. He’s a good catcher and I think he can become a solid first baseman. Obviously the Giants agree with the idea to some extent or they wouldn’t put him there at all.
The Giants do, IMO, need another quality starter to fully compete into the dog days and stretch drive, and Belt would be a good bargaining chip. Maybe I’m wrong about all of this; that happens every day. But it is my opinion. Today.
Belt’s polarizing, I understand. Last year imo was a throw out season; I like 2013 a lot better as a measure of his potential. He’s not going to hit .25-30 HRs (though on pace for 18) playing in a pitcher’s yard like ATT–if that is your break point, then he’s out…along with most of the NL 1b not named Goldschmidt or Freddie Freeman. I think he can a decent hitter in .820-.840 OPS range. Given the uncertainty of Pence, my point about XBH and slugging I think is cogent—he’s no worse than second best on the team
He’s also not a big salary guy yet and I think more he plays he will continue to improve.
The main issue for me is the build up on Susac. He had a hot streak and all of a sudden is the answer to Giants problems. At this point in his career, which is only 200 some ABs, there is no way to tell if he will ever be any better hitter than Belt; currently his OPS is in .730 range. RHP is eating him alive, and as every day player he would face that more often than not. Does Susac have a back up or do we get another round of Hector?
To me, neither C nor 1b are broken, so I don’t get the idea of fixing them. I’ve followed baseball since the ’60s, and I think guys from Mays era would be disdainful of the idea of protecting a guy by moving him out of C. If Posey were banged up and struggling like Pagan I could see it. Otherwise, no.
Funny thing is, I thought originally Giants were going to be offensively starved but they aren’t.
Aoki and Panik have been much better than I thought, and Craw has picked it up. So has Blanco–all these guys are over .800 OPS., plus Posey and Belt. That’s better than last year and Giants are in upper third of the league for runs scored.
Duffy, even if he struggles, I can live with.
Pagan in CF, no. So that’s your trouble spot, imo.
As far as pitching, SF can go spend the $$$ to get a good one or 2 in off season when there are plenty of them out there and a lot of money comes off books. Cueto Leake maybe Chapman, J Zim and Fister, Greinke, etc.
Timmeh and Hudson and Voggy are off the books, that’s about $35 million coming available right there for 2016. They’ll arguably have Bum, Cain and Heston, assuming Cain doesn’t have continuing elbow issues and can pitch to a #4 or thereabouts status. I’m putting Peavy down as an unknown for 2016, though he’s under contract. So, they can switch the $35 million to two FA pitchers, or a combination of one FA and another pitcher from the minors (with some of the $35M saved for spending elsewhere), to round out the 5 rotation starters. If both Cain AND Peavy can’t go for whatever reasons, then there will a lot of heavy lifting to do. By 2016, somebody else from the minors should be making noise to be a starter on the big club, otherwise all this stuff about great arms below becomes a bunch of baloney…
I think it was Baggs who wrote something last week stating that the Giants July schedule looks relatively easy in that they will not be facing many good teams … when I read that I got a cold chill all over. Has any one noticed how brutal August looks? There is a stretch of 23 games where we have Cubs, Astros, Nats, Cards, Pirates Cubs, Cards .. then the bums to finish off the month … Yikes!
Hey Loo, today is anniversary of Larry Doby’s first AB, July 5 1947, as first black player in AL.
See how often this gets mentioned today, even in Cleveland where he first started.
Btw, what was his number, something I wouldn’t know without looking it up.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball
Hey! It’s hot and humid up here in the Northwoods of Minnesota ~ relatively anyway. Hey, who called it first on Osich? Stats indicated the move and then his transition to Sactown sealed the deal. But instead of Broadway going back down my call there was for Machi. I think he’s cooked. Lollis for Ishi was also a surprise as was DFA of Bochy Jr. Lollis has done well at 3 levels this year and now gets his official elevation. He may be a better outfielder than Travis, but my read on him has been that he’s essentially a system guy. Well, something new and different anyway and who knows?
Fingers crossed on Peavy.
Smart move to give 4 wide to Harper. Why don’t the Giants do that to Goldschmidt — every time he’s up?…
Any of you guys that are minor league gurus, if Peavy and/or Cain crater of go DL again, who is the next most likely minor league starter that could come up? Or is there one? There’s gotta be somebody. I’m looking for starter options not named Lincecum and Huddy…
Joe Biagini at Richmond. Last i checked his ERA was under 2.0 and his WHIP good too. He kinda came outta nowhere as his previous record was not so hot. Maybe he learned to pitch somewhere along the line.
Ok, thanks Stix. I’ll look him up…
Whew! Peavy didn’t fool em in the 1st, but being a clever old codger , he induced that DP. Keeping the fingers crossed though and hoping against hope for a SF conga-line.
Them’s great words of encouragement as your pitcher strides out to the bump for the start.
“Now, don’t get hammered!”…
Criminy.
What would it take to put a small camera on the bottom of a foul pole looking straight up on the inside or outside of it — the ball will be seen either going past the pole on the foul or the fair side, or hits it. Decision made. Seriously, MLB is clueless on some of this stuff…
I feel the same way about putting cameras on runways. Would solve a lot of *what happened to the plane* issues if they just had a camera on the runway instead of relying on some dumbass flip phone chump who’s too far away to get a good pic of anything……
Good article about ESPN.com surveying 50 scouts, front-office executives, big league coaches and media analysts and asked them to select the game’s best managers in a multitude of categories. I disagree about the players results, a side bar which is different from the article results (my choice is Bochy. Duh.), but then that’s probably why they figuratively “suck his baloney poney” in the first couple of paragraphs to allay criticism from Giants fans.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13186480/who-mlb-best-manager-survey-says
Bochy not even listed on best at developing young talent. I’d say that’s been disproved a bit over the last season or so with Panik and now Duffy, not to mention Crawford (though Giants had to play him, they had no other choice when he was brought up from A ball). Though, Bochy and Sabes did their best trying to avoid Panik before he proved he could get it done…
Calvin Coolidge doesn’t deserve mascot status. His presidency led to The Great Depression. Why honor that?
I think they’re baiting people with that one. Personally, I’d like to see FDR on two good legs.
lulz!
Peavy’s done pretty darn well, working out of some trouble.
Let’s see how he does in the 5th, this is the time of the game before his DL stint that he was “getting hammered”. If he could work through 6 relatively unscathed, that would be encouraging…
Yeah, 3rd time through the lineup….
And his hip/back was locking up somehow.
Maybe his gluts were “not releasing”, which is what was bothering Tiger Woods for a while as he missed cuts this year. I think Tiger solved that problem after meeting up with Amanda Duffner…
Come on Gyros, let’s get some runs. Panik could hit a nice bomb to right center, I’d be up for that…
Pagan needs to go on the DL for his knee/back/mental recovery.
Isn’t the first rule of baserunning at second that you don’t leave the base until you know you were thrown out?
That was a ridiculous mistake, and brutal..
I think the 2B ump is right there, calling the play. So if you don’t hear OUT, you stand on the bag, right?
Sounds good to me. Or, what happened to either of the base coaches? Aren’t they supposed to yell or gesture to stay on the bag? I don’t know if they did…
Robinson does a curtain call? That’s amateur hour.
Maybe he can borrow the Dodgers’ bubble machine from last year.
Well, Peavy did pretty darn well. I don’t think anyone here expected better than that.
Now, Giants need to regroup and win this thing.
Else, this roadie is looking uglier by the minute…
Peavy is always a good bet through 6. So is Hudson. Maybe they can trade places on the DL for the rest of the season, IF the pen can finish their games
Side note: Rondo to Sac, w/ Cousins? And Cauley-Stein flying in? Maybe Karl should take the Zephyr outta town and let Calipari move in. Just kidding. But still, the new arena is rising in SacTown and the team seems to be growing to fill it.
Seems like good moves.
This is totally on Bochy. WHy leave him in? Take what you got from Peavy and be happy. DIpshit move to leave him in UNTIL he gives up a bomb.
sure seems that way now, in retrospect tho
This new pitcher kind of looks like Kickham. Hope that’s not a bad sign.
My friend author Hart Seely suggests that umps should be young techies with iPads or whatever. The strikezone could be all high tech. Period. Doesn’t bother me.
live games would resemble pinball–what does the machine say? Oh. Yay. Or boo.
This road trip is reminding me of the utterly dreadful road trip just before the ASG in 2012. It was 800 degrees in Pittsburgh and DC. Giants were dead: tired, dragging. I met K&K in Pittsburgh. And Steve Blass. The Giants were flat. Oh. By the way. That year turned out pretty good. (So far, my tiny pleasure in this game is that we got Dan Uggly out.)
We need the broken bone guys back.
we truly miss them, don’t we…
Osich’s cutter is an amazing pitch. 90 mph but it moves like a curve. Two times Nats batters flinched away from it and it got called a strike. His 95-96 mph FB sinks heavily. If he can throw strikes he can find in place in the 7th and 8th.
Missed this whole game till the bottom of the 8th, who’s this kid Josh Osrich? Who got 2 big outs, and what moves did they make to bring him up?
And btw screw the Nats, and are freaking losing streak!!!
Both Tims to the disabled list, I think.
Since this was another one of those boring baseball games without a lot of scoring, and because I like a challenge (“highly nebulous”), and because K&K made the beyond ridiculous insinuation that because Buster was playing 1B, he might somehow grow as a hitter by being able to talk to Bam Bam in the dugout, I looked at the starting pitchers in all of the game logs for Posey’s starts at 1B:
L – 69 games
R – 58 games
Over 127 random games, those numbers would be more like 85-42 in favor of the right handers.
That’s not being totally fair to K&K. Their point was him being mentally free of the catching responsibilities when playing first base, and how that could possibly help his hitting.
I’m not saying I agree with them, though.
Ok, but this kind of “analysis” is at least as stupid and irrelevant as looking at the change in Madbum’s ground ball rate.
Sorry, missed your reply, Zumie.
Dodger/Mets game is on ESPN.
In light of what Snarkk pointed out a few days ago, how long do the Giants wait before putting Posey at first full time? The stats are pretty compelling. If there’s any way Belt could be transitioned to the OF and be successful there Posey would have that opportunity. Susac seems to be coming along, though I admit to not seeing him enough to comment on his defense. He’s getting enough playing time that I think the Giants already have the plan in place to move Posey to first.
Today was the halfway point of the season and Belt is on pace for 18 HR’s, 70 RBI and a .268 BA. Not exactly jaw-dropping numbers for a corner infielder. More like serviceable. Maybe he could be traded for a quality starter.
Posey is squaring up a lot of pitches right now, at both positions, and having a great year. 28/114/.304 or better if he keeps it up. A Giant hasn’t had that good of a season since Bonds retired. If putting him at first makes him a better hitter by relieving him of the rigors of catching, then I’m for it. It was clear to most Giants fans that when Panda squeezed the last out of the 2014 WS Buster had nothing left, completely gassed. IMO, at this point in his career, he’s more important as a hitter than he is as a catcher.
Because of all that, James, I don’t think K&K were being ridiculous at all.
Lurker John, rather than go into tedious detail (ala Zumie’s Bumgarner analyst) about why the stats I posted above pretty much make it clear that Buster’s superior 1B numbers are largely a result of lefty/righty splits, I decided to drink a cold one instead. 🙂
Good decision. At the very least, it would extend his career and like I said, I think the Giants plan to go in this direction anyway.
all right lads, a little more than a week until the ASG. i’ll trot out my mantra, what i’ve told myself every year since somewhere in the ’80’s: play .500 ball until the ASG. Don’t get too far behind the leader. get healthy. get hot. get in. get deep.
it takes all the ups and downs out of the early season for me. so we’re not there yet, but we can see it from here.
A very happy fourth to all of you. it’s a country that’s far from perfect but there’s not another i would prefer.
Watching the Dodgers/Mets game on ESPN. I loved Todd Frazier’s description of going up against Kershaw. You guess right on one pitch, you foul it off, and better luck next AB.
That says more about a major league AB, and playing the game than all kinds of useless, petty small town gossip about the clubhouse.
You know, you’re starting to make 1.2% more sense to me. (grin)
now that Reddick has burned some bridges, and the A’s bullpen is still exploding, what about a reliever for Reddick?
I saw Mayberry, Jr. hit an HR vs. the Stockton Ports several years ago.
Puig’s decision to dive-slide at 1B avoided what could have been a very nasty collision there, and Puig might’ve walked away ok from it. For all his buffoonery, I’ve never seen that guy try anything dirty. Now, just the opposite. He’s a puzzle, and the dodgers’ inability to figure him out and find a way to make him fit says more about them than him, I’m beginning to suspect.
I would sign him 30 seconds after he becomes a FA…
Agreed, Loo.
The Great Kershaw rarely goes more than 7 innings.
it’s not kershaw, it’s not the dodgers, it’s blowing chunks against the d’backs and rockies and fish and other shitty teams that’s gonna hurt. the key to beating the giants: toss out some stiff from AAA and he’ll look like the next cy young. it won’t be a big surprise if he gets a key hit, if not a home run, as well. especially with two outs.
ok. deep breath. mantra, repeat the mantra. and pour another couple fingers.
And his night is done. That the Mets scored even 1 run off Kershaw is some kind of miracle.
Before tonight:
Kershaw 16 GS 107 IP
Bum 16 GS 108 IP
Before the game, the broadcasters were basically calling Kershaw the second coming of Sandy Koufax. That comparison doesn’t really hold up so far in Kershaw’s career.
Top of the 9th, Mets threatening in a 1-1 game . . . and Dodgers fans got the beach ball going in the background.
Extreme morning baseball tomorrow! 8:00 AM, Pacific Time.
Zumie at this point in his career Kershaw is much BETTER than Koufax.
Kershaw after 7 seasons (not this year). Koufax after his 1st 7
98-49 54-52
2.5 era 3.97 ERA
1.06 whip 1.41 Whip
1450 K’s 952 K’s
422 walks 501 walks
In his last 5 seasons he was 111-34 1.85 era Maybe best 5 year stretch ever.
I’m not going into the protect Posey argument that I think is ludicrous, but I would definitely question the idea making Posey a full time 1b, putting Susac at C full time and dumping Belt make the Giants a better team.
Belt is an .800 OPs guy who is tied with Crawford for most XBH on the team, with a high OB pct and second best slugging pct behind Posey. He’s an excellent fielder and with regular PT becoming a better line drive hitter who can use the whole field. He is also cost controlled and imo a decent bargain. Frustrating at times, sure.
Susac is not as good a hitter and struggles mightily vs. RHP, which he has often avoided so far when Bochy will put Posey in at 1b vs. LHP. Susac would not be able to C 162 either, so you would need a back up which would likely be another player not near as good as him, let alone Belt.
So bottom line you have swapped an .800 OPS guy for a .730 one at best, weakened your D at 2 spots, and negatively impacted calling a game. Whatever is to be gained offensively from Posey at 1b full time will likely be given right back with Susac and a back up now in the LU every day.
I don’t see SF with a problem at C or 1b…it’s CF where Pagan is doing his best Rafael Nadal impersonation.
Zero slugging a .184 OB pct for June and a .600 OPS for the season are awful numbers, and his baserunning gaffe suggests his physical isses and sliding performance all getting to him. Aoki returns, let him go the DL and start recovery process.
Good overall assessment.
there was a similar discussion on Baggs blog re: Bochy blowing it by leaving Peavy in btw a blogger and Twin yesterday. If a guy is going well, I have a hard time taking him out.
Yesterday was also b-day of a trumpet/flugelhorn player I really liked, Johnny Coles. He played in Mingus groups big and small, did some nice ’60s Blue Note stuff, and a fantastic LP now CD for Uptown with Frank Wess and Kenny Barron, “Two at the Top”. This was great LP with nice versions of Minority, Bud Powell tune Celia and a hauntingly beautiful Ill Wind, one of my fav tunes. Saw him live a couple times, good stuff.
May have mentioned this before, but saw him as part of the quintet backing Frank Morgan when he first came back. One of those names that pops up on many oft-played albums.
As I said, yesterday, this trip reminds me of the black hole of 2012, but we emerged from that with confetti showering down Market Street. (And we beat these b*tches in the playoffs.)
If you just got up, you may want to go back to bed.
Yup. I turn away, and that black hole just got darker. And no outs.
Let’s hope the Bozo Bum GH combo gets Giants off the schneid..already game time. Of F…what a start.
@Blade: hey Steve, are you posting your travels on the Around the World blog?
Hi Willie . . . No, I haven’t. Similar to Flav’s post today, I am out of words. 🙂
I may resume if I find the elusive Loo . . .
Where’s the re-set button?
is the Panik button working?
I don’t know what’s uglier. This inning or those uniforms the Giants are wearing.
Belt really is asleep on the bases.
Agreed. Esp with craw up and the right side open, down 3 runs.
I really dislike these guys, esp Harper..off to work, looking for Bum to settle in and a comeback.
Nothing like starting out behind the 8-ball with Bum imploding in the first. This one’s gotta be the road-trip from hell.
The pick off is one of those plays where the anger of the victimized manager matches that of the pissed off fan.
The Giants have now had 6 players picked off, which puts them right in the middle of the NL pack, 11 being the high and 3 the low figure. Fascinating . . . .
Desmond is maybe the worst SS in all of MLB, but of course he’s making every play vs. Giants.
The Giants so far today:
I guess this start is more evidence of MadBum’s lower groundball rate.
Huge upset in the world of compettive eating today. Joey Chestnut goes down to little Matt Stonie.
WTF Belt
Not surprised Stonie wins the eating contest…
Bochy’s butt is officially fried.
Krukow: “Assumption is the mother of all screw-ups.”
That’s actually a pretty good quote!
kuiper makes me crazy listening on the radio. i ran out to the store and i’m listening to the game. bochy takes bum out. no fucking mention by the lazy asshole at the mic about what inning, how many outs, how many men on. just kept rambling on about this or that. he’s AWFUL at reminding folks about the game situation. Duane,
dickwad, there’s no fucking box on the radio screen with the count and the amount. if you don’t say it, i have to know it and the reason i’m listening to your lazy ass on the radio is because i’m out doing things!!!! so i miss parts of the game and need YOU to fill me in. but NOOOOO.
I feel your pain Wisco. I won’t miss Kuip at all when he hangs ’em up.
🙂
He’s probably used to doing too much TV, which makes for a lazy announcing job.
I’m not that down on him as you ewisco, but he has definitely declined in his quality of presentation. Miller is missing stuff now, too. Today he mixed up Panik and the new guy Lollis at the plate, but caught the error after the out was made (or somebody caught it and told him).
And, yes, per my usual rant, I can do without Kuip’s un-professional lip smacking / eating during the silly post-game “wrap” session. Can’t he grab a dog or a coke or a beer during the commercial breaks?…
“World Chumps” may fit today’s humiliation. One hit vs Strasburg and then not a whimper vs Roark.
Roark is a real good pitcher, but yeah, your point is a good one.
Looks like the Nationals have gotten their act together after a very slow start to the season.
The Giants were going to be a Wild Card contender this season, and they still are. It looks like the main challenge may be the Cubs. The Pirates look to be solid for the other Wild Card.
Hmm, 6 earned runs . . . not exactly a Bumgarner type outing.
One fucking hit?
Did my Gmen make a deal with the devil to sweep losanges? I feel like I am paying for that today.
And Blanco . . that about sums this up. Enjoy the rest of the 4th everyone!
Now “sporting” a 4.50 ERA, it would seem that Petit has seen his better days as a longman. Slop-artist seems to be his current description. Maybe its time to call up Joe Biagini from Richmond for the long spot. He has at my last checking an ERA of under 2,.00 in the Eastern League.
Fucking Giants.
BF, you should have told Bum “Now, don’t get hammered”…
Anybody bet on Voggy to get it done vs. Zimmerman tomorrow?
Yeah, this is a good sign. A horrific Ecoast roadie already, possibly a disastrous one with a loss tomorrow.
Means a trip to the playoffs like before…
Is anyone currently basking? At least there’s adequate time to recover before cocktails, BBQ, and a wine from the cellar tonight.
I’m sweating after a stint in the kitchen.
Does that qualify as semi-basking?…
No Snarkk .. I think that’s called ‘basting’.
lqtm
An embarrassment of a game.
Giants just didn’t show up today, other than maybe Posey when he scored on that middling sac fly, when it really didn’t matter. Good hustle play, unless he gets hurt at home, then it’s a head scratcher.
Base running gaffes are pretty much on the players — Belt and Blanco — but I think our two base coaches aren’t exactly doing a fine job so far this season…
Willie, feel free to reply to or address me directly when countering one of my posts. My name is John and I’ve been hanging around here for a while.
Posey is the best player on the team and with a perpetually offensively starved lineup. His batting is rounding out as he matures and this year he’s putting together his best season from a production standpoint, and he’s still hitting over .300. My opinion about moving him to first is less about “protecting” him than it is about extracting the most offense out of him as possible, and a catcher’s legs give out over time. It’s a brutal position. He calls a great game and is an important part of making the pitchers successful and winning 3 WS. I’m confident Susac can mature into the same kind of player. The Giants are certainly giving him a hard look so they must think he has something.
You paint Belt as if he’s some kind of invaluable commodity in the Giant’s lineup. He’s frustrating at times? He becomes a goddamn black hole in the lineup for long stretches every season. But if he can transition to a successful OF, you’d still have his beloved bat in the lineup. Alex Gordon did it and became a Gold Glove LF. Why not Belt?
Belt has been an .800 OPS man once in the past 4 seasons and it remains to seen if he ends up one this year. His season numbers remain below par for a corner infielder, but he continually gets a pass for that fact. 67 RBI is his career high. At this point, with his size and strength, he should be doing better. He’s not consistent and that’s the worst thing a ML hitter can be. And who gives a crap about XBH if it doesn’t result in runs driven in? With Belt it doesn’t. With Crawford it does. I like the Belt and I want him to do good, but to brush off the idea that having Posey at first as a bad idea is shortsighted. He’s a good catcher and I think he can become a solid first baseman. Obviously the Giants agree with the idea to some extent or they wouldn’t put him there at all.
The Giants do, IMO, need another quality starter to fully compete into the dog days and stretch drive, and Belt would be a good bargaining chip. Maybe I’m wrong about all of this; that happens every day. But it is my opinion. Today.
Belt’s polarizing, I understand. Last year imo was a throw out season; I like 2013 a lot better as a measure of his potential. He’s not going to hit .25-30 HRs (though on pace for 18) playing in a pitcher’s yard like ATT–if that is your break point, then he’s out…along with most of the NL 1b not named Goldschmidt or Freddie Freeman. I think he can a decent hitter in .820-.840 OPS range. Given the uncertainty of Pence, my point about XBH and slugging I think is cogent—he’s no worse than second best on the team
He’s also not a big salary guy yet and I think more he plays he will continue to improve.
The main issue for me is the build up on Susac. He had a hot streak and all of a sudden is the answer to Giants problems. At this point in his career, which is only 200 some ABs, there is no way to tell if he will ever be any better hitter than Belt; currently his OPS is in .730 range. RHP is eating him alive, and as every day player he would face that more often than not. Does Susac have a back up or do we get another round of Hector?
To me, neither C nor 1b are broken, so I don’t get the idea of fixing them. I’ve followed baseball since the ’60s, and I think guys from Mays era would be disdainful of the idea of protecting a guy by moving him out of C. If Posey were banged up and struggling like Pagan I could see it. Otherwise, no.
Nobody in the ’60s was making $168 million, guaranteed…
Funny thing is, I thought originally Giants were going to be offensively starved but they aren’t.
Aoki and Panik have been much better than I thought, and Craw has picked it up. So has Blanco–all these guys are over .800 OPS., plus Posey and Belt. That’s better than last year and Giants are in upper third of the league for runs scored.
Duffy, even if he struggles, I can live with.
Pagan in CF, no. So that’s your trouble spot, imo.
As far as pitching, SF can go spend the $$$ to get a good one or 2 in off season when there are plenty of them out there and a lot of money comes off books. Cueto Leake maybe Chapman, J Zim and Fister, Greinke, etc.
Timmeh and Hudson and Voggy are off the books, that’s about $35 million coming available right there for 2016. They’ll arguably have Bum, Cain and Heston, assuming Cain doesn’t have continuing elbow issues and can pitch to a #4 or thereabouts status. I’m putting Peavy down as an unknown for 2016, though he’s under contract. So, they can switch the $35 million to two FA pitchers, or a combination of one FA and another pitcher from the minors (with some of the $35M saved for spending elsewhere), to round out the 5 rotation starters. If both Cain AND Peavy can’t go for whatever reasons, then there will a lot of heavy lifting to do. By 2016, somebody else from the minors should be making noise to be a starter on the big club, otherwise all this stuff about great arms below becomes a bunch of baloney…
I think it was Baggs who wrote something last week stating that the Giants July schedule looks relatively easy in that they will not be facing many good teams … when I read that I got a cold chill all over. Has any one noticed how brutal August looks? There is a stretch of 23 games where we have Cubs, Astros, Nats, Cards, Pirates Cubs, Cards .. then the bums to finish off the month … Yikes!
Are they doing fireworks in CA or has everything been cancelled because of the drought?
Some counties have cancelled fireworks, but many haven’t.
Yeah, I can’t imagine why the Mets pitcher’s goofy- looking protective hat isn’t catching on.
I’m currently reading David Helvarg’s interesting memoir called “Saved By The Sea.” He’s an advocate for ocean restoration and preservation.
That’s a coincidence. I’m currently eating a can of Chicken Of The Sea.
Love that mermaid…
Probably at $1.68, guaranteed.
heavy metal
save the dolphins, motherfuckers
I think the Mariners are a very viable trade partner for us.
How about Belt, Lincecum, and Petit for Austin Jackson, Logan Morrison and J.A. Happ?
Hey Loo, today is anniversary of Larry Doby’s first AB, July 5 1947, as first black player in AL.
See how often this gets mentioned today, even in Cleveland where he first started.
Btw, what was his number, something I wouldn’t know without looking it up.