58
There’s only ONE thing you can hold on to right now that doesn’t feel like total failure and despair. All those wins? All 58 of them….are in the bank. Nobody can touch them. And all the Giants can do is add to them. So we were built to withstand this type of nonsense where other teams who don’t have 58 in the bank would simply be watching their season slip away.
We need our real major league players back and we need some major league players who we we’ve never had yet. Gillaspe, Green, Pena, 40% of our starting rotation and an underwhelming bullpen ain’t gonna get it done.
This is not a bad penny year although I’m starting to wonder if Sabean isn’t keeping that one safely in his back pocket, at the ready.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Other side of the coin to Peavy getting roughed up was 4 innings of shutout 1 hit baseball by the much maligned Reds pen. Park played smaller last night and warm weather is supposed to be around most of rest of the week; might even be warmer next couple days than last night.
Pena, idk. Made a couple more nice plays on the IF. He’s not a .300 hitter so a slump was inevitable but hey he has filled in more than admirably.
Panik will resume Sacto play, Pence too..supposedly needs a weeks worth of ABs, maybe less for Panik. Heard this before, let’s put it that way.
Chapman deal (and he is a rental certain to go out and test market regardless) certainly gives pause to how price for a high end reliever has escalated. I’d tread awful carefully there as Giants are gonna need some of the younger guys they currently have in minors to fill in next year and beyond. They could easily have to replace 2 SPs and 3 pen guys, from somewhere.
That’s an excellent perspective, Flav. Although at this rate, I’m just hoping the title one week from now isn’t “59.”
The one good take from last night is that Belt got some mojo back. Three hits, including a 2-run ding-dong may just possibly signal that he’s back. Now as for Buster (okay, that one RBI) and Crawford, not so sure. Pena and Gillaspie were collared offensively last night. Add in the pitchers and that’s 3 holes in the lineup. The replacements held their own nicely ~ up to the Break ~ and now more or less are reverting to form.
Minors note: Susac, Adrianza and Tomlinson are hitting it up for the Rivercats. Ehire, of all people, went on a homer binge. Returns of Pence and Panik somewhat soon and Duffy ~ sooner or later ~ will mean that a bunch of juggling will need be done with the 25-man. Somebody may well end up in a trade sandwich.
For Peavy, the Magic number is 5. If he makes it through 5 without devastation, pull him. That’s the rule. Not great for Pen health, but hey, that’s the bed they’ve made with this rotation. To not recognize a guy is through in a game is not what we expect of Bochy and Rags. When the gun shows you throwing 85 mph fastballs and cutters, and the slider has a loop in it, that’s not going to get it done…
I was surprised to see Peavy come out for the 6th. Considering the recent BP performance (or lack thereof) I guess Bochy is just milking everything he can out of the SPs.
Good perspective. The club was playing way over it’s head and had to return to earth eventually. Pence, Panik, Duffy & Tomlinson returning will be good.
Bochy doesn’t know the 5 rule. If Peavy is doing ok Boch always brings him out for the 6th. He is a slow learner for a HOF manager:)
I wish it weren’t so, but after seeing Cain in Boston, we have little and no chance, especially against their lefties (Votto, Bruce and even Hamilton). That’s how putrid Cain was in Boston. There may even be a splash hit tonight. 😦
yeah. Seems too obvious of a play to stack Reds hitters tonight but it sure does look like the play.
MLB trade rumors reports that Bumgarner has changed agents for the second time in a matter of months. Hmmm. Interesting.
It’s not Loo and associates is it?
Hah!
Cueto could still opt out, leaving Bum front and center as face of franchise on the mound.
Given what crap SPs Giants have overpaid for recently, with right advocates behind him Bum could really hold Baer and his bean counters feet to the fire…literally.
Good one WillieD!
Bum may be looking for an agent that is better at getting him endorsement deals now to max his off field coin while he is still a top player with that tough, regular guy persona…
Agree. I doubt the Giants are going to revise a team friendly contract, unless there is an extension involved. You and other Flappers can probably appraise how well he did in endorsements after his superb season and playoff/WS performance (as I do not have TV/cable/Satellite).
Yeah, it’s kind of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation regarding Peavy and the Pen, but seriously, after the double it should have been a no-brainer.
Plus, if taken out right at that moment, there’s no chance for Peavy to take a loss.
Yeah, that was the spot.
How about going after Sale? Yeah, he’s a goofball, but the Giants can reel in his excesses, I’m confident.
The problem is you could Offer up the Giants top 5 prospects and it probably wouldn’t be good enough for Sale. It would help if we had a couple Top 100 prospects, but we don’t. There are some good arms in the system but not one front line, can’t miss guy. They would have to start with Panik and that sure as hell isn’t going to happen.
At this point, they might have to settle for one of those Tampa Bay arms, not named Archer.
I like Archer and his stock has dropped quite a bit as he is having a shitty year in a pitchers park. You have to think he would be pretty pumped playing in a sold out yard for a pennant contending team, so there is certianly turnaround potential and he would be a legit #2 or 3 starter if he returns to form.
And it would keep the Dodgers from getting him.
Joe, the biggest problem with Archer are his walks (control). Consequently, his ERA and (especially) his WHIP is elevated. He’s still the same stud with a lot of SOs (10.7 K/9, best since his rookie year in 2012).
Giants have zero chance for Archer. Similarly, Odorizzi is probably beyond reach. Maybe Matt Moore, who has the stuff to be of higher impact in a playoff push but comes with a bigger risk to both sides, in terms of health (having already had Tommy John surgery).
Cracking up about the Rays . . . Dealing arms is what the Rays do. Have they ever had a pitcher make it to free agency? I doubt it. This is the organization that has traded Cy Young winner David Price, has traded All-Stars Scott Kazmir and James Shields, has traded ALCS MVP Matt Garza, has traded Jeremy Hellickson and Edwin Jackson and others. Yeah, one or more of these guys are gone.
Peavy/Cain have a combined 6-15 record now, with a 5+ ERA. They’re the biggest hindrance to our playoff hopes.
Typical Bochy quote about them: “They’ve had a few hiccups, but they’re getting close.”
Close to retirement, I hope. Cain is a lost cause. Cody Reed however may be more lost. He’s 0-4 with a 6.75 era. Let’s hope he’s not the latest example of a guy finding himself . . .
The Dodgers have been willing to let guys go, and eat a lot of contract money this year (and last year), and the Giants need to be willing to do so. They wouldn’t have to eat nearly the amount the Dodgers are.
A few hiccups?
Their both closer to trerratics syndrome at this point..
Cody Reed might find himself quite quickly v this group:
CF Denard Span (L)
LF Angel Pagan (S)
RF Mac Williamson (R)
C Buster Posey (R)
SS B. Crawford (L)
1B Brandon Belt (L)
2B Grant Green (R)
3B Ramiro Pena (S)
P Matt Cain (R)
Pence is apparently one week away from returning . . . He said,
“For me it’s exciting. But it’s like, man, I can’t wait until I can go all out. … It’s good to have progress. It’s exciting. I was definitely amped up just to be out there on the field again. I’ll do what I can to be back as quick as possible. I’ll do everything we can think of.”
With emphasis on – “I can’t wait until I can go all out.”
Who else can see another hammy injury on the horizon? Oh Oh!
What’s Up Fellas? I’m recovering after a whirlwind final couple of days in New York. We DID end up going to both the Yankee game and the Guns n Roses concert on Sunday, so that day was an ass-kicker and we didn’t get back to the hotel until 2:30 am. Then yesterday, we got to the airport in time for our 5:00 pm flight and proceeded to have it delayed until 10:30 pm thanks to a storm and some mechanical issues that brought us back to the gate and sitting on the plane while it got fixed. I made it home by 3 am last night pacific time, so once again I am doing my best to stay awake for a few hours in hopes of getting back on schedule. All in all though, it was a fantastic trip and produced some great father/son memories and Flap Nation interactions that I will always treasure. I’ll post more details about the game and the concert in a little bit.
Very cool, Dawg!
How did GnR sound? I always thought they were a very strong band for those few years they were all together originally.
Glad you’re back safely Peter. 🙂
I’m suffering from a slight case of PFD (Post Flapalooza Depression)…
Cain pitching tonight!
That’s how I feel about Liriano at the moment . . . Blowing up an otherwise excellent DK tourney I have going.
Same here Blade. I really am not enjoying DFS this year now that I am relegated to DK. It’s hard enough for me to hit on one pitcher let alone two.
GnR sounded great, Zum. I was real impressed by their show. Axl’s voice seemed to lose a little bit of steam during the last third of the show, but overall I thought he sang quite well and the music behind his vocals was awesome. The crowd went nuts for songs like Civil War, Heaven’s Door, and November Rain, but thankfully they played some deeper tracks that I think are much better songs such as Estranged, Nighttrain, and Out Ta Get Me. They must have played close to 25 songs, so there was something for everyone. I have always been a little skeptical of Axl as a piano player, but I gotta say he impressed me with his playing. Handled his own songs well and also did a cool bit with Slash where he jammed the outro to Layla before transitioning to a GnR tune. Lenny Kravitz also impressed me big time with his set and the way he rocked it and shared the spotlight with all of the members of his band. Trevor thought the whole night was fun and recognized many more songs from both acts than he expected, so that was very cool. We had to take the subway to a train, to another train to get there, but lots of people were doing the same thing along with us. The place was packed and it was fun to see Met Life Stadium.
As for the baseball game on Sunday, obviously the action on the field wasn’t much fun, but we had a good time. I felt I would have disappointed some of you if I never got out on the hardwood at the YMCA, so I did go down and worked on my jumper for about a half an hour that morning. We then took the subway to Columbia University (my niece is going to grad school there in the fall) and walked around a bit. We had breakfast at a local place and asked if there was a bus we could take to Yankee Stadium as Trev (aka MapDawg–thanks to Loo) said there was no subway line to get us from Columbia to the game. The guy told us what bus to take, but also said it is actually a pretty short walk, so we walked right along 155th St. and came down the hill that includes Coogan’s Bluff and got a great look at the area where the Polo Grounds used to be. We were about 2 blocks from the old stairway to the Polo Grounds Chi and I really wanted to find, but we didn’t have time to go check it out. We walked across a bridge going over the Harlem River and were amused to see two guys on jet ski’s whiz right under us—made us feel like we were back in San Diego on Mission Bay.
We sat in the bleachers at the game, right behind a bunch of hardcore fans in section 203. One guy even had “Section 203” tattooed on his arm along with the Yankee logo. These guys were pretty fun to listen to. You might remember a hit by Gillaspie early in that game that Aaron Hicks played very cautiously and allowed to drop in front of him. Those guys were ALL OVER Hicks for that and wouldn’t let it go. Even when the inning ended and Gillaspie was stranded, they were on him how he got lucky that didn’t cost them and that Paul O’Neill would never have let that fall in. I moved across the aisle to get out of the sun, but Trev liked sitting near them and stayed there the whole game. Good thing too, as the camera guy came down there at one point and Trev ended up on the jumbotron AND got a text from a buddy saying he saw him on TV. Trev said he ended up talking with a few of the guys and they were all unanimous in stating how much they all hated new Yankee Stadium, which I thought was funny. I kept hoping the Giants could get something going against the lesser bullpen arms the Yankees used that day, but it didn’t happen. Anyway, still fun to be at the game and get Trev to Yankee Stadium.
Very cool, Sandog. What a trip you two had.
Great re-caps, SanDog, You guys really did it right and made the most of your time here.
It was a lot of fun meeting and hanging out with you guys. I had a feeling the trip home was gonna be rough.
Every basement in town got flooded here yesterday…
Yes, very cool SD, especially your description of the “hardcore” Yankee fans. I have been looking off and on since my return for a variation of the famous “I LOVE NY” T-shirt I saw at the game Chi and I were at . . . I finally found it.
The biggest thing I am impressed with SD (which I mentioned to you at the Memorial site) was the fact that you and/or Trev thought outside the box, when you researched and scored the YMCA room. Brilliant! As I told you then, the Y is quite similar to any hostel I have stayed at . . . and frequently, they are nicer (and more fun) than a regular hotel room, if only because you meet some very cool people and they are located in the middle of the action (e.g., I think you said your’s was across the street from Central Park).
Joe, Salazar just face planted too. Pfffttt for the evening I think . . . or at least in DK it is. Yeah, I felt that way when I first got back from Thailand. It seemed like I forgot everything I knew about DFS and was questioning everything (as indicated by the HELP emails I sent to you and Flavor about a month and a half ago). It was frustrating. Fast forward today, I’m doing much better, albeit, I still only play 2-5 tourneys max daily.
Ironically Joe, where I am doing well is the stock market . . . Still pinching myself today about Apples 3rd quarter earnings report. My shares popped about 7% in after hours trading. A very big score! 🙂
Down with that Loo (despite my man crush for Duffy).
Sorry Blade, I misplaced it and moved it down,. Think the Sox would consider it?
Well, I guess it depends on how much they want to get rid of Sale. Frazier hasn’t done jack lately, but he’s been a stud in the past. Also, besides me and Sandog, does anyone else outside flap nation, like Strickland? Dunno Loo . . . But a 10 for creativity!
I say we offer the White Sox Duffy, Strickland, choice of Susac/Brown and choice of Mac/Parker for Sale and Frazier. Then we add Street for some minor league crap and we’re all set…
I would do both of those trades in a second, but I’d be surprised if the Chisox would consider that deal.
I just don’t think Duffy is that attractive to the more home run focused American League.
I wonder if the Giants kicked the tiires at all on BJ Upton. I can’t believe the Pads are paying all but 5 mil of his remaining salary–his contract runs out next year. We are probably the last team the Padres want to trade with.
Two on, nobody out. Then in two AB’s, another promising inning gone pfffft. Batting Williamson 3rd indicates Bochy may be grasping at straws.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. I like him at 5,6 or 7, but 3rd?
If the Giants got a good return, I wouldn’t shed any tears over Strickland leaving. His lack of a useable secondary pitch is killing him. Until he get one, he’ll continue to be inconsistent.
Loo, I like your proposal, I just think its overly ambitious. It doesn’t look like the ChiSox would be getting a suitable return for one of the best pitchers in baseball. They’re going to want some top prospects.
Thanks for the kudos on the YMCA Blade. I damn near got too fancy on the accommodations and tried to do a little bit of this and that. Simply booking 6 nights at the Y was a good call in retrospect.
It was great to hang out with you and I’m glad you got a kick out of me chilling out in a chair near Alexander Hamilton’s grave. It certainly beat sitting at Subway listening to Chi trying to work miracles over the phone withStubHub!!!
Yeah, they were useless . . . I tried to weasel out of the Subway too, but Chi indicated that the person who had him on hold for about 35 minutes was going to “help us out” and I was needed if they asked for personal info. Hilarious on retrospect. Got my revenge though – yesterday, StubHub sent me a customer service survey (big mistake) and I crucified them.
Fuck, a front 3 of Bum, Cueto and Sale would be pretty goddamn sweet. That’s a playoff nightmare for every other team in baseball.
Wow
Matt-ison!!!
Cain takes matters into his own hands!
We were all fretting about the guy but it looks like he had no intention of getting Cained tonight.
The Hoss rides again!
A nice crooked number there. Put up a zero on them here, come back out and put up more numbers.
That was no cheapie. Well back in the seats.
That was crushed. So Matt helped himself to 4 run lead, now is that gonna be enough?
He just hit 92 on the gun. That’s a good sign.
Pence just cracked out a 2 run bomb in Reno. Les go, get here already…..
Pence had his hammy surgery on June 9, barely 6 1/2 weeks ago. That is not a long time. I hope they aren’t rushing this…
if he’s going to be playing in the minors I want him playing up here. He could get hurt either place. And he’s hitting bombs right now.
Bochy needs to vigilant with Cain and not piss away this lead…
The crappy Rays made 2 errors and gave the Dodgers 2 unearned runs.
Ever reminding us that the Giants have to win their games, and all will be well.
Just curious if ya’ll in the Bay Area have seen or heard more tidbits and snippets (?) from the front office with the trade deadline just a handful of days away, besides the usual rumors to read about online. I seem to remember in years past that Sabean or Evans would occasionally comment on the team’s needs, on possible scenarios, but I’ve heard nothing but crickets up til now….
Hardly heard a thing Paul … nothing more than whats been reported here.
nada. and the national guys get the news before our beat guys.
Way to earn that contract, Matty!
Hey…Belt made a good base running play!
Major league umpiring has become a very humiliating occupation…
Getting the calls tonight.
‘Bout time.
and a lot of help from Reds defense.
How the hell did that thing get out.
Matty has that breaking ball snapping tonight.
Yeah, that 3rd pitch to Phillips came down the middle of the plate & suddenly turned left .. awesome stuff.
krukow can’t even watch a slow motion replay and get it right.
Man, Candlestick was huge. Comcast just showed Kent’s 7/26/98 10th inning walkoff and mentioned that 34K+ attended. Well I was there with my son and we had acres of empty seats around us. Kent’s walk off rip down the LF line was a LD blast. Nice to get gone before the wind got too strong.
where were you? Deep center?
no, above homeplate, upper deck near the rail. We had a great view of the HR. The decision to go was last minute, walkup tickets, etc. with an 8 year old kid I didn’t feel like moving anywhere better. It was fine. Two ancient guys who had season tickets up there came over to talk during the game. One claimed he’d been in the park with his own father the day Marichal brained Roseboro. My son asked a lot of questions about that on the ride home. He researched Giants history. He now wears an orange Marichal jersey to Friday games. (Without fail, at some point while he’s on his way to the game a fan in Giants gear will stop him and say, hey, nice jersey. But who’s Marichal?)
great post.
Three overturned calls tonight, even the replay guys in NY hate Joe West and his crew.
Props to Hamilton for getting both bags and putting himself in position to score.
Back in the day, speed guys ran and created havoc on basepaths–Wills Willie Davis Brock Moreno RonLeFlore Joe Morgan Rickey. Mays and Aaron stole bags too (good 20 a year) with great success. That game has gone out of style but Billy Martin type ball was fun to watch.
totally agree. I miss the big SB guys. Such a weapon and always exciting
Except for the constant throws to first to “hold the runner close”…
Weirdo steal there by Posey. He got in by a hair. Not sure what the point of that was.
He wanted to be added to Williedav’s list?
Here he is, the slowest guy on the team and he’s been stealing at a rate that only two or three of his faster team-mates have done. Maybe he did it to rattle the pitcher.
To score on the subsequent sac fly.
Really, Posey stealing a bag. It has to be an indication of good things to come. You know, just like when I ran into Bum in Charlotte.
Hey Loo, your trade proposal for Sale sounds like the one I offered up last week for Andrew Miller. I think I offered up Duffy, Strickland and Beede or Bickford for Miller and Headley. Headley would just be a means to the end 3b for the rest of the year, basically a throw in since we would need someone until Arroyo arrives.
I don’t think that would be nearly enough to get Sale though.
Get him out.
hey, fucking shocker, Bochy leaves a shitty starter in too long….
Yep. I had a premonition right before Duvall’s bomb.
Wow, that really was like BP .. pitch tracker showed most were FBs in the zone then couple of breaking balls with no break … smarge, pv & cain will be great for HR derby at next allstar game.
That was a horrible pitch. He was throwing well and only had about 75 pitches. WTF.
Bochy violated my 5 inning rule, and look what happens. A good 6-2 lead turns into 6-4, so that Cain can get one out in the 5th. Bochy is not managing this back end of the rotation smartly. Cain and Peavy go 5 — take their asses out, regardless of pitch count…
Hey, the rally-killing HR. 🙂
Jesus H, talk about hunting for a silver lining.
Just a few hiccups from Cain and he’s close.
Despite the shit hanger he threw to Duvall, I thought this was an encouraging start. His pitches had life, fastball and slider, and he was hitting his spots most of the time. Stamina may be his biggest issue right now. He just hasn’t thrown that much this year.
I agree. Overall I thought Cain was hitting his spots, especially up at the top of the zone with the FB, when he had to. And there was life or hop on all the pitches. Maybe he got a bit tired. Still, I was surprised to feel encouraged.
Well I have 2/3 of the trifecta going on my Reds stack tonight. I just need Bruce to go yard. Let’s get enough of a lead to make it happen boys!
Me too – Hamilton, Votto and Brucie boy. lulz.
WTF is it with SF pitchers and being oblivious to baserunner dudes like Hamilton that can steal? I don’t get it. Where is Posey, where is Bochy? It’s pretty easy to remind the pitcher to throw over to first, to step off and drive a guy back to second….
Blade and I talked about Cain on our trip. Fucking dude needs to learn to hit his spots, not the sweet spots for the damned hitters. I don’t think the issue is his velocity, but his inability to spot his pitches in/out and keep the fucker down. Frustrating.
Can you win a division when the 3,4 5 starters are essentially #5s? That is what is going on now. These three dudes are getting taken yard like it’s going out of style. They can’t be depended on to go more than 5, and even if they go 5, they’ve given up 4 or 5 already. This is not good…
Damn, snarkk, we were on the same page there.
Archer pitched well tonight. He could be had.
I know early in the year there was quite a bit of chatter here about the Giants maybe needing a starter. The way Peavy has gone his past two, and Cain, well since I can remember, and even Shark his last couple. And we all know about the damned bullpen. And realistically, they could use a guy who can play multiple positions (IF and OF)…there have been a few names kicked-around. Pence and Panik (and Duffy) cannot get healthy soon enough.
I heard on KNBR that Samrardz since May, has had 10 starts or some such, with something like a 6+ ERA. That is brutal, and that’s not a small sample size. Giants are paying $40+ million for 3 starters, and getting nearly squat from these dudes…
And if one of them doesn’t step up, they have zero shot of making a deep run in the postseason. That’s assuming they get there.
So true, Wilco. I know a lot of focus has been on the bullpen, and rightfully so, but with Peavy now looking shaking in two consecutive starts, and Cain being Cain, and Shark with his shenanigans, they are going to need these guys to get right, or get some help somewhere. Styx – anything potential in the minors? This is just one of the reasons I really thought the Giants brass totally fucked the pooch on letting Petit go (and for so damned cheap). Big swing and miss by the FO there.
Fortunately . . .
“All those wins? All 58 of them….are in the bank. Nobody can touch them. And all the Giants can do is add to them. So we were built to withstand this type of nonsense where other teams who don’t have 58 in the bank would simply be watching their season slip away.”
🙂
Thanks for slapping me back into reality. As much as it ALL appears doom-and-gloom right now, I still think these guys will right the ship. Don’t ask me how, but it will happen.
Yeah, we’ll be OK Chi . . . I think. lulz
Ivan de Jesus (Senior), San Pedro de Macoris home of the SS plus Andujar and Robinson Cano.
Read a good book about the city in the DR, “Eastern Stars”. Lot of info on the Baseball Academies that got set up there to take advantage of young talent.
“i’d be doing snow angels in the dirt…” the 2 min Kruk and kuip are killing on these dick-hit jokes is gold…….
Get hit in the knadds and they give you an error on the play, damn. No sympathy what so ever.
The lesson: wear a cup!
Shut the fuck up Hamilton. Get the frickin’ bat off your shoulders if you don’t like the damn calls. What an imbecile.
Yeah.
Yeah, Zum, Archer *could be had*… strong rumors about the Dodgers going after him….
The Giants seem to get a lot of hitters to 2-strike counts without finishing them off. I have no confidence in any member of the pen right now.
Rationalists need not apply. When the first Red singled to open the 6th i got the impression that he would score on a home run. Duvall provided. Precognition, particularly with opposition homers , hits me every now and again. Kinda weird. No, i don’t think it would work for lotteries and such ~anyway it seems to happen more often with things i do not want to happen rather than wished for.
Another application of this perverse knowing occurs fairly frequently on wins and losses ~ during the game, sometimes early on. It goes into overdrive when SF is in a flat period.
See my 9:06pm. Me too. 😦
OMG: See directly below.
Backchecking on comments i see Blade had the same premonition.
MudBug!