Good! And Bad….
Let’s just put that W in the bank and marvel at 15-14 for a moment…..has it ever looked this good?
But there is a huge looming problem, my friends. Iris’ pimp Sport lurks in the shadows. Smarge has lost his heater and that could be a disaster. He’s down to 91.7 mph, 3 mph off his career average. And being the dope that he is, his plan seems to be to throw more fastballs. He’s running that huffer and puffer up there 60% of the time, easily his highest FB usage since 2010.
Smarge is way too dumb and stubborn to ever turn himself into a craft pitcher. So, either the Giants need to DL him and he needs to get healthy (which isn’t going to happen) or he’s going to turn into “Derek Holland Light” and we already have our hands full with the high caloric Derek Holland.
So I’m stoked, the vibes are all May flowers and shit. But this Smarge thing is a real problem because he is not healthy right now….
Fucking Harvey Keitel! He’s always showing off his junk.
Suarez supposed to go tonite, right?
Gotta get more out of SPs or Bochy will need 15 man pen.
Hit the sack early last night for a 4:45 wake-up. Thought our boys had it in the bag at 3-zip. Holy shit, was I ever wrong.
What a 9th inning (checked out the box this morning). I’m with Flav….put that bad boy in the bank. I believe Suarez goes for us today. Let’s put another series win in the bank, too!
Snakes over the bums last night. Is Zona for real? Can they maintain this?
I’ll amend that to 14 and Sando. Supposedly Belt really wants to pitch too…Sando said he’d do it so an everyday guy didn’t have to.
Bailed early on this one too. Really surprised SF beat Hand. Every time we’ve seen him he’s been lights out.
Hand was visibly upset. Can’t act like that as a closer, it’ll all come crashing down around you if you do that.
this is such a fantastic article about Nelly. Enjoy.
thx great story, pix too. I think that is Willis reed (#19?) and Bailey Howell maybe (not Heinsohn?) in those hideous Celt black high tops.
Funny there was montage of highlights after LB won that playoff game at buzzer and they showed the shot Nelson hit for Celts that bounced around and fell in. He had really funky FT shot too as player.
Not positive about Bailey Howell, but the Knicks are Willis, Cazzie and Dick Van Arsdale…
Thanks, Flav. Have not read it yet, but have heard the stories of the poker games (from Nelly, on KNBR) about poker games at his place on Maui with Willie Nelson and Woodie Harrelsin, etc. Now THAT would have been some fun poker games. I’m all in…
Samarj was hitting 93 in the 4th and 5th innings. But that was the highest he got to. His problem was location. He went 2-2, 3-2 on every hitter.
Overthrowing trying to up the radar. Can’t pitch that way.
Yeah, could be. He was all over the place. He was very lucky to get out of the first unscathed. But his pitch count was way up early and didn’t get better. His 3 starts have all been like this.
Maybe he’s just rusty? This is basically his spring training right now. If he goes 6+ next start I’d feel a lot better.
yeah, after the game Krukow mentioned the ST issue and said one of the “positives” of the game was the fact that the Shark is getting “stronger.” That’s not what I saw.
Great comeback win last night to close the month. Hansen getting eaten up by balls, failing to turn the double play twice and getting caught stealing left me unimpressed. Hopefully between him and Tomlinson they can cover for 2b for 8 weeks while Panik is out.
Smarge is either overthrowing trying to regain something that isn’t there anymore OR he’s afraid to cut lose because he’s not totally healed. Either is bad for us.
the third possibility is that Krukow’s right and Smarge is just coming along very nicely. And we know how objective Krukow is when it comes to SPs.
absolutely. And I’m not suggesting I know and Kruk doesn’t. But Kruk can get stuck in circular takes like *mechanics* and never come out of it.
oh don’t get me wrong, I think you’ve nailed it.
Or, that he is just not healthy, yet. It is a small sample since he came back, so IMO, the jury is still out. (I sure as hell hope so…)
for a guy like Smarge, velocity is everything. It’s the only way he’s ever pitched and I would think it’s the only way he’ll ever pitch. If he loses that FB he’s done-zo
Great Nellie article. I want to buy a print of that painting he has hanging in his poker room. How cool is that?
Great prints. Skunk Train is a cool print. I’ve ridden that train out of Medicino many moons ago. But the poker painting is bad ass…
Who’s got the higher baseball IQ Samardzija or Strickland?
All I know is last night I have no idea how Smardzxx went 5 without getting clobbered, other than it’s the pads and they suck. He was throwing FB belt high cookies up there constantly with not much movement. Any good to elite team is going to smoke that S all night long. What happened to him smartening up and throwing more breaking stuff, or maybe physically he can’t right now?…
He threw some good two-seamers with movement. It looked to me like he wasn’t getting on top of the ball like he does when he’s on. You guys are jumping the gun.
Agree…
smrdz did walk 3 guys so maybe it is still just command due to time lost.
I think smrdz has better idea of what he wants to do than Strick he just isn’t able to execute and leaves too many pitches where they shouldn’t be.
Strick seems to be making progress with offspeed stuff.
Road trip is ATL PHI PIT. With weather heating up it will be interesting to see how pitching fares outside ATT.
Seems like pre-2010 that was usually a disaster road-trip. Not as much lately. But they are teams this season that have young players just out there having fun, playing loose and easy, with not super high expectations on them. That can be a tough opponent.
Kind of like the…..(whispers) Padres.
Unlike the Padres, all three of those teams are playing over .500.
The Giants are going to go into ATL and knock the shit out of the ball in that bandbox park. Philly too. The Phils and Bravos are primed to take a step back and the G’s are just the team to give them a nudge. Flyball hitters in a bandbox park. I love it.
Bum is on the verge of getting the OK to start throwing. Maybe we’ll see him at the beginning of June?
Agree. This roadie is going to be interesting. .500 would be cool.
I think it’s overstating things to say the Shark’s velo is down due to any physical issues. He was all over the place last night and command is one of his strengths. 2.7 BB/9 IP for his career is pretty much brilliant. Command issues are almost always mechanical, and getting his mechanics back in order will fix that and probably allow his FB to start regaining some power. Most recently it happened for Jansen, who was also experiencing lessened velo.
It may be cliched to say, but this is his spring training. Conditioning and sorting out his mechanics are both part of that process. That damaged pec probably isn’t near as strong as it’s going to be. Let’s see what happens over the next couple of starts before sending up the flares.
Who gets sent down when the Fresh Prince gets activated and brings his Brand New Funk to the roster?
that’s the Fresh Wince, I think, until he proves otherwise
lulz, I think he’s going to really solidify the BP. Snelten, Johnson or Gearrin? Probably Snelten but he came through last night.
another nickname from Loo
I would assume Suarez, but hoping he pitches great tonight, forcing a tough decision.
Maybe Austin Jackson has a sore thumb.
Helter Jerky Smellten will be the one shipped out.Gearrin “Rain Delay” still under the Boch Bromance &Pierce Johnson brings something at times that’s good.. but as usual theirs guys coming and going so only Boch over his glass of wine 🍷 will decide..
It’s only May 1, but given the current state of the Dodgers, it may not be too crazy to suggest that tonight is a big start for Kershaw vs. the D-Backs?
Who should Giant fans root for?
For me, the Dodgers can’t lose enough.
two flaps up on that
3 Flaps for me!
Keep the Dodgers buried in dogshit!
They don’t have a replacement for Seager and he’s their best player so yeah their screwed.
Interesting point on Radnich’s radio show from the other guy Larry Krueger?
Hypothetical Question..Would you trade a healthy Brandon Crawford right now for a injured Corey Seager ?
I would sure jump on that! Flapper thoughts?
It will be a fun Dodgers/D-Backs series. One of those teams has to lose every night!
win/win eh Pappy?
aye, win/win!
Four Flaps here!
Pavlovic’s tweeting about a fire at the ballpark.
was that Cincinnati where the game went on while the FD tried to quench a conflagration in one of those weird stacks they have there? I doubt the Giants would allow a scene like that on the broadcast
Cueto to the 10 day DL. Sore elbow.
ru roh
No bueno…
If it wasn’t serious, he wouldn’t have to “wrap his head around it”…
Not that surprising about Cueto, either, his velocity was down a fair bit this year.
Stratton and Blach
and . . . ah, we’re fucked.
Pollock HRs on a 90 MPH Kershaw fastball.
Wow, that’s 4 in less than 2 games.
A few more crowds like tonight and they’ll move back to the Polo Grounds…
Damn, those stands are near Florida-empty.
Once again, Kuip not following those deep balls well…
Hate to hear it, but not surprised about Johnny C. Damn…Giants cannot shake the injury bugaboo…
Padres should go back to the brown and mustard unis full time.
Everything else they wear completely sucks…
Giant medical staff strikes again?
Why did they keep running him out there if he’s had this for “at least” a couple of starts?
I am guessing that Cueto maybe played it off as not a big deal, saying it was something he could pitch through.
Jesus, now Cueto’s hurt? WTF.
Steph’s return.
Craw is an easy out these days.
Giants medical staff awaits MRI result:
Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard !…
Based on breeding, jockey, trainer, workouts, pace scenario, favorable draw and big odds, I’ll take a shot with the lightly raced Hofberg in Kentucky this Saturday…
Like him but I can’t pull the trigger. Just a maiden winner and there are some legit studs in this race. Right now, the only 4 horses I’ll have in my pick 4 are Bolt, Enticed, Vino Rosso, and Good Magic. But I’m still a long way from finishing handicapping this bitch.
if you put a gun to my head and I had to pick 1 right now I’d go with Good Magic
I can’t handicap a 20 horse race. It’s become a fuckin’ dartboard to me…
Those Ortiz brothers run 1-2 about 3 times a day here…
Craw at .185 now.
All he has left at this point is his defense.
And about another $57 million through 2021…
I’ll be unkind enough to point out that his underwhelming 2017 was probably not a result of his family situation.
I have to believe it had something to do with it…
Boy, Cutch bails out Suarez and Blanco from their horrendous ABs with RISP and no and one out, respectively.
Nice RBI.
Do Giants pitchers actually practice bunting once in a while?…
Blanco is a utility man and that’s all he should ever be. Why the Giants insist on running him out there so often is beyond me.
Bochy loves him.
Especially leadoff.
Hanson brings some pizzaz to the roster.
Buster just not getting it done for a while now. We don’t see him drive the ball much. He missed a big, fat hanger in that AB.
Suarez is a good looking young pitcher, smooth and polished. Night and day from Beede.
Why Ross threw a fastball to Craw in the last AB is a mystery.
Maybe he felt sorry for him.
KD & Thompson a combine 10 of 30 so far. Ice cold.
The DMD rule strikes again…
Strick does this no matter what the situation.
Hosmer was the one guy Strickland needed to be extra careful with.
Gotta get Buster to the plate…
pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft.
Dodgers lose. There’s that.
Kershaw couldn’t get to the 7th.
D-Backs are now 7-1 vs. the Dodgers.
Dodgers 9 games behind D-Backs.
K & K just sound happy to go home.
At their age, I think I get it…
They each were given three rings, beyond their wildest dreams. They probably don’t have big expectations for this year’s team.
The Dubs are tripping over their dicks after putting this game away.
Ugly finish, but up 2-0. Steph with 28 points in 26 minutes.
Nice of Musclehead to throw a 93 mph belt high fastball to Hosmer. Wow, shocking.
Seriously, would you trust Musclehead to close an elimination game for an NLDS? I would not.
His fastball is not moving enough, and he doesn’t command it enough, to be a consistent closer.
I’d rather have Watson do the saving…