One In The Bank
As D-Sol continues to rake everything thrown in his direction I think it’s important to remember that the Giants thought it necessary to go to court to screw this guy out of $650,000……
Posey on pace to hit 162 bombs but knowing him he’ll probably peeter out around 100……
Nice win.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Well….I guess the Giants’ brass would probably justify it by saying that they were just doing their part of the process and maintaining the right for all teams’ brasses to argue their side in the process, as determined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
But, yeah, I see your point.
That was the first arb case they went to court over since 2003. Why now?
There will be a new CBA after this season. Maybe all the team owners are hardening their attitudes in preparation for the negotiations on that.
Just guessing.
A strike after this season is a possibility, though.
Most owners have taken the position that they won’t negotiate further if a player demands arb. Maybe solano’s number came down when he filed so the distance between the proposals looked oddly small. I don’t know. But obviously the Giants knew what they were doing.
The whole point of baseball arb, ie fis final offer arb, is to intensify the risk side of rolling the dice, to force a settlement without a hearing.
so in 2 night games, with the allegedly deadened ball, playing in Seattle where daily highs have been in 50s, the giants have hit 6 HRs.
And more than half of them have gone to opposite field by RHs. somebody got some splainin to do.
OTOH, Seattle has 0 bombs.
https://nypost.com/2021/04/03/mlb-all-star-game-relocation-over-georgia-law-is-senseless/
The column itself is what’s senseless. The columnist could have actually done some actual research before writing it.
Keep in mind the Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Peace Be Unto Rupert…:)
Not going political Flav and Blade just pointing out to Zum and James with the note that the hero of the left and of the Flapper left Stacey Abrams opposes this ridiculous ultra-woke decision by MLB to move the all-star game because guess what? It incredibly hurts black Americans in Atlanta…
“ultra-woke”? No one talks like this except right-wingers. I’ve literally never heard anyone on the Left use the word “woke.”
She is the mayor of the affected city (whoops, got that wrong!) . . .The economic benefits will be transferred to another urban center that will have its share of non-Republican voting fratricidal ne’er do wells.
“I’m not kidding, that boy’s head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts! Aye, now that was offsides, now wasn’t it? He’ll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow.”
And Loo I will be running for President as the Surprise Party nominee in 2024….
The racist Jim Crow voting laws just signed into law in Georgia were protested by MLB, and I applaud that.
Stacey Abrams is an American hero, for all Americans. She didn’t want the All-Star game moved, and I see her point, and respect it; but I’m agreeing with MLB on this.
“Would ya look at the size of that kid’s head! It’s a virtual planetoid and it has it’s own weather system! Looks like an orange on a toothpick!”
Cueto looked good enough. Gausman was solid. Posey should be opening eyes and Longoria looks like a different player. Hopefully they all keep it up and we then we can trade each of them and load up on as many young arms we can gather. They should extend Solano for a couple of moderately priced years now to make up for the hose job he got…let’s hope Logan Webb translates his spring into legit starter arm during the season. McGee looks completely legit…good job Farhan!!!
Two games in and the Giants lead MLB in HRs and Seattle leads MLB in BBs. We are both 1-1
As the Loo columnist alluded to and confirmed by looking at my Saturday morning DraftKings potential plays – 5 freaking games are available to bet on for the morning/afternoon slate. In seasons past, there would be 10 games easily on a Saturday morning and afternoon slate. Why? Simply because everything is money now – maximizing television revenue for prime time.
Similarly, the other true fact from that column, “Games dead on arrival with 20 or more strikeouts. In 10 innings, the Twins struck out 17 times. In eight innings at bat — 24 outs — the Tigers struck out 14 times. The Cubs struck out 13 times in nine innings.” Zzzzzzzzz . . . coupled with what Willie said at 7:26am and Bozo just said.
Otherwise, as Zum said – this guy’s full of shit.
Do the Mariners ever play a day game?
Dunno John. With a dome though and zero sunshine, I would imagine they lean toward all night games.
That’s why I used to love watching Billy Ball. And, that Jack Clark used to drive me crazy.
Limited expectations for how well he hits but Posey as C will continue to be a benefit to staff and Kapler. Cueto said (through interpreter) how well he and Posey work together, and complimented him on how he knows hitters and how they know each other. He did adjust how many off speed pitches he threw and kruk noticed that too.
Night before Gausman/Posey connection worked great. When Kap came out to get him, Gaus gave a little nod in Posey’s direction. remember, he said before he signed how much he looked forward to working with him, and first outing was great. I like Casalli a lot, and this position is so much improved over last year, whether HRs continue to happen or not.
Ignoring Rupert Murdoch but…Ruppert Jones out of Berkeley HS was cool player who hit 140 HRs and stole as many bags too while playing for bunch of different teams in both leagues.
this is Zumiee’s facebook page. Send him a friend invite, he’s quite friendly and will surely accept your friendship request.
https://www.facebook.com/evan.campbell.37
THAT is the place to discuss politics that interest you….
I must be crazy, e.g., I have one DK LU with a stack of Belt, La Stella, Yaz, Posey and Webb, as my pitcher (whom I do like). lqtm.
It may well take until mid-June or so, anyway the bullpen situation will ultimately get stabilized. One or two, still having options may get Sac-towned and an equal number elevated to The Show. Rogers was okay last night and Baragar the same Thursday. McGee could be the closer we’ve dreamed about over the past few years.
Alex Wood has been throwing, so when he comes off the I.L. he could join the rotation if a starter falters. Personally, I’d give those guys maybe 3 starts to get a somewhat objective assessment, while easing Wood in as a long-man option. Cueto’s dogged, stick it out approach last night indicates he should be the rotation’s work-horse. Facing 105 batters in his first appearance after a scanty set of spring outings was quite the feat. Gausman was right up there with the likes of Bauer and the rest of the highly-touted aces. Who knows, maybe he will merit that nearly 20M he contracted for this season.
Up the middle is generally considered as key to the defense. Giants do not shine there, what with Crawford yet to get the gravel outta his joints and uncertainty in CF. Where there is a definitive uptake is behind the plate, with Posey not only hitting for power (against all expectations) but has resumed his role as pitch-caller and the effectual team-captain. Belt is still a bit creaky starting out after his various post-season owwies, but as a consummate pro he should revert to form as the season progresses. At this point, the D. rates maybe a c-.
Leading MLB in homers was hardly anyone’s expectation for SF at any point in the season. Longo is in a takeoff hot-streak and Donnie-Barrels is showing his Silver Slugger award was not a fluke. He’s not exactly your prototypical slugger as the long-ball is hardly his forte. But as a contact hitter, Solano is putting on a clinic. Two things could happen: Giants could make good on their squeeze job on him with a nice extension,OR some serious contender in dire need of a high OBP middle infielder batting in the 2-hole might make a tempting offer in late July. Offense looks like it could once again be in the top third in the NL. Rotation is still a ???.
Still holding on my 78-84 pre-ST prediction. Third place in NLW while threatening to hold their own against the pair of Monsters in SoCal. So far they are not putting a whole lot of guys on base, thus most of the taters have been single-shots. OBP is the cue. If SF can get those ducks on the pond, they could become a major buttpain for all the contenders. Now if they could only beat the likes of Pittsburgh and Miami.
“Games dead on arrival with 20 or more strikeouts. In 10 innings, the Twins struck out 17 times. In eight innings at bat — 24 outs — the Tigers struck out 14 times. The Cubs struck out 13 times in nine innings.”
Ball games played by teams other than SF have always generally been far less interesting, unless it’s the playoffs or the game has some significant impact on the Giants’ standing. I could give a shit how many times the Twins struck out (or to put it in a positive light, how many times the opposing pitchers K’ed the Twins). Giants games when they suck as a team are boring as hell come late June or when it’s a blowout loss, and exciting when they’re competitive. Has anybody been bored the last 2 nights?
Lol, not board but opening night I got somewhat distressed.
Column in Chron by Shea this morning has statement on archways:”…the covering will remain up for now” says talking head executive VP of admin Alfonso Felder.
shea asked Yaz about it and he said, “”i’m happy I don’t have the cold wind blowing on my back the whole game.” And, “I’m out there in the middle of July and August with hand warmers in my pockets.” would have loved the Stick, huh?
However when asked about giants offensive numbers improving due to archways being closed, he said, “I don’t think so. did it play some sort of role? Maybe. I’m not really sure.” Further, “We were really taking team at bats and focusing on that approach, so I think that was the bigger key.” hmmnn
Chief analyst for the Foghorn site, Marc Delucchi, comments today on three Giants in particular who may look to improve their games this year. He notes that Cueto relied on his FB too much last season and suffered from a lot of BBIP events going negative more often than the norm. Using his secondary pitches more, as he apparently did to set up his fastballs, resulted in several K’s and stretched his game-time. Working with Buster once again, has elevated Cueto’s morale considerably. And to paraphrase Yogi Berra “half the game is 90i% mental.”
Early part of last season and Donniebarrels was hacking away from the get-go. Coaching convinced him later on to learn to take some of the most borderline pitches and he turned it around to the point of getting that Silver Slugger award for second basemen. If he can elevate his walk rate to near equity with strikeouts, Solano could become an invaluable #2 table-setter and possibly lead the team in runs scored.
Writing even before game one and taking note of his moderate resurgence later in the last season, Delucchi projected that considering his bad-luck in BBIP last year, that Longo would elevate his attack this go-round. Through one 81st of the season, our 3Bman has made the commentator look like a prophet. Also noted was the fact that with LaStella around to take over the duties from time to time, Evan would remain reasonably rested right through the 162 and thus keep the productivity rate in a higher gear.
Two evenly matched teams, as ESPN (and probably others) have them both projected for 70-92 records, with the Giants ranked 23rd and Mariners ranked 25th . . . Weird, because Snakes ranked 24th, yet are projected to have a 75-87 record (opponents faced probably a key part in their formula). Anyway, these bottom feeding teams are the ones the Giants need to win to prove the prognosticators wrong.
“asked Yaz about it and he said, “”i’m happy I don’t have the cold wind blowing on my back the whole game.”
This is some evidence of how the wind blows in through those openings and must surely affect balls hit to right field.
As I was watching the Giants game, I was recording the Kings game. The Kings lost to the Lakers who didn’t have James or Davis. I’m probably not going to watch it. The stats show a really bleh performance from the Kings. Fox shot 5-20, and Hield was 1-9 from the 3-point line. The 10th spot for the playoffs remains a mirage….
From KNBR’s site:
“Brandon Belt watched Buster Posey’s first swing of the season. He saw a cutter that didn’t get far enough inside, and he saw Posey whip hip hands quickly through the zone. His hips stayed with him, exploding through and smashing a 106.5-mph rocket to left for a home run.
Belt hadn’t seen that swing in years. Two years ago, the first baseman said, his catcher couldn’t do that.
“Probably going to see a lot more of that from Buster this year,” he added.”
A day later, Belt witnessed it again.”
Some time ago I’d read coverage indicating that Posey was having issues with his hips. Seems the year off, time playing with kids—and wife—returned a level of flexibility to the point where he can get his powerfully built glutei and thigh muscles into the power-swing. At the current rate, a 20 HR pace for him this season is hardly out of the question. Belt has been around Buster long enough to be confident of his take. A return to form by Buster would almost assuredly win him the comeback player of the year award.
Should Longoria also be back into the swing of things, Giants could easily return to top ten slugging percentage in MLB and quickly wear down all but the staff aces. Decent starts by at least 3 of the 5 rotation pieces, plus the occasional tater from that lineup array might even result in Giants victories against some of those #1’s and twos. That also hinges on the quality closer that Fibber McGee may prove to be.
Fibber McGee and Molly was a radio comedy-act duo whom I vaguely recall from the late 40’s, very early 50’s when just a young kid. That was an era before most folks had a boobtoob in their home and radio and movies were still the main entertainment.
The Bore Core was a big X-factor going into this season. Anything from them would be a huge help.
Posey and Longoria look good so far. Craw and Belt, not so much.
Belt did have a good AB last night drawing a walk.
Belt will get it together. I’m not so sure about Crawford. He remains a maybe.
Belt also had an ok game at the plate on Thursday. Two out RBI Single, walk, and a near HR. He hasn’t K’ed yet, facing mostly lefties.
Crawford got the leadoff walk last night that started the 3-run game-winning rally.
If Posey and Longo can keep this up we just might get over .500. I have been railing for the team to get younger but so far these guys are proving me wrong. I kinda figured we would be a fun team this year and I am feeling it a little more right now.
Thanks for the reminders about Belt and Craw, guys. Those two did more than I remembered.
I think I’m reacting more to the “look” of their ABs. They seem to be fouling off some hittable pitches. Maybe they’re still getting their timing down for the new season.
Timing. Good point.
Speaking of radio- British radio:
1. Tommy La Stella (L) DH
2. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
3. Donovan Solano (R) 2B
4. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
5. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
6. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
7. Austin Slater (R) CF
8. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
9. Curt Casali (R) C
I’m blinking. That looks surprisingly good. Buster with two days off. After his hip shaking trouble in ST and time off there, seemed to take a while for the full swing to return. But he’s so damn valuable all around. Let him rest a bit.
Vote of confidence for D. Bobbles, too. Maybe because LaStella is likely to be pinch hit for by someone who can’t play second, although that may be overthinking it.
Or they swap LaStella and Solano at the end, if the Giants have the lead. The strategic possibilities with the DH are endless …
We’ve heard for months about how gear it will be to have lastella and Yaz at the top. The punch behind them beginning with Donnie Bs looks promising.
Great
“Gear” was some ’60’s slang that might actually fit the sentence…
Could use something to crank it up.
72-1 shot wins the Wood…
Wow, Joel Rosario…
WOW!
Dude, Pletcher went 1-2 in the Wood at 72-1 and 15-1. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!
And your boy Rispoli just won the SA Derby…
did you see how excited he was as he crossed the wire????? He’s a great dude I am so happy for him but i din’t have his horse lol
Astros up 9-1 in Oakland as they head to bottom 9. Won last 9-5, Opening Day 8-1
A’s fans get pleasure of booing the Stros live and in person, but what a thrash of weekend.
I think it’s really lame that Cora is already back with the Red Sox, and others are back after a year.
Pete Rose is banished for life. Joe Jackson was banished for life.
The flip side is that people used to do time for weed.
Gambling on games you manage and tanking so gamblers get an edge seem like more serious misdemeanors than straight ahead cheating to win.
It was an unprecedented level of cheating. A completely invalid championship.
1989 A’s.
Can Webb throw the change for strikes when he needs to? Of course Seattle’s not much of a proving ground.
Beautiful change up when he needed there, in the first inning.
Hardly a fastball in his repertoire this evening. He did squeeze out of that 2 on with one out situation while facing the heart of their lineup, so a good recovery after surrendering that double and the infield squibber. But the pitch count was atrocious.
Zags somehow up 1 at half despite getting very Few stops on D, they better tighten that up in the 2nd half or UCLA just might pull this off.
yeah it’s a Nova type of upset looming, Rollie style.
More like it for the Webb-Spinner. Ten pitch inning and got the last out on another changeup. His four-seamer was riding low and away. Command appears to be better with his secondaries, where he patterned a sinker and a slider in almost exactly the same location…could be dangerous if repetition of the same pitch. Pitch count evened out pretty much with Webb at 33 and his opponent at 30.
Does he throw a four seamer? Nothing he throws is straight.
First AB as a Giant and first hit for newbie Casali. Congrats, dude. You broke the ice.
No MaTaz for Yaz so far. At least he didn’t strike out that time. Flexen at 52 pitches and Webb about to face their lineup once again.
Was just musing on no HRs for the Mariners yet and whammo, Webb grooves an 83 MPH stinker right down the pipe. Now its catchup ball again.
Quick work in that inning. But there was that one mistake.
The negative: Leadoff single and a 2-out walk go down the big swirly. Positive: Flexen at 76 pitches over 4 innings @ 19/IP. He’s getting them on his 4-seamer.
Those devastating doubles. Webb had two strikes on Trammell and a pair of dubs for the inning and nobody out.
Webb all of a sudden throwing BP.
And missing with the change. Maybe he can settle down, now that they know Seattle’s working the count more. If not, everyone in mlb will know how to get Webb.
UCLA take the lead
Zags choking on free throws.
One T choke I saw.
Ah, LaStella just missed one.
Yaz looks as old and tired as B Craw
UCLA keeps making shots. One of these guys might be Ed Pinckney.
Can’t leave that guy wide open.
Man, this is a good one. Onto OT.
Going into the game Flexer had an ERA of something like 8.07 over parts of two seasons. How did he suddenly transform into Tom Seaver. Pitch-count closing in on 100 after five in the books. So it’s getting late and a single and a double went to naught. Guy went from getting em on 4-seamers over to cutters, mostly.
This would have been the occasion for Duggar. Graveman is now pitching for Seattle.
Giants offense looks D.O.A.
Buncha stiffs.
Digging.the hole deeper, Graveman throws 97+ sinkers with 80++ sliders. He’s a vet with a so-so record, but Giants bats (or their heads) must have been under intense refrigeration.
Now at 91 pitches Webb might be gassed. Two quick strikes to Dinty Moore and then its four out of the zone for a walk. Will K do the quick yank?
Any further damage is on Kapler. You can see the steam coming outta Webb’s radiator.
Oh my.
Well that was an entertaining OT.
Wow. What a finish
Two straight walks after getting Trammell. Is Kapler the manager or a babe in the manger?
Suggs with the 3 with 0.5 seconds left in OT for the win
Best game anyone has given Zags all season. Great game and effort by both teams.
Never thought I’d feel bad for a UCLA team, but man, those guys played a great game.
Great tourney. Glad they’re gone, I confess. But glad I saw their run.
Glad you guys started posting about the Gonzaga game. Saw the 2nd half. What a finish.
Looks like were all glad. Except Logan.
lol Suggs wow.
Nine of 10 pitches by Matt were sliders. It must be working well. At least tonight he wasn’t pitching like Whistler’s Mother.
That’s about all he ever throws.
Looks like a goner, gang. Except for that one mistake, Moronta was not bad. But its those little things that can take you down. Graveman was all sliders and sinkers, after their starter’s diet of mostly 4-seamers. Giants hitters don’t seem to have their timing geared in. Perhaps its good they have no game tomorrow. Then its who knows whom in the Box of Rox on Monday. Could get nasty fast.
Yaaay! Yaz is off the schnoid. Now in 13 AB’s he has one hit, one walk, one run and six strikeouts. Who knows, maybe he’ll get the BA over 1.00 by Monday. Ice is broken, anyway.
Time to make some noise
Ain’t happenin’.
ZAGS!!!!
They were a pitcher’s delight tonight…A dozen strikeouts and two whole walks. A few hits and Zippadedoodah for tallies.
Bore Core went 1-11, with 5 Ks.
I really feel bad for Blade’s DK lineup.
lol . . . I will survive ($4 bet) . . . I had others.
Bummer we lost but at least Wissler pulled his head out of his ass since we signed him so kap has to use hm. Web was ok. No Offense:(
History of baseball.. One team wins one, a bad team wins one, and the good team pulls out a close game. Game 2 is illustrative:(
ESPN has a documentary about Jon Miller tomorrow.