This Is Not A Death Blow
I’ve let the dust settle on this Belt news and I’m not as bummed as when I originally heard about the thumb break. For one thing, I’ve never liked Belt. Constantly injured, obsessed with his version of the strike zone, he’s always been one of my least favorite. I couldn’t understand how a man that strapping could be so timid in the box. But this year, for whatever reason, he’s removed the shackles and swung away—with exciting results.
Ironically, trying to bunt led to his demise. One more reason to not sweat this: he’s the streakiest hitter on the team. We were likely in for a dry spell at the worst possible time. His loss weakens us to be sure, especially defensively. But I’m not throwing myself off the Golden Gate at this news. Speaking of that way to take yourself out, does that make any sense at all? I’m sure many of you have looked down to those icy waters below–a more grim, terrifying death I couldn’t imagine.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
You may not like him, but he’s a huge part of what the Giants are doing this year, not only for the obvious offensive numbers but for his Gold Glove defense. He’s one of the best first basemen in MLB and will be missed. The Giants don’t really have anyone that can replace him, not at the level he’s playing. Hopefully Ruf will be back soon and Wade can play over there too, but the timing of this injury really does suck.
The Giants have made due with all manner of injuries this year, so hopefully they can do it again. At this point, anything less than a deep run will be disappointing.
What a cheery start to the day:)
In all seriousness, the week is all about winning the division to avoid the one game wild card and force the Flodgers to use Scherzer in that wild card game. We certainly can win this division without Belt. One glass half full about this broken thumb is that Farnhan is very unlikely to give Belt a two year extension.
Great confidence in Wade at first and if we have any lefties starting against us, I would like to see KB playing first to see how that would work in the playoffs and an OF of Slater in LF, is Dubon back up for CF???, Yaz in right.
Injury Updates on Dick and Ruff (could make a spousal joke there)???
Dick was activated a couple of days ago.
Dick may have been activated but here’s to hoping he firms up.
Nice
Ward you were alittle Ruf on the Beaver last night?
But June I was just Dickin with you and the Beav?
I think to replace Belt it has to come from the 40 man roster. So Estrada or Dubon in the INF, Jaylin Davis for the OF, or how about bringing Bart up and have Posey play some 1B with Wade until Ruf gets back?
Out of the box thinking. I like.it.
I agree nicely played
This late in the season I don’t think they are gonna put Posey at 1st. It’ll be the Flores/Wade platoon job till Ruf gets back.
I suspect you are right, Charlie. Bottom line, they must persevere.
Belt was out mid-season for 6+ weeks. They used Ruf/Wade/Flores mix and match at 1B. Team didn’t miss a beat. In fact, when Belt came back, I and many others were wondering if his return was going to F up the great team vibe that was rolling. He didn’t…
Ruf is eligible to come off the IL on the 3rd, I believe, which is the last day of the regular season (he went on the IL on the 23rd).
I agree with others synopsis. Yes, the team was better with Belt, especially how he was going of late, but he has been hurt before this year and they weathered the storm.
This team’s war chant this year is Resilience, and they have been very resilient. They probably set a record on the number of times the IL was used this year. So, time to keep being resilient.
I think he’s eligible as of Thursday game vs. DBax and Bum.
It’s yet another bizarre semi-unwarranted injury to a guy that collects them for a living. He and Jeremy Affeldt should be bubble-wrapped between starts.
Does this cloud their thinking about re-signing him? I’d say yes, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all either way. Goofy or not, he showed some leadership qualities this season and that likely didn’t go unnoticed.
Belt’s loss his huge, not only was he playing his best baseball ever both on offense and defense he added the extra spark of energy to the whole team with his “I’m the Captain and I’ll take you to the finish line attitude “
He is however probably one of the most injured player in baseball history, which we all know happens every year.He might as well have that C stand for “Cracked Bones” and have “Always Hurt” on the back.
I do remember the time when he broke the same left thumb against the Dodgers back in 2014 when there pitcher came up and end and nailed him, he was 26 at the time( geez where has the time gone)the last year they won it all.He was off to a fast start, then boom 🤯 missing a long stretch of games.Hell come to think of it maybe that C just stands for Cursed??
Looking up splits on Wade Jr., he’s been lot better at home than on road. At home he has .930 OPS with .588 slugging and 12 of his 18 bombs. So hope that bodes well for this week.
However, August was his worst month, when he hit only .237 and September he has only 1 bomb in 69 ABs. Despite how well SF lit up Coors, Wade didn’t have one hit all weekend, going 0-12. hmmnn
He’s swingingand missing at a lot of high fastballs.
Webb and Wood going first two games. AZ has lost 106 games and they are 52 behind Giants. there was twitter pic sent last week to Giants after they beat LA, pretty funny. And you know they’d love to win one for Bum.
My daughter and I will be at the game tonight representing Flap Universe. We’ll try to bring us a win.
Excellent.
Hope you haven’t done anything silly like getting a haircut, Chi…
Well, my daughter is a stylist (she used to cut my hair). But no, no haircut, and I do not see that (haircut) happening anytime soon.
Is Belt’s new nickname Cap’n Crunch?
Lol it works for me.Still can’t believe he would try a lay down a bunt when he had 18 homers in his past 40 games? You don’t do something stupid like that with the playoffs just around the corner!
And Kotter get the message thru to Yaz for sure as well, don’t need to lose his HR pop over something useless as a bunt attempt.
When is the last day a player is still eligible for postseason? They better act fast to make these final roster moves.. I would go with a combination of Ruf when ready and Mr.Ed for now at 1B with occasionally Wade.I would rather try and keep atleast a strong defense in the outfield going with speed,GD,Wade,Slater,Yaz maybe even add my boy Davis if it’s not to late.Guess Bryant in LF with Longoria at 3rd will how they roll with in playoffs though, and you have too go with experience players now and their not lacking them other then the pitching staff in playoff games which could get exposed..
Belt could have gotten hurt again running after a foul, or taking a big swing. He’s bunted some before. The pitcher just so happened to throw inside, and he couldn’t bail fast enough. If the pitcher throws a strike and Belt bunts it or fouls it off, nobody cares and move on to the next pitch. That’s baseball. The Giants have had a great year with a ton of injuries. They’re deep, with lots of guys that hit HRs, that’s why they’re good. He’ll be missed, but this shouldn’t derail their run. I’m more worried about their starting pitching…
Are there roster moves for a WC game only?
Wonder how that works but hopefully won’t have to think about it.
Gotta believe Thairo is coming back.
And what about McGoo? Done?
Can’t see your boy JD at this point.
We may need some heroics from the maligned Slater/GD platoon.
They’ve both made some useful contributions at times.
As Willedav said, it’ll ultimately come down to pitching anyway…
Haven’t missed McGoo a lick.
Dovall, Castro, whoever are getting it done…
Make it Cap’n Crunched, Bozo.
He…is….OUTTA HERE!
LOL.
Yeah you right, Loo. I thought he’d test the free agent market this year anyway.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/with-brandon-belt-down-and-out-what-will-giants-do-at-first-base/
Here is the latest injury updates from the Giants site:
https://www.mlb.com/giants/news/giants-injuries-and-roster-moves?t=giants-injury-report
Ruf was retro to the 20th, so he is eligible on the 30th (as Willie said…Thursday).
McGee could be sometime this week.
Well I’m not buying it Snarkk nobody should be bunting except a pitcher this time of season. Rather lose a Brebbia then Belt who was smoking hot..
Yesterday I wrote that if the X-Ray technician lied and said there was no fracture, would Belt be OK?
I was only half kidding. Isn’t how it feels all that matters?
His great pal Crawford thought he was gonna be ok and probably sat with him on the flight home.
I’ve seen guys bat with a pad to protect that part of an injured thumb, but that ain’t gonna work on a throwing hand.
He’s probably done, but in a season of surprises, I wouldn’t completely rule him out if the Giants advance to later rounds…
Midwest Ed
(For nostalgics only)
there’s no way. The rotation on the thumb when you swing would make swinging extremely painful and probably ineffective. I tore ligaments in my right thumb when I was in high school and couldn’t swing a bat effectively for 2 months. It’s probably close to the same thing. Granted, maybe there is a glove or brace or some type of invention since I was in HS but I still won’t believe it till I see it
giants reserves have shone all year–who knows, one of them could vault into status reserved for Ishi M Morse or Cody Ross.
Based on her tweets, I think Slusser’s article in the Chronicle considered the possibility that Belt could play through the injury. But it’s behind a paywall, and I won’t give that rag a penny.
Interesting comparison DJLoo made to the gut punch of losing Melky. Even the goofy naval regalia echoed the melkmen/maids. Adding Scutaro and Pence compensated then. Maybe the roster’s remarkable depth will now. And maybe there’s another potential similarity.
This thumbnail from mlbtr lays it out: “Since returning from a knee injury August 5th, Belt’s slash line is an absurd .297/.394/.690, hitting 18 home runs in that stretch. That production is 83% better than league average, according to wRC+.”
If Donnie B or Longo came roaring back from their injuries like that, I know what people would suspect. Could the El Capitan comedy be Belt’s addled, good-natured version of “rage”?
The thumbnail. lqtm
Some geezers might recall Rusty Staub’s heroic play in the1973 WS with a separated shoulder.
I know, not the same thing.
Just wasting a few pixels…
Yeah this old geezer remembers Rusty Staub well.Very underrated player who was money in the clutch and an on base machine career over .360 I believe? He was Belt before Belt but even more consistent power.Staub is still a legend in Montreal and NY even after his death.
My very first mitt was a Rusty Staub.
Rusty apparently was a helluva, uh, restauranteur, too, …
His rib joint was highly regarded.
Was there once.
He was widely rumored to be gay, although he hit on my girlfriend in a subtle way.
This preceded the infamous Sixto Lezcano incident…
Xoot, you and some of the other guys could probably make some sense out of the fan graphs link I posted up above. I don’t have the attention span for it…
ha. lotta Belt/Wade/Ruf/Wilmer info there, and not surprising, although this additional Belt stat did jump out: “the lowest ground-ball rate in the majors.”
That’s a significant stat right there” lowest ground ball rate in majors “
More fly balls equals more HR’s, Sac Flys,moving a runner over, then killer DP’s, Belt was even more Disciplined then ever this season on laying off pitches that would constantly get him out with in the past.He bought into these new hitting coaches like the rest of the hitters and it paid off..
yet he injured himself unnecessarily, fucking improvidently, trying to hit a soft ground ball
nah that was great. F/G writer goes into detail as Xoot noted to point out how well Belt’s been hitting. Fewer groundballs, pulling HRs, spike in ISO power numbers. Good story.
I imagine he’ll be on the IL for the last reg season games and it is his throwing hand as well, so coming back since pretty iffy to me. But, if he did come back for the playoffs and was able to keep up the pace he’s been on, that would be a huge boost.
First things first, gotta win the Division without him.
Still crazy that all teams still let a player play after they get hurt at bat are in the field.Then decide an inning later well maybe we’re stupid and then pull the player out? Just dumb risking further medical issues..
True Kat.
Even a clown like me was screaming to get him the fuck out of there and ice up ASAP…
Belt when he first came up hit with power to all fields. He was not a dead pull hitter. Now, he is pretty much dead pull to right and right center, with an occasional shot to left center.
I remember a Marlins game in the old Miami Joe Robbie stadium where I think the early Belt cranked 2 jacks to deep deep left center, and I thought that this dude is going to be incredible. Hasn’t turned out as great as that early promise, but a good player nonetheless…
KNBR reports Giants have been 41-19 this season without Belt available…
post season you just never know. Light hitting 2b Chuck Hiller had grand slam for Giants in 62.
Have seen couple different stories local and national about how 2021 last day of season could come down similar to 2011–one guy even calculated that there could potentially (longshot) be a 5 way tie for AL WC.
2011 was what Pawlie wrote about in “starry night” with the great cover, something i re read every spring. Besides games ebb and flow, he also went and talked to team bloggers, including our own Daniel. good stuff
And I believe that was the game Marichal got injured and missed the rest of the series.
How did he get injured?
BUNTING!!!
yeah poor Juan. Never got into another post season game til 71, when he lost game #3 2-1, solo bombs by Robertson and game winner by 3b Richie Hebner in 8th.
Chuck Hiller in 5 years with Giants hit 13 HRs, never more than 6 in one season.
Career slash line with SF: .241/.302/.311 for .613 OPS. Those days middle IF just supposed to play D.
And Hiller was an awful fielder, too…
Mrs James: “Belt is more accident prone than injury prone.” I appreciate that distinction, even if it makes no practical difference. Flavor, I enjoyed the couple of days of Belt admiration from you while they lasted. I’m bummed that he may never play another game for SF. Barry Bonds smart at the plate without the historical level of talent, but pretty good in the end nevertheless.
he definitely saved his legacy here with this season.
1. Tommy La Stella (L) 2B
2. LaMonte Wade Jr. (L) 1B
3. Buster Posey (R) C
4. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
5. Kris Bryant (R) LF
6. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
7. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
8. Steven Duggar (L) CF
9. Logan Webb (R) P
The gist of the Chron article. Yes I pay for that rag. . .
Fractures typically take three to six weeks to heal, but there are instances of some athletes playing through small hand fractures. If the fracture isn’t displaced, and depending on the location, there is a chance Belt might be able to try to play with it.
I saw somewhere else, it could heal in 2 weeks if non-displaced, yadda yadda yadda. that would but him somewhere around the NLCS should we get that far.
What does that say about the expectation of Belt returning?
as I said yesterday, there’s no chance he’s returning. Throw it in my face if it happens. I don’t straddle opinions….
Dig Dug gets Yaz out of the 8 hole. Someone needs to tell him he shouldn’t take close pitches batting in front of the pitcher.
I don’t think James will be the guy to tell him that.
James?…
Buehler? Buehler?
8 spot is tough. Craw got stuck there for while too. GD has been more than they could have expected. He’ll be in the mix next year unless they grab a marquee CF.
It is funny how Kap uses him though…despite being probably fastest guy on team, Kap never ever leads him off (the guy who in theory gets up most often), he doesn’t run much with only 6 SBs, and since he’s returned after a month in Sac he’s at bottom of lineup.
Shea says Thairo back up, Belt to 10 day IL retroactive to yesterday S 27.
Per Bleacher Report, Belt is out 4 weeks. Still think he gets a 2 year deal tho.
If Houston outbids, he can seek greener pastures a la Bummie.
Late to post this, I will be at the game tonight. A Harry Potter theme of some sort. My son and his girlfriend signed me up. I am hoping my wand works and I will be able to cast a spell. Go Giants
Woo hoo!! Bring home one more win!
And, TMI, dude. Hah!
Looks like we’ve got Flap multi-representation at the game tonight ! …
Most impressive! Enjoy, all.
Cloudy and cooler in south bay today, would suspect “pitching weather” night.
Jesus, that still close-up of Webb they use makes him look like a baby refusing to open his mouth for whatever his mommy is trying to feed him…
Sorry looking turnout unless they arrive late.
Hard to believe this is the same fan base that supposedly sold out every game for like 15 years…
Bet you could get in the park for less than the price of a beer…
LaMonte Wave…
Buster banging out a double.
This guy Weaver looks tweaked out.
Get the lead!
Too close to take.
Basic baseball.
When is that gonna sink in?
longo’s tantrum was embarrassing. BEsides the fact that it appeared to be a strike, WTF is he doing taking that like he’s so sure it’s a ball? Then you’re gonna show up the ump? He’s lucky he wasn’t tossed.
Yep. Bags loaded, two strikes, you’re an RBI guy making a shit ton of dough.
You gotta swing at close ones…
Looked like a pretty good crowd in the wind chart.
Well, there’s the Belt glove missed right away…
Belt already missed at 1B.
I’m not going to criticize the crowd size during a pandemic that’s killed almost 700,000 people. A lot of people just aren’t psychologically ready to be in a crowd of strangers yet. I understand that.
Gift run to Dbacks…
So weird that the fans have not come back. i think it is because SF more than most places are scared of covid. Thoughts?
Hard to say. 3 HS guys I used to know were at Stanford opener Saturday.
Dunno how many Niners drew. realize these are both in peninsula/south bay area and not inside SF.
Only reservations I have heard about are those wary to use Caltrain.
Yeah, I’ve seen photos of almost empty BART cars still lately. Very surreal looking.
It’s a scary virus. The Bay Area seems determined not to live through something like the worst of the AIDS tragedy.
Krukow is so full of shit about pitch counts..
It’s more like 12 pitches an inning if you want to go deep in a game.
All the shiny newness has left Bryant.
He was the perfect guy to get.
Just ain’t gettin’ it done…
Craw double play action.
6-3 DP!
That’s he pitchers best friend a DP to end the inning with the bags full!
A crab face special..
Yikes, lulz
Lead off double, Yaz almost got all of that one.
And a lead off double for Yaz! Let’s go!!!
Good to see Longo picking up the slack for Belt.
😵💫
Weaver looks anorexia, camera usually adds 10 lbs,in his case 10 lbs less..
Where in Reyes Moronta case 50 lbs more..
Jesus. Ducking postage stamp strike zone
Cost us. A run. Along with wades miss.
Went is all over the place
Fuck my phone
Everyone but the ump knew that was a strike
God, is this guy overdue…
Fick. Another starter struggles through 5.
Fick fuck shoot my phone
Dick stays in.
Amputation tomorrow…
Talking always makes the foot feel better..
LaStella is like a figurine in the batter’s box…
Yet ANOTHER nob-scoring hit with RISP.
Non – iFuck my iPhone
Wow we get the entire friends song.
My money’s on Mr. Ed here…
2 straight hits with RISP, only one run scores.
Giants must lead the league in hits with RISP but the RISP doesn’t score. WTF? …