Monday, May 24, 2010

Your 2010 Giants are 22-21: Picking on the Nats

Losing always hurt.  That's why they play the games.  Every team will face a tough part of the schedule for them and we see whether they sink or swim.  The Giants are facing their bad stretch and we will see if they can battle back or if they fall further back.  Given how they have beaten up on other team's top starters plus have shown the ability to come back in games we have no business getting back into, I think that they will eventually get out of this slide and start winning again.  But until they do, people will be hurting and agitating for change.

Game 1:  Livan Hernandez vs. Todd Wellemeyer

Apparently, from Schulman's reportage, Lincecum's bad start and Wellemeyer's (so far) good home starts saved Wellemeyer from being skipped (or worse) for this start.  In addition, bringing up Santiago Casilla took up the last spot easily available for Eric Hacker, the pitcher who was seriously considered for the call up, who is not on the 40 man at the moment and, thus, bringing up Hacker would require opening up a 40-man spot, that is, resulting in releasing somebody.

Plus, not to be cold, but why not sacrifice Wellemeyer against the Nat's best starter, Livan, instead of throwing our recently struggling ace against the rejuvenated Livan, who, no matter where he has been since leaving the Giants, seem to come up big against us with a well-pitched game?

Despite Wellemeyer doing well at home, I have to give the Nats the edge in this start, as Livan has done well both on the road and at his pitcher's park of a home, as well as at AT&T vs. his career numbers.   Plus, in the past, he has done well when he felt like it, and I think he likes to show up the Giants ever since they basically gave him away to the Expos for basically nothing, just to get rid of him.  Which was a pretty big insult to his ego, I bet.

Game 2:  Luis Atilano vs. Tim Lincecum

Atilano has not pitched well in his brief stay in the majors so far, though he has three wins (showing how untied wins and losses are to ERA).  However, unlike Wellemeyer, he has pitched poorly at home while pitching very well on the road, so he has been tough so far on the road.  However, he's never been that good a prospect (#20 this season on BA's Top 30), so he should regress to the mean on the road at some point.  Against Lincecum, even a struggling one, should give us the edge in winning this game.

Game 3:  Scott Olsen vs. Barry Zito

Which leaves the rubber match of the series.  Both Olsen and Zito have pitched well this season.  Olsen's ERA is much better on the road, but his home peripherals look better (all small samples).  He's only had one bad start in SF.  Meanwhile, Zito had his worse start of the season in his last start, though that appears to mainly be a function of bad luck with balls falling in, else his peripherals didn't look all that bad compared to games earlier in the season.  They seem to be evenly matched, though I would lean towards Zito in this matchup because he usually pitches better at home than on the road.  So, overall, it looks like it can go either way but would have to lean towards the Nats because Olsen has been good before and Zito has just been good this season and had a rough last start and month of May relative to April.

Giants Thoughts

Obviously the biggest thing is the Giants sputtering offense.  For that I blame it on Sandoval's poor month of May.  He has been hitting better lately but not powerfully, and I think the other teams' plan of attack on our offense has been able to take advantage of that lack of power hitting for the month of May.  I also think it may have been related to his health, though as far as I know, he has not been reported to have been sick.

The Cold That Shut Down an Offense?

Ultimately speculation, but I recently tied together some bits of information together.  First, Jonathan Sanchez had a cold that was bad enough to affect his pitching but not enough to have him skip a start.  That was the April 26th and May 2nd starts.  This was according to what I heard on the radio, I believe it was the Bochy pre-game show.  Second, it was revealed during this season that Sandoval and Sanchez are roommates on the road and thus pretty good buddies who hang around with each other (I do not recall exactly where I got that piece of information, however).

Third, Pablo has slumped from April 30 to present, hitting .195/.245/.253/.498 since then.  He has hit .314/.400/.371/.771 from May 14 to today, so basically his slump was from April 30 to May 13th, hitting .115/.130/.173/.303 in that time period.  That was some weak hitting and basically around the time when Sanchez could have passed the old to him and then a slow recovery to health.

Stages from 4/30:
7 games:  .094/.094/.125/.219 in 32 AB/32 PA
5 games:  .150/.182/.250/.432 in 20 AB/22 PA
4 games:  .313/.421/.313/.734 in 16 AB/19 PA
5 games:  .316/.381/.421/.802 in 19 AB/21 PA

I would have to think that the opposing team would have adjusted how they attacked Giants hitters given fear of Pando driving them in.  In April, 4.55 RS avg to April 28th, from April 30th to today, 3.59 RS avg, basically one run less per game.  For the first nine games of his poor hitting since April 29th, the Giants averaged 4.89 RS, showing that the offense was still functioning OK, but since May 11th, the Giants have averaged 2.7 RS as Panda's hitting malaise has affected the team as well.

That seems to reflect their average BB trend.  To April 28th, 3.0 walks per game.  To May 9th, 3.9 walks per game.  From May 11th to today:  2.6 walks per game.

Small sampling but something to consider.

Home is Where the Offense Lives?

Marty Lurie recently tweeted that shaky offenses struggles on the road (I love his addition to the Giants weekend pre and post game shows, though it must be tough on him because in between his shows are Urban's pre-game show, Giants pre-game shows, the game (3-4 hours), Giants post-game show, Urban's post-game show, before finally Lurie's post-game show).  I took a look at the numbers:

Road
Series  RS
  1       6.0 (but extreme hitter's park)
  2       3.7 (but LA and SD are two extreme pitcher's parks)
  3       5.3 (more representative/neutral, if not pitcher's parks for FLA and NYM)
  4       2.4 (two pitcher's parks in OAK and SD, one hitter's park in AZ)

There is not enough to say either way, I would say.  And they have been skewed by many pitcher's parks.

In any case, they are returning home, where they have averaged 4.10 RS per game (vs. 4.05 RS on the road) so there has not been a huge difference so far.

Lineup:  Posey Promotion?

Fans have been agitating for Posey to be promoted, but as the Schulman blog post noted, he's not coming up any time soon.  They want him ready to come up and stay up here on merit plus playing significant time, but Molina, while slumping, is still OK overall and handling the pitching staff well, and Huff appears to have solidified at 1B offensively and defensively.

The big idea for improving the offense right now is to move Franchez from 2B to 3B, Sandoval from 3B to 1B, Huff from 1B to LF, and finally Torres to RF, leaving Bowker and Schierholtz out in the cold and on the bench, at least until Torres cools off, plus Schierholtz will probably see starts against RHP to give Uribe a rest sometimes, as he hasn't really hit for much since taking over SS.

And fans see the inflated numbers Posey is putting up in AAA, but the MLE for that is much lower.  He is currently batting .327/.422/.506/.928 overall, but the level of pitching is nowhere nears that of the majors, which was Sabean's main point in his poorly expressed explanation regarding why Posey was staying down in AAA.  His MLE is only .276/.353/.417/.770, which is good, and slightly better than Molina's current batting line, but which is either an offensive starter nor that much better than what Molina has been hitting for this season.  And it is built on the hot streak he had in early May, as his April numbers MLE was only .286/.351/.381/.732, which is basically what Molina got now, and he has cooled off since then.

Adding him to the lineup might improve the offense, but will not necessarily make the offense good.  And that, to me is the crux of the matter, whether bringing him up is a smart move or a desperate move.  To me, it only seems to be a desperate move, and there is no reason to be desperate now.  There are still a lot of games to be played and we are not that far behind the division leaders right now.  And he has cooled off great recently:  in his last 10 games he has hit .229/.341/.257/.598, with only one double in 35 AB and 10 K's, which is not the batting line of someone who is ready to take on MLB pitching.  And that is his actual line, not his MLE; fans miss details like this when they just eye a hitter's top line in the minors and drool.

Affeldt Hamstring Appraisal

According to Schulman's blog post, Affeldt's hamstring injury which took him out of yesterday's game, plus probably was affecting him during the game, leading to his poor performance, does not look serious and thus should not put him on the DL.  Tests will be done to see if that is true or not.

Our bullpen has been taking a number of hits and losing Affeldt would greatly affect the structure since he's the go-to guy before Wilson.  Runzler would presumably take over the lefty duties, and I would guess that Mota, who is currently doing better, would get the call before Romo, who drew first relief duty in the blow-out the other day.  And obviously it would greatly weaken the bullpen to replace him, unlike losing Medders, where it may have been an improvement with the addition of Bautista.

5 comments:

  1. FYI: I'm not sure why Minor League Splits has Posey's line wrong, but he's hitting .344/.435/.525 and not the .327/.422/.506 -- that's like an additional 40 points of OPS.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Actually, I might have answered my own question. It appears that Minor League Splits hasn't updated over the past day or so. Buster went 4-4 last night.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess my point about Buster is that everyone focused on him when he was hot in early May. He was pretty cold for the past 10 games until going 4-4. He was not that great in April, nice, but certainly not slump-busting goodness.

    To me, the overall number is not as important as consistency. That rears its ugly head with Schierholtz, he would get white hot for two weeks but then be dead cold
    offensively, and even if it was his shoulder, that has been his pattern in the major leagues, hot then cold and so on. The Giants clearly don't want that, else Bowker would have had a job long ago.

    Also, there is an interview in the Chronicle with Sabean, and it further makes clear that the Giants will not be bringing up Posey unless he's playing regularly.

    That unfortunately, would mean that Molina and/or Huff would have to be so bad that Posey would come up and be better or injured. Not likely.

    I was hoping that he would come up and take two starts per week from each, for four starts per week, but it sounds like Sabean wants him playing full-time, which is 5+ starts per week. Not sure what will happen now.

    Hopefully it is just Sabean talking about now and not later. If I were in control, Posey would be coming up, ready or not, in August at the latest, if not after the All-Star break when there are all those games with no breaks. We need Molina to mentor him for 2011, particularly since Lincecum likes Molina so much. And I think Posey coming to the team will give it more energy and excitement.

    Plus, I think bringing Posey up now, where he would be considered the savior of the offense, would be a big disservice to him and put too much pressure on him. He should be transitioning in, not thrown into the deep side of the pool to sink or swim.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thought I would mention that the Giants made a number of moves the past couple of days.

    Unfortunately, Renteria pulled a hammy and was placed on the DL again. They were able to bring back up Rohlinger somehow - I thought the rule was that once a player went down, he had to wait 10 days before he can come up again.

    Then today, because of the high use of the bullpen in recent games, particularly with Lincecum struggling so much, the Giants sent down Matt Downs and brought back up Waldis Joaquin, because Affeldt is still out but is recovering from his hamstring problem.

    I thought I would also note some news from Schulman: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/27/SP041DK7IM.DTL&feed=rss.giants

    Emmanuel Burriss while rehabbing has been working out with the Giants and impressing Bochy with his hitting. He's still only 25 for this season, so he could be developing despite being on rehab, because now they can work extensively with him to get him to use his natural strength more when hitting in order to hit for more power.

    That is his main negative as a hitter. With his great bat control, he should be able to hit for a high average. With moderate walks, he should get on base at least as well as the average hitter, where he should be able to steal a lot of bases.

    But he had almost zero power, that despite strong forearms that Carney Lansford admired and thought should lead to much more power. Figuring that out would change him from so-so prospect to a strong contributor in the lineup, providing OBP, some SLG, plus good defense.

    Didn't realize until now but the Nats changed their starter for today from Olson to Craig Stammen, a pretty so-so pitcher. We should beat him - and we are leading right now in the 9th - but was lucky that Zito didn't give up more runs in his disaster start of his, another poor start for him.

    OK, Giants win, Giants win the series. Pivotal play is probably the passed ball by Stamman, which placed Bowker at 2B where he could not have been doubled off when Molina grounded out to the pitcher. That set up the rest of the inning (of course, one would also point out that Bowker wouldn't even be on first if not for the error, so maybe that one is just as pivotal).

    Still, however it was set up, Schierholtz, Torres, and Sanchez still did get clutch hits consecutively to drive in 3 runs to win the game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Schulman reports Giants talking with Pat "the Bat" Burrell about a AAA contract: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/giants/detail?blogid=22&entry_id=64549

    I can live with that, and if he figures out his hitting down there, maybe bring him up and send Bowker down to play everyday. He could also take LHP at 1B too.

    ReplyDelete

Labels

1984 Draft (1) 2007 Draft (15) 2007 Giants (52) 2008 Draft (22) 2008 Giants (53) 2008 season (6) 2009 Draft (18) 2009 Giants (87) 2009 season (24) 2010 Decade (12) 2010 Draft (11) 2010 Giants (137) 2010 NL ROY award (1) 2010 season (19) 2010's (3) 2011 Draft (9) 2011 Giants (84) 2011 season (8) 2012 Draft (11) 2012 Giants (93) 2012 season (11) 2013 Draft (3) 2013 Giants (39) 2013 season (5) 2014 (1) 2014 draft (5) 2014 Giants (79) 2014 season (16) 2015 Draft (4) 2015 Giants (50) 2015 season (10) 2016 Draft (1) 2016 Giants (45) 2016 season (6) 2017 Draft (3) 2017 Giants (27) 2018 Draft (8) 2018 Giants (50) 2018 Season (8) 2019 Draft (1) 2019 Giants (27) 2019 season (2) 2020 Decade (1) 2020 Giants (9) 20201 Draft (1) 2021 Giants (3) 2022 Giants (2) 2023 Giants (14) 2023 season (1) 2024 Giants (8) 25 man roster (11) 25th man fallacy (1) 26 man roster (1) 3B (1) 40 Man Roster (11) 49ers (1) 5-day rotation (1) 51/49 decisions (1) 6-man rotation (5) 89 Quake (1) 89 World Series (1) A-Ball (1) A-Gon (1) A-Rod (3) A's (6) AA-Ball (1) Aaron Rowand (25) Abiatal Avelino (1) accomplishments (1) ace pitcher (2) ace starter (4) Adalberto Mejia (6) Adam Duvall (5) AFL (4) aggression (1) Albert Suarez (5) Alen Hanson (3) Alex Cobb (1) Alex Dickerson (2) Alex Hinshaw (3) Alex Pavlovic (1) Alexander Canario (2) All-Star Game (1) almost perfect game (1) Alonzo Powell (1) Amphetamine (3) analysis (24) Andre Torres (14) Andres Torres (2) Andrew Baiiley (1) Andrew Bailey (1) Andrew McCutchen (2) Andrew Suarez (5) Andrew Susac (11) Andy Baggerly (2) Andy Sisco (1) Andy Suarez (9) Angel Joseph (1) Angel Pagan (17) Angel Villalona (30) Anniversary (1) appendicitis (1) Aramis Garcia (2) Arbitration (19) Armando Benitez (5) Armando Gallaraga (1) art of failure (1) Asia-Pacific signing (1) assessment (1) Astros (3) At the Rate They Are Going (1) ATT Park (1) Aubrey Huff (20) Austin Jackson (2) Austin Slater (5) Award (4) BABIP (3) Bam Bam Meulens (1) Barry Bonds (30) Barry Zito (77) baseball (1) Baseball America (3) Baseball Prospectus (6) Baseball Prospectus Bias Against Giants (4) baseball strategy (9) Baseball Study (18) baserunning (2) batting peripherals (1) batting stance analysis (1) batting title champion (1) Beat LA (9) bench players (4) Bengie Molina (14) Benjamin Snyder (1) Bert Blyleven (1) best manager (2) best practices (2) Beyond the Box Score (1) Bias Against Giants (1) Big 6 (9) Big Picture (3) Bill Hall (1) Bill James (1) Bill James Handbook (2) Bill Mueller (1) Bill Neukom (21) Billy Beane (3) biography (1) Blake Riverra (1) Blake Snell (1) blog news (3) Blog Philosophy (3) Bob Howry (2) Bob Mariano (1) Bobby Evans (4) Boston Red Sox (1) Brad Hennessey (5) Brad Penny (2) Brandon Bednar (1) Brandon Belt (50) Brandon Crawford (25) Brandon Hicks (1) Braves (5) breakout (2) Brett Bochy (4) Brett Pill (9) Brewers (1) Brian Anderson (1) Brian Bannister (3) Brian Bocock (2) Brian Cooper (1) Brian Horwitz (3) Brian Ragira (2) Brian Sabean (50) Brian Wilson (14) Bridegrooms (6) Bruce Bochy (36) Bucky Showalter (1) bulllpen (8) Bullpen (33) Business Plan (23) Buster Posey (102) Byran Reynolds (2) Byung-Hyun Kim (1) Cained (4) call-ups (3) Candlestick Park (1) Cards (13) Career Prospects (4) Carl Hubbell (1) Carlos Beltran (4) Carlos Gomez (1) Carney Lansford (2) Carson Whisenhunt (1) Carter Jurica (1) Casey Kelly (1) Casey McGeHee (3) catcher injury (5) catching (3) CBT penalty (1) CC Sabathia (1) censorship (2) CEO (2) Chad Gaudin (5) Charles Culberson (5) Charlie Culberson (3) Chase Johnson (3) cheating (1) Chillax (1) Chris Brown (1) Chris Gloor (1) Chris Heston (19) Chris Lincecum (1) Chris Marrero (1) Chris O'Leary (1) Chris Ray (4) Chris Shaw (4) Chris Stewart (4) Chris Stratton (30) Chris Strattton (1) Christian Arroyo (7) Christmas (1) Christopher Dominguez (4) Christy Mathewson (1) Chuckie Jones (2) Clay Hensley (3) Clayton Blackburn (10) Clayton Tanner (3) Closer (9) closer by committee (3) Coaches (4) coaching changes (1) Cody Hall (2) Cody Ross (8) Col (1) Comeback Award (1) Commissioner (1) comparison (3) competitive advantage (1) Competitive Balance Tax (2) Competitive Cycles (2) competitiveness (2) Conner Menez (1) Connor Joe (3) Connor Nurse (1) Conor Gillaspie (25) contender (1) contract extension (3) contract negotiations (2) contract signing (7) Coordinator (1) core competency (1) Core Rotation (1) Cory Gearrin (5) Cory Guerrin (1) Cory Hart (1) Craig Whitaker (2) Cubs (1) Curt Young (1) cuts (1) Cy Young Award (5) cyber-relief (1) D-backs (16) D-gers (36) D-Rocks (3) D-Rox (17) D.J. Snelten (3) Dallas McPherson (1) Dan Ortmeier (11) Dan Otero (2) Dan Runzler (6) Dan Slania (3) Dan Uggla (1) Daniel Carbonell (1) Daniel Slania (2) Dany Jimenez (1) Darren Ford (1) Dave Righetti (1) Dave Roberts (11) David Aardsma (1) David Bell (1) David Huff (2) David Loewenstein (1) Decade of the Giants (12) decline (1) Defense (11) Deferred Money (1) deleted comment (1) Denard Span (3) depth (1) Dereck Rodriquez (7) Derek Holland (18) Derek Law (11) Detroit Tigers (1) DFA (3) DH (2) Dick Tidrow (2) dictionary (1) direction (1) Dirty (1) DL (3) dodgers (15) Donald Snelten (1) Donovan Solano (1) Draft (11) Draft Analysis (27) Draft Bonus (7) draft list (3) draft philosophy (2) draft signing (3) Draft Strategy (12) Draft Study (9) Draft Success (4) drafting (5) Dres (16) Drew Pomeranz (1) DRS (1) Dynasty (3) Earl Weaver (1) Edgar Renteria (13) Eduardo Nunez (4) Edwin Escobar (5) Ehire Adrianza (26) Eli Whiteside (4) Elimination game (1) EME (2) Emmanuel Burriss (18) end of an era (1) epic season (6) era (1) Eric Byrnes (1) Eric Surkamp (6) Erik Cordier (1) Eugenio Velez (12) evaluation (3) Evan Longoria (3) Evan Longoriia (1) extension (7) fan outrage (10) fan rants (2) fanfest (1) FanGraphs (2) Farhan Zaidi (35) feature reliever (1) felony conviction (1) Fielding (5) Fielding Stats (4) finger injury (3) first post-season press conference (3) Francisco Peguero (4) Fred Lewis (3) Freddie Lewis (17) Freddie Sanchez (4) Freddy Sanchez (7) Free Agency (8) free agent misses (1) Free agent possibilities (28) Free agent signing (22) Free agent signings (21) front office (3) Gabe Kapler (1) Game Score (3) gamer-tude (1) Garrett Williams (1) Gary Brown (26) Geno Espinelli (1) George Kontos (10) Ghosts of Giants Drafts (2) Giants (10) Giants Announcer (1) Giants blogs (3) Giants Chat (4) Giants Classic Rotation (1) Giants Defense (4) Giants Draft (15) Giants Drafts (8) Giants Farm System (34) Giants Franchise record (2) Giants Future (66) Giants GM (12) Giants Greats (3) Giants hitting manual (1) Giants Leadership (1) Giants manager (1) Giants No-Hitter (5) Giants Offense (34) Giants Offseason (24) Giants Pitching (10) Giants President of Baseball Operations (3) Giants Strategy (44) GiDar (1) Gino Espinelli (1) glossary (1) Gold Glove Award (1) good players (4) good will (1) Gorkys Hernandez (2) Graphical Player (1) great players (4) Gregor Blanco (18) Gregor Moscoso (1) Gregory Santos (1) Guillermo Moscoso (2) Guillermo Mota (2) Guillermo Quiroz (1) Gustavo Cabrera (4) Hall of Fame (10) Hall of Shame (4) Hank Aaron (5) Happy Holidays (2) Hate mail (1) Hayden Birdsong (1) healthy (1) heart-warming (1) Heath Hembree (8) Heath Quinn (1) Hector Correa (1) Hector Sanchez (12) Heliot Ramos (11) Henry Sosa (8) HGH (1) Hidden Game (1) high expectations (1) high school focus in draft (1) high velocity hitters (1) high velocity pitchers (1) hiring (2) hiring process (1) Hitter's League (1) Hitting (19) Hitting Coach (1) hitting mechanics (3) hitting pitchers (2) hitting streak (1) Hitting; (1) Home Run Career Record (7) Home Run Hitting Contest (1) Hunter Bishop (4) Hunter Pence (25) Hunter Stickland (1) Hunter Strickland (9) Ian Gardeck (1) Idea (4) IFA (1) improvement (2) Indictment (1) Infield (1) injury (7) instant replay (2) instructor (1) Interesting Question (1) International Free Agent Pursuits (5) International Signings (5) interview (5) Investment (1) Ivan Ochoa (2) J.P. Martinez (1) J2 (1) Jack Taschner (4) Jackson Williams (3) Jacob Dunnington (1) Jacob Gonzalez (2) Jacob Junis (1) Jacob McCasland (1) Jae-gyun Hwang (1) Jake Dunning (2) Jake Peavy (39) Jake Smith (1) Jake Wong (1) Jalen Miller (1) Jandel Gustave (1) Japanese Starters (1) Jarrett Parker (10) Jason Heyward (1) Jason Maxwell (2) Jason Stoffel (1) Javier Lopez (5) JC Gutierrez (3) JD Davis (1) Jean Machi (6) Jeff Kent (1) Jeff Samardzija (28) Jeff Suppan (1) Jeremy Affeldt (12) Jeremy Shelley (2) Jerome Williams (1) Jesse English (2) Jesse Foppert (1) Jesus Guzman (4) Jimmy Rollins (1) Joaquin Arias (14) Joe Panik (18) Joe Torre (1) Joey Bart (6) Joey Martinez (2) Johan Santana (1) John Barr (1) John Bowker (22) John Thorn (1) Johneshwy Fargas (2) Johnny Bench (1) Johnny Cueto (31) Johnny Monell (1) Johnny Rucker (1) Jonah Arenado (1) Jonathan Mayo (1) Jonathan Sanchez (49) Jordan Hicks (1) Jordan Johnson (1) Jorge Soler (1) Jose Canseco (1) Jose Casilla (1) Jose Guillen (3) Jose Mijares (3) Jose Uribe (2) Josh Osich (9) JT Snow (1) Juan Perez (6) Juan Uribe (9) Juggling Monkey (1) Julian Fernandez (7) Julio Urias (1) Jung Hoo Lee (2) jury (1) Just Say No (1) Kelby Tomlinson (5) Kendry Flores (2) Keury Mella (2) Kevin Correia (2) Kevin Frandsen (22) Kevin Gausman (3) Kevin Pillar (2) Kevin Pucetas (10) KNBR (1) Kung Fu Panda (30) Kyle Crick (16) Kyle Harrison (5) laid off (1) Larry Baer (3) Larry Ellison (1) Lead-off (2) leadoff (1) left-handed (1) Lew Wolff (1) LHP (1) Lineup (17) lineup construction (4) Lineup position (1) links (1) Logan Webb (3) Lon Simmons (1) long relief (2) Long-Term Contract (22) long-term planning (3) losing streak (1) Lucius Fox (3) luck (2) Luis Angel Mateo (2) Luis Matos (2) Luis Toribio (1) lunatic fringe (1) Mac Marshall (1) Mac Williamson (12) Madison Bumgarner (185) Mailbox (1) Malcolm Gladwell (1) management change (3) management issues (5) managerial value (5) Manny (1) Marc Kroon (2) Marco Luciano (3) Marco Scutaro (12) Mark DeRosa (8) Mark Gardner (1) Mark Melancon (4) Marlon Byrd (1) Martin Agosta (7) Marvin Miller (1) Masahiro Tanaka (1) Mason Black (1) Mason McVay (1) Matsuzaka (1) Matt Cain (160) Matt Chapman (1) Matt Daniels (3) Matt Downs (2) Matt Duffy (8) Matt Graham (1) Matt Holliday (1) Matt Krook (2) Matt Moore (15) Matt Morris (2) Mauricio Dubon (2) Mechanics (4) Media (17) Media Bias (17) media hypocrisy (1) Media Trade Idea (3) Medical (1) Mediocy (11) Mediots (6) Melk-Gone (1) Melky Cabrera (14) Melvin Adon (1) memories (1) mental (1) Merkin Valdez (8) Message in a Bottle (1) methodology (2) MI (1) Michael Conforto (1) Michael Main (1) Michael Reed (1) Michael Trout (1) middle infield (2) Miguel Cabrera (2) Miguel Gomez (1) Miguel Tejada (5) Mike Fontenot (3) Mike Ivie (1) Mike Kickham (9) Mike Leake (11) Mike Matheny (1) Mike Morse (10) Mike Yazstremski (2) milestone (1) minor league (1) minor league contract (4) minors (11) mismanagement (1) misnomer (1) mistakes (2) MLB (2) MLB stupidity (2) MLB Success (7) MLB Trade Rumors (1) MLBAM (1) MLBTR (1) MLE (1) Mock Draft analysis (8) Modern Portfolio Theory (1) Modus Operandi (2) MPT (1) MVP (2) Natanael Javier (1) Nate Schierholtz (45) Nathanael Javier (1) Nationals (1) Naysayers (2) Negotiations (1) Neil Ramirez (1) NewPQS (8) Next Gen (1) Nick Hundley (2) Nick Noonan (27) Nick Pereira (1) Nick Vander Tuig (2) Nick Vincent (1) NL Champions (2) NL West (29) NL West Division Title (20) NL West Future (1) NLCS (22) NLCS MVP (2) NLDS (8) Noah Lowry (14) non-roster invitees (2) non-tenders (3) Nori Aoki (4) NPB (1) NRI (1) Oakland A's (4) OBP (1) oddities (1) Offense (4) offensive era (1) ogcPQS (6) Omar Vizquel (3) one-run games (3) Opener (1) openers (1) Opening Day (6) opening day pitcher (3) opening day roster (11) Optimism (1) Osiris Matos (2) Outfield (3) overturned (1) Ownership (7) Pablo Sandoval (97) Padres (1) Panda (6) Pandoval (1) passing (1) Pat Burrell (15) Pat Misch (5) Patrick Bailey (2) Payroll (11) PECOTA (1) Pedro Feliz (12) PEDS (10) Perfect Game (2) perjury trial (1) personal (2) Personal Reminiscence (2) Pessimism (1) Pete Palmer (1) Pete Putila (1) Pete Rose (3) Peter Magowan (2) Phil Bickford (3) Phillies (7) philosophy (1) Phoenix Theory of Rebuilding (1) Pierce Johnson (2) Pitch Count (3) pitch framing (1) pitch value (1) Pitcher hitting 8th (1) pitcher’s health (1) Pitchers League (1) Pitching (27) pitching analysis (4) pitching department (1) pitching development (4) Pitching Rotation (90) pitching staff (6) pitching strategy (2) plate discipline (1) platoon players (2) Play Ball (1) player acquisition (1) player budget (2) player development (7) playoff (2) playoff analysis (2) playoff hopes (37) playoff roster (2) playoff rotation (6) Playoff Success (27) Playoff Win Effective (3) Playoff Win Efficient (2) Playoffs (44) postmortem (2) PQS (109) press conference (2) pressure (2) priorities (1) Projected Record (6) projection (2) projections (2) promotion (2) prospect (3) prospect analysis (7) prospect future (1) prospect handling (1) Prospect of Note (3) prospect promotion (1) prospect study (2) Prospects (46) quality starts (1) questions (1) radio great (1) Rafael Rodriquez (8) Rajai Davis (2) Ralph Barbieri (1) Ramon Ramirez (3) Randy Johnson (10) Randy Messenger (2) Randy Winn (14) Rangers (5) Ranking (4) rant (1) raspberry (1) rationalization (1) Ray Durham (5) re-sign (2) realist (1) Rebuilding (5) Rebuilding Myths series (1) rebuttal (1) Red Sox (1) Reds (5) rehab (1) reliever (3) relievers (1) Relocation Concession (2) Research (2) resource scarcity (1) rest for starters (1) Retired (3) Retirement (3) return (1) Reyes Moronta (3) RHP (1) Ricardo Genoves (1) Rich Aurilia (7) Rick Peterson (1) Rickie Weeks (1) Ricky Oropesa (3) right-handed (1) risk mitigation (2) risk profile (1) Roberto Gomez (1) Rockies (2) Rod Beck (1) Roger Kieschnick (13) Roger Metzger (1) Ron Shandler (2) Ron Wotus (1) Ronnie Jebavy (1) Ronnie Ray (1) rookie debut (1) Rookie of the Year (1) Roster (4) rosterbation (2) Rotation by Committee (1) Rotation Chaos (1) ROY (2) Royals (3) Rule 5 (2) Rule 5 Draft Pick (5) rumors (9) run differential (1) run prevention (1) run production (1) runs support (1) Russ Ortiz (11) Russell Carleton (1) Ryan Garko (2) Ryan Klesko (4) Ryan Rohlinger (2) Ryan Theriot (3) Ryan Vogelsong (93) Ryder Jones (2) Sabean Naysayers (7) Sabermetric Thoughts (6) sabermetrics (5) SABR (1) Salary speculation (3) SALLY (1) Sam Dyson (7) Sam Long (1) Sam Selman (1) Sam Wolff (1) San Jose Giants (1) San Jose Relocation (3) Sandro Fabian (2) Sandy Rosario (1) Santiago Casilla (9) scenarios (1) Scott Boras (1) Scott Harris (2) Scott McClain (2) Scott Shuman (1) Scouting (2) Sean Hjelle (5) season review (1) secret sauce (2) Sergio Romo (17) Seth Corry (6) SF Giants (2) Shilo McCall (1) Shohei Ohtani (3) Shohei Otani (2) Shooter (1) shutouts (1) Signature Song (1) signing (13) Silly-Ball (3) South Atlantic League (1) South Bay Rights (1) SP usage (1) spin rate (1) splits (2) Sports Illustrated (1) Spring Training (16) stabilized stats (1) standings (1) starting CF (1) starting lineup (19) starting pitching (96) starting rotation (4) Statcorner (1) State of the Giants (1) statistics (2) STATS (1) Steamer (1) Stephen Vogt (1) Steroids (7) Steve Edlefsen (4) Steve Johnson (3) Steve Okert (8) Steven Duggar (7) strikeout rate (2) Sue Burns (1) sunk costs (1) superstition (1) tactics (1) talent evaluation (4) Tax (1) team culture (1) Team of the 2010's (2) Team of the 2020's (1) Team of the Decade (4) Team Speed (1) Team Support (1) Thank You (2) The Evil Ones (tm) (1) The Giants Way (2) The Hardball Times (1) The Hey Series (19) The Hey Zaidi Series (4) Thomas Joseph (3) Thomas Neal (9) Tigers (4) Tim Alderson (17) Tim Hudson (39) Tim Lincecum (195) TINSTAAPP (1) Todd Linden (3) Todd Wellemeyer (6) Tommy Joseph (3) Tony Watson (4) Top 100 Prospects (1) Top 14 Roster (1) Top Draft Position (4) top Giants prospects (5) top player list (1) top prospect list (6) Trade (12) Trade Analysis (22) Trade Idea (9) Trade PTBNL (2) Trade Rumors (30) trading (1) training staff (2) Training Tool (1) Travis Blackley (1) Travis Ishikawa (47) Trevor Brown (5) Trevor Gott (1) tribute (1) Tristan Beck (2) turning point (1) Ty Blach (23) Tyler Austin (1) Tyler Beede (10) Tyler Cyr (1) Tyler Horan (1) Tyler McDonald (1) Tyler Rogers (2) Tyler Walker (2) umpire mistake (3) Umpires (3) USA Today (1) utility (1) Voros McCracken (1) Waiver Roulette (1) Waldis Joaquin (5) walks (1) Wall of Fame (1) WAR (4) Warrior Spirit (1) Wendell Fairley (10) What-If Scenario (3) wild card (1) wild card race (1) Will Bednar (1) Will Clark (1) Will Smith (7) Will Wilson (3) Williams Jerez (1) Willie Mac Award (1) Willie Mays (1) winning on the road (1) Winter League (1) winter meetings (3) World Series (28) World Series Champions (13) WS Ring Bling (1) xBABIP (1) xwOBA (1) Yankees (1) Yusmeiro Petit (40) Zack Cozart (2) Zack Wheeler (9) Zaidi MO (2) Zaidi Rotation (3) ZiPS (1) Zito Role (2)