Monday, February 13, 2017

Your 2017 Giants: Relief in the Bullpen

Hopefully quick blog post, especially since some liked this format before.  I read about how the Giants were taking a chance with our bullpen, as among the relievers expected to make the team (Kontos, Law, Okert, Osich, Smith, Strickland; not sure why Guerrin was left off, was that a hint?), there were a lot of blown saves among them, 14 in total.


ogc thoughts

But to me, that's not the right way to be evaluating a bullpen.  For one, we have no context how other bulllpens have done.  For another, more importantly, these relievers don't normally get to save a game, but often get blown saves in the process of trying to hand off the lead to the next reliever.  It would be better to include their Holds into the equation.

Whether including Guerrin or not, this group of relievers had a 84% HLD/SAVE percentage when you add up the relievers holds, saves, and blown saves together (there are a few more save situations that these guys got into, but for some reason did not get a hold, save, or blown save, and I would guess they are situations where they did not do enough to get a hold; unfortunately, while Baseball Reference keeps track of this, they don't provide an easy way to compare teams, while Fangraphs does provide an easy way, but don't track total save situations, at least in their table).  And that is not good compared to other teams overall percentage, they just missed being the in the bottom third overall, per the data in Fangraphs.

When you include Melancon's performance for 2016, that ups the percentage to 87%, which put them just missing the top third, so that is a large jump in improvement.  Casilla with this group would have dropped the team further, down to 83%, which means that he did worse than this group as a whole.  Of course, there will be others probably in the bullpen, which could push the number down towards the middle of the pack again.

The problem with the above is, of course, their performance in 2016 is not necessarily their performance in 2017.  Okert, for one, was not used much, and Smith wasn't here the full season either, and neither was Osich, who missed a part of the season first with his DL, then I think he was in the minors for some extended rehab time (I think they were stashing him, as he had 9 games down there; he was also having some issues, so they may have kept him there longer to work on something) as well.  And Smith had a stellar 92% percentage rate for us (he wasn't as good with the Brewers, so perhaps Bochy figured out how to use him in order to be more effective).  I could extrapolate, but that won't be fair to Okert, who was only 2 out of 3, and 11 of 12 for Smith is probably too high.  And who knows with Osich, but he was really good in 2015, injury definitely had an effect on his poor 2016 numbers.

Another way to look at it is to examine their overall ERA.  In 2016, the six had an ERA of 2.99 together, with Guerrin, it was 3.21.  That's pretty good, and that's why I've been happy about the bullpen situation this off-season.  But looking at the overall Save/Hold situation, I can see some concern over our current situation, but that's the problem I've noticed about complaints about the Giants:  if they chose to go with young players, the complaints are that they are not experienced/accomplished enough; if they chose to go with veterans, the complaints are that Bochy don't give young players a chance and/or that they are spending too much for a fungible commodity.

I think that the young guys will get better with experience.   I think Bochy has been an acknowledged master of managing the bullpen, and the reason roles were not as defined in 2016 was because of a combination of two factors:  old guys having problems, while young guys are inexperienced, so Bochy needed time to figure out how to use them.  And they are connected, because the old guys having problems (Lopez ineffective, Romo on the DL, Casilla up and down in effectiveness) means that Bochy had to use the young guys in different situations, and could not always afford to give them set roles, as it depended on the mix of older players who may or may not be used by Bochy in their usual roles.

The complaints should go down now that we have Melancon, and the setup roles seem to be set with Smith, Strickland, Guerrin, and perhaps Kontos as well, we'll see.  But flux in their performance could affect Bochy's usage pattern again.  Plus, he really seems to like Law a lot, so he could win a set-up role from the get go, but if not, he could push upward into the set-up situations.  And as much as I love Osich, Okert has been more accomplished in the minors, and he could also end up with significant appearances.  In any case, I think having a steady arm like Melancon in the closer position helps settles down most of the issues/complaints.

So what do you think is the best way to evaluate how our bullpen looks like?   And how do you feel about the bullpen?

10 comments:

  1. I think it is key to use the pen wisely. Bochy put Casilla in several situations that were unwise. He refused to accept the fact that Lamb completely owns Casilla and kept putting in Casilla against Lamb, and Lamb just clobbered the ball off of him. Romo was phenomenal vs. righties, and yes at times could get lefties out too, but to maximize his effectiveness, his numbers would have been a lot better if he were used more as a Roogy. It would be nice to have the Javy Lopez of several years ago who always was able to get out the tough lefty, but last year he lost control and when he wasn't giving up a key walk, he was making his pitches too fat. I am in line that most of the time, having a really good closer helps the entire bullpen situation. I am hoping that the giants will have more wins this year if they can stay relatively healthy, even if the entire division gets more difficult and the Dodgers are still highly favored by the odds makers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, using the pen wisely is a key. Tom Tippett showed us long ago that having a good bullpen was now a key to winning in the majors.

      It's a two-edged sword. Do you show confidence in your closer, no matter who it is, or do you risk hurting his confidence and his trust in you by going with someone else? Casilla talked about how hurt he was that Bochy didn't go to him in that fateful 9th against the Cubs.

      Well, any pitcher's effectiveness would be maximized if you only used him against the same handed hitters. Again, it's a balance the manager has to manage, because, as last year showed, playing match ups constantly burned through the bullpen and made the relievers unhappy.

      I think Bochy showed some weaknesses last season and hopefully they don't continue. I think having a stable bullpen, of mostly the same guys, will help a lot.

      Delete
  2. I think that a pretty definitive assessment of the 2016 bullpen, with ample stats to back it up, is Kevin Roche's, in his MCC post of 23 Jan. called "The Giants Bullpen Will Reign Supreme in 2017." He shows that, except for Save situations, the Giants had one of the top bullpens in the NL last year, as to Runs Allowed, inherited runners strand rate, hard-hit balls, and so on. And he predicts that the Cubs, Washington, and LAD will have worse pens this year than in 2016, for reasons he offers, while the addition of Melancon and the subtraction of Casilla and Lopez will further strengthen ours.

    I like, ogc, your inclusion of Holds in the Save rate assessment, to enhance our perspective on the pen rather than having it distorted by the failures of a few 8th and 9th inning guys. As to rankings, however, the differences between 83% and 87%--the pacts you cite--seem to me minimal enough that I don't know how to assess them. More generally, without reference to this blog, I usually find myself bemused when told that the Giants are first or fifth or tenth, etc., without being told what the range of variation is or how the stats clump: if the Giants' pen allowed X runs in 2016 while the Cubs' pen allowed X-1, the teams are in a tie, whereas if the Cubs' pen allowed X-25, they're not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Autocorrect changed my "pcts" = percentages, to "pacts," thus creating nonsense, as autocorrect so often does.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the heads-up, nice post.

      Well, as I noted, the Giants moved from basically the bottom third to the top third of the majors, from that small jump in percentage.

      The difference can be viewed by what difference happens to Save/Holds. The Giants had a total of 198 last season. That was high for the majors. The average was 143, but there does not seem to be a pattern for good vs. bad teams, for example, the Cubs and Braves had about the same number.

      At 4% difference, that's roughly 6 more holds and saves. At roughly 2:1 ratio of Holds to Saves, that's an extra 4 holds and 2 saves. Obviously, two more saves means two more wins. And I would think that the 4 extra holds would result in at least one more win, so that's at least 3 wins difference. So instead of 87-75, we would have been 90-72.

      And three wins is basically 3 WAR, which I think is valued at $8M/WAR today, or roughly $25M of extra production.

      Now, the team had 171 in 2015. At that usage, that works out to 7 additional or either 5 holds/2 saves. At 198, we are talking 8, or 5 holds and 3 saves. Maybe another win or two.

      A beat writer has been crowing about how the rest of the bullpen was responsible for 21 blown saves, but that number includes players no longer here, not just Casilla, but also Lopez and Nathan, plus perhaps Suarez too, if Blach or Cain gets the long relief role.

      Also, I think Osich was used while injured, mainly because I would bet that he kept something away fromt the team (many young players have copped to staying out there and grinding when they should have went on the DL) and I think that contributed to his poor performance overall. He was much better in 2015.

      Yeah, placing does need context. That's why I mentioned where the team fell with the changes. But to your point, I could have quantified it even more, which I did above.

      Honestly, though, I think baseball is too quantified. Or rather, many people think that there is a science here rather than an art. So I didn't need to see all of the stats in the article to feel that we had a good bullpen going into 2017. I saw that they generally had a good ERA, good K/BB ratios, good K/9 rates. It's good to know that all those stats confirmed my feeling, though.

      And counting numbers don't really tell the story, you are right about X and X-1. Maybe the Giants pen threw a lot more innings, then they were better, or if they threw a lot less innings, then they were worse.

      Delete
  3. One of the other problems the giants seemed to have, is their bullpen pitched very well at times when the games were almost already out of control, and although they did pitch nicely several times in close games, they had a propensity to all fall apart at once as if it were contagious, causing a few meltdown type of games.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think part of that had to do with their discomfort over their roles. I wish everyone had the attitude that Romo, Affeldt, Lopez, Casilla had that each out is important (to quote Bochy's recent statement about the bullpen), whether in the 7th, 8th, or 9th. Just get outs, it's really that simple, not what role for whom, that's the stupid way most teams deal with things. If you get outs, you get a good role, as Bochy will use you more in later situations. You fail, you move towards the middle.

      But that's not reality. These young players get conditioned by TV and radio announcers telling them that there are roles, as if that is more important. So it takes time to teach them and get them over to Bochy's philosophy.

      In any case, most of the pitchers are set, as most do not have options anymore, so only Law, Okert, and Osich can be moved up and down. So their roles are probably set in spring, and barring meltdowns, will stick for the season.

      I also think that they will be better due to having the experience of 2016. Experience is a great teacher. And with Affeldt and Lopez in spring training, they can continue passing on to these players the mind-set that they brought to the game, and help them get better mentally.

      And all these pitchers were very good in the minors, so I feel pretty good about them in the majors. I think 2017 had a bit of a learning curve that they had to battle through. If I ever had time, maybe I'll look at the monthly stats (I would have to compile though...).

      Delete
    2. Yes, I agree with all this, but would add, with an eye to nomisnala's comment about contagion, that roles known in advance may have two virtues. First, they inhibit the manager's having a given pitcher warm up repeatedly in a game, as Bochy did when desperately playing the percentages last season. And by compartmentalizing, they may lessen contagion: as batters "

      Delete
    3. as batters "press" to pick up their slumping teammates, and so increase their own problems, pitchers start trying to compensate for their teammates' troubles, and get into troubles of their own by overthrowing or nibbling or getting spooked by the other team's momentum. At least this is what managers' and players' post mortems point to. Set roles, I'm supposing, get their minds back on their own set jobs of forcing the batters they face to make outs. I have no idea why trained athletes need this sort of simplified focus, but then I am not a trained athlete myself.

      Delete
    4. although roles are important, I think these guys make millions and millions of dollars and should be able to pitch or not pitch based on what is best for the team winning. I did not care that much if it hurt Casilla's feelings if he were to take him out vs. Lamb. Later he ended up not using him at times when he probably would have been the best choice including the playoffs. As kruk says, some guys just have ownage, and lambs ownage of Casilla was Epic, So epic that he almost epically did not want to hurt his feelings, and nearly cost us the playoffs. It was just hard to believe how many blown saves they had, but the post all star game late inning hitting was not good.

      Delete

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)