tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post1397024954596829773..comments2024-02-23T20:49:09.057-08:00Comments on obsessivegiantscompulsive: Your 2013 Giants: Fanatics, Keep Your Dawber Upobsessivegiantscompulsivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-44798246281402182992013-07-29T20:03:47.458-07:002013-07-29T20:03:47.458-07:00This season is done with the sweep by the Cubs as ...This season is done with the sweep by the Cubs as the exclamation point. Re-tool & re-group.Boofnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-1682359228103298792013-07-25T23:53:34.439-07:002013-07-25T23:53:34.439-07:00It is still July we are only 7 games back and one ...It is still July we are only 7 games back and one hot streak can make it a race. One ten game stretch where we go 8-2 and the bums go 3 and 7, we pick up 5 games. This stuff happens all the time. Look how the giants faded in 2011, right around the end of July. It is just way to early to count a 7 game deficit as non competitive. However, the giants starting pitching has to really step it up. We are at the moment next to last in era, and we play at AT&T. That is mostly due to the starters. Except for Gaudin, our replacement pitchers have been horrible. Relief is ok, except a few times in the clutch. The hitting needs a big bopper to clear the bases instead of this team leaving base runners on as if having them score were pure poison. One nice stretch of 17-3 or 17-4. without a team ahead of us getting hot at the same time could put us right in the race. One pulled hamstring to Kershaw would change the entire dodger dynamic. nomisnalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08297640472949764321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-45028978858819757422013-07-25T10:17:08.463-07:002013-07-25T10:17:08.463-07:00Yeah, I posted Zito's bad hitting numbers on D...Yeah, I posted Zito's bad hitting numbers on DrB yesterday, he has just been killed this season, and basically the whole season, this is his worse season with us and that's saying much.<br /><br />Yeah, Wheeler has been what I thought he would be, high BB/9, low K/9, because of the struggles that he had in A-ball while with the Giants plus he's been good but not great in AA and AAA for the Mets, the concept of MLE teaches that whatever a guy does in AAA, you shave off some of the K/9, add to his BB/9, and this season he had a 8.5 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9, which if you shave and add, is basically the 7.2 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 that he's doing now. He's clearly not ready for the majors right now, but the Mets are going nowhere and want to give the fans a charge, plus you never know, so you see how he does in the majors.<br /><br />I mean, as good as Cain was in the minors, he struggled mighty fiercely in his first full MLB season. And Wheeler is no Cain. <br /><br />Wheeler's numbers never rang out to me as Ace material, so I'm not shocked that he is struggling right now. Not that he won't ever be good, just that my opinion that he would not be ready for the majors until at least 2014 seems to be holding up. But who knows, maybe something clicks while he's up here in the majors, but the Giants needed help in 2011 and Wheeler was the price to pay to help try to hold on for the win in 2011, it was just too bad Beltran failed to help us when we needed it.<br /><br />Yeah, I think Giants fans have been spoiled a bit by Timmy and Bumgarner, but I had forgotten that Cain actually struggled for most of his first full season in the majors, even the best takes some time to adjust to major league life and competition.<br /><br />And as bad as Zito has been, he's been better than Matt Morris for us.<br /><br />I agree with the parameters on Pence. I know you are tired of Pablo but to the point that many of the Naysayers have been saying to me for years, you have to try to win now with the pitchers we got going, you don't know how much longer we got (they were wrong then because our guys were young then; now, they are middle-aged, as far as pitchers go). And Sandoval's hitting would help ensure we have the offense to support the now aging and declining pitching.<br /><br />Though if a team is willing to throw us a big package of good prospects, like the ones the A's somehow finagle out of people, I would be willing to listen, Pablo is not on my no-trade list anymore. One good prospect is not good enough for me, Pablo is so much better than that, it would just be selling low.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-72579581878907037792013-07-25T09:59:52.616-07:002013-07-25T09:59:52.616-07:00I think the team is going to keep LF open for one ...I think the team is going to keep LF open for one of our AAA OF to break out and force his way into the starting lineup. I would be shocked if they sign a big money LF, that would speak very negatively about the Giants assessment of the outfielders potential development.<br /><br />Big money, if anywhere, would go into the starting pitching, I think. As I've noted on your blog, Zito has actually been pretty bad since his fourth start, so he's basically been bad all season long, and could be the odd man out when Vogie returns to the rotation. If so, he's probably DFAed because he's no reliever, and no worries over his option, it won't be picked up.<br /><br />But I don't know if anyone that good is available, plus Lincecum's $22M is coming off books too, looks like the Giants can shift some money into better scouting to help the draft and IFA processes. Plus maybe buy some draft picks from some teams. obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-80942130016961094022013-07-25T09:54:29.046-07:002013-07-25T09:54:29.046-07:00The Giants obviously would need to improve as well...The Giants obviously would need to improve as well. The main reason they have been down that I see is because of injuries and recovery from injuries. <br /><br />The lineup looks like it is returning back to health, and start to be productive again. As bad as Blanco has been, Pagan was not that much better when we were scoring all those runs, we were scoring because we were hitting from Scutaro to Crawford (with a pause for the LF) and Posey wasn't even that hot then either.<br /><br />The starting pitching was not that great then either, Gaudin has been a great improvement over what Vogie was doing until the start he got hurt in, and the rest has been what they are today, this season.<br /><br />The bullpen has been their best feature this season, but Casilla's injury also put a crimp on things, and Affeldt injury could also do the same, but I'm hoping Mijares can step up and deliver, unlike Kontos when Casilla was down, but Dunning and Rosario has done well for us so far.<br /><br />So that to me is logic, not optimism. <br /><br />But I'm starting to see your (and Covechatter's) point that my stance is optimistic regarding the Giants. To me, I'm just expecting them to be what they were at the start of the season, and maybe that is a bit of optimism as well, but I feel that the poor recent play was the abnormality, due to the key injuries, and that they should revert to earlier standards of performance with regards to winning. And I explained why I thought things should revert to early season.<br /><br />But I agree that there has been an exhausted pitching staff. I would also add that almost every WBC participant spent some extended time on the DL this season. I don't know about an emotional letdown, if so, then how did they start off the season 23-15? <br /><br />There is a glaring weakness in LF now, but if Pagan was still playing, I don't think anyone would be noticing it right now. <br /><br />And 1) every team has a weakness somewhere in the lineup and 2) the Giants have been good about keeping a spot open for prospects who might be ready for the majors that season. I think the Giants felt that they were covered by having Kieschnick, Peguero and Brown percolating in Fresno, should anything bad happened to LF. Blanco/Torres is a great platoon in LF offensively (Torres has been disappointingly bad in LF defensively, not sure why, he was great everywhere for us before), though, only exposed when Pagan went down and both had to hit non-platoon pitchers. <br /><br />Plus, as Shankbone astutely noted, there were no good options available either.<br /><br />While they have a Top 10 pick now, if they play as well as I think they are capable of, they will be more middle of pack instead. But we will see, I agree.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-64107973046776601322013-07-25T09:52:20.031-07:002013-07-25T09:52:20.031-07:00I don't view it as optimism. Both AZ and LA h...I don't view it as optimism. Both AZ and LA has been riding high on fumes, much like COL when that pitcher was pitching all those great games in the first half, then fell once reality hit him (like it should for Corbin), much like SD in 2010 was riding high on the ace performances that their non-aces were giving them, but when they reverted to reality in the second half, the Giants were able to catch them (and, FYI, I called both of those, not that it was that sharp to do that, just that I did).<br /><br />Of course, 2013 is a different season, and just because a team or player should revert to reality does not mean that they do.<br /><br />Odds are, however, that AZ should fall, they are a very bad team outside of Corbin starts, and once he starts faltering, their contention will too. <br /><br />Odds are not as favorable with LA, but as I showed with my analysis, their good stretch has been because of Hanley and Kemp's great hitting, out of their heads relieving, and some starting pitching overheadedness. <br /><br />Hanley should revert to past season norms unless he found the Fountain of Youth in LA, and returned to his general state of Awesomeness that he had when he was first making it big in the majors. But there is not that much season left, he could be a lit firework that lasts for a long while.<br /><br />The bullpen however, I doubt that they can continue to compile an ERA of under 1.00 for the rest of the season. They are good but not that good. So start to expect more blown saves.<br /><br />Also, the starting pitching has been showing the same peripherals as their careers, but their ERA is much better than their careers. Like Hanley, maybe they can continue the good pitching.<br /><br />But that is a lot of ifs that need to happen for them to continue to be this good. The smart bet is that something will regress, whether Hanley or the starting pitching, and the bullpen definitely will break, they are not going to continue to have the majority of the relievers post sub-1.00 ERAs for the rest of the season, that is an easy bet to take.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-83138179371573846172013-07-25T08:21:23.043-07:002013-07-25T08:21:23.043-07:00Re-tool and re-group should be the theme of the se...Re-tool and re-group should be the theme of the season at this point. And I agree with DrB, there does need to be new energy. I just posted up what hitters are doing against Zito this year, it ain't pretty. <br /><br />You don't know how long it will be if help comes from all these pitching prospects the Giants have in the low-minors. I think its safe to say its not going to be next year. The struggles of Kickham/Surkamp demonstrate how hard it is to make that final jump, and that's something the Giants have been spoiled with, repeatedly. But as good as Cain/Timmy/Bumgarner have been, there are always those who impress initially like Williams or guys that get injured like Lowry. We may be back to some sort of Matt Morris type next year.<br /><br />Zack Wheeler has a 1.50 WHIP and has given up 1.5 HRs/9. Looks like a Giants pitcher for sure! <br /><br />I would lock Pence as long as it didn't climb above 4/60MM. If Sabean could get the Pagan (4/40) based on the inconsistent play, even better. That'd be the limit though, based on the warts. You need at least half of the 4 corner spots on a 3-4 year plan. Then you can deal with Mr. Sandoval. Pablo's 3 HR barrage that shocked the baseball world seem very far away right now. I'd be sending that every five minutes to the Yankees right now and demanding Rafael De Paula personally.Shankbonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04803824507120403397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-15986686783575522172013-07-25T07:01:43.270-07:002013-07-25T07:01:43.270-07:00I would add Zito as another tough decision for Sab...I would add Zito as another tough decision for Sabes. This team needs a jolt of new energy. I'm starting to think that it might be better to pay Zito his $7 M to go away. Find another Vogie Guadin type out there on the cheap and put the $12 M toward and upgrade in LF.DrBGiantsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699322384438591979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-69124975969484958742013-07-25T06:52:43.007-07:002013-07-25T06:52:43.007-07:00I wish I shared your optimism, ogc. I agree that ...I wish I shared your optimism, ogc. I agree that the resurrection of the old grumblings about Sabes and Boch are coming from short-sighted, fair weather fans and are way off base, but I also think you have to be tinting your glasses with an awful lot of rose coloring to see the Giants coming back this year. <br /><br />I chalk it all up to a perfect storm of emotional letdown, an exhausted pitching staff and a multitude of injures. There is a glaring weakness in LF, but as Shankbone has pointed out, the available options this offseason would have been worse.<br /><br />I see this season as a great opportunity to regroup and reload for the future. Sabes has some tough decisions to make about Timmy and Pence. If he plays those cards right, he can either re-sign them for a favorable price or get a couple of extra picks to go with a top 10 in a strong draft.<br /><br />I'm still bullish on Sabes and the future of the Giants, but not so much this season.DrBGiantsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699322384438591979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-64416875789082533792013-07-24T08:21:25.988-07:002013-07-24T08:21:25.988-07:00The lesson from the bittersweet 2011 season I lear...The lesson from the bittersweet 2011 season I learned - don't give up. St. Louis sneaked in at the last minute and won it all. The Gigantes were 1/2 game out from where the Cards were in mid-September. It was mainly fueled by Beltran getting hot versus scrub pitching, and Pablo getting hot as well. <br /><br />Gints are definitely down right now, 6 1/2 out of the West and 10 1/2 out of the Wild Card (tied with the lowly Mets!) <br /><br />I'd say this has to happen, and its a long-shot this year: have to win on the road. They've been abysmal. The pitching has to come together, and it seems like the big inning/big hit/too many home runs have really struck. And the third thing is the defense, its still pretty sloppy, which is not what we're used to. I'm pretty sick of the infield hits falling, the pitchers haven't been too slick. I would say that teams are much more inclined to challenge a fat panda at third with the bunts/squibblers... <br /><br />But one thing about this season is its been some hard luck. Balls haven't gone the Gigantes way a lot of the time. That can come raging back at any time. Baseball is very unpredictable. The hottest team at the moment? The Seattle Mariners. You never know when its your turn. <br /><br />But the main lesson from 2011 I thought was just don't give up. Don't trot out a surrender lineup. You're defending world series champions. No matter how hard its going, act like you've been there before and conduct yourself accordingly.Shankbonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04803824507120403397noreply@blogger.com