Wow, that's about as good a start as I was hoping from Misch. He has had stellar stats as a reliever the past two seasons, so I was hoping for a pretty strong strikeout performance and he did not disappoint: 5.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 R/ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 HR. That is only a PQS of 3 but one more IP with no HR and it would have been a PQS of 4 and a DOM start.
I know I've been pumping up Ortiz for the starts but if there must be a 5 man rotation, I think I've switched sides, just put Ortiz in the bullpen and start Misch. However, I still prefer the Giants going to a 6 man rotation by adding Misch and Ortiz to the rotation. With so many games played in a row, adding the 6th starter is like an off day for the 5 man rotation. And with the double-header in Pittsburgh, then everyone will be pitching no different than usual, it would be like the times there is no off-day and they have one less day of rest in between starts.
But man, 8 K's in 5.0 IP, I love the strikeouts, put him in the rotation already, I want to see the young guys pitch. With Lincecum, Lowry and now Cain pitching very well in consecutive games, if Misch can continue to pitch well, that is 4 good starters going for us the rest of August. Plus whatever Zito can do - he has done well at the end of the season before, so who knows?
And Ortiz, I'm hoping he does well enough that a desperate playoff team will offer a good prospect for him. I like Russ but we need more prospects. Hopefully he can pitch well in August and we can sell him for a prospect before the trade deadline.
Two Birds With One Stone
Nice trick of the Giants too, they put Aurilia on the DL to bring up Misch instead of sending down Davis. And Rich was injured so that is their perogative, but I would guess that his injury normally is not something that would put him on the DL, plus this saves the Giants money, Aurilia's total salary is tied to plate appearances.
Then again, they kept Durham around when they could have DLed him too and use Frandsen instead. Perhaps they are hoping to showcase him for a trade and get some prospects for him, particularly since he appears to have started hitting again.
Yeah, Misch looked good last night. I loved when he dove off the mound to get that grounder, jumped up and threw it away. It was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Bochy has been batting Durham 3rd. How many times did Bonds get up to bat with no one on? Three? Four?
I was also disappointed in Bochy's strategy for the last AB. I understand the principle, load the bases to make it easier to get the force out at home. But now you've walked everyone to get to Greene. I think they were better off pitching to Adrian Gonzales. Bard would've been on first. Both are slow. Maybe you can coax a DP out of Gonzales. I guess hindsight is 20/20 though, right?
I was surprised they took Bonds out in the 8th. I know they wanted a runner with more speed but how many ABs has he missed out on because they pull him too early?
Most studies of batting lineups that I've seen view the 3rd position to be not as important to the offense as traditionally thought of. If anything, putting a good hitter there is a waste, relative to batting in other positions, like 5th or 2nd. While Durham is struggling, 3rd is fine with me. The thing with Bonds is that most times if there is anyone on base, they aren't going to let him swing and hit a homer. But if he comes up first in an inning and walks (he gets on base nearly half the time), odds are that the Giants will score a run.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants take him out both to get better wheels on the bases as well as to give him rest. He's 43, he feels the need to get some rest so that he can play other games and not just maybe one more AB at the end of the game. But I wouldn't expect him to get rest on his homestand, he wants to hit the record breaker at home and be lauded and celebrated.
I'm sorry but I don't see why you don't understand why you want to avoid Adrian Gonzalez's bat. He's a strong hitter, capable of 25-ish HR per season and Greene is not much of a hitter. Plus Gonzalez hits more fly balls than grounders, and more line drives than other hitters, and that leads to a lot of extra-base hits and just hits period.