Big Fish for Little Fish

It's been a bit since I posted.  This experiment to comment on every game seems to have gone awry thanks to the birth of my daughter, but I'll stillt ry and keep up witht eh broad strokes.

Yesterday, the Giants traded Zack Wheeler (AA pitcher) for Carlos Beltran, pretty much straight up.  And for the first time in Brian Sabean's tenure, youth was traded for immediate need/want.


Because Posey got hurt, the Giants have no middle-of-the-line-up protection for Panda Bear.  Beltran will put a bat, and a greater chance of a runner on base, in front of Panda Bear.  And Panda Bear will draw more fastballs for Beltran.  And if you skip those two guys, Huffy can come up with 2 on. 

Oh, and by the way, the Giants, behind Cainer, beat the Phils last ngiht to even the series in Philly at 1.

Timmy's had the flu, he'll probably go tonight, but he might be subpar (weakened), and more than likely won't go past 6.  If we can take 2 out of 3 in Philly, maybe we can get the Phanatics to admit that we beat them in the NLCS. 

(but probably not)

Game 44: Voges is for reelzies, Huff smacks single in 10th, Giants pull out win 2-1

Why do the Giants need to fear a good pitcher?  They only need to score a couple anyways.

In fact, they were up 1-0 after the 1st despite being hitless until the 4th.

Defensively they play more crisply @ home, which shows just how good their pitching is because they utilize the fielders. I listened a bit on the radio and watched the last couple innings, then I caught up with Extra Baggs and on mlb.com -- but I'm going to have to start watching more as if seems that Nate the great and Fred Sanchez are spinning fantastic defensive seasons.  I saw Nate spear a screamer to the right field corner to keep the A's down in the 9th, but I missed it when he gunned down Willingham @ 3rd on a hit and run.

Fred helped Voges out in a jam, with the bases loaded and 0 out, Fred dove for a ball in the hole and started a double play on speedy Coco Crisp.

Voges is for real and that's no joke.  6 strong, good command, got out of jams with Ks and double plays.  He stared down the AL's best pitcher and didn't blink.

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Game 37: B-Teamers complete sweep of D-Backs, 3-2

Giants are defintiely on a roll.  2 sweeps, a 6-0 home stand and the boys are looking good.

Hitting: they're scraping by with just enough, but that's how they do it.  A line-up with Whiteside, Schierholtz, DeRo and Miggy popped just enough hits to let Torres and Huffy come in.

Truth is Schierholtz is looking good, 3 for 4 with a double and a RBI.  Plus, Parra hit a ball that bounced off the bricks in right field, Schierholtz played it perfectly and gunned a strike to second base to cut Parra down.

Big question time:  How about an OF of Torres, Ross, and Schierholtz?  (Burrell and Rowand off the bench)

Who plays left?  Ross?  Seems reasonable.  At least until Schierholtz starts to sputter.

Bochy sat Weezy for the save, let Lopez get it.  And Cainer pitched very well, even doffed his hat.

Game 29: Giants finally score, right the ship a little bit, with extra innings, 7-6 win

I almost entitled this one Giants finally score, try to lose, but finally win in 10.

But I can't be that sardonic, too early in the season.  I can, however, throw my hands int he air and say, "Finally."

I got in the car just as the four run rally started in the 3rd.  Ross walked and then three consecutive hits, including Vogelsong, until Miggy ends the consecutive hit streak (of course). But at least he moved the runners up -- soft grounder to third, Miller called it, "just as good as a bunt."

Burriss in for Sanchez, got a couple of hits, scored a run.  Nate the Great hit a ding dong, and Huffy may have snapped his slump today with the game-winning home run.

Only listened to part of the game, didn't have the energy for full on torture tonight.  Just as well, Mets threw a knuckle baller up there, RA Dickey.

Talk of Jose Reyes in a trade.  Wheeler and Thomas Neal as bait?  Hmmm, food for thought, but the front office tends to be stingy at times like these.

One Month Review: Infielders

The giants currently have the 13th most errors on the season with 17 and 18th best fielding percentage at .982. 
link


Miguel Tejada is the glaring offender in the infield, as he sports 4 errors and a .954 fielding percentage.  That places him 20th and 21st for those stats respectively amongst regular MLB shortstops currently.  It's not just the errors, though.  Miguel Tejada is not playing crisply.  Playing in the wrong position on stolen bases, shifted in properly and not getting to balls.  All messed up.

Unfortunately, Panda  Bear will miss all of May, and it looks like Miggy's going to have to stay in the lineup as the closest thing to a back up 3rd baseman.  Not promising.

Fontenot, Whiteside, and Huffy are the only regular infielders that haven't commited an error yet this seaosn (including the Burriss and Belt).  Of course, Fontenot was util in April, Whiteside is off the bench and Huffy's only been playing first for like 10 games.

The weak spot right now is the infield and that's going to be an issue.  Since Burriss is up, hopefully he can offer a little late inning support.

Belt's hitting was a disappointment.  Thinking that it's best to bring rookies up midseason rather than from opening day.  Hopefully Belt's tough enough to mature and be a force at game 60 or 70-ish.  It could be like Matt Williams.

Of course he could be like Todd Linden.

Huffy's another story.  Ugh, .202 with only 2 homers, 18 K's in 90-something at bats..  Woof.  We've finished month one, now's the time to worry.

Fred has been pulling his weight,  I'd like to see him get really hot for about 2 or 3 weeks, but he's been pretty good so far, which makes me think he's going to slump soon.

Fontenot's been playing a very good defense, and when he starts, he hits like .300.  But he's o'fer 10 as a pinch hitter.  I'd like to see him get a little more time at SS.  After all, Miggy's not hitting, and I remember that Fontenot was a regular on the Cubs.


Panda Bear has been a truly bright sot for the Giants so far this year.  He's hustling, he's hitting, he's making plays he couldn't have last year.  2011 should be the year of the Panda Bear -- I really like a .300 Pablo with appropriate power and a bit of base stealing ability.  Today it was revealed that Panda's going to be out 4-6 weeks with wrist surgery.  Wrist surgery makes me think about DeRo, and DeRo was out a whole year.

Posey
My calls: No sophomore jinx ; .295/20/90, 140 games (batting 3rd)
Actuals at 4/30: .261/4/17 ; 24 games out of 26 ; primarily batting 4th ; back-up Whiteside is 3 for 14 with a GIDP

Belt
My calls: send him to Fresno if he struggles out the gate ; .285/15/70, 500 ABs (batting 8th)
Actuals at 4/30: .192/1/4, 52 ABs ; Fresno



Fred Sanchez
My call: .290/8/60, 80 R, 160 games, 6 errors (batting 2nd)
Actuals at 4/30: .273/2/9, 25 out of 26 (none missed due to injury), 1 error ; primarily batting 2nd ; back ups are Burriss and Fontenot

Sandoval
My calls: .310/25/90-95 ; 60 BB, 8 errors (batting 6th)
Actuals at 4/30:  .313/5/14 ; 8 BB ; 1 errors ; primarily batting 5th ; no real back-up ; DL



Tejada
My call: hope for .270 w/ 15 HRs ; .260/15/65, 12 errors (batting 7th)
Actuals at 4/30: .216/1/9, 4 errors ; primarily batting 7th or 8th ; back up is Fontenot .233/1/2 w/ 30 ABs and 0 errors in 18 games out of 26

DeRosa
My call: .270 <15 HRs
Actuals at 4/30: .333/0/3, 18 ABs, DL

Game 23: God Damn Fucking Hell!

God damn fucking hell!

2-0 (and it was almost 1-0).

Madison Bumgarner finally almost gets back on the horse, and the Giants go for 0 for 6 with runner in scoring position, hit into 2 double plays -- including one to end the game with 2 on and one out (TEJADAAAAAAA!!!!!)

This always freaking happens in Pittsburgh.  0 for 17 with RISP.  OH FOR EFFIN SEVENTEEN!  OH FOR SEVENTEEN!

I am so god damn frustrated.  TOMORROW!  Tomorrow they have to win (with Ryan Voglesong on the mound by the damn way).

Rowand's coming back down to Earth.  So is Sanchez.

Looks like Buster's going to be hitting around .275 this year too, which might be his Sophomore slump. 
Huffy goes 1 for 4.  Need him to start hitting.  He's under .220.

Fact is they went against a guy that has a 10 ERA and made him look like Cy damn Young.

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Upcoming: 3 @ Pittsburgh

The Giants need to get off of the hump.

Sounds like the perfect time for 3 games against Pittsburgh.

Of course, SF is notorious for dropping series in Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh can finish a season 2-160, those 2 wins would be against the Giants in Pittsburgh.

Timmy and Cainer are pitching games 1 and 3 and are going up against the Pirates best pitchers, Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens repetitively.  These are Pitt's only 2-game winners and they both have ERAs under 4.  Morton's got a lifetime ERA close to 6, so he's due to start climbing upwards.  And Karstens has a lifetime around 5, so the same can be said for him.

The key will be to get them out early.  If Huffy can start hitting, then some of Panda Bear's, Buster's, and PAt the Bat's ding dongs might be worth more than one run.


Maddy's pitching in the 2nd game.  There's no better person ffor him to face in his funk than James McDonald, who is 0-2 with an ERA somewhere around Pluto.  Maddy needs to pitch with the lead, it seems to be where he finds strength.  Hopefully the Giants can give him a big first inning and let him cruise. 

Because Vogelsong is now in the ro-ro, he's probably not available to go relief.  This series will be important to keep the bullpen fresh.  Hopefully Bumgarner can go 6 with very little drama.

My expectation is a sweep.  But I'll settle for 2 out of 3, with one of those 2 being a Maddy Bumgarnny winny.

Game 17: Panda Bear in streaking, Giants win game/series 6-3

Only listened to the 1st inning, but heard Panda Bear go yard to put the Boys up 4-0.

Later Huffy went deep.

Somehow the Giants are on a roll.  4 out of 5 with a chance to sweep the invincible Rockies.

Sanchie pitched 2 hit ball w/ 4 BB over 6.1, Lopez pitched a perfect inning and Weezy got his 5th save.

The Boys are clicking early.  What's more, Cainer's going tomorrow and they've got a legit shot at knocking those silly Rock Hoppers off their high perch early on.  A series win is grand, a three game sweep is the start of streak for one team and a flop for the other team.

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Giants Pregame: 4-11-11 vs Dodgers

Game 1 of the first Dodgers @ SF series will be the Giants gravy game in the series.

Gravy Game: A game where the edge might be nudged against your team for various reasons, so if you lose, well, that might be int he cards.  But if you win: that's gravy.

Clayton Kershaw looked like damn Doc Gooden (pre-crack) on opening day vs the Giants.  His next start vs the rockies showed that he's fallible, at least on the road, as he took the loss giving up 3 runs in 6 IP (off of 2 homers).  But he still got 8 Ks.

The Giants, to win tonight, need a few things working for them:

1. Madison Bumgarner has to rebound off of a sloppy first start on Tuesday vs the Padres.  Kershaw is not going to give up a lot of runs, at least you can't expect him to, so Maddy's got to get rid of walks and he's got to play crisply.  I think he was a little nervous off of his first start -- Padres' home opener, 1st start of the season -- hopefully now his eyes are not so wide, and hopefully the lack of pageantry will keep him calm.
2. Double freaking Plays are absolutely killing the Giants.  9 double plays in 9 games is something that needs to be addressed and quickly. 
3. The Giants have left 73 runners on base in 9 games, which averages out to about 8.5 runners per game.  Their walk-off win on Saturday night, they left 17 runners on base.  In games as tight as they have been playing, situational hitting is so very important.  Some of their main guys are taking a bit to get going (Huff, Posey, Burrell has double play-itis, and Belt should be producing more).  They need more RBI's.
4. Brian Wilson -- he's not been right since coming off the DL.  It's time for him to step up again and be the crazy, unhittable bastard that we and he know he can be.

Game 6: Buster goes womp ass and the Giants save a split with the Padres, 8-4

B-Weezy made a debut, went 25-ish pitches and (with a little help from Jeremy Affeldt) turned a route into a save situation.

That's all right, in an 8-1 game, one can accept a little imperfection.

It was the path to the ninth inning that shone brightly today.  Buster was 3-5, 4 RBI's and a ding dong.  Timmy threw 7 with 13 K's and only allowed 3 hits.

Huffy also came out of his shell a bit, going 3-5 with 3 RBI's and a couple doubles.

All in all, the fellas that we want to see hit hit.

Burrell was o'fer in 3 AB's, that included a K and double play.  Tejada hit into the Giants' other double play.

I hate double plays, especially early in the game, more than anything.  That is something that needs to be fixed, it was the most torturous thing about last season.

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Fielding Question Marks

Huffy looks lost in right field. 

I mean, let's not beat around the bush -- it seems that in the Giants infinite quest for decent hitting, they've found themselves a little overrun by decent hitters and a little under run by decent fielders.

All due respect to Pat the Bat -- whom, BTW, I totally like and don't want to lose because he's our Adam Dunn -- the Giants could have saved themselves a little heart ache (and a lot of head ache) by cutting him loose in the off season and going with Belt and/or Huffy in left field.

But, again, Pat the Bat was one of three offensive bright spots in the first weekend of play (the other 2 being Panda Bear and Belt -- oh what the hell, let's say Rowand who went 3 for 6 with a ding dong and 2 runs), and we truly do need a guy smoking Marb Lights and drinking Bud Light in the dugout.

The John Daly of the Giants, if you will.

That still leaves the problem of Huffy.  OK, so, when Ross comes back, one might say we'll just put Huffy in a more "natural" position (left field) and sit the Bat. 

Well, I don't like that one bit -- you have to give Burrell 500 ABs.  That's all there is to it.  He's got to be your cleaner-upper and non-regular at bats will pretty much make him useless.

Unless you trade him.  If the Giants can move Burrell, that'll be the only logical solution -- assuming Belt plays well enough to stay in the lineup.  He only makes $1M, he's only signed for a year, it would take out thump, but if there are a couple power-hitters from AA coming to our side in the deal, that'd be just fine.

But to keep Burrell on the bench, just to bring him up in the 7th inning with the game on the line, like Giambi in Colorado, is a waste of assets and opportunities.  Burrell is still a young man, he does actually play left field competently and he's got a lot more to offer. 

So, again, what about Huffy?  I'm told Belt plays left field, can he play right?  Huffy plays first well enough, he can pick he can stretch -- ok he's right handed -- but better to have a right handed 1B than a right fielder who dives after low liners that should be singles and go for triples (I mean, Jamey Carroll?  Really?)

2 games in San Diego is not going to make matters any easier for Huff: 2 3:30 starts will beam the sun directly into his right eye, and that stubby corner could mess with him something awful.

Of course we're early, and he can accustom himself to the irregularites of his new position.  He's probably got at least 10 more games pout there.

Game 4:Two big innings blow the game/series, Giants lose 7-5

Zito is always so effin' unstable in the first inning of every start.
And, come on -- isn't it time to pull the plug on Dan Runzler?  That Marc Kroon had a like 1.8 ERA.
Also, not sure Huff is working out in right.

Giants lose the series 1-3.  Got two in San Diego, who just took 2 out of 3 from St. Louis.  Of course, they dropped the last one, and that might slow them a bit.  I'd really like to take both games in San Diego.  With Bumgarner and Timmy pitching, it should be possible.

An exchange

from John Shea's article on Brandon Belt's ascension to the big club.

With a crowd at Belt's locker, a voice was heard from across the clubhouse:
"Hey, Belt, you crying?"
It was Aubrey Huff.
Belt: "A little bit."
Huff: "Why you crying? I'm the one who's gotta play right field every day."

Player Preview -- The Outfielders

My second nugget breaking down the team before the season begins.  Previously, it was the Infielders, now it is the Outfielders

(read more below the fold)

Cactus League: Brandon effin Belt

I'm not going to dwell on Z's poor pitching performance.  The lead up to these first games was short, and I don't expect the pitchers to be doing anything other than practicing their junk and strategy.  I'd feel a bit better if he was giving up hits rather than walks, but there's 30 days until opening day.

I will, however, dote on a man who goes 3 for 5, with 2 doubles, and 4 RBIs.

Brandon effin Belt.  Effin Brandon Belt.
Brandon Belt, EFF!

Nope, none of those work for me.  How about Brandon FAWKIN Belt?

I like it.

I'm a little concerned about the surplus in the org right now.  Belt seems to only be slotted for the Mothership if someone gets hurt early.  And by someone, I mean Huff or Burrell.

If Pat the Bat's going to hit 30 and Huffy's going to put up a .290/25/85 line, I wouldn't want to trade either of them for Brandon Belt.  And the Giants just re-signed Pat the Bat and Huffy, so they're not going to try and move them (at least not early on).

I think we're going to have to wait a bit for Brandon Belt.  Hopefully not too long.

Out In Left Field

Pat Burrell
Aubrey Huff
Mark DeRosa

Nate Schierholtz
Brandon Belt

I am enamored with the Giants, and still floating on cloud 9 from the World Series

Let me say it again: The Giants are World Champions

I have gripes that have never been addressed. 

The Giants are a team composed of 2 infielders, 2 catchers, 10 pitchers, and about 730 outfielders. 

Who wants to play outfield for a World Champion?

Sort of like my Fantasy Team at the end of a season.  (Oh? Garrett Jones just played his 10th game at first base?  Hello versatility).

Just because these guys are fantastic and likeable and clinically kooky bananas in a retro-alt-SF kinda way, that doesn't mean that one should start the season with 5 left fielders on the roster and maybe 1 genuine first baseman.

My biggest problem is there are five names above representing five men that everyone thinks are just so aweosomely good in a double rainbow kinda way,  but by the end of camp someone is going to be dispalced.

1. Pat Burrell hit 20 home runs in half a season last year.
2. Aubrey Huff is more-than-likely the startign first baseman, and is the team's #1 hitter
3. Mark DeRosa had a shit poor month and a half last year, but everyone says that its because he hurt his wrist.  Now he's better (and we all know how easy it is for a 36 year-old to come back from a massive wrist injury) and ready to provide the key offensive support that he's almost always supplied during his career for other teams.  Plus he hung out on the bench all last year with the team, and he showed up on Ralph and Tom a couple times so we like him.
4. Oh Nate Schierholtz.  Great arm with flashes of greatness at the plate.  Well, flashes of goodness, anyway.
5. Brandon Belt is the future.

Well, if Huff is your 1B and Burell/DeRosa are your LF platoon -- Schierholtz will more than likely focus more on RF -- so, who is the odd man out?

Conventionality would say that Belt will start @ AAA Fresno unless he can win a starting position.  After all, you have Travis Ishikawa to take scrub time at 1B and, as mentioned before, too many dog's drooling over the bone that is LF.

pictured: Your starting leftfielder, complete with cigarette and can of Bud Light.....classy.....Oh yeah, he's Stanford Alum.

The biggest problem is that you can't trade any of these guys to make room on the roster.  You just signed Burrell, besides -- he's your only power.  Huff is your heart.  DeRosa is a gimp.  Schierholtz might be your starting right fielder, and is definitely the late-inning defensive replacement. 

I think that Brandon Belt might have to wait for a May call-up, a la Buster Posey last year.  Realistically, if Belt is one of the 8 best hitters -- he has to be squoze in somewhere.

Bochy has a choice to make: make my job easier and settle for a not-quite-what-it-could-be team, or find a way to get Belt, Huff, and Burrell in the lineup everyday.

My giant head hurts