The Giants ended their roadtrip from Hell with a terrific win over the Padres showing off the best they have to offer on both offense and pitching. Key Lines:
Andres Torres- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .286. OBP= .375. On base 3 of 5 PA's. That's exactly what you want from your leadoff hitter!
Freddy Sanchez- 1 for 3, 3B, 2 BB. When your #1 and #2 hitters reach base in 6 of 10 PA's, you are cooking with gas!
Aubrey Huff- 3 for 5, 2 2B. Huff played RF. I didn't see the whole game, but I believe it was without incident in the field. Solid day at the plate.
Buster Posey- 3 for 5, HR(1). BA= .320. Buster broke out with a 2 run dinger in the first inning and later hit a bases-loaded laser shot through the right side of the Padre infield to drive in 2 more runs.
Pablo Sandoval- 3 for 5. BA= .400. The first 5 batters in the Giants lineup all reached base 3 out of 5 PA's.
Brandon Belt- 2 for 5. BA= .182. Kid still looks like he knows what he is doing at the plate. I have to say I am torn between sending him down for more seasoning in Fresno and moving Huff back to first vs. keeping him up to learn at the MLB level and make the veterans scrap for PT at other positions.
Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 13 K's. ERA= 0.84. Two starts, two dominant starts! Timmy means business this year. He's pitching like he wants that Cy Young trophy back, bad! There was a great factoid that came up on the TV broadcast. This game marked the 27'th time Timmy has had 10 K's or more in a game tying him for #2 on the Giants all time list at 27. #1 is the legendary Christy Mathewson at 28. Yes that's right, 28! Think about that one for a minute!
Brian Wilson- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K. Wilson came in with a big lead and was obviously in spring training mode, just trying to make his pitches and get them over the plate. I didn't think he pitched that badly. Affeldt came in and poured gasoline on the fire to make us Giants fans just a bit nervous there at the end. Ramon Ramirez came in to get the final out.
The Giants return to SF for their Home Opener on Friday with a 2-4 record. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but not as bad as it could have been. Considering the horrible luck and mistakes of the first week, salvaging 2 W's doesn't seem so bad. The Giants are in last place in the NL West, but only 2 games back of Division leader Colorado Rockies who are 3-1 after 2 wins against the Dodgers. San Diego is in second place at 3-2, Dodgers third place at 3-3 with Arizona in 4'th at 2-3.
Jonathan Sanchez will take the mound against the St Louis Cardinals in the Home Opener on Friday when the Giants will raise the World Series Championship banner over AT&T Park.
As Bacci told us, Santiago Casilla has an ailing elbow and went on the DL to make room for Brian Wilson, so Runzler and Mota are still on the Active Roster.
Travis Ishikawa cleared waivers and was assigned to Fresno keeping him in the Giants organization. Too bad for him he couldn't hook on with another team. Bochy sounded optimistic that he would be back in SF this season, but I can't think of any scenarios where that would happen that would be good for the Giants, not because I don't like Travis, but it seems like something bad would have to happen to at least 2 current Giants to make it happen.
The minor league season starts tomorrow. I will be posting Down On the Farm segments daily. That's my favorite part of blogging, always has been. Hope you enjoy them follow the Giants prospects with me.
It looks like Zack Wheeler is scheduled to pitch for the San Jose Giants in Lake Elsinore on Sunday 4/10. That works out perfect for my schedule and I am planning to attend that game.
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they couldve had little leaguers playing in the field the way timmy was throwing tonite....he had everything working...and even when they hit him, it didnt go very far
ReplyDeletethe bat is frustrated...he just isnt seeing the ball well...may have something to do with the weird start times, as ball players are creatures of habit...i think he should sit for a game so he can chill....maybe saturday
i hope for travis' sake he isnt stuck in fresno till sept....pretty shocked not one team grabbed him....the dodger bench is pathetic
its sad...cuz he isnt deadwood and he isnt an aaaa player...which is why they shouldve released him a bit earlier...i sent a message to doug to tell travis that many giant fans are happy that he is still in the org...hopefully, he gets the day off on friday in order to join the team in getting his ring
huff did look bad on the bases...tagged off second on a rookie mistake (ball hit in front of him) and at home, cuz he has definitely lost a step (not that he was ever that fast)
stauffer is the sort of pitcher that has discombobolated this team in the past...they were very patient today
around the league....the sox look awful in the early going
i predicted that the o's would surprise alot of people with their young pitching....dont know how far those kids can go...but they will make a heck of alot of noise and should be good for years to come
the rangers look like they are on a mission from god
Glad Travis cleared. Shame he's so blocked from making the roster here, though.
ReplyDeleteBacci is not kidding, Huff got beat up on the bases. Also, I agree, it's great to see the Orioles doing well. Thought their pitching was suspect, but so far, so good.
Looking forward to the Down on the Farm reports!
Maybe it's just me but Huff looks a tad heavier this year than last.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how the rosters look like?
ReplyDeleteI checked teh team web pages, but could not find Crawford, Noonan, and Peguero anywhere. I can guess where Peguero and Crawford will be, but I am really curious about Noonan.
all three have injuries
ReplyDeletecrawford out for a month
peguero out for two
noonan out for a couple of weeks
According to reports, Giants purposefully asked him to report to Fresno on Sunday so that he can chose to participate in the festivities at AT&T this weekend. Kuip was speculating what Travis gets to wear, because the MLB might have a problem with him wearing a uniform, though maybe they can get a waiver for him.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ishikawa probably didn't get picked up because most teams had their 25-man roster pretty set and since Ishikawa is a below average offensive 1B, and don't really play another other position, he is a bit of a luxury to have, a defensive 1B who can PH OK, delivering power off the bench. Hard to justify taking him over other 25th men on other teams and not have some hurt feelings on the new team about earning a spot.
And while it'll be bad for Travis, it would be to Giants advantage to keep him in AAA for 2011 and keep him around for the mix in 2012, just in case they might need him, as nice as Belt is so far, he still needs to prove himself in the majors, plus there are question marks on all the outfielders in terms of whether they will be around and/or productive in 2012, so they might need to move Belt or Ishikawa to LF, as a possible worse case scenario. Or at minimum, he could be PH-extraordinaire again in 2012 when the bench squeeze might alleviate a little, say if Ross moves on and Schierholtz takes over RF.
Looking forward to your accounts too, DrB!!! Thanks for your great coverage!!!
they are now doing gamedays for aa
ReplyDeleteevery year it gets easier and easier to follow games in the minors