The Giants aren't a very good team right now. After taking 2 of 3 from the Phillies in Philadelphia, when it seemed like they might turn the NL West into a cakewalk, they have now lost 5 consecutive games, the last 4 of which have not been at all competitive. The skid continued tonight and the culprit, as usual was an inept offense that couldn't get on base and couldn't deliver the key hit when it did. Timmy was a gamer, but when he gave up the 2 run blast to rookie Paul Goldschmidt, you had a feeling this one wasn't going to end well, and you can't ask your pitching staff to win every game 1-0. Key Lines:
Carlos Beltran- 1 for 4. BA= .283. Beltran hit the ball hard at least 3 times but had only one single to show for it. Ross hit the ball hard at least twice, but right at fielders. Giants offense is both not very good and unlucky right now!
Pablo Sandoval- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .308. Pablo peppered the opposite field with line drives on the advice of Carlos Beltran. There's just nobody to drive in or to drive him in.
Nate Schierholtz- 0 for 4. BA= .271. Nate has always run hot and cold and he's ice cold. The move to LF seems to possibly be a distraction, although you could see the makings of this slump starting a couple of weeks ago.
Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.77. With a decent offense, Timmy should have left with a 4-2 lead or something like that and the whole endgame plays out with different relievers pitching with a different perspective. He pitched well enough to win.
Justin Upton(D'Backs)- 1 for 4, HR(22). IMO, Upton is the best player in baseball right now. He also made a nice running catch of a fading liner up against the RF wall starting a rally killing DP.
Paul Goldschmidt(D'Backs)- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .286. This guy is a physical monster who put up huge numbers in the minors. The really scary part is he made some remarkably nimble looking plays at first base too! All I can say is Brandon Belt better be the real deal!
With the loss, the Giants dropped into a tie for first place with the Dangerous Ones in the NL West. Ryan Vogelsong tries to keep his magic going and be the stopper tomorrow but will have to beat well known Giants killer Jason Marquis acquired at the trade deadline by the D'Backs for the express purpose of killing the Giants. Time for this team to dig deep like they were able to do last year. This is their first major test of this season and in many ways it's a far different team. We are about to find out what this one is made of.
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the trades have made this team worse
ReplyDeletethe team put together wins by scrapping...and sabean traded for players who dont scrap
giants about to pull a 2010 friars nose dive
cabrera is not an upgrade from craw....and nate is indeed all discombobulated
fire sabean
This team has had a lot of distractions, the trade deadline and resulting roster changes being only some of them. There's the ongoing Zito/Sanchez situation. The Huff/Belt situation continues to be unresolved. Rowand and his situation continues to be a nagging toothache. Mainly because of all the injuries, but also the addition of several poor performers, roles have not been as well defined this year. There's the Showtime TV series that can't help but be a distraction. Add in the fact that this year the Giants are the hunted instead of the hunters. We're seeing why it is crazy hard to repeat a championship.
ReplyDeleteIt's way too early to jump to a conclusion that the trades made the team worse. Keppinger is a good player. Beltran will be a difference maker before the season is over. Cabrera may or may not be a marginal upgrade at SS.
There are a couple of issues I would like to see decided with some finality: 1. Is Zito done or isn't he? If there is something the Giants think they can do or he can do to turn it around, fine. If they are keeping him around and lying about injuries, just because they don't want to eat the rest of his contract, well, it's pretty much eaten already, isn't it? 2. Is Brandon Belt ready or not? If he is, then he needs to be playing somewhere every day. If he isn't, then he needs to be down in Fresno playing THERE every day.
Beyond that, the Giants are in a rough patch right now. They were in way worse many times last year, so it's way too early to write them off, but in some ways they have more to overcome this year and I believe it's still an open question whether this team has the heart of last year's team.
Cabrera is an upgrade from Crawford. I'll give the nod to Crawford on D, but Crawford can not hit MLB pitching (yet). Cabrera can. Nothing to write home about, but Cabrera will give you good ABs.
ReplyDeleteAnd Keppinger can absolutely hit. His OBP sucks, but it is what it is. We didn't give up much to get him. Keppinger was a good get.
Beltran can hit. Period. He may or may not stay healthy. But bringing him in improves the team. We have all 4th outfielders without him. Tell me the Giants do not need him.
Again, not saying this all will work out for the Giants. But these are the things you do when you lose Posey and Freddie. It ain't going to be perfect, like, instantly.