Road trips to New York have sometimes been disastrous for the Giants. They tried to lose the opener of this on in a myriad different ways, but somehow managed to muddle through some shaky performances and head-scratching managerial decisions to pull off the win in extra innings. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 1 for 5, HR1). BA= .218. Pagan got the scoring started with a HR hit RH. He also hit the ball fairly hard in his first AB that was caught in right-center.
Melky Cabrera- 2 for 3, 2 BB, SB(2). BA= .333. What can I say? Melky leads the way again!
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5. BA= .340.
Buster Posey- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .375. Buster hit the ball with authority in his first 2 AB's. He was strangely lifted when Brandon Belt stayed in the game after pinch hitting for Affledt in the top of the 9'th presumably because Belt is a better defensive 1B? Belt did make a possible game saving play ranging to his right on a ball Buster would have had to backhand. Belt whirled and threw out the lead runner at the plate. Buster could have moved behind the plate replacing Sanchez, but then Sanchez ended up hitting the game winner.
Hector Sanchez- 2 for 5. BA= .300. Sanchez had a bit of a rough time handling pitches in the dirt but was the hero with the game winning RBI in the top of the 10'th inning.
Barry Zito- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.71. After walking two batters in the first inning, Zito settled down and retired something like 11 in a row before giving up 2 solo longballs. He threw 100 pitches in 5 innings. Still, I think we would all happily take starts like this from Zito as the season moves along.
Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.86. Affeldt showed his versatility by going 2 full innings which ended up being needed as the pen was shorthanded.
Santiago Casilla- 0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.93. The hit Casilla gave up was a BABIP job as Bay hit a grounder into the hole at SS. A true closer would have stayed in the game, but Bochy said it was a committee and he would change things up according to matchups. With a string of LH batters coming up, he went with the lefty specialist, Lopez.
Javy Lopez- 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's, BS(2). ERA= 0.00. I love the idea of bringing in Lopez to face the lefties here, but he just didn't get the job done.
Sergio Romo- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Romo got out of the 9'th, but then gave up consecutive singles to open the 10'th and was lifted for Hensley.
Clay Hensley- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(1). ERA- 0.00. Hensley finally came in and slammed the door. With his starters assortment of pitches, he may be better suited to face both LH and RH batters. Wouldn't shock me if he ends up with the closer role before Bochy is done sorting through his committee.
Bruce Bochy- We've already talked about bringing Posey out and the bullpen management. What about lifting Brett Pill for Nate in the 5'th with the LH Niese still in the game? THAT was a bit strange! I got the feeling Bochy wasn't too thrilled by Pill's last 2 AB's. Any other moves make you scratch your head? I guess all's well that ends well, huh? BTW, it's quite OK to question good managers, which I believe Bochy is.
The NL West leading Dodgers maintained their 3.5 game lead over the Giants with a 3-1 win over the 'Stros. The Rockies edged the BrewCrew 4-3 to stay even with the Giants in second place. The D'Backs got smushed by the Braves 9-1 to fall 4 games off the pace while the Pathetic Padres trail the Phillies 4-1 in the 9'th. A loss will drop them 8.5 games behind the Dodgers in last place.
Ryan Vogelsong takes on the Mets and Mike Pelfrey in an afternoon game tomorrow.
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first, if zito can go the rest of the season giving 5 or 6, thats fine by me...
ReplyDeleteive seen this bochy before...and this is the one i dont like
when he has all the pieces, he is fine...when something is missing, he goes out of his way to overplay his hand
dont mind that he lifted pill...he wasnt seeing the ball well and nate is better for late inning defense and has shown that he can hit lefties
the problem really started in the 9th...i dont like closer by committee and i think casilla shouldve been left in after an if single...once that wasnt done...the insanity began and he ended up blowing out both the pen and bench
the craziest move was the 10th inning double switch taking out nate and bringing in huff...huh??? see, when he knew everyone's roll, he wasnt doing the head scratching moves
really lucky that this didnt bite him in the ass
i think pagan really, really, really likes the new dimensions at citi...will not be surprised if he ends up a met again
hope vogey is ready to go 8
pelfrey always gives the giants a kniption fit...good time to play belt...doesnt know him
as an aside...i watched a couple of interviews with pat...im 100 percent sure that he is looking to stay on the administrative side of things...and damn, does that guy love the game...really hope he sticks with the org for the long haul
Well, sabermetrically speaking, having a set closer doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If the closer is your best guy in the bullpen, you are really wasting him on a lot of fairly low leverage outs by only and always using him in the closer role. The problem is, the whole idea of a closer has become so ingrained in the psyche of the sport that nobody seems to know how to act when you go out of that mode. Poor Casilla looked shellshocked in the dugout even though bringing in Lopez to face the LH hitters made perfect sense. Look up Lopez' and Casilla's splits. It was the right move!
DeleteIn defense of Bochy's extra innings management, the vast majority of extra inning games end in the 10'th or 11 innings. Bochy plays to win in those two innings and worries about the 13'th/14'th etc when the time comes. That might be shortsighted or it might be just playing the percentages.
Given that Bochy has a tremendous number more wins in one run games than losses, he seems to have figured it out right, overall.
DeleteI will have to check his record in extra inning games, to be sure.
Sabers think that relievers are fungible AND that it is a waste to use your best reliever only in the 9th, when there are situations in the 8th that could be more critical. I never could reconcile those opposing views, as we learned in the aftermath of Nen, it is not that easy to replace your closer, at min.
Few mention it, but Bochy manages his closer more like a saber, eschewing the 9th only mentality and bringing in Wilson in the 8th as necessary, in his mind. He also follows the saber mindset that every out is valuable, so you do not give them up except in key leverage situations. And I have not seen any problems with his handling of young players, he will give them a lot of chances, tied to how good the prospect is, but usually within the context of winning, as long as the young guy is not costing us a chance to win.
According to some sabers, closer by committee is the best way to manage the bullpen, so I am eager to see the master try it out. The only other example I can recall is the Red Sox a few years back, but it failed miserably, if I recall right. Bill James had to have been behind that idea, he is an advisor to them.
I had no problem with Lopez, that is the move to make. I see why Posey was an issue, but throwing Posey back there ruins the idea do giving his ankle a blow by playing 1B, plus I have to believe that the Giants would not have kept Hector unless they thought that hw was good enough behind the plate, given his bat. Again, I think Bochy has been good in his handling of young prospects, unlike the image portrayed by the media and strident fans. Plus, at that point, we had the lead and Lopez has been very good in getting lefties out. It just did not work this time, that does not make it the wrong move in that situation.
He also follows the saber mindset that every out is valuable, so you do not give them up except in key leverage situations.
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It could be that sabers follow the Bochy mindset, which probably goes back a long way.
The Torture is back!
ReplyDeleteGiants pitching, Zito for 5 + BP was and is good enough.
Giants need to work harder at making productive outs. The pitchers only need four runs, FOUR RUNS. Move the runners along, sacrifice with a man on third and less than two outs. They ain't getting the big inning, play for a run at a time even in the early innings.
Bochy not so much this game, those switches would have looked really bad if it went beyond 10.
Hector has a lot to learn behind the dish, but at the plate he is tough. Glad Bochy trusts him.
Hensley is a closer stud. Frisbee movement, Cain like control, wants the pressure. This guy is the best Sabes scrap heap addition of 2012, already 13 games in.
one more thing about hector
ReplyDeletei saw an interview with him when he was in sj, and the kid barely understood the questions and gave the same pat answers they teach to all foreign players
one year later...the kid is a chatterbox....shoot, even melky is still uncomfortable giving interviews in english
smart kid...now i know why he progressed so quickly...he learns fast
That and his sweet swing Bacci
DeleteBochy would never take Sanchez out of the game there. With no third catcher or than Pabs, it would be unwise to only have Posey behind the dish in a game that could go for hours.
ReplyDeleteYup. Probably Bochy wanted to get Posey out because he's going to be catching a following day game.
DeleteAubrey Huff, late defensive replacement, scares the heck out of me. Not sure about that move. I was surprised he had Hensley pitch to Bay with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd. Wouldn't conventional wisdom say to walk Bay to set up the double play? All is well that ends well.
ReplyDeleteHuff may not have been so much of a defensive replacement as a double switch to get more distance between Hensley and when he would have to bat. Hensley was in there until the end of the game at that point.
DeleteIts good to bash Bochy for some stuff, but here's one thing he also does that is underrated: the Giants DO NOT give up intentional walks easy. Even with the HR today, Bay is just not a good hitter any more. Going after him was the right move, and Bochy should get the credit for that. If there were no outs, I think Bochy might have been forced to load them up.
DeleteGood point, Shankbone. Everybody says they want GIants management to be sabermetrically savvy, but then they turn around and bash Bochy when he goes against tradition to follow sabermetrically sound principles, which he does more than most managers in baseball.
DeleteEspecially because the Giants are a strikeout staff. That is one of my favorite things about our development. Location of the fastball, baby!
DeleteGame quote from Hector Sanchez (per Baggs), “Bochy trusts me,” said Sanchez, who caught all seven pitchers. “It’s great for me. I feel amazing for that.”
ReplyDeleteHope Belt feels da love this year as well.
Ah, here's another one I completely forgot about: What about using Matt Cain as pinch hitter with Blanco, Huff and Belt still available?
ReplyDeletethat didnt bug me...that was the only time i thought bochy was really looking ahead
Deletecain can hit...and you dont wanna burn one of your possible double switch partners on a ph gig
So, all in all, even though some of Bochy's moves were...interesting, they were pretty much all defensible if not the outright calls.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Pagan will be given a day off in this series. It's always better to rest a player after a good/decent/OK game than after a bad game. He doesn't misunderstand being rested with getting punished - it's non-verbal communication here we are talking about.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good principle - avoid, if possible, resting a player (rookie or not) after a bad time.