The Padres are Pathetic against all other teams, but alway, always, Pesky against the Giants. Emergency starter Eric Hacker produced a Quality Start, but the Giants failed to capitalize on some opportunities and the bullpen was shaky once again. The result was an all too familiar Padres win that felt like it shouldn't have been. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 5, HR(4). BA= .250. Love what Pagan is doing at the plate. He just seems to have more of the mentality of a #3 hitter as opposed to leadoff. He might have cost the Giants the game with a very ill-advised steal attempt of 3B in the 3'rd inning with one out and Pablo Sandoval at the plate. Maybe he figured stealing 3B would give Pablo a SF opportunity, but with Pablo at the plate and Buster Posey in the hole, you're not playing for a 1 run inning there. Anyway, going on first movement is always a risk and that's a risk he didn't need to take there. Of course Pablo promptly hit a long single to LF which might well have scored a fast runner like Pagan from 2B.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4. BA= .329. Pablo ran his hit streak to 20. The modern record to start the season is 23. I'm not necessarily a fan of long hit streaks. Maybe it's just me, but after they go over 20 games, it seems like it's more about getting that one hit to keep the streak alive than going up there looking to drive the ball and do some damage. In fairness to Pablo, I haven't seen any of that from him in this streak yet.
Buster Posey- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(4). BA= .371. The HR was most impressive. He turned around a 98 MPH Andrew Cashner FB that was down in the zone and elevated it over the left-CF fence. Now THAT is a quick swing!
Brett Pill- 0 for 4. BA= .273. Everybody in the lineup got at least 1 hit except Pill, but even he reached base twice on hard grounders that caused bobbles by the Padres infielders. The first one, in particular, probably should have been scored a hit. In a frustratingly familiar scenario, they just couldn't seem to bunch enough of their hits together to score the runs they should have. The 2 dingers were relatively harmless solo jobs.
Eric Hacker- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K'S. ERA= 4.50. Quality Start. Hacker featured an effective sinker and a tight curveball that he could drop in for strikes early in the count or throw at a LH hitter's back foot for a K. The problem for Hacker and most AAAA pitchers is he has no margin for error. He can throw 90 great pitches, but the 10 that aren't so good get whacked pretty hard. Still, it was a very nice performance. With Otero forced to stay in Fresno at least 12 days or whatever it is, maybe they'll keep Hacker around awhile in case some innings need to be eaten.
Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.09. Affeldt got BABIP'd a bit here, but needs to stop uncorking wild pitches. He settled down and dominated his second inning of work, but with Gregerson, Cashner and Street lined up for the Padres, it was too late by then.
The Giants loss dropped them 4 games behind the NL West leading Dodgers who edged the Nationals 3-2 with Kenley Jansen getting the Save in relief of Clayton Kershaw. So much for managers votes of confidence in their closers! The Rockies blasted the Mets 18-9 to move into sole possession of 2'nd place, 3.5 games back. The D'Backs blanked the Marlins behind Joe Saunders 5-0 to hold their place 4 games back and now tied with the Giants for 3'rd place. Of course, the Pesky Ones remained in last place 7.5 games out despite their win.
Tim Lincecum tries once again to get his season on track facing Anthony Bass, a pitcher who impressed me when I saw him a couple of years ago in Lake Elsinore and is now starting at the MLB level and doing quite well with a sub 3 ERA.
PS: Looks like Hacker is going back down, thank you very much, and Edlefsen will get called up to take Otero's place in the bullpen.
PS: Javy Guerra was not available for the Dodgers due to a foot injury. He's available tonight and is apparently still their closer.
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bums are for real...time to admit it
ReplyDeletegiants have some probs. to me, the defensive gaffs point to a lack of prep...fire the coaching staff....better yet...bring in decker to post catch phrases all over the clubhouse...in spanish
hitting with risp...every year the same thing...these guys have drills since they were little kids, in situational hitting....what the heck is wrong with them?
hacker was fine...did what an er starter is supposed to do...sent back down even though he can work out of the pen, giants need to keep that fresno rotation intact...one, for possible future starts....two, for possible trade use....arms are going down all over the place
affeldt is not right...and he needs to sit down with hector...cuz hector is here to stay
hope the org remains patient with the current philosophy...would rather have the kids try and fail, then watch overpaid fa fail...look at albert and the halos....they are bringing up trout
the boy wonder is playing for the nats today...i dont like that kid...hope he falls on his ass
I don't want anybody to fail. Harper has been hyped to death and that is partly his fault. It will be interesting to see how he does in the majors. As we call know, the majors are a whole other world from the minors. The video I've seen of Harper...well, his swing is dowright ugly! So far, nobody's grabbed him in my fantasy league.
DeleteArte Moreno wanted Pujols to put the Angels brand on the LA market before the Dodgers new ownership could get going. Looks like that opportunity might have already passed and now they are stuck with a terrible, terrible contract.
I thought Affeldt's stuff looked really good last night. 3 K's in 2 IP? 0 BB's? BABIP= .500? I'd say he was very unlucky, except the WP was his fault, not Hector's. Kruk and Kuip went out of their way to point that out after setting the record straight on Affeldt blaming Hector. Since none of us know what Affeldt said to Hector, I think we have to believe him when he says he wasn't blaming him.
Since I don't know what "situational hitting" is, I'm not going to say that's the problem. The Giants have actually been very good at moving runners. What they don't get is ANY hitting in places where it can do some damage. I think it's the old combo of not enough baserunners and not enough power, though both have been better this year and they have scored more runs.
I still have an open dare for you, or somebody, anybody to post that article about Decker and his inspirational quotes over at MCC. You might have to do CPR on me from laughing too hard!
Oh, and thanks for the comments, as always, Bacci. Everybody else who comments on this site, thanks also.
DeleteActually Fla-Giant put up the whole article on Decker in the minor lines steve s section. I'll think about a fanpost, but I've been pretty active, might have to tone it down for a little at the mcCronic.
DeleteNot sure if the situational hitting is the problem - there definitely is some tensing up and the risp #s show that. All the hitters are well aware of their woes with risp. Some chatter about Muelens wanting them swinging at pitches in the zone. Two things: 1. The Giants hitters don't control the count well enough and 2. the Giants hitters go up ready to swing and might not recognize mistake pitches versus the ones pitchers want them to hit. But overall the hitting looks better than last year so far. I like practically all the Gints coaches but I'm not sold on Bam Bam.
Losses like this are frustrating. The Giants have a tendency to play up to good teams and play down to bad teams. Same with the opposing pitchers. We can generally hang with the Aces but we have a tendency to make some journeymen look good on any given night. If we want to compete in the west we have to crush the Pads, figure out the D-bags, keep up the play against CO and of course BEAT LA. I think the doyers are for real and we have a dog fight on our hands.
Ha, OK, well, If Fla-Giant already did the dirty work, well, nevermind. I'll go check it out.
DeleteSituational hitting, to me, is things like hitting to the right side on the hit and run, hitting the ball in the air to the OF with a runner on 3'rd and less than 2 outs. Sacrifice bunting the few times it's appropriate. Stuff like that. Small Ball if you will. I think the Giants actually do all that pretty well with the few baserunners they get. What they need is somebody who goes up there with 2 runners on base and just mashes. Lines balls up the alleys, off the wall, over the wall. I think Panda and Posey are almost there. Belt has the potential. Nate does it sometimes but very inconsistently.
Deleteyou are right...and the drills are run from little league
Deletei remember doing them...with the coach calling out the situation
its done at every level
dont need to mash to drive in runs
of course, there is always the pitcher...who changes how he throws when there are men on base...so that kinda messes the whole thing up
Bacci, Dodgers started 9-1. Last 10 games, 5-5. I admit nothing.
DeleteAbsolutely agreed on the situational hitting. Its fundamental and its small ball, advance the runners in exchange for outs. At times you need to play for the run. As a general rule, I'd like more Earl Weaver. Pagan taking off on his own is a terrible play last night. The Giants seem to be good at the advance the runner part of the situational hitting and not so good at the get the runner home from third with less than 2 outs part of the situational hitting.
ReplyDeleteI think Posey does a great job at controlling the count. He'll get better too. Pat Burrell was good at this. The Giants don't see enough pitches. You need to be aggressive in the strike zone, but I'd wager the Giants are among the league's most impatient in terms of forcing pitch counts. I'm not asking for lawyerball like the A's or the Yankees/Bosox style that leads to 4 hour games, but the first pitch hacking might not be the best strategy if you can't get the fat pitch you want as a hitter.
Melky has been very good so far with plate discipline. 10K/10BB. And his throwing arm is very impressive. If Nate would be more consistent that would be nice. But I think a third plus hitter to go with Posey and Pablo would really help out. Melky and Nate look to be 750 OPS hitters and we really need somebody to cross that 800 OPS line. But the chance they might take that step is there, we'll just have to see.
I am tired of bagging on Afflack so I will back off for a while in hopes that he pulls things together. It does seem pretty hard to get quality lefties in the bullpen but I also think they are overrated. Just take a look at the guys San Diego threw at us for the 7th, 8th, and 9th, all RHP with no situational switches when lefties came up. It is great to have lefties but if they cost 5 million and are erratic then maybe just stock up on some young RH power pitchers ala the Padres bullpen.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem with the hitting IMO is that when you only have a strong 1-4 in your lineup, you leave little room for error when 2 of the 4 make outs. That leaves a lot of 2 out situations with 2 on and a 5th place hitter that doesn't belong in the 5th hole trying to drive them in. On top of that we have Pagan who should probably be in the 2 hole (not sure if you were advocating him in the 3 hole Dr. B or just saying that his approaches are that of a 3 hole hitter) and I would like to see Blanco lead off and possibly be a better table setter so that when Melky comes up in the 5 hole we have a better chance of getting runs across the plate. I have been preaching this all season and at some point I think it will happen but it is frustrating when the 5th hole is filled with a hitter that doesn't belong, it just puts pressure on everyone else ahead of him and the pitchers are able to pitch around Posey and Panda knowing they can get the 5 hole guy out.
Pill had good AB's yesterday despite not getting any hits and I would like to see him get more opportunities. At this point we might as well send Belt down so he can get consistent PT and build up his confidence. Have him work on situational approaches like hitting with RISP and with 2 strikes so that when he comes back up he is in a little better position to succeed. Instead of Fresno facing guys like Hacker, he may be better suited in AA where the real prospects are that could give him a little more of a challenge. Having said that, it wouldn't bother me if he isn't called up until they actually have an everyday spot for him in the lineup as I think we can all agree that he doesn't do well with sporadic playing time.
In 3-4 more weeks, this is the lineup I would like to see with a few guys rotating in and out:
Blanco CF - consistent PT should result in him being on base quite a bit setting the table
Pagan LF - with Blanco on base ahead of him he will be forced to take more pitches so Blanco can steal
Posey 1B - with his contact and Panda hitting behind him this is the best spot for Posey
Panda 3B - he is a line drive hitting machine and our best option at cleanup
Melky RF - lets find out if Melky can be a run producer and provide protection for Panda and Posey
Sanchez C - 3-4 games a week this guy should be in the lineup other then when they play Pill and Posey Catches
Arias 2B - I would love to find out how we were able to get this kid cuz he looks solid!
Craw SS - give him days off against tough lefties but otherwise let him play and leave him alone
That should be a much more balanced lineup if Blanco is able to produce at leadoff which I am confident he can with consistent PT. The bullpen is going to work itself out and it would help if either Casilla locks down the closer role or Hembree is called up and does well. Starters are going to be lights out for us when the defense, offense, and bullpen all start to come together. I love the youth and the depth we have and am not really worried right now about games like last night. We should take the next 2 from the Padres and continue to win 2 of 3 at home each series.
It was more that Pagan has the approach of a #3 hitter, but I wouldn't mind him batting there and moving Panda to cleanup with Buster to #5. Like you said, you need deep depth at the RBI positions. I consider the 5 hole to be maybe the top RBI spot in a really good lineup.
Deletebang...i win the tomahawk boy pool
ReplyDeletegone...replaced by corbin
this isnt a mechanical thing...league just got used to his freaky delivery
dont think you will see him as a starter ever again
Affeldt...I'm trying to keep an open mind on him. But last night I did not like what I saw. Yeah, he was fine AFTER the damage was done.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, he simply let Guzman steal 3rd with 1 out in the 7th. He was not varying his timing and he was not looking him back. And Hector STILL almost threw him out. Circa 2009 Timmy can ignore runners on 2nd. Affeldt can not. And he's not throwing well consistently (bounced that one pitch 2 feet in front of the plate). I'm not so sure he's getting unlucky with balls put in play because the Pads were squaring him up in the 7th and hitting liners.
Those didn't look like very hard liners to me and at least one of the hits Affeldt gave up was definitely a blooper. He was definitely sloppy with runners on base. No excuses there. If you are a reliever, you have to be able to work with runners on base. I do think he was definitely BABIPed though.
Delete