The Giants and A's would seem like two unlikely teams to hook up in a slugfest, but that's just what happened today out at the Oakland Coliseum as the Giants brought back torture in the 9'th inning finally ending it when Jemile Weeks popped up with 2 outs and the bases loaded. Key Lines:
Buster Posey- 2 for 3, HR(9), 2 BB. BA= .294. Buster is on a pace for about 20 HR's. I think if we were all asked at the beginning of the season if we would take a .290+ BA with 20 HR's and good health from Buster this year, we'd all have said, "heck yeah!"
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5. BA= .308. Pablo is keeping his BA up, but not getting any power, which is kind of expected after wrist surgery.
Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, HR(4), 2 BB. BA= .273. Right now, Belt is bringing back memories of his minor league performances which is what got people all excited about him in the first place. His history is that once he gets comfortable at a level, he doesn't look back.
Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.10. Bumgarner kind of got knocked around in this one. He was able to limit the damage and the offense picked him up only to be almost let down by the bullpen.
The Dodgers beat the Angels 3-1 in Anaheim to remain 3 games ahead of the second place Giants. The Mets lost so the Giants have a 1 game lead for the top Wild Card playoff spot.
Matt Cain tries for the series sweep tomorrow facing Brandon McCarthy who might have a strong case to be considered the A's ace right now.
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At this point you could make a case for moving Belt up in the lineup. But he's got to keep proving it against LH and RH pitchers. sure is nice to see him producing though.
ReplyDeleteoffense doesnt tell the whole story
ReplyDeletekey lines...pablo is fat and doesnt do anything without moss' hilariously awful d at first....also a's do not stage a comeback if tubbo charges the grounder and throws to first...he allowed the if hit...then had a nice chuckle...funny fat boy should be on the pine
lopez also got robbed of a k that wouldve ended the game...ump tried to make up for it by calling a k that was almost at weeks head
Much as I like Arias, Pablo is a much better hitter even when fat and with a bad wrist, so it's a tough call. Pablo giveth and Pablo taketh. If I were in Sabes and the Giants ownership position, I would not give him a long term contract beyond his arbitration years though. Heck, I would not have even bought out his arbitration years, but the Giants probably were looking for cost certainty.
DeleteAs much as I'm hesitant to say this, perhaps Belt's emergence (if that is in fact what we're seeing) makes Pablo expendable down the road. Right now, the thought of Posey, Belt, and Panda as offensive building blocks makes me giddy. In fact, most teams would salivate at being able to build around those three. However, with Timmy's struggles, and no clear ace in the making in the minors, Pablo could be a solid trade chip in the future. If we lock down Melky and either of Blanco or Pagan (or both), and throw in at least one more prospect emerging in the future (whether that's Panik, Brown, Joseph, or Oropesa), Panda's value may be greater to us by netting us some prospects to keep the minor league pipeline pumping out ML starters.
DeleteIdeally, Pablo gets a hold on his conditioning and is a perennial allstar for us. And if the likes of Crick, Hembree, and Stratton turn out...all the better and my point is moot. However, having Belt break out is a really good thing in many ways. One of which is not relying too much on any one player's offensive output.
Lucky,
DeleteI think that is an excellent point and agree completely.
Sabean has a whole lot of different ways he could go starting this offseason. Perhaps some directions are better than others, but all of them are positive.
First of all, he has a lot of money coming off the books in Huff, Rowand and Freddy Sanchez' contracts. He can get another $10 M off by not offering arbitration to Wilson, which he should not. That's a total of about $30 M. Some of that will be eaten up by scheduled raises to Cain, Bumgarner and Pablo, but not all of it, so there will be money to spend if payroll stays the same or is raised modestly.
That gives him room to sign Melky and/or Pagan long term. Worst case scenario, he can offer both 1 year contracts for approximately $13 M. Since both will almost certainly be in line for long term FA deals he doesn't really have to worry about either accepting and it's still a good deal for the Giants if they did! If they end up signing elsewhere, the Giants get two draft picks back for each.
Arias and Blanco can be retained quite cheaply giving even more flexibility.
Again, I know this is heresy, but Pablo and Posey are both risks going forward and both could bring back potential talent hauls on the trade market. Gotta at least consider it if the return package includes elite talent.
Further along, Timmy's contract will be up after next season and the guaranteed part of Zito's contract will be up then too. That's another almost $30 M coming available. Timmy should not be signed to a big long term contract, but depending on how the rest of this year and next year goes, he could be offered a 1 year/$13 M deal so that the Giants get draft picks back for him leaving too.
Yeah, I don't care what anybody says, the the Giants are as well positioned for the future as any team in baseball.
The A's have scrapped McCarthy for tomorrow, and plan to bring up a minor league replacement.
ReplyDeleteBelt's placement in the lineup: enough of his OBP is produced by walks, which don't drive runners home, that I doubt the Giants are making the most of what he offers. He gets on base, but those who follow him in the lineup are the least likely to bring him in. That argues for changing his spot in the order, and placing him before hitters whose OBP comes more predominantly from hits vis-a-vis walks, for example, Sandoval.
Didn't see that so thanks for the heads up. McCarthy is a terrific pitcher when healthy, but gotta wonder if he's ever going to stay healthy for an extended period.
Deletedont know if its a positive or a negative for the giants that they will be facing another pitcher from the pcl...ross did ok today, it was the a's pen and bad d that did them in
ReplyDeletea's have some serious pitching issues thanks to injuries
Thank you Ryan Theriot for catching that popup saving the Giants from blowing a 5 run lead! That play looked more difficult then the one he made the error on last night.
ReplyDeleteI've been impressed by the great abs that both teams had.. Chilli Davis must be doing a great job as the A's hitting coach. These past 2 games have been fun to watch and make a strong case that interleague play is good for the game.
LG
FYI, Kruk noted on the radio that, like, five of the hits were bloops, if I understood him correctly. So Madison was just having some bad luck on the hits, OK, a lot of bad luck.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with moving Belt up in the lineup except for one thing: Confidence. He's struggled for so long and has now gotten himself into a good groove. Leave him alone and let him build on it. There isn't a statistic for confidence, so I know it doesn't exist, but yeah, it does exist.
ReplyDeleteNice for belt to show up and prove out. Why mess with a lineup that is putting up crooked numbers?
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to go in to the bums series 3 down and even nicer to be 2, but a series win is a series win.
I vote for 2 down.
Delete2 down would indeed be very nice.
DeleteUnfortunately, the pitching matchups are not favorable for the LA series. It would be great to win at least 2 of 3 from the Dodgers but I'd be happy if the Giants don't get swept with the way the pitching is matching up.