Friday, August 16, 2013

Game Wrap 8/16/2013: Giants 14 Marlins 10

The Giants unleashed a relentless offensive attack which turned out to be almost not enough in a hitfest:  Key Lines:

Marco Scutaro- 3 for 5.  BA= .306.  Scutaro has not drawn a walk since taking over the leadoff spot, but after an 0 for 9 in his first two games he is hitting .289 and has a 5 game hit streak in which he is 8 for 22.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 6.  BA= .275.  Love Crawford in the 2-hole.  He's a tough out, can pull the ball into the hole, gets on base.

Brandon Belt- 4 for 6, 2B, 3B.  BA= .279.  Belt is on fire!

Hunter Pence- 3 for 6, 2 2B, 3B.  BA= .283.  Still no dingers from The Rev, but we'll take games like this.

Pablo Sandoval- 4 for 4, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .266.  After being ice cold and hitting a nadir of .256 on his BA, Pablo now is 9 for his last 18 over 5 games with 4 BB's.  Alex P reports he has lost 20 lbs since the All-Star break.  I still think the best strategy for the Giants is to keep him and hope he has a great walk-year.

Hector Sanchez- 1 for 6, HR(2).  BA= .222.  Bochy called this one.  Prior to the game, he indicated that Buster Posey might get 2 games off this series.  He joked, "It's just a matter of if Hector hits another 3-run homer or not."  I guess Buster will be on the bench on Sunday!  Those that say The Hector has no power are failing to see the potential.  He says he specifically worked on pitch selection when he was in Fresno and maybe it's paying off.  I saw him hit 2 blasts, one from each side of the plate in spring training 2012.  If he is able to force pitchers to throw his pitch a little more often, there is a power hitter in there!

Chad Gaudin- 4 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 4 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.08.  Terrible game for Gaudin.  It says something about how well he's been pitching that his ERA is still barely above 3 after this.

Sandy Rosario- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 4/1.  ERA= 2.55.  Am I crazy to think Rosario could be a starter?  Definitely a keeper for next year!

The Win dropped the Giants into 8'th place in the race for the #1 overall draft pick in 2014.

Matt Cain faces Henderson Alvarez tomorrow evening.

10 comments:

  1. Nice to see guys like Belt, Hosmer and Domonic Brown figuring it out.

    What are the Giants going to do with the all these catchers?? Could they move Belt to LF, Posey to 1B and let Hector and Susac handle the catching issues next year??

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    1. Susac is still at least a year away. No way are the Giants going into next year with Sanchez as the starting catcher. More likely, if Sanchez plays well, they gradually give him more time with Posey getting more time at 1B. Either way, I think it's time for Belt to be getting some OF practice in.

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  2. Belt to LF is something we need to consider, but I'm not so sure its Posey. Susac has not yet gotten the same bat and Sanchez I think is as young if not younger than Susac (he's really young, no?). I would rather see Posey and Sanchez so you have power both days, and bring up Angel V (also young and power) for 1b with Belt in LF. Also gives lots of line up flexibility if someone is hurt, tired, etc.

    As or rooting to lose, no one is. I think Dr. G's notes are more an ironic reminder how far we've fallen. I've never stopped rooting for our guys and I actually was surprised to see how bad our record is. A little reality is not the same as bagging on your team.

    Next year: fix RF, put Panda on a diet (and get a good back up) and fix the pitching. Chaudin is starting to act like it was a fluke (no bueno). Still leaning Timmy as the third RP and bringing up Surkamp to take over Zito, and Chaudin resigned for 1 year as the long man (I know, I'm in the minority)

    PiLamBear

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    1. I actually agree about Le Grope being a reliever. He hits the wall at about 85 pitches. That is nt a MLB starter.

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    2. That was a troll comment above that I deleted. Anyone who has read this blog a long time knows my sense of humor and knows I never root for the Giants to lose. On the other hand, never, ever underestimate the long term benefits of a high draft pick. Timmy, Buster Madison. I think that's all that needs to be said about THAT!

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    3. Right now, I'm thinking a Qualifying Offer to TImmy and signing him for no more than 2 years at about $14 M. That saves about $6 M. Buy out Zito and save another $11 M. Buy out Vogey and save another $7 M or so. That would give a first 3 in the rotation of Cain, Bumgarner, Timmy with Gaudin, Moscoso, Surkamp, Kickham and Escobar competing for #'s 4,5. Am I crazy to think Sandy Rosario could be pretty darn good starter? If Vogey does really well the rest of the way, pick him up and have all those other pitchers competing for just #5 with some depth at Fresno.

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    4. Oh yeah, I was going to finish by saying they should use the money saved from Zito/Timmy/Vogey to go after a Shin Soo Choo who would be perfect in LF and leadoff for the Giants. They'd actually save enough to make a run at Cano, but all you have to do is look at how LH hitters perform in Yankee Stadium vs AT&T to know that Cano ain't coming here.

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    5. I think your pitching moves make sense and with panda playing himself out of an extension, it isn't like we need to tie anyone up. However, what are you doing with pence? I wouldn't give him more than 3 years and not sure he's worth the money he's likely to command. Could Roger K move to right? What about choo?

      PiLamBear

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    6. I make a Qualifying offer to Pence then try to get him for 3 years/$45 M. 4 years/$60 M is the absolute max. If there is some other team out there willing to go higher or if Pence takes too long to agree, then go after Choo instead.

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  3. Roger K is starting to look more comfortable at the plate. Starting to see more pitches too. I think he should be in LF the rest of the way this year. If you absolutely need to platoon, the top option may be Peguero. Another interesting option, Javier Herrera. Why not give him a shot? Not to play every day, but just to see what he can do from time to time. He's known for his defense and arm, and his offensive numbers in Richmond are looking very good these days. You never know...

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