Friday, September 6, 2013

Game Wrap 9/4/2013: D'Backs 4 Giants 2

Ryan Vogelsong hit a wall with 2 outs in the 5'th inning.  6 batters and 4 runs later, a 2-0 lead had become a 4-2 deficit which held to the end of the game.  Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 3B.  BA= .279.  Sandoval is no a tear.

Marco Scutaro(.298) and Brandon Belt(.285) had 2 hits each.

Ryan Vogelsong- 4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB.  ERA= 5.62.  Vogey allowed just 2 hits going into the 5'th inning.  He dispatched the first 2 batters with ease, then the roof caved in.  There was some BABIPing involved as the first hit barely got past Crawford the rolled into a large gap in left-center for a double.  A couple of other hits seemed to have eyes for where fielders weren't standing.  On the other hand, all of the hits were pretty much squared up and Vogey seemed to rapidly lose velocity on the FB and bit on the curveball.  As Barry Zito can attest, when your fastball is 85 MPH and your curveball is hanging, the BABIP tends to get ugly.

Jake Dunning- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.10.
George Kontos- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 4.91.
Heath Hembree- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.  The future of the bullpen seems to be in good hands here.  Hembree, in particular, impressed again by pounding the bottom of the strike zone with fastballs that got up to 94 MPH augmented by that tight slider that was not quite as tight tonight as his first appearance in SD.

Buster Posey has a small fracture on the tip of his right 4'th finger.  He seems to want to get back in there within a few days.  For what purpose?

Bruce Bochy appeared to close the book on Barry Zito's Giants career by saying he has no plans to start him again before the end of the season.

The Loss left the Giants in 7'th place in the race for the #1 overall draft pick.

Yusmeiro Petit faces Patrick Corbin in game 2 of the series.

14 comments:

  1. Vogelsong, Cain and Lincecum if he returns, all have done so much for the team and no one should write them off, partially or completely, and we should all be open minded about their ability to come back next year.

    They belong to the 'show me' category. You let them show you they still have it for 2014 (and beyond). You can't say not to letting them.

    So, you let them show you and in that sense, you can't be satisfied with Cain, Vogelsong, Lincecum and one of Kickham/Surkamp/Petit/whatever behind Madison.

    You have to have plan B and plan C if you want something comparable to the rotation circa 2010-2012.

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    1. Well, there are only so many roster spots and and so many places you can stash pitchers so that limits how many backup plans you can have.

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    2. They can work out the number problem in spring training.

      After that, there should be spots available if necessary. And we will know if it's necessary by that time.

      But I think if they put their hearts, minds and owners' pockets into it, plan B could be just one quality guy and plan C another quality guy.

      You have quality instead of quantity in that case.

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    3. If both Timmy and Zito leave, I think you go out and try for an Arroyo or Hughes or somebody like that on the FA market. If only Zito leaves, then I think you have enough depth in Petit, Surkamp, Kickham and Escobar to cover the #5 slot.

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    4. There will be no complaint if they go out and get a little more insurance.

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  2. I think I am far more comfortable with Vogelsong coming back than I am Timmy. At the very least, I think Vogelsong can be a serviceable 5th starter. As for Timmy, we could probably get his same production (probably better) at a lower price by re-signing Gaudin, going after Phil Hughes, etc.

    Hembree doesn't throw as hard as I expected, but the results have been good so far. Hopefully he can be an important part of the bullpen next year.

    Also, I don't know about y'all, but it seems that Belt gets thrown out more often than the average player trying to stretch hits for extra bases. Though, I can't blame him last night--you hit a ball like that and it seems almost criminal that you should only get a single.

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    1. Phil Hughes?? He is basically a Barry Zito. Does not go long in games, typical 4 or 5 IPs. No thank you.

      Same with Joba Chamberlain, these Yankee prospects get overrated and people think they are good, if Hughes was with Houston you wont even have mentioned him as a candidate.

      Giants need to get solid players on both sides off the ball. The Dodgers are just starting, they are going to get better and better, no need to experiment with mediocre players or reclamation projects after what happened this year. Giants cant allow another 22 GB to the Dodgers to happen again.



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    2. I agree.

      There is monetary cost.

      Then, there is the cost of another 22 GB season.

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    3. The problem is not cost! The problem is there just aren't that many good players available via FA these days. Teams have the resources to sign the players they really want long term. You cannot build a team through FA anymore!

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    4. OK, so you want the Giants to spend money on pitching this offseason. Here is a list of the top 4 FA pitchers according to MLBTR's FA Power Rankings: 1. Matt Garza. 2. Hiroki Kuroda 3. Ervin Santana 4. AJ Burnett.

      Now, which of those do you want to see the Giants spend a lot of money on?

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    5. We can maybe exploring trading for a pitcher or two.

      Perhaps good, cheap pitchers are hard to get. Then, it would be wise to hold on to them. Or perhaps it's possible and if so, let's explore the possibilities.

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  3. Anonymous (get a name!),

    Phil Hughes career AWAY stats: 7.31 K/9, 2.95 BB/9, .85 HR/9. Those stats aren't too different from what Matt Cain has given us over his career. And those numbers really aren't too far off what Tim Lincecum has done for us. Of course, I'm sure if the Giants are looking at Hughes they are doing their due diligence, taking into account not only what they see statwise from him but also in terms of what scouting sees.

    And, DrB, if you're comment about FA pitchers was directed to me, I'm not all for throwing tons of cash at the names you mentioned. I'm simply saying if we want to replace Timmy's production it wouldn't be as hard as some people think. The dude is going to end up being a 2 WAR pitcher this year, something I think someone else could do for us at a lower overall cost.

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    1. No, my comment was directed at Anon and BLSL. I agree about Timmy although I would not kick at re-signing him for the 1 year QO to see if he commitment to healthier eating and working out might result in a resurgence next year.

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    2. Phil Hughes road stats plus the Giants track record on reclamation talent plus his former top prospect status makes him an interesting look. I think the Giants should go agressive with him because it gives you a baseline, or an insurance policy in case further moves don't work out. Knowing both Timmy's agents tendencies as well as Sabean's tendencies, I can see the need for a quick move, to cover things. Hughes is only 28, has a great pitchers frame and could use the confidence of pitching in the NL West pitchers parks.

      I expect the lack of depth from the last couple years to be addressed aggressively. That means multiple reclamation, and I bet at least one is a major league contract.

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