The Giants took advantage of several fielding miscues and some odd managing decisions by Matt Williams to take Game 4 of the 2014 NLDS, win the series 3 games to 1 and advance to the NLCS for the 3'rd time in 5 seasons. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .111. The top of the order finally showed some signs of life and they were the difference in the ballgame. Blanco continued to provide scintillating defense in CF. More on that later.
Joe Panik- 2 for 4. BA= .211. Reassuring to see Panik get back to his 2 hits a game after being almost completely shut down in games 2 and 3. He at least got the ball in play with the bases loaded and 1 out in the second inning to drive in a run, then started the winning rally with a base hit to LF off a LHP.
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4. BA= .294. If you are looking for a Most Valuable Position Player for the series(other than Bryce Harper), you might consider Crawford who had the highest series BA on the team and played his usual stellar D at SS.
Outfield- 11 flyball outs in this game, many of them not easy catches. Pence made a spectacular stumbling catch against the wall in RF on a drive by Werth that had TRIPLE written all over it. Perez made a running catch over his head in LF that Travis Ishikawa probably would not have gotten and Michael Morse definitely would not have. Blanco was flying all over the OF sucking balls into his glove like a vacuum cleaner. If you are wanting to look past the obvious for difference makers in this game and the entire series, the Giants OF defense would be a great place to start.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.59. Vogey was rested and amped at the beginning of the game pumping 93-95 MPH fastballs. His location was shaky at times but he hit spots when he had to. He was down to 91 by the time Werth hit his drive that Pence caught in the 6'th inning. Vogey had done his job and done it well. Bochy turned it over to the bullpen from there.
Meanwhile, the Ryan Vogelsong Story keeps unfolding. Matt Vasghergian, or whatever his name is, on the Fox broadcast tried to make a silly comparison between the careers of Vogey and Gio Gonzalez. Let's see: Vogey was a 5'th round draft pick and Gio was a first rounder. Check! Vogey got traded once, Gio twice. Check! Vogey was released by a couple of minor league teams and spent time in Japan and Gio…..hmm…. Vogey has won a World Series game and has a ring, Gio….wait, what?
Hunter Strickland- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 9.00. OK, I have a problem with Bochy on this one. I didn't like it that he kept Strickland in there for the 7'th inning in Game 1, and this one was borderline unforgivable. Maybe he thought that Strickland would get Harper and erase the memories of the Game 1 HR, but the way Harper was increasingly locked in as the series progressed, no way you let Strickland face him again, or at least no way you let him throw him a strike. Harper was the one guy in the lineup likely to tie it up with one swing. That is exactly what he did. At least Strickland finished the inning and got credit for the Win, not always a good thing for a reliever. Aside from Harper, who was a beast in this series, Strickland pitched well and appears to have a bright future. He certainly has a manager who is in love with him!
Bryce Harper(Nationals)- I know there are a lot of Giants fans grinding their teeth at Harper barking at Strickland around the bases and into the dugout after the HR, but make no mistake. This kid played his heart out and played great. He's just 21 years old and is going to be a monster for many years, that's if he can stay in one piece. Right now, if I had a choice between giving a huge 10 year contract to Harper or Trout, I'd give it to Harper and not have to think long about it.
Matt Williams- Matt's a rookie manager and it showed in this series. The move to take out Zimmermann in Game 2 was defensible, but didn't work out. I thought he got Gio out of there at the right time, but went to the wrong guy. If Zimm was the guy for a Game 5, Strasburg was the better choice for 2-3 innings of long relief. Then, in the 7'th inning, he inexplicably left the LHP in to face Buster Posey and left a rookie reliever, albeit a good one, in one batter too long when said rookie could not hit the broadside of a barn! Gonna be a long offseason for Matty!
The Win clinched another NLDS for the Giants and in front of their home crowd. Isn't that a first in this run that started in 2010? They now move on to the NLCS which does not start until Saturday to face the Cardinals. These two teams have represented the NL in the last 4 World Series and one of them will make it 5 this year. They have 3 of the last 4 WS wins between them. Although you would never know it from reading a lot of baseball oriented sources, these two teams are the dominant MLB teams of the first half of the 2010's decade.
Around the League:
Speaking of which, the Cardinals got a 3 run HR from Matt Adams in the 7'th inning off Clayton Kershaw, who was pitching on short rest to sink the Dodgers' season with a 3-2 win. It was a rough season for Kershaw, but it's not his fault he has a manager who has not idea how to manage pitching and a Giants secret agent for a GM. Oh, and Puig was BENCHED for this game for no other reason than he was BENCHED! Amazing!
Gotta think there are going to be some repercussions in LA for this debacle and a whole lot more spending this offseason. I think we already know what uniform Sergio Romo is going to be wearing next year!
Speaking of repercussions, the Dan O'Dowd era is over in Colorado.
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Beautiful series win, hard fought games where both teams scored nine.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely about Harper, but I have to say I think Buster Posey is at fault with the HRs off of Strickland. Hunter put the ball exactly where Posey called for it. Why put a inside fastball to one of the best fastball hitters in the game? He maybe a jackass, but I love what Harper did this series, and he saluted SF big time on his twitter feed. Harper was the best player in the series, and with Ramos behind him... Casilla did the right thing.
We have celebrated once on the home field before last night - Scutaro... rain drops... Cardinals losing...
Oh yeah, I'm guessing the Cardinals have not forgotten that either.
DeleteGood call on Romo to the Bums. IF Special Agent Ned can survive the next month. 3 NL West GMs gone already...
DeleteDetroit might have something to say about where Romo ends up.
DeleteMoney guys like their management shakeups - look for the Dodgers to cut-n-paste. Somebody has to pay!
Shark,
DeleteYou may be right that Detroit will be in the running for Romo, but If LA is close in the bidding, they will get him. Romo grew up a doggie fan and his whole family still bleeds the blue.
The Washington Post is puzzle and upset at some of Matt Williams' moves. Refer to the Post… Oh, the pitch who threw the WP that scored Panik? I looked up the pitcher's record -- like 7 WP in 40 innings in the regular season. The rook is wild - so no surprise he uncorked one. Post wanted to know why the closer or Strasburg were not brought in at that point … Matty's response? Well the rook was our 7th inning guy. Matty really lacks imagination…. Agree with your comments on Harper - what a stud - wow, he can field and hit …. i will follow his career now with interest as he almost single-handedly dismantled the Giants.
ReplyDeleteWhen Williams brought in Roark, Thornton, Barrett and Soriano, I was stunned. Bring in your shutdown relievers for Gio, even Strasburg. Get the shutdown innings. Instead he opened the door and the Giants kept knocking.
DeletePosey thrown out twice at the home plate in the low-scoring series.
ReplyDeleteStay aggressive? Play it safer the next round?
Who were the leaders from both clubs in left-on-base?
ReplyDeleteJayson Werth 9, Ian Desmond 8, LaDouche 8
Pablo Sandoval 13, Brandon Belt 9, Gregor Blanco 7
I'd say Craw is a good choice for MVP, Posey led in BA and OBP though. But also got thrown out at the plate twice and put up bad targets for the Harper HRs off Strickland and mis-directed Bumgarner. Eh, I'd just go with Petit for the sheer thrill of game 2.
Oh, Petit is definitely the MVP of the series. I'd give it to Crawford for non-pitchers, though.
DeleteAny staff that gives up 9 runs over 4.9 games, has an MVP for catcher. But Craw was solid and a big contributor.
DeleteGreat win. I feel slightly guilty that it seemed like the Nationals gave it away rather than the Giants getting a key basehit. There were lots of bases loaded situations and it would have been nice to make the game less of a nailbiter by cashing those in.
ReplyDeleteWhy does it seem like Posey is involved in every TV replay at the plate?
Matt Williams could be a secret agent Giant manager too. I became a Giants fan when he was playing 3rd base.
Fun time of season but part of me wanted to go to Dodger stadium for the NLCS...
What are your predictions for the next series? (I will automatically give Bacci a one and done vote)
Wow! What a titanic struggle between two teams, Giants and Cardinals, who have been circling each other for the past 4 seasons. 2 NL pennants each in the past 4 seasons. Who breaks the tie and gets a 3'rd. 3 of the last 4 WS winners. Both teams put together largely with homegrown players. Both teams who with lots of good players, but no dominant ones. Of course, I have to pick the Giants. No reason not to, but it's going to be a hard fought, possibly bitterly fought series.
DeleteBTW, I'm pretty sure the Cardinals have fresh memories of standing in a rainstorm watching the Giants celebrate and really, really don't want anything resembling that happening again.
I'm fine with Romo going to the Doyers. Didn't help with Wilson and (notwithstanding Romo's performance) Romo is in decline. The pen next year will be Casilla, Strickland/Affeldt, Lopez/Machi, + 1 of Kontos or Cordier, with Timmy as long man. Starters are MadBum, Cain, Peavy (please, please), Huddy and Petit (which I think is an upgrade on the starters who were there at the begining of the season, as I think Peavy > Vogelson and Petit > Timmy at this point). We save a bit on Vogelsong (and maybe Kontos) so we have some money for resignings.
DeleteOn the rest, I'd say go with Brown and see if Parker or Horan can beat out Blanco, so we can save some salary. Sign Tomas and let Morris go (that might work out). We'll let Panda go and save some salary there too. Next year we pick up a lot of salary with Timmy, Huddy and Scutaro off the books so even if we have to go up a bit this year, we can manage it (or maybe you do a more structured deal to account for payroll going up). Susac, Duffy, and EA allow us to go in house for depth too.
The accountants are whittling very fine points on their quill pens if we are to replace Blanco, who has given us 7.2 fWAR over the past three years, never playing full-time, in order to save his $2.5M salary in 2015. At the arbitrary rate of $5M or $6M per WAR, he was worth $10-12M to the Giants this season.
DeleteI didn't know that Blanco was signed for next year. If he is, I'd put him into the category of Arias, which is we're paying him and he's fine. But if we need to resign him, I would see what others could do. I will admit, I'm not all that knowledgeable about fWar. I understand the concept, but not sure how it is really calculated etc. What I see though is a guy for much of the season was just ok, had some moments where he was really hot, but at the end of the day just don't feel like he's a guy who can step in for Pagan longer term. If he's just a late inning, defensive replacement, there is nothing wrong with that and you need guys like that. But, given Pagan's fragile body (and the very real possibility his back will be a problem for the next two years), I think you need more. To me the only real hole in this year's team was the lack of depth--it hurt us when Morse went down and when Pagan went down. It hurt us until we clewed in on Panik too. I think next year we'll be better off (we have 3 guys --EA, Arias and Duffy for infielder role and a much better back up catcher) but I do worry about OF depth and see limits on Blanco in that regard. Not "hating" by any measure, just thinking our rookies can do bettter.
DeleteThe Giants are just not going to find somebody to sit on the bench until Pagan gets hurt, then step in and not miss a beat. If you look through the potential reserve OF's out there, Blanco is pretty much the best available, at least by my evaluation. If somebody can give me the name of a reasonable target who is better, I'd be interested, but I don't see it, myself.
DeleteWow! Bold call to take Harper over Trout. But I like a little flavor.
ReplyDeleteWilliams also bungled not bringing in a left to turn Sandoval around in Game 2.
And no doubt on Sergio in Dodger Blue. That's what's up.
The Giants - Winning, Somehow!
ReplyDeleteThe Nats - Losing, Who Knows How?
I'm sitting in the opposite dugout and drawing up plans how to beat the Giants...
a) Forget everything I know about baseball learned over the 162 game season.
b) Never take out a dominate starting pitcher with two outs in the 9th, never put in my proven closer. Never.
c) Take my #2, #7 and #8 hitters and make them the middle of the order, take my #3, #4, #5 hitters and move them down or to the bench.
d) Have my team practice making errors. Wild pitches, throws to the backstop, no bunt play calls, throws to the wrong base, etc. Get really good at making bonehead plays, so we can get 'em in, F 'dem up, and get 'em out.
e) Don't allow the players, coaches, management, fans to listen to any national pundit about our chances - everyone close their ears and repeat, "We have no chance to beat the Giants".
Got that Cards.
One Flap Down...Go Giants!
I might add that it would be prudent steal way the Giants' sorcerer/sorceress that enables these dramatic even year runs.
DeleteThe BUMS LOST! And they just paid Wilson $10M for 1 save AND he has a player option for $9.5M for 2015 which he is picking up! Makes Timmy's deal look good.
ReplyDeleteWeez picking up that option just solidifies the joke that he was when whining at the Giants for not retaining him at 8M. He expected the Giants to act out of their own interests in paying him, yet he will not act outside of his interests in regards to the option.
DeleteI can't stand hypocrites. Though I don't mind it so much when they act against the doggies.
wilson is not a hypocrite, he is a brilliant salesman
Deletehe pawned off 2 good months in 2013 into 19 mill
why should he turn that down?
and all those who were bidding on him before he resigned with the bums, are suckers
bacci
Was the Sorceress the lady who sang "God Bless America" last night? Loved the looks on the faces of the Nats players. Too bad we couldn't save her for the Cards series (Middle America would love her!).
ReplyDelete"One Flap Down" indeed! Hat tip to former Giant Mike Matheny and the Cards (and H/T to Matty Williams and Bryce Harper). That being said, I cannot stand St. Louis (almost as bad as the Fodgers...almost). Dr B's comment on the long memories of the NLCS favorite are well heeded. I would counter that there is some more retribution on the old ledger yet in favor of the Good Guys. Here's to some karmic payback for the "Hack-Man", the cheap shots by Ozzie & Oquendo on Brenley & the Thrill in '87, for the "Say Hey Kid" & "Stretch" for the ChaCha trade in '64, and I am certain there is some Rogers Hornsby voodoo from way back to exorcise as well. Besides, the Giants are currently tied with the Doyers with 6 WS wins apiece. Can't think of anything better than to have 2014 break that tie!
Vaya Con Dios Sergio...LoCal is your home - but not before you help HiCal win another ring!
Who's the Marco Scutaro dark horse for the NLCS? Maybe it's Huddy? The fleet-of-foot, light-of-bat Outfield that Doc mentioned? KFP for the swan song? One of the Hunters (is there a Bryce Harper-type on the Cards?)?
Man, sign me up for another historic run! Love reading your blog(s), and the comments from the regulars. As Kruk would say: "Good stuff!"
NWGiantsFan
DtF!!!
Ha! I actually thought Bryce Harper was going to puke during the GBA song. He just had the most sickened look on his face. I haven't seen BBB, but it's so San Francisco and what I've seen of the cast singing at AT&T, they seem great. Love it that the Giants have the nad to bring feature them at AT&T Park and show the world what a great place SF is. LOL!
DeleteLoved the Giants rocking the Beach Blanket Babylon look for God Bless America. This ain't Kansas anymore, Toto. They could barely keep the cameras on the "singer". Years ago our kids' babysitter's aunt was the lead singer for BBB. Great show. Giants runs like SF folks come in all stripes, shapes and sizes. Represent!
DeleteThe Giants have won the WS seven times, five in NY and two in SF. The Dodgers have indeed won 6 times, 5 in LA and 1 in NY. Red Sox have 7, and StL 11 and the Yankees more.
Deletekennv, thanks for the correction. Well then, let's beat the tie with the BoSox. My best friend is from Boston, so yet another reason to do so. I think the Evil Empire is sitting at 22 or 23 victories, second in the Big Four only to Le Habitante up in Montreal. Granted, many of those were during WWII, when Rocket Richard stayed home to pick up Stanley Cups while other NHLers went overseas to fight the Hun...Richard from Winnipeg can fact check me there as well, but those are my recollections from my Winterpeg family.
DeleteLet's Go Giants!
NWGiantsFan
DtF!!!
Hey Dr. B.
ReplyDeleteI remember you said a while ago that you wondered why Chase Johnson didn’t lost his closer role at cal poly. I’m a grad student at cal poly and I have a class with his former teammate and a current coach. I asked him why Johnson didn’t start, and lost his job as a closer, and he said it was because….. “he sucked.” He said he sucked and he couldn’t find the strike zone, and in college baseball you have to throw strikes. He also said that Johnson went to the regional’s(or something like that), and that there were a lot of scouts. While he was there he was throwing strikes at 97MPH. So he thinks that is how he got noticed/drafted.
Kind of off topic post...
Johnson has certainly run hot and cold in the pros. I have to say I'm not terribly impressed by your friend's "he sucked" analysis. I'll go back and look up Johnson's numbers at Cal Poly, but I don't recall that they "sucked" or that he was particularly wild.
DeleteSo, here are Chase Johnson's numbers in 3 seasons with Cal Poly:
Delete2011: 2-5, 4.90, 49 IP, 21 BB, 34 K, 0 Saves.
2012: 3-4, 3.34, 35 IP, 13 BB, 31 K, 8 Saves.
2013: 0-0, 2.31, 23.1 IP, 9 BB, 21 K, 0 Saves.
Reed Reilly's numbers in 2013 were admittedly a bit better, but I would not call Johnson's numbers "sucky" at all.
Whether it as as a closer or not, it's still a bit mystifying why Johnson went from pitching 49 innings as a freshman to just 23.1 as a junior.
Bryce Harper needs to take one in the ribs the next time Hunter faces him. That was a total bush league move. I can hang with celebrating rounding the bases when you hit a bomb like that to tie a playoff game but staring down the pitcher and then talking shit from the dugout does not sit well with me. I would take Trout in a second over Harper, mainly due to the injury history of Harper and the fact that Harper is a punk.
ReplyDeleteTo each his own. I think Harper's body has to ton of room to fill out whereas Trout is as filled out as he can get. I think Harper has a higher potential peak(I'm talking 60 HR's in a season) and his body type will age better. Of course, you never know for sure in this business, but if I had to make a 10 year investment in one or the other, I'd go Harper in a second.
DeleteHarper may well have more potential, frame-wise. And he is an outstanding, amazing talent. At times, electrifying. And he will get better.
DeleteBut, so what? He is toxic. That stare-down crap on Strickland was borderline Puig behavior. Then he claims he didn't remember what he was doing? All the Harper apologists fail to acknowledge that he is an arrogant (not confident) antagonist. He seeks conflict. And he'll get plenty off it.
But, well, he's an okay guy because he tweets a nice message to SF fans? Does anyone really believe that Harper is the author of his tweets. It's PR. Nothing more. Harper showed us who he really is.
Why would anyone want that crap in the clubhouse?
Choice between Trout and Harper? Trout in a heartbeat. Trout has already arrived. Harper MAY arrive at that level with consistency. We saw Harper at his best. He also has a WAR of 1.0 this year in about 400 ABs. (Negative D numbers...hmmm) There is plenty of Harper at his worst. It will be interesting to watch their career paths.
We'll just have to agree to disagree here. Harper is not the first guy in history to woof it around the bases after a big HR. Agreed that the big question with Harper is can he stay healthy, but if he can, watch out!
DeleteI'll take Trout over Harper still. Trout is already a HOF level talent and a major table setter, but it's pretty much splitting hairs, as I just prefer the proven guy over the high ceiling guy (even if it is becoming more clear that the ceiling will be reached).
ReplyDeleteMy two cents on this series:
1. Other than the Strickland move, Bochy pull strings and knows his guys. Maybe he was infatuated with 100mph, but other than that, Bochy just knows his arms in the pen so well, he always puts them in situations where they are confident and know they have an advantage.
2. Harper's intensity is what makes him great, but also why people hate him. I don't foresee any ways he can have one without the other, so whatever on the HR trot, I don't happen to like it, but if I was a Nationals fan, I'd love it.
3. Cards don't have a lefty. I'm going to say Panik's national coming out party is all of next week.
4. Why is everyone hating on Brian Wilson? I personally can't stand him, but he was smart enough to finagle his rubber band arm into almost 20 million bucks. It's not like he'll be dependable and he's on the Dodgers, that's exactly who we want to see come out of the pen next year when we face them. Just for kicks: I'd love to see Posey hit against Romo after catching that slider for so many years.
5. I'm going to say Giants in 6. They'll win a start with every pitcher but lose a Bum start and a Peavy start. At least one of those games is going to be a high scoring, funky one with some drama.
Andy in San Diego