The Giants looked like they were headed for another the snooze game you might expect in a day game after an early morning arrival after a brutal 4 games in Denver until a 7-run 6'th inning overcame a ragged performance by Tim Lincecum and 3 dingers by the BrewCrew. Key Lines:
Norichika Aoki- 4 for 4, HR(2), BB, SB(11). BA= .312. Wow! 5 times on base in 5 PA's! This is what a lot of people were expecting of Aoki after his first season in the USA with these same Brewers. Not just an on-base machine but a do everything player. Is he the best Giants leadoff hitter since Brett Butler? I'm thinking yes! It's probably too early to be thinking about this, but Aoki has a team option for $5.5 M for next year that becomes a mutual option with 550 PA's, which he is way ahead of the pace to make. Do the Giants try to sign him to a long-term deal? Do they just let him go? Would he be worth a 1 year Qualifying Offer? I'm thinking even if he ends up being a 1 year rental, it's a heckuva rental! Historically, the Giants would be better off letting players who have breakout seasons on 1 year deals go when the contract is up.
Hunter Pence- 3 for 4, 2B, BB, SB(1). BA= .342. Giants don't have to worry about Pence's contract status for several years. So far, he's been well worth the investment despite starting this season with a fractured arm, which was in no way his fault or at all predictable.
Matt Duffy- 2 for 5. BA= .302. Duffman had a key hit in the 7-run 6'th, a first- pitch single up the middle that drove in a run and led to another run scoring on an error when Carlos Gomez bobbled the ball in CF. Duffy later came around to score his own run in the inning.
Andrew Susac- 2 for 4. BA= .227. Susac also contributed an RBI and Run scored in the big 6'th. The 2-hit game has to feel good for him and hopefully gets some confidence at the plate back.
Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K's, 3 HR's. ERA= 2.56. A letdown start after his gem against the Dodgers. Timmy is at a stage of his career where he has little margin for error. 2 solo dingers to Khris Davis and a enormous 2-run shot to Ryan Braun. The first inning HR to Davis was interesting in that both Susac and the home plate ump though Davis missed home plate when he showboated a skip step a across it. This led to a prolonged discussion between Bochy and the entire umpire crew, an appeal in which Davis was called out, and then a prolonged video review in New York. The out call was eventually overturned and Davis was credited with a HR. That was disappointing, not so much because the 1 run made such a huge difference at that point, but how much fun would it have been if the out call stood?
Jeremy Affeldt- 1.2 IP, 0 H 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.65. The Giants needed a shutdown inning after their 7 run uprising and Affeldt came through with that an more. No K's, but he got 5 GB outs. Hopefully the disaster appearance in Coors Field was his nadir for the season.
Hunter Strickland- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Strickland brought it home with a dominant performance over multiple innings including a huge K of Ryan Braun. Bobby Evans has his work cut out for him when Jake Peavy is ready to come back and the Giants don't need 13 pitchers anymore.
The Win cut the Dodgers lead in the NL West to 1.5 games pending the outcome of their game against the Braves tonight. The Giants also sit 1 game up in the race for the first Wild Card playoff spot.
The Giants now get a bit of a break as tomorrows game is a night game with Madison Bumgarner taking the mound against Matt Garza.
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feel bad for travis getting stuck in the numbers crunch
ReplyDeleteif he passes through wavers, i wonder if he will swallow his pride and spend the rest of the summer in sacto and collect the remainder of his contract....800k is nothing to sneeze at
bacci
Travis seems to be a very levelheaded fellow and is focused on doing what is best for his family. Unless he has some other source of income, that extra $800 K would give him a great jump start on whatever the rest of his life has in store. Plus, who knows? Circumstances have a way of changing in this game and lightning could strike twice.
DeleteBTW, from the way Baggs was reporting it, he almost made it sound like the Giants gave Travis that contract knowing full well they would likely not need him, but they wanted to take care of someone who did something special for the organization. That's been the Giants way and they have taken a lot of heat for similar deals in the past, but you gotta respect what they do for players who have made a contribution to their success.
DeleteIf Ishikawa is in Sacramento, he ought to be first in line to sub for Belt, in the event that Belt goes on the DL. He also would be a very likely September call-up. And if the bullpen crunch gets better so that the Giants can go with 12 instead of 13 pitchers, he might very well be called up as a left-handed pinch hitter. I don't think that this DFA kills his career as a Giant, if he doesn't want it to, unless he gets traded or picked up off waivers.
DeleteIt's really a numbers crunch. Arias can back up all the infield positions and Ishikawa can only back-up 1st and the corner spots in the OF. And we have much better OF back-ups than Ishikawa will ever be.
DeleteAs for his decision, I think he's likely to stay because he'd probably be called up to the 40-man roster. Or earlier if Belt gets hurt.
I see it as the Giants rewarding Travis for being there, sticking with them. They have a hard earned rep in the game as being loyal, it doesn't get a lot of respect from number crunchers, but I think it gets huge respect from players in the game. And you never know what will happen, I bet Travis is back in Sacto, playing hard and waiting for a chance. Most important walk in G's history, a walkoff to almost rival the Shot Heard, he's been a Great Giant. Even has his own bobblehead!
DeleteAoki would not become a free agent by declining his side of a mutual option. It would just go to arbitration. He is under team control for '16 and '17. If the giants declined either the team option or the team side of a mutual option, Aoki would be an ufa. Otherwise normal service time/arbitration rules apply.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that is correct. According to Cot's Contracts, Aoki was eligible to become an Article XX(b) Free Agent after the expiration of his contract at the end of 2014. The Giants signed him as a FA and I don't think it is because KC declined to offer arbitration. Unless you can show me a link that proves otherwise, I believe he is a FA if the mutual option kicks in and he declines it.
DeleteSportrac states if Aoki gets 550 PAs it becomes a mutual option with a $700,000 buyout by the Giants or he gets $5.5M for 2016. I was under the impression the Giants had him for a couple years of course I maybe well off target.
DeleteCot's says specifically that Aoki becomes a free agent when his contract comes to an end. Since with 550 PAs there is a mutual option, his contract will come to an end, one would think, if either party declines it. Doesn't that say explicitly what DrB has stated?
DeleteDoc, I see it the way you do and the Giants are trying to do right by Travis. If they can trade him to a better situation they will probably make that happen without too much hassle and if not, they would welcome him back in the minors as a Plan B. And of all people Travis should know how quickly things can change like they did for him last year. Between that and I think his genuine enjoyment of being a Giant, my guess is he stays. I think MacGhee does too for what it is worth but personally I don't have the attachment to him as I do Ishi although Casey seems like a good dude the way he has handled things.
ReplyDeleteIf they all do stay and with Perez and Sanchez still there, the Giants have some depth if they need it as well as some trading pieces with some of their young pitching. They are going to be well positioned if need be come a trade deadline or an injury.
Billy Baseball
Looks like Alberto Callospo might be in play, any takers? Switch hitter with a good overall track record although off to slow start this year. Might be good veteran back up to have with MacGhee potentially gone and can be had cheap.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any reason why the Giants would be interested in Alberto Callaspo.
DeleteOur hitters have been unsustainable good so far. Of the regular line up Panik has the lowest avg with .293. If you look at individuals, none of them surprise me. All of them performing at this level is unexpected. Hitting is really contagious.
ReplyDeleteI think we are due for regression in hitting, and I hope our pitching starts to pick up soon.
Pitching starts to pick up? The Giants lead MLB in shutouts and just last week shut out the Dodgers 3 straight games. They also lead or are close to the lead in innings per start. How much more do you want them to pick it up?
DeleteI cannot get no satisfaction :)
DeleteThis is what happens when you don't look at the numbers. I remember the bad, but not the good.
Then again, there is a reason, why we have 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster, besides to long stretch with no off days.
Also, I meant "unsustainably good" on the first line.
The bullpen situation was addressed by Baggs on Extra Baggs today or last night. The reason why so many of their relief pitchers have been used so much is because the Giants play so many close games which mandates Bochy change pitchers more often to get the right matchups. Of course, it's also because they have played so many games. The starters have actually gone deeper in games on average than most rotations.
DeleteGiants starter have logged the 3'rd most IP of any staff in MLB so far this season.
DeleteI see what you are saying, KS, but I'm not so sure the Giants are a slam dunk to regress all that much. They have the second highest BABIP in MLB, but they also have a bunch of line drive hitters bent on making contact as evidenced by their 6'th best K rate in MLB. As for the pitching, it's been better than their ERA would indicate. They tend to have disaster starts here and their that blow up their ERA, but they also give you a lot of QS's and as I already said, they lead the league in shutouts.
DeleteOf course, we all know all players and all teams have their ups and downs over the course of a long season.
I think it's an element of consistency that we're waiting for. One day Hudson is shutting down a lineup, and the next he gets raked. Same with Lincecum and Heston - not sure which is going to show up one day to the next. However, the last few horrid starts for both Heston and Hudson were in Coors (the ones before that too, actually!), where sinker-ballers go to die. Lincecum got hit hard following the exhausting trip to CO as well.
DeleteHowever, I think that's what makes the pitching suspect still at this juncture. None of those three pitchers have shown that their worst days allow them to still have a day like Bum did last night (6ip, 3ER). We'll see if Peavy can get on track, and then there's Cain later in the year (hopefully...). None of those SP's are working with clean track records at this point, either - more fodder for the fire.
I think Heston goes down when Peavy gets activated.