Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Game Wrap 7/29/2015: Giants 5 Brewers 0

The Giants scored all 5 of their runs in the 7'th inning to back the shutout pitching of Jake Peavy and 3 relievers.  Key Lines:

Hunter Pence- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .304.  Pence drove in the go-ahead run with a double up the left-CF alley.  He also saved a run with a fine running catch of a ball that was headed up Triples Alley and later threw out Jonathan Lucroy at 3B after he tagged up at 2B on a flyball hit over by the RF line.  Pence just has so many ways he can beat you!

Ehire Adrianza- 1 for 3.  BA= .136.  Adrianza drove in 2 runs with a groundball single through the right side.  I know a lot of people are down on Adrianza's bat, but I've always believed that given regular AB's, he'll hit for you.

Jake Peavy- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.12.  Peavy is on a roll and this was his best start of the season.  Giants will need him to take advantage of the late start to the season to stay strong through the stretch run.

Strickland, Romo and Lopez pitched a scoreless IP each.  Romo has allowed just 1 run in his last 7 appearances with 9 K's against just 1 BB in 7.1 IP.

The Win put the Giants in a temporary tie with the Dodgers for first place in the NL West pending the outcome of the Dodgers-A's game.

The Giants get a day off before embarking on what might be the toughest road trip of the season, 9 games in some of the hottest, most humid cities in the hottest time of the year, Texas, Atlanta and Chicago to face the Cubs who are no longer pushovers.

Around the League:

Looks like Cole Hamels is going to Texas for a huge haul of prospects.  I don't think the Giants could have or should have given a better package.  Nice jobs by the much maligned Ruben Amaro.

How great is it that Mat Latos is going to the Dodgers?  Now we have a double reason to hate him!  Gotta say, though, that this is a nice pickup by the Dodgers.  One I wouldn't have minded the Giants going for.  Apparently the Giants wanted no part of Latos, though, and who can blame them?  Late word is the Latos trade may be falling apart due to a medicals concern.

And how embarrassing is this for all sides?  Brewers and Mets were all set to make a trade of Carlos Gomez for Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores.  Deal fell through after it was basically announced due to Brewers concerns about Wheeler's medical report.  Now, they already knew he had TJ surgery, so what else was in there?  Then, Wilmer Flores heard about the trade from a teammate in the middle of the game and started crying on the field.  Terry Collins left him out there!  Collins then claimed he knew nothing about the trade.  Pretty classless organization, huh?

Pablo Sandoval came out of a game in the 6'th inning amid some speculation he may have been traded. Turns out he was dehydrated.  Nice FA signing there, Boston!

Giants are now said to be one of 4 teams including the Dodgers who are in on David Price.  Not sure if the Giants are really in on these trades or if they are just trying to drive up the price for the Dodgers.  Either way, go Giants!

11 comments:

  1. Dr the Mets back out actually due to Gomez hips as a tweet by sportcenter "UPDATE: Mets backed out of trade due to concern over hip issue with Carlos Gomez."

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  2. I think Ehire is being showcased a bit. Evans says they are trading from depth and I can see him possibly being a piece of a trade

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  3. Hey Dr. B. Both teams (NYM and MIL) blaming the others' medicals. Huh. That's just not cool. I totally understand why the Mets would try to contend this season. After so many years of losing. After all the years of "promises" for the future being bright (through long rebuilding and financial woes/protestations). They've got 40 games remaining (of 61) against:
    MIA, COL, PHI, BOS, ATL & CIN. They've got pitching. They need to add some offense. They *could* get to 91 wins. Who knows if that takes the NL East, but it should earn a Wild Card. Their chances might even be enhanced if another scheduled opponent (from the AL East?) sells off, using waivers. We'll see.

    I really love Price and think he's the best long-term bet, if a free agency contract were to be handed out. But as a rental? I doubt we go all-in for him. If we do, I will be hoping we can retain him- like we have done with others we've acquired at the deadline. If you like, you can edit or disallow this post... I just compiled some stats and wrote 'em up.

    Bumgarner + Heston combined = 3.13 ERA, .293 wOBA, .239/.294/.363/.657. 2.0 WAR average.
    #3-7 Giants starters, combined = 4.36 ERA, .335 wOBA, .265/.333/.425/.758. -0.1 WAR average.

    We sure could use a solid #3, at least. I really hope for Danny Salazar. But that's highly unlikely. I figure he's the best arm we might find attainable, match up with for a trade, and is under long-term control. Our offense has been doing great things. Today, even without Posey, Panik, or Pagan starting. When lots are contributing on offense, like Adrianza, Sanchez, and Peavy (!)... Good things. GREAT things. Cheers.

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    1. Peavy has been pretty good since he came back. He's sporting a 2.84 ERA, .226 average and a 1.01 WHIP. Those are good numbers. His WAR, OTOH, is savaged by his horrible April and it's 9.39 ERA (and other terrible numbers). Now, I'm not saying it's going to continue like that. I'm just pointing out that WAR might not be the be-all and end-all of looking at Peavy.

      Cain has been more mixed. His internals suggest he's got control (finding the strike zone) but his command isn't there (too many fat pitches in the strike zone). There are, at times, positive signs that he might make it back. But other times, I despair. But, like Peavy, I think some of the injury/rust issues have clouded the WAR as guidance issue.

      Hudson is a definite drag. He just seems to wear out faster than ever and makes just a few too many mistakes because of it. Which is shame because many of his internal pitching numbers are great, like his 55% GB number. But an extra two or three mistakes a game, in a game like baseball, can make a terrific difference since it's a game of very small margins producing very big swings.

      As for Vogelsong and Timmy... I don't think should be in there. For the good or the bad. They're never going to be starters, beyond injury/emergency, for the Giants. For Vogelsong at least, it seems to be for the better. Now that he doesn't have to conserve his energy, he's got a nice 94MPH fastball to use with this 'pitch with anger I'm going to show you' thing going on. I'd love it if we resigned him to that role. And Timmy... Well... I think we all know. Even if we spent years (like myself) in denial and hoping for a resurgence.

      I do agree on Price. I think his price as a rental will be too high because this year really seems to be a sellers market.

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  4. Is there a chance the Dodgers DFA Morse? And if they do, could the Giants pick him up.

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    1. Not sure why the Giants would want to pick up Morse.

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  5. I agree DrB, if Adrianza got regular play, he'll hit for us, as he has made good contact before in the minors, as well as get walks.

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  6. My sense is that the Giants are bidding up the price for Price more than trying to get him. Hamels was the better fit since he was under contract. To raid the farm system and lose the guy at season end would be (to me) a big risk. Even if you think Peavy will be fine next year, you still need one guy and then you probably need 2 more to replace Cain in his last year of the contract and Peavy after his contract goes. Brickford would have to make huge strides to get there in 2 years. So, we're looking at least 1 and could be as many as three new guys for the rotation. Now, true the Giants could sign FAs but they also need to contend with Belt (with no guy ready to replace him, unless you move Posey in which case do you really trust Catchers of Susac and Sanchez long term?), Crawford (maybe replaceable but he's really coming into his own and is very much a face of the team) and the need to upgrade the OF.

    As it stands, Blackburn seems to be ready (Dr. B, as you noted, he really has put on a nice season in a tough place), with Meija and Beede close by all accounts. So there is your three. I would think that Price would require Beede or Meija, probably Susac too and maybe a guy like Blackburn. I just don't see how you make that move. While I don't want to rehash Wheeler v. Beltran, the one thing that strikes me from that move is we lost a guy who could have been in our rotation now (I know, injuries and such, who knows--but injury risk is even more relevant now when it isn't clear that either Cain will really come back given is iffy starts or Peavy will stay strong given his late season tail off last year).

    We have two really good starters in Bumgarner and Heston. Peavy gets us 3 and I think given we are a 1/2 game back, it just doesn't make sense when you've got Cain sitting out there as your Number 4. And once we get through August, we have guys like Meija who can get us over the hump.

    This trade season strikes me eerily like last year with the outcry for a new second baseman, when we had Panik. I say stand pat, don't raid the farm and roll the dice with Cain and Peavy. Over his starts back from the DL, Peavy has probably been as good as anyone we could trade for not named Price and Price doesn't seem worth it given the rental aspects.

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  7. the more and more i think about the Giants needs for this deadline im starting to think getting Mike Leake would be good enough upgrade.

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    1. And that is what they must have thought and what they did

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  8. We got Leake i knew it nice piece.

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