The Giants got a dominant start from Madison Bumgarner and major offensive contributions from the 7 and 8 hitters in the lineup, Ehire Adrianza and Kelby Tomlinson to take the 3 game road series from Atlanta. Key Lines:
Matt Duffy- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .310. I would say Matt Duffy did not lose any ground in the race for ROY. Newer Rookie Kelby Tomlinson seemed to be sticking pretty close to his old minor league roomie in the dugout too so Matt Duffy is already mentoring the kids. Tomlinson could have a worse mentor, that's for sure.
Buster Posey- 3 for 5. BA= .332. Buster may be gunning for another batting title. He did not figure in the scoring for this one.
Ehire Adrianza- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .229. Adrianza went 5 for 10 with 3 BB's in the series. He played SS in this one to give Brandon Crawford a much needed rest.
Kelby Tomlinson- 2 for 4. BA= .600. Hunter Pence said Matt Duffy has been a "ridiculous" addition to the team. He meant that as a compliment. Here's something else that is ridiculous: The way the Giants are churning out middle infielders from their farm system. I mean, they all fall out of bed stroking hard grounders up the middle and line drives to the gaps! They still have a kid named Christian Arroyo down there too! Congrats to Kelby and to Kelbysdadchris. Must be a great feeling!
Madison Bumgarner- 7.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.28. Bochy probably left Bummy in a bit longer than he would have had he not been desperately trying to rest the bullpen.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.23. Nice clean inning for Casilla in a non-Save situation. Did Bochy put him out there to get his confidence back or is someone else the closer now?
The Win enabled the Giants to keep pace with the Dodgers who are 2 games ahead in the NL West. The Dodgers topped the Phillies 4-3. The Giants also took over the lead for the 2'nd Wild Card playoff spot by a half game from the Cubs, who lost to the Pirates 7-5.
The Giants record is now 3-3 after the first 2 legs of the road trip from Hell. They now move on to Chicago for a 4 gamer against their closest rival for the second Wild Card spot. Chris Heston starts game one tomorrow evening in the land of spiders in the broadcast booth and tarp malfunctions during rainstorms. The Cubs pitcher will be Jason Hammel.
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Re Kelby: His 1st career hit in the Game 1 loss made sleeping that night that much easier...such a different level of satisfaction watching these kids...there was a great article on Kelby's wife who was watching from the stands that night, gold read!
ReplyDeleteTwo pieces in the Aug 5 Fangraphs. One notes that the Giants have, by a good bit, the worst schedule of any contending team. The other notes the high similarity between the offensive production of Madison Bumgarner and Josh Hamilton-- that is, if one extrapolated B's offensive performance to as many ABs as H has, they'd look about the same for several central measures of hitting. A bar graph also compares B to the other "good-hitting" pitchers, whom he dwarfs.
ReplyDeleteThe Bumgarner piece is pleasing and amusing; and as to the one about the Giants' painfully disadvantageous schedule, one can draw from it only one positive, I think, which is how lucky we have been to have has the easier schedule when we were lacking Pence, Peavy, and Leake, so that we can face the more beastly schedule with the chance of a team in better shape. Our offense has been overall the best in the league, and our fielding high-ranking, according to Fangraphs. Our pitching, on the other hand, now ranks 25th in MLB, according to Fangraphs; but then, that's with a rotation including Hudson, Lincecum, and Vogelsong, rather than one with the healthy Peavy, Leake, and--we hope--the (slowly) recovering Cain.
Was glad to see KT called up to fill in for Panik - have been following KT's progress on these pages.
ReplyDeleteKelby Tomlinson really gives me the Matt Duffy feel. Also, if he can keep his bat going at a decent clip, I think he's the better utility infielder. His 2B in the minors is (in the primitive stats available) incredibly close to Panik's work. He's been serviceable at SS and has a lot of experience at the position -- 313 games in the minors. He's also done some utility-level work at SS though I wouldn't confuse him for a MLB caliber SS or make a wild claim that he's better than Adraianza as Adrianza has continued his growth at the position over the years (.977 FP in Sacramento this year) while Tomlinson seems to have hit the SS wall in AA.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Adrianza, he looks a lot more comfortable at SS. Which is understandable as he has, for all practical purposes, no significant MiLB experience at any other position (only 6 games not at SS). He also had a nice series with the bat though I have no expectations he will continue this way after years of disappointment in his seeming inability to hit MLB pitching despite his .310+ BA in AAA over the past three seasons. But, who knows, maybe the light came on and he'll have a bat and become a solid trading chip.
Go look up what Adrianza did in the majors in the month before he got hurt last year when he was getting regular playing time. He's always had solid plate discipline in the minors. I have little doubt that he is capable of sustained acceptable offensive numbers for a plus defensive SS.
DeleteWhen I see Adrianza play for the Giants I see another Jose Uribe. A guy that hit reasonably well in the minors (.286 in AAA) who would put together some good hot-streaks and you're going "Yes, he's finally gotten it." Then after two months of his batting .188 and crushing his average, you're kicking yourself in the tail because you got sucked in again.
DeleteThen, of course, after you've accepted he's got a mediocre bat, you get the magical year of 1987 when he hit .291 and you became a 'True Believer.' Because this time he really did 'get it.' Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Wrong answer. He went right back to light-hitting as he finished his career with a .241 average.
Anyway, that's what I see. And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong and time will tell. But, like I said, I see another Jose Uribe and, who knows, maybe the light really did come on for Adrianza. But having seen many other call-ups hit better under the same circumstances, I'll remain skeptical.
Just go look up Adrianza's K and BB ratios in the minors and look at what he did the only time he got regular playing time in the majors. I think he can hit.
DeletePerhaps some will 'read' this as a knock against the Giants' brass, but I tend to think of it as a real positive... I truly believe the Giants are changing their ways, not being so stubborn. Being much more adaptive, more flexible. Perhaps they learned a lesson from having guys like Pill, Panik, and Duffy not get much development at secondary positions? Why didn't Pill get tested more at 3B or LF (in the minors), when those were immediate needs? Why did Adrianza get AB's as a DH, but not play 2B or OF? Duffy practically learned 2B & 3B in the majors.
DeleteAgain, not meant to stir things as an indictment. I think they're *really* making sure prospects are learning more than one position- for the most part. It's a good thing. Kelby is a perfect example of that. Slater, Lollis, Fargas, Cole, Arenado, Arroyo, Paulino, and others. I understand it can hinder development, lots of new things to learn with each position. But I also think of how incredible it is to have infield depth with FIVE potential SS, as needed (Crawford, Panik, Adrianza, Duffy, Tomlinson). That's a key that to roster flexibility for bench depth and injury insurance, IMO. I love it.
I'm in Chicago for games 1 and 2. No rain storms coming. Weather is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Duffy is now tied with Bryant for #4 in 3B WAR at 3.5. I'm hoping the contrived 'Duffy vs Bryant' match-up I'm reading about this AM works in Duffy's favor. It'd be nice if he went to Chicago and smoked Bryant in his home park. I'd gloat for at least a week over that. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought it was odd to use Casilla last night too. I think Bochy is trying somethings to see what he has a bit.
ReplyDeleteBig series with the Cubs and we get to see Bryant vs Duffy head to head. Going to be interesting.
Billy Baseball
What are your thoughts on this scenario: Buster continues his hot hitting and takes over then wins the batting title. At the same time, the Mets rotation continues to roll along while their offense improves, eliminating the Nationals from playoff contention. With Bryce Harper now on a team that doesn't even make the playoffs, is Buster Posey the MVP again? His WAR as of now is 3rd behind Goldschmidt and Harper and I know in the past some voters have made a major fuss over whether teams make the playoffs...
ReplyDeleteAt this point, another MVP and another Batting Title would add to the legend of Buster Posey substantially and I am a major homer, so I hope it pans out that way.
Andy
No Longer in San Diego (Orange County)
Good stuff..Question..I know all of Panik, Adrainza and Tomlinson can Play 2B/Short and Cabrera in Sac can play short but....who's to play 3rd base when Duffy needs a rest or, god forbid, gets hurt? Nobody on the current roster (Is Duffy gonna play every inning until Sep 1???) and which leaves an emergency call-up of Arias or Frandsen, I guess...STAY HEALTHY AND KEEP EATING DUFFMAN!!
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
Tomlinson has actually played some games at 3B while in Sacto. I was under the impression (and may be wrong) that purpose was to give him some time there and get him ready for a scenario like you just described. That gives the Giants someone who could relieve Panik, Crawford, or Duffy.
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