The Giants had to press Ryan Vogelsong into service as an emergency starter to replace the injured Mike Leake with predictable results. Key Lines:
Nori Aoki- 2 for 2, HR(4). BA= .305. LF may be an adventure for him, but Aoki sure can stroke that ball at the plate. I'm thinking Aoki would be a better option even against a tough LHP than Maxwell and I'm with Baggs on Pagan. I don't think he's getting better without a DL stint and Blanco is the better option against all pitchers.
Ryan Vogelsong- 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.26. It was probably not realistic to expect more than 4 innings out of Vogey and he actually pitched very well for 4. The first two batters of the 5'th inning went single-double. Bochy went to Jeremy Affeldt and he brought his gas can with him promptly giving up a two run single. Affeldt then could not get out of the inning and Petit allowed 2 of Affeldt's runners to score. Ballgame.
Hate to say it, but Leake's sudden trip to the DL feels like deja vu all over again harking back to 2011 and Carlos Beltran. Beltran actually played quite well for the Giants that year when he was healthy, but he was not healthy for the critical part of the season. By the time he came back, it was too little, too late. This 4 game H2H series against the Giants main rival for the second Wild Card playoff spot is critical. We'll never know if the Giants would have won this game with Mike Leake on the mound, but I think it is clear their chances would have been better. The last two games of the series are now as close to must-win as any you will see in August unless you are not concerned about a potential 5 game deficit in the division race coupled with a 3.5 game deficit in the Wild Card race.
Jeremy Affeldt- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 6.00. Affeldt has been a huge part of the Giants success over the last 5 seasons, but it looks like his run is coming to an end as he continues to struggle. Inheriting runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with no outs is obviously a tough situation, but Affeldt has been terrific at limiting the damage. This time the damage was not limited.
Josh Osich- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.96. Osich gave up a solo HR to Dexter Fowler, but otherwise looked sharp. Gotta think he is in the Giants plans for next season.
The Giants got a gift from the Pirates who beat the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw 5-4, so the Giants Loss leaves them 3 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Unfortunately this is a H2H series against their main rival for the 2'nd Wild Card playoff spot and they dropped to 1.5 games behind the Cubs in that race.
Matt Cain tries to get the Giants back in the Win column facing Kyle Hendricks today.
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Are Pagan and Affledt signed for next year?
ReplyDeleteThey have both been good Giants and helped them win multiple championships. But The Giants should move on from both next year.
Of all the players who qualify for the batting title, Pagan has the lowest WAR in baseball (-1.6).
Affledt seems to be bringing the gas can more often than the fire extinguisher most of the time.
Love both, great Giants, time to move on.
Pagan has one more year left on his 4 year/$40 M contract. Affeldt if a FA after this season.
DeleteWhat's left on Pagan's contract is not big enough to be an albatross. Right now, I think Bochy is holding out hope(false hope, IMO) that Pagan can still get it going. I think he will have a much shorter leash next season.
Duct tape is coming apart on the pitching staff.
DeleteCrazy, but I'd like to see the Giants carry one reserve catcher (Susac or Sanchez), one reserve Inf (Adrianza, he can play 3rd), one reserve OF. (Blanco, Release Maxwell)
14 pitchers. Everybody on deck. I realize this is substituting Qty. for Quality. But what choice is there. Pitching is clearly on fumes.
I realize this will stress the position players to their limits. But we need arms.
Long shot path is to hold things together for the balance of August and see if the September call-ups can get everyone rest and push this forward.
With Bum and Heston as potential PHers, this is actually not as crazy as I first thought.
DeleteStill, it won't happen because you HAVE to have a legit PH threat late in the game, and Maxwell is the thump on the bench right now.
Vogey should have walked Schwarber then pitched to rizzo for a DP. I don't get why Bochy went to the pen. Play to limit damage with 2nd and 3rd, no outs.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Vogey was out of gas by the 5'th inning, but I agree with not letting Schwarber be the guy to beat you. He's red hot right now and MLB scouts don't have enough of a book on him yet to know how to get him out.
Deletepitching staff is in a rebuild, affleldt, vogey and petit are goners after the season is over. i expect broadway and blackburn to give the bullpen a boost. broadway and osich are ready for the show in 2016 and blackburn could be auditioning for the #5 starter or long relief depending on leake.
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