Matt Cain became the latest Giants starting pitcher to be pummeled by the Cubs as the Giants lost for the 3'rd time in the 4 game series against their main rivals for the final Wild Card playoff spot. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .299. Pence was again the table setter out of the 5-hole as the first 4 battters in the Giants lineup got on base just 4 times in 19 PA's.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 4, HR(15). BA= .270. Belt is hitting just .226 in 8 games in the month of August, but has 5 dingers with a SLG% of .710.
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .266. Crawford's breakout season continues.
Ehire Adrianza- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .214. Adrianza is hitting .300 over his last 7 games and would seem to be winning the interim 2B job while Panik is out on the DL.
Matt Cain- 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.59. Baggs commented that Cain's stuff looks good, but his command remains way off. I've always thought he has a tendency to hang his breaking balls. The dinger he gave up to Kris Bryant was a hanger over the inner half of the plate. You don't have to be Kris Bryant to hammer that! If the Giants are going to be serious contenders this year, they need Cainer to come around and fast, whether they get Mike Leake back soon or not.
Santiago Casilla- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 3.89. It may have seemed like a mop-up appearance, but the Giants actually might have won this game had it not been for the 3 runs Casilla gave up as the Giants scored 3 in the top of the 9'th to make the final score a 2-run deficit.
The Giants got another break courtesy of the Pirates who again defeated the Dodgers by a run, so the Giants deficit in the NL West remains at 3 games. More problematic is the loss of another game to the Cubs who now lead the Giants by 2.5 games in the race for the final Wild Card playoff spot.
Jake Peavy tries to be the stopper and salvage the final game of this 4 gamer against Jake Arrieta tomorrow.
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I wouldn't read anything into Adrianza starting, regardless of his current 'hot bat' week. He's the 'veteran' and Bochy has a 'time in service/rank' order he plays the players, even if (at times) it's not the optimal lineup or has gone to the point it makes no more sense.
ReplyDeleteCase in point is that, Pagan is (statistically) the worst (qualifying) starting CF in the major leagues and yet he plays AND bats at the top of the order, despite being a disaster in offense and defense and having accumulated a -0.9 fWAR season-to-date. FWIW, Pagan is the ONLY (qualifying) starting CF with a negative fWAR. Meanwhile Blanco is +1.6 fWAR and is still stuck as the #4 OF when it should be Pagan. Or possibly Maxwell as #4 as he is not a defensive liability as has managed, in his limited time, to accumulate a +0.6 fWAR. In short, Pagan is the worst OFer on the team, regardless of position and is a drag on the offense and defense, yet he's still starting.
I think we're seeing that with the Casilla situation. And I think we saw it drag-on sometime (perhaps a bit too long) with McGehee even though he only just come to the team and Duffy had more time on the roster...
So, to me, it's just a Bochy thing where he sometimes takes one of his strengths (let vets work it out and get back on track by playing through it) as a manager a bit too far.
I know you hate Adrianza, but the kid has hit every time he has been given regular PT.
DeleteSince the Giants need roster room for Panik when he returns, and Tomlinson will go down, playing Adrianza would make sense under any circumstances. This has nothing to do with Bochy's penchant for vets, and everything to do with insuring that Adrianza is ready to play when needed through August. The strategy is paying off in Adrianza's hitting as well as in his superior fielding.
DeletePagan? A mystery except for his having a $10M contract to be on the team next year, and Bochy's having no outfielder to bring up from the minors to replace him if he were to go on the DL. He seems not to have been overwhelmed by what he saw from Lollis and Parker; and Williamson is still slowly adjusting to AAA.
Ehire has earned the playing time in the absence of Panik. He's also a better defender than Tomlinson. Kelby is getting some good exposure to what it is like to be a big league player but Ehire is the right choice to start right now. Not so much for Pagan though especially when we have viable options on the roster.
ReplyDeleteCasilla is a mess right now. I am just hoping we hold our ground until the rosters expand and then we get some more young arms from the minors to help. Right now pitching, of all things, is our Achilles heel.
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