The Dodgers clinched the 2015 NL West Division Championship with a dominating win over the Giants at AT&T Park. Key Lines:
Madison Bumgarner- 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.93. An error by Kelby Tomlinson led to an unearned run in the first inning. You knew it was going to be tough to beat Clayton Kershaw after that. Bumgarner's innings may be finally catching up with him or maybe it just wasn't his night, but the 3 additional runs he gave up didn't matter anyway. Bummy probably wants to start that final game, and maybe he should, but if he goes more than 1 inning, I will not be happy. He's going to need every day of the offseason and then some.
Jeremy Affeldt- 0.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 6.09. It just keeps getting worse for Affeldt. Gotta think he is not healthy. At this point, you might consider offering him a spring training invitation, but nothing more. Affeldt has to decide whether he wants to keep playing badly enough to accept that. I don't know if his knees are fixable, but if they are and if he wants to keep playing, he should probably get them fixed ASAP.
Clayton Kershaw- 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 13 K's. ERA= 2.16. Kershaw has been close to unhittable for the entire second half and he hasn't even been the best pitcher in baseball through that stretch. That honor would go to Jake Arrieta. MLB needs to take a look at pitching dominance and see if there is any way to level the playing field a bit. Right now, everything is flowing toward pitching from the emergence of the cutter and other newer pitches to defensive data that is reducing BABIP's to the size of the strike zone which electronic monitoring is effectively enlarging.
Mike Leake auditions for next season tonight facing Mike Bolsinger.
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"MLB needs to take a look at pitching dominance and see if there is any way to level the playing field a bit." This might be an NL centric view, or exacerbated by primarily watching/following the NL. The Cy Young candidates in the AL are weak compared to the dominance at the top in the NL. And it's not just the DH effect.
ReplyDeleteTrue that run scoring is down across the Majors, but a lot of that has to do with NL aces. Compare the rotations in the NL playoff picture with the AL teams. I think several of them would be pitching Big Bart as their number 2 or 3.
Affeldt's been really bad this year. I'm guessing that bad left knee ligament was too much to 'pitch through' and he should have gotten surgery. But I don't know when it happened and if it fully explains the fact he's been bad since May.
ReplyDeleteAs for MadBum, it wasn't his best start ever. But I'm not displeased. Had the offense come through, there could have been a win salvaged. But, too many injuries, too many old guys getting really old, really fast and for all his work and studliness, Bumgarner is just one pitcher.
Andrew Baggarly wrote this recently:
ReplyDelete"A new contract between Tim Lincecum and the Giants is “more a matter of when, how much and in what form, rather than if,”
Does this make sense to anybody here? Even if he does gain velocity by this surgery that does not automatically put him back to his CY form. I do not understand why the Giants feel they cannot let him just find some new scenery. Roster spots are tough to come by and he is definitely not a reliever minus his brilliant performances in the 2012 playoffs. At this point I would argue that Cain and Heston have a better chance of performing that Timmy and that is not saying much. I thank Timmy for all of his years of service but this is where I think we need to leave it. I think the last contract was way too generous and I think we were bidding up ourselves on the deal. I doubt that anybody else was willing to offer 2 years/25MM on a reclamation of his career. Giants probably could have let him test the market and possibly got him for 2years/18MM but they never really let him test the market.
I think Timmy might do well in a Petit/El Duque role - medium long relief and occasional 5-inning starter. The 6th man/Swing man role.
DeleteI hadn't seen that from Baggarly - I thought he DIDN'T think Lincecum would be back. But Petit will be getting a raise to ~4 mil, or traded, or let go. Voggie is on the ~4 mil contract right now. I could see and would be pretty happy with a ~4mil contract with option for ~6-10mi second year. Maybve with an after-retirement package.
Timmy is still beloved by the fan base, and if he comes cheap, the Giants will want Phase 3 Lincecum to come good for them rather than some other team. I don't think anyone is suggesting he's likely to get top-line starter multiple year deal.
no, it makes no sense. and this org has catered to the fans re timmy for long enough. if they are going to have a chance at competing next season and not watching their pen and rotation implode in the stretch again, they have to have a strong 1-4, with an innings eater for 5....and timmy aint any of those things anymore
Deletegreat guy...great giant....but its time to give him the gold watch and wish him well
despite last nights win...i think the dodgers are the weakest nl team in the post...despite the cards sustaining so many injuries
looking forward to the one and done between the cubs and bucs....i have a feeling that cole will definitely be throwing in this one
agree with the doc...giants should spend the rest of the season trying out guys and letting the regulars sit...unless the regs need something to pad their stats
bacci
Personally, I think Timmy is done, but if they want to bring him back on a near minimum deal with a lot of incentives, I don't see much downside. They certainly should not count on him filling any important role next year.
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