Much like this season, this game started out with the Giants fighting to keep it close before it completely unraveled in the 6'th inning. Key Lines:
Buster Posey C- 2 for 3. BA= .352. Buster keeps hitting and keeps not getting support from his teammates.
Austin Slater LF- 2 for 3. BA= .357. The shining star at the end of the dark tunnel. Slater has hit at every level and he's continuing to hit in the majors.
Ty Blach LHP- 5.2 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.24. It's probably just part of the regression process, but Blach got the bad end of a raw deal from the BABIP gods, little run support and then Cory Gearrin allowed 3 inherited runners to score.
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Johnny Cueto tries to salvage a split of the 2 game series tomorrow facing Jason Hammel.
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Slater!!!! He's my boy! I've been wanting him called up since last year. Over .300 in college. Over .300 in A-ball. Over .300 in AA. Over .300 in AAA. The guy is a contact machine. Even better he's starting to develop his power. In three years of college and his first two years as a pro - 8 home runs. In 2016 - 18 home runs (including 5 at Richmond before he moved up so it wasn't all PCL-padded). This year, 5 already.
ReplyDeleteNobody is going to mistake Slater for Bryce Harper, but considering how AT&T eats power-hitters for breakfast, I'll take a guy who can run in the field coupled with gap-power and a .350+ OBP playing LF considering what's been going on in that turnstile-hell-hole. (Since Bonds we've had 47 players start at least one game in LF and only 3 start 100+ games in a single season there with Blanco starting over 150, but spread over his Giant's career.)
So, yeah, I'm all hoping for Slater to nail down the job. I'm tired of 'big power' teases. I'm tired of the revolving door.
Now, yesterday's line up... WTF was Hill doing in there as the starter? Tomlinson should have been there. He's hitting .300. He's better at defense. There is no reason, barring injury or exhaustion to Tomlinson, that Hill should ever start over Tomlinson. I was, literally, wondering to myself if the Giants were trying to tank.
Anyway... We're not tied with the Padres for last. A big comedown from expectations.
Kuiper blamed Hill's missing the bloop into right on his glove.
DeleteMight have something to do with being 35 years old, too.
When the manager has to make a choice whether to put your best hitters on the field or you put your best fielders out there --do you put the guy who is worse on both counts?
It's true that Hill has some good history against Vargas but it's HISTORY! Hello, this is 2017 and Hill is toast!
I don't get it! The Giants parade a dozen guys onto the field who fail, but they kick Kelby WHO CAN HIT AND FIELD under the bus.
Newsflash: no one wanted Hill after 2016 in Boston and nobody will want him in July. And if someone might have wanted him, his 2017 performance settled that!
The Giants have regressed into unwatchable!
Is anyone still waiting for the Brandons to put it together at the plate?
Crawford is in his 7th year. His BA has has been .204, .248, .248, .246, .256, .275, and .243. What is the aberration here? Last year, not this year. He's a high .240's hitter who had an exceptional 2016. It's OK to have the best SS in baseball hitting .243 but you can't bat him in the 5 slot behind Posey. Just not going to work.
As for Belt, if we're satisfied with a mid-pack 1Bman, even if he hits at 2013 or 2015 levels, we have him, but the breakout is elusive and he'll be 30 next April. Maybe it will come but he's not built for AT&T and he's not going to adapt to what the defense gives him.
Yesterday was as frustrating as it gets in a very frustrating year!
Belt has a .348 OBP. And except for 2014 when he was concussed and had other injuries, he's put up some great OBP for his career:
Delete2012 - .360 OBP
2013 - .360 OBP
2015 - .356 OBP
2016 - .394 OBP
So I like him in the 2-hole even others want him to be a power-hitter. And, yes, I realize his slugging and OPS are down. But I also realize that he's getting some serious **** BABIP luck (about 50 points under his career average). In fact MLB.com is using him as a poster-child for it's 'expected BA' on any particular hit. Here he hits a ball with a 95% chance of being a hit:
http://m.mlb.com/glossary/statcast/expected-batting-average
It gets caught at the wall. So I'm not really as concerned as many with Belt's production 'issues' this year. And it can happen to the best of them, last year Posey hit just .288 as his BABIP dropped about 25 points. Yet he's back to being a .300+ hitter this year and his BABIP the second-highest BABIP of his career.
As for Crawford, I expect him to be a good-glove .250ish hitter with modest power. I never expected more.
If a "high" OBP is what you want from your 1Bman, Belt would be acceptable.
DeleteIsn't his bad BABIP luck because so many defenders are where he hits the ball?
Except he was shifted last year. And the year before. And in 2013. Possibly even 2012 though I don't know for sure. But let us just run with the first three -- that's a .370 BABIP average. He's at .274. So as much as last year (2016) had some luck in it (I really don't think that .394 was sustainable), I think he's a .350 -.360 guy when healthy. And even if you put in his rookie call-up and his concussed/injury plagued 2014, it's still at .334 which is the floor of my expectation and the number I used.
DeleteSo, the BABIP gods giveth. The BABIP gods taketh away. Right now, they're taking with a vengeance.
And to give you an idea about how outstanding Belt's BABIP has been, when healthy, he's routinely one of MLBs BABIP leaders. From 2012 through 2016 (which includes the horrible 2014) his BABIP is 14th in the majors. And if you cut out the retirees, he's #8 of all current MLB players behind Votto, Trout, Yelch, Marte, Goldschmidt, LeMahieu, and Melky Cabrera. And you take out 2014 (which distorts it) he'd be #1 ahead of everyone at .370 (Trout & Votto are are .365).
So, yeah, I know 'every hates Belt' and wants to trade him because he's not hitting 40-jacks a year. But he's still a Gold Glove defenseman at 1B and has a rock-solid track-record as a hitter. Posey has a higher average. Belt has a better OBP. And putting Belt in the 2-hole gives you someone who can drive home a lead-hitter on base as well as a someone who gets on base for the 3/4 guys to drive home. A much better spot, I think, than the #5 hole they put him in the past.
And Belt deserves, because he's earned it, a little more respect than the fanbase gives him. I certainly do, even if he's not hitting 40 jacks a year.
Like you, I'm very frustrated with the turn of events after starting with such high hopes.
DeleteI'm neither a Belt hater nor a trade Belt for whatever you can get, I'm just saying that the Brandons are just what they are and to expect more of them is wishful thinking.
.250 and super defense for one and .270 (or less) and 19 "jacks" for the other with good defense.
What they do won't make or break the Giants.
Ooops, that should have been: "Anyway... We're not tied with the Padres for last place for no reason." And putting dead-weight vets on the roster is one of those reasons.
ReplyDelete