The Giants unleashed a 17 hit attack to support the shutout pitching of Chris Stratton and 3 relievers after Nick Hundley won the Willie Mac Award. Key Lines:
Joe Panik 2B- 4 for 5, 2B. BA= .290. Early in the season, it seemed like an open question whether the Giants wanted Panik to be their 2B next season. There seems to be no doubt now. .315 in the second half, .393 in September.
Buster Posey C- 3 for 4, 3 2B. BA= .317. Posey was driving the ball and he seems to be doing that more since cutting back on catching and playing more 1B.
Brandon Crawford SS- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .252. Crawford is hitting .283 for the second half, .292 in August and .296 in September.
Pablo Sandoval 3B- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .219. Pabs is hitting an even .300 since his 0 for 40 and .419 over his last 9 games. His bat looked quick on a single through the left side batting RH. Giants may decide they don't need to go after a 3B in the offseason and let Pabs be the placeholder for Christian Arroyo or Ryder Jones.
Jarret Parker LF- 2 for 4, 2B. Kruk and Kuip were impressed by how deep he let the pitch get that he hammered into the left-center gap for the double.
Chris Stratton RHP- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.68. Stratton is pitching like a first round draft pick. That is a nice curveball he flashed their. Per Pavs, Fedex and Hundley have worked with him to use his 4-seamer up in the zone and back it up with that curve. So far, it's working to get him back to what we saw in those pre-draft videos out of Mississippi St.
Kyle Crick RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.06. Crick flashed a couple of very nice fading changeups to back his heater. He should definitely be in the plans for 2018.
Josh Osich LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.23. Osich is still up and down. It looked like he was getting frustrated after allowing a baserunner, but he hung in there and preserved the shutout.
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With the Win, the Giants fell into a tie with the Detroit Tigers in the race for the #1 overall draft pick. They lead the Phillies by 2 games with 2 to play and have clinched no worse than the #3 pick as they lead the ChiSox by 3 games. Phillies hold the tiebreaker over the Giants. Not sure about the Tigers.
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Matt Cain makes his farewell start today against Jhoulys Chacin.
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The Tigers hold the tiebreaker so if the season ended today the Giants would pick second. This draft is so strong in talent that the top half dozen picks are probably interchangeable. I would be perfectly fine with having the second pick because I think the hoopla surrounding the #1 pick places a bit more scrutiny and self-imposed pressure on both team and player. There is also the historical bias against selecting a high school right hander with the first overall pick, and at this early stage I am really intrigued by Ethan Hankins, the Georgia HS pitcher. The Giants have found some pretty impressive HS pitching talent when mining the deep South in recent years- Zack Wheeler's career has been waylayed by injury, and they hit it huge on some guy born in Alabama, a fella by the name of Matt Cain.
ReplyDeleteEthan Hankins looks intriguing. Personally I'm higher on Kumar Rocker. I haven't seen Hankins in the top 10 on many mock drafts, seems to be just outside the top 10. The guy I think is going to be a real star is Jarred Kelenic the OF from Wisconsin. Possible 5 tool guy with exceptional bat speed, but what puts him in rare company IMO is his humble and mature demeanor from what I saw in interviews, which bodes very well for his development. Those are the types of guys teammates want to play for, and they're great qualities for a leader to have. Posey has that and where a guy like Bryce Harper doesn't, which is a big reason why one has multiple rings with less talented teams and the other gets knocked out early each year with stacked teams.
DeleteIf you think Bryce Harper is the reason why the Nationals Lost to the Giants in the postseason, you must have been watching a different series than I was. He darn near singlehandedly beat the Giants in that series! The Giants won that series due to deeper pitching, better defense, a better manager and a bit of luck, not due to anything Bryce Harper did or didn't do.
DeleteI agree that Kelenic looks good, definite 5-tool prospect. I haven't been able to find much on Brice Turang, so can't really compare them yet. I'm less high on Brady Singer after seeing videos of his delivery. Rocker is a huge guy who looks like he may have problems controlling his weight in the future. He looks like he could be a future closer, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think you need more out of a top 2 draft pick. At first glance, Hankins seems like the best of the crop of HS pitchers, but we'll dig into it more in the offseason.
I'll just say this: If you could put Bryce Harper in a time capsule and put him in the 2018 draft I would be beside myself if the Giants put the most extreme forfeit team out there they could devise. Roberto Gomez for Starter! Bryce would be the best player in the draft by a couple of miles and that's no dis to Jered Kelenic!
Delete...er if the Giants DID NOT put the most extreme forfeit team....
DeleteI guess my point is that I don't believe Bryce Harper is a guy that makes those around him better, whereas Posey I believe does and I think Kelenic will as well, though maybe not as much as Posey. I like trying to read ppl and one thing that fascinates me is why some prospects fulfill their potential and others end up as busts, and how nobody seems to be able to spot the difference. I sort of take it as a challenge to see if I can see the busts coming when others can't. Crazy, I know. But that's why I pay a lot of attention to personality and the intangibles like desire, focus, intelligence, emotional maturity, etc. And to me, while Harper is undoubtedly incredibly talented he is lacking in the intangibles, and I do believe that's a big reason the Nationals underachieve in the postseason, along with lack of pitching depth and other factors.
DeleteQuite honestly any suggestion that Bryce Harper is in any way the cause of underachievement by the Nationals is ridiculous. He is the main reason they have done as well as they have. If the rest of the players on those Nationals teams played with half his skill and passion for the game, they would probably have 3 rings by now right along with the Giants.
DeleteIf the Giants somehow find a way to sign him as a FA after next season, I will be a happy fan and given the choice of trading for Giancarlo or signing Bryce, I'll take Harper in a second!
...although I would be happy with either one.
DeleteWhat makes you so sure Buster is such a great teammate? Remember when the Giants seriously considered keeping Gordon Beckham around for no other reason than he was some sort of Buster whisperer who had a unique ability to get him to lighten up?
DeleteOK, I got a look at several videos of Kumar Rocker and his PG profile. Yup, the body looks manageable and the stuff is there. FB command to both sides of the plate with a power slider and a developing changeup. Not much to not like there.
DeleteI think it's a presence Buster has that makes him a great leader and maybe not so much of him being a great teammate in the traditional sense like being supportive, picking guys up if they make an error, etc. I think there's no bs in Buster. Like Robert Redford in The Natural I think what drives Buster is he wants ppl to say "there goes the greatest ballplayer that ever lived." I think that motivates him and not fame, women, or money and guys consciously or subconsciously pick up on that which make them want to play hard for him and almost not let him down as the leader of the team. It's very hard to put into words, he just has that way about him, or that moxie as Steve Young would say.
DeleteI do think that has faded a bit in recent years for whatever reason, and maybe that's why they tried to get Beckham to be kind of a Posey whisperer.
Not to denigrate Buster's contribution to 3 championships which was huge, but to be honest, I think that's all a bunch of BS, but you are entitled to your opinion.
DeleteI'm pretty sure Buster would have no problem with Bryce Harper coming on board as a FA and I'm also pretty sure playing with Buster would be a selling point to Bryce.
DeleteI can see you're pretty adamant in your disagreement with my opinion, lol, which is fine by me and you may be completely right and I could be way off to be honest. I find it a little curious you don't agree on any level that Harper is not a born leader, or has maturity issues, because I thought that was kind of common knowledge among baseball fans at this point, just like I thought it was common knowledge that Buster has exceptional what I'll just umbrella 'intangiables' but maybe I am being presumptuous. You probably would disagree then on my assessment of Kelenic except for the talent and 5 tools of course which we agree are very good. I will be very curious to follow his career, as well as others from this draft, and I'll have to check in with you several years down the road to see how the young lad is panning out, not that I won't stop reading or commenting in the meantime. :)
DeleteBuster seems a great guy, and well-grounded by his family. He's also a fierce competitor. But we don't really know what happens in the clubhouse.
DeleteOne time that competitive edge has been apparent is that he held out for the most money for a catching prospect when we signed him. So the money does matter. And while Harper has his tv advertisements, Buster and Progressive are ubiquitous. I don't think you should mistake show hair versus a conservative cut for character. We don't know how Harper's occasional batting box tantrums play in the clubhouse, nor Buster's 'slow reaction' to protect Strickland (I think it was planned) or whatever happened with Melky. But we do know that Harper is a supreme talent, with WAR that helps his team win, and also a desire proven capability to perform in big spots - just like Buster.
I think you are better off finding a different player 'than a guy like Bryce Harper' to label an attitude or intangible bust.
A couple examples showing insights into their leadership abilities for Harper and Posey: 1. In Posey's first year it was reported that he had taken over as the leader in the pitcher/catcher meetings. That was as a rookie and with established veterans like Cain and Lincecum. A quote by Cain during or after the 2010 postseason when asked about Buster Cain said "he has magic fingers" referring to his pitch calling. It's been commented on and reported numerous times that Buster handles the pitching staff exceptionally well, another tribute to his leadership.
DeleteAs for Harper, and I don't follow the Nationals regularly so I can't comment as well, but there was a quote by Harper a couple years ago where he was talking about leadership and he said and I'm paraphrasing "I let guys like Zim and Jayson be the leaders of the team. They've been around much longer and are proven great players. I'm just trying to go out there and play my best." While I understand he is probably saying that out of respect for the proven veterans it is also telling that he didn't assume the role of the team leader or even co-leader because whether he likes it or not he is the face of that franchise and his teammates are going to follow his lead as the best player on the team.
I also don't want to be misleading I don't think Harper is a bum or anything, the guy is probably a hall of famer and I'd also be ecstatic if he were a Giant. I would just be a little concerned if he were the sole leader of the team, if he teamed up with Posey now THAT would be a duo.
DeleteI'll pipe down though I've been too argumentative haha, sry if I have been. Honestly love the blog as a daily read.
DeleteThe Tigers hold the tiebreaker since they had a worse 2016 record. Glad they didn't lose 100 games, I remember how painful that was in 1985. Nice to see Stratton really making a statement for 2018. I guess you never know with some of these prospects. Hope Cain enjoys his sendoff today. He's given so much to the team and its fans! It was reported at the trade deadline that the Halos inquired about Panik but got nowhere. I would hate to see Panik get traded.
ReplyDeleteLG
I thought Stratton's curveball was excellent last night. It really had a nice 11-5 break. It wasn't Kershaw's or Bumgarner's, but it was good. And he controlled it well.
ReplyDeleteI would rather have the #1 pick than the #2, but I'd rather win than lose... Funny that. Mostly because the #1 pick has the biggest bonus pool so we might be able to, in later rounds, over-slot some bonuses to get some High Schoolers to commit to the Giants instead of college.