The story in this game was the same as it's been the last 2: Futility in driving in RISP and another wasted pitching effort. Key Lines:
Buster Posey- 0 for 4, 2 K's, 6 LOB. BA= .308. Buster doesn't slump, but he's slumping and when he slumps, the whole team slumps.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .270. Pablo is about the only player on the team that's hitting right now.
Hunter Pence- 1 for 4, 7 LOB. BA= .277. Tough day at the plate for The Rev.
Brandon Belt- 0 for 4, 4 K's. BA= .255. An even tougher one for Belt.
Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 4.61. I don't know what the significance of the fact that the 2 dingers Timmy gave up were hit by guys who had a total of 4 between them at the start of the day. It just seems worth mentioning.
The Loss leaves the Giants in sole possession of last place in the NL West, 9.5 games behind the Dodgers pending the outcome of their game with the Reds which is tied 0-0 in the 10'th inning. The second place D'Backs lost to the Pesky Padres 1-0 and sit 2 games back while the Rockies topped the BrewCrew 6-5 to sit at 5.5 games behing. The Padres are at 8.5 back, but will be 1 game ahead of the Giants no matter what happens in the Dodgers game.
The Giants now get a day off to visit the White House before they take on the Phillies and then the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Can they send Belt down? He has to have more options and give Pill a chance to do something instead. I'm not saying that will change the outcome of the season but maybe it will give Belt the kick in the ass he needs to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteYard sale time and they better try to sell every piece of garbage in the house. They won't be able to sell everything but they better shop anyone not named Posey, Cain, or Bumgarner. Whoever is left after the deadline go on waivers and lets get the highest draft pick possible (what are some of the names we can look forward to in the top 10 Dr. B?).
I'm actually looking forward to the prospects they could potentially get through trades and the potential for a high pick and no penalty for signing a FA. I know it is a long shot but if Cano ends up becoming a FA wouldn't this be a good time financially to go after him? Timmy, Zito, Pence, Voggie and a few others I can't think of will give them around 50 to 60 million to spend this offseason right?
I'm not endorsing tanking next year as well but I don't know how high our hopes should be at this point. I would rather they spend 20 million a year for Cano then sign shorter contracts for guys that aren't going to make a difference next season ala the year they signed Durham, Alfonso, and a few other scrubbs that equaled what it would have cost to get one impact bat.
Look, Belt hasn't been great since the second half began (.231/.310/.231) and in the month of July (.239/.346/.403), but he hasn't been horrible overall this season. He is underperforming expectations, true. Everyone would like to see a bit more power, a higher average, more walks, and less strikeouts. I hope he can make the changes that allow him to do so, but replacing him with Pill is not the answer. Pill is almost 29--he is a non-prospect.
DeleteGiven the average season Belt has had, he needs to be given the chance to finish it. All hitters have slumps, its just Belt has has a bad one to start the second half. Don't forget, he had a near .800 OPS at the All-Star break.
"underperforming expectations"
Deletedo you work for the giants fo?
cuz you are aware that is prosports speak for....he sux
bacci
I don't think Pill is the answer. I think it is probably better to let Belt play through to the end of the season, then re-evaluate. As I have said many times, I think he needs to be farther off the plate. He has plenty of length to cover the outer half of the plate, but pitches on the inner half are on his knuckles.
DeleteCano is not coming here.
DeleteI'll probably start some Scouting the Draft pieces pretty soon. Some possible top 10 names just off the top of my head: Carlos Rodon, LHP, NC State, Trea Turner, SS, NC State, Michael Conforto, OF, Oregon St., Michael Cederoth, RHP, San Diego St, Tyler Kolek, RHP, HS, Touki Toussaint, RHP, HS, Jacob Gatewood, SS, HS. There's more. Looks like a strong draft in 2014, so the Giants picked a good time to hit the skids.
DeleteI'll add in Tyler Beede, RHP, College(Vanderbilt?). That makes 7 and there's another HS pitcher who has hit the upper 90's in showcase games so I am confident that there are at least 8-10 frontline prospects in the 2014 draft.
DeleteBelt must go. He isn't Matt Williams. He isn't even Marvin Benard. He's just awful. I want players on the team that I look forward to watching them play. When he comes to bat, I think, "oh crap." Move Posey to first for about 40 of the remaining games so that he saves his legs. Let Pill play the rest, he's earned for what he has done in Fresno. Keeping Belt in the lineup is only going to continue to frustrate a starting pitching staff that is finally starting to turn things around. He's isn't the only problem, but he's just not good.
Deletebums won and puig showed that once again, he doesnt respect the game or the opposing team.
ReplyDeletebums k'd 20x in the game, but puig hits a walkoff hr, flips bat and slides into home....dont care how hot a team is, the baseball gods dont look kindly on that sort of behavior
buzz is that giants will not deal pence. not exactly sure how they are gonna afford a long term with him. but that says to me that the org is not confident in any of the of bats currently on the farm...and that is not a good thing.
according to many reports, all of the remaining names connected with biogenesis will be released this week, with no one filing an appeal.
if i hear another talking head say anything about "what do we tell the kids" im gonna go postal
hof induction ceremony held today....without a single living inductee....baseball writers are a joke and now, so is the hof
bacci
Re: Puig, Pence ,talking heads and baseball HOF... AGREED.
DeleteThe problem with letting Pence go may be more of a reflection on what's available by trade now, how the supplemental round of next year's draft is shaping up, and what's available on the FA market this offseason than a reflection on the farm system.
DeleteI see it as a double-edged sword. It probably makes more sense to keep Pence around and even re-sign him. But, Sabean would have no problem dealing him if guys like Peguero, Kieschnick and Brown were believed to be starting OF's in the bigs. Not enough confidence that Pence can be replaced, either on the market or within the organization.
DeleteThe Giants don't have any Buster Posey's waiting the wings right now. Everybody they have now is a prove it kind of prospect, not the type you are going to move a Hunter Pence to make room for. That's a given and has been all along.
DeleteAfter a slow start, the team went 50-12 over their final 62 games to complete one of the biggest comebacks in major league history...
ReplyDeleteWell now, we're well past that type of drama. Just gotta watch and see how they can bad news bear it the next day. The SPs just dominated 3 games and came away with nussing. NUSSING!
The two HRs give up today by Timmy are hilarious names. Oh well. The 2013 version of Gigante definitely didn't pitch the pitchers tight. Don't know what the final stats will show, but it has been miserable in that regard. Also 2 strike pitches. Miserable.
But the trade market is tight! How tight? The Giants are asking for a major league ready starting pitcher for Javy Lopez! Hey, I say way to go Greybeards. No need to sell off just to sell off. Name your price.
As usual, with the hitting amazingly abysmal, first order of bidness is to try and get arms. Some things never change. I'm telling you, they need to listen on Pablo, and move him if the offer is good enough.
I saw a stat yesterday on Twitter that Giants pitchers have allowed 50 total bases to opposing pitchers this year. Don't remember where that came from and haven't confirmed it, but it doesn't surprise me a bit. As you can imagine, that is the highest total in the bigs.
DeleteHey Shank,
DeleteThe Belt fanboys over at McCovey Chronicles might be interested in this from Krukow this morning. Beginning at about the 5:05 mark, Krukow is asked about Brandon Belt's problem and Mike has an amazing answer.
http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=851&c=4801&f=1681771
For the very first time someone has connected the dots and confirmed the problem exactly as I described it last year in the Fanpost: "The Brandon Belt problem and the simple solution"
It's the grip. Always has been.
Hey SpeierFuentes - don't go over to that locale anymore. Thanks for the link. I always thought you had a good point. And I have a little more patience than you do for backtalk. But it does run out eventually...
DeleteBelt has a lot of potential still to be unlocked. Seems just like Gary Brown he is stubborn. Doug Mapson said (when they drafted both Belt and Chris Dominguez) that they have guys they pay a lot of money to fix swings. But you can only do so much, the player has to carry the ball over the end zone line himself.
Interesting to me that Krukow is so high on Belt still. He definitely has been wishy washy with him from time to time.
It's shocking that no one in the Giants organization has demanded Belt change that grip. As I said, it's a simple solution to the majority of his problems. He still has other issues like his upper body drifting forward way too much during the swing. That can and must be rectified as well.
ReplyDeleteBut the most important thing to unlocking his potential? Change the freaking grip.
I spoke with a friend today who knows something about hitting and has seen Belt hit. This person agrees with your assessment that the grip is wrong and is making him chop at the ball, something I have noticed for awhile too.
DeleteIf you see it, Krukow sees it, and my friend sees it, then I have to believe that that Bam-Bam and Boch see it too and the problem is Belt is stubborn about it.
In addition to changing his grip, I would also very much like to see what would happen if he moved 2 inches farther off the plate.
Of course they see it. Krukow wouldn't even bother to mention such a specific problem if he didn't believe the Giants knew it too. And listening again, I thing Krukow hints that it will be addressed in the off season. Let's hope.
ReplyDeleteSpeier, I have been saying the same thing about Belts grip. I think his stubbornness to change has been well documented and is no doubt why Bochy gets frustrated with the kid. I have always been a big Belt supporter but it is hard to like what he has been doing of late.
ReplyDelete