The Giants were done in tonight by 2 pop flies that cleared the fence into the ridiculously short porch in RF at Yankee Stadium. Key Lines:
Juan Perez- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .261. Gotta be a thrill for Juan Perez to do so well in his hometown in front of his peeps. He may be playing himself into contention for a roster spot on next year's team too! The first double hit off the Left-centerfield fence in what is one of the deepest L-CF in baseball. I thought it was going to go when he hit it.
Hector Sanchez- 2 for 4. BA= .274. Hector got his bell rung a bit on a foul back in the second inning, but hung in there.
Tim Lincecum- 6.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.44. This line is not at all indicative of how he pitched. At the time Timmy left the game, his line was 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. George Kontos came in and served up a pop fly to ARod that would have been a can of corn in any other ballpark. On the other hand, Timmy is the one who loaded the bases and at 121 pitches, Boch really couldn't leave him in there. Them's the breaks. I have always considered any HR records set by Yankees, particularly by LH hitters, yeah, you know who I mean, to be tainted by that ridiculously short porch. Look, I'm all for tradition and I don't want to go back to the perfectly symmetrical, all-purpose bowl shaped parks, but that RF porch at Yankee Stadium in ridiculous! Maybe the RF wall at AT&T is just as ridiculous in the other direction, but I'd rather watch AT&T games than wonder if every pop fly to RF is going out of the park. Hate that!!
Heath Hembree- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. I have no idea how Hembree would handle the pressure of a high leverage situation, but ya gotta find out at some point, right? It seems to me the longer this goes on, the more the kid starts to think maybe he really doesn't have what it takes and then when the opportunity finally comes, he chokes on it. Dunno, but it seems to me the good ones handle it from the get-go.
The loss leaves the Giants in 11'th place in the race for the #1 overall draft pick in 2014, which means they would have the 12'th pick due to Toronto getting a compensation pick.
Ryan Vogelsong faces Ivan Nova in tomorrow's game.
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If the Giants finish tenth but have the eleventh pick because of Toronto is that pick still protected?
ReplyDeleteToronto's compensation pick is #11 so that will not happen. The Giants would only drop down by 1 slot if they finish with the 11'th worst record in baseball or better.
DeleteI just think people don't appreciate Zito enough.
ReplyDeleteLet us part without acrimony. Let him start a few games.
Barry zito stinks
DeleteNever had an era under 4 with giants even though he pitched in a pitchers park
He'd probably be an average double a pitcher right now
why throw away opportunities to let the kids start and instead start a 35 year old who somehow became a hero for not being publicly selfish after being left off the postseason roster like he deserved to be
For old times sake. Let's get that vintage batting practice Zito and we will lock in on the 10th spot. It's a win win situation.
DeleteXaviete: 1. You must be new around here or else you don't get satire when you read it. The Giants need to start Zito so they will lose more so they will get a protected draft pick! 2. The GIants don't win the World Series last year without Barry Zito!
DeleteI think Hector Sanchez is making a strong case to be Buster Posey's backup in 2014. He's showing that he can be a pretty good player now that he's healthy. He made a great throw to nail Granderson at 2nd base and he's hitting well too. I agree that Juan Perez is a contender to be an extra OF in 2014. because he's a great defensive outfielder. The question is can he hit enough.. Perez has been the most impressive out of the young OF they've brought up (kieshnick, Pegs).
ReplyDeleteLG
I've thrown down the Brian Wilson comp on Hembree - Bochy reaped those benefits big time, but it wasn't instant, they took their time (and they were losing at that point). Between Raggs & Gardner, best pitching coaches in the game, they'll get it sorted out. Also ol' Melonhead just said that he'll get both Dunning and Hembree more involved in the coming weeks. Hey let's bring out the old saw: great time to be a Giants fan! We have quite a lot of young pitching that will sort itself out in the next 3 years.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the future is bright. Bochy's smartest move as manager of the Giants was recognizing that Brian Wilson was his closer of the future. He has a chance to replicate that now. I suppose if he doesn't see it with Hembree, we should respect his opinion. Romo is adequate, but seems better suited to a setup role.
DeleteAre you at all surprised by Hembree topping out at 93-94 vs the 96-98 he was rumored to be hitting down in the minors? Is it simply a matter of him pitching vs throwing?
ReplyDeleteNot surprised. We've seen minor league velocities exaggerated time and again. I personally saw Hembree sit at 95 and hit 96 on the stadium gun in Lake Elsinore in 2011, but I always take stadium guns with a grain of salt.
DeleteHembree's problem has been that despite his great velocity, he didn't have enough control and walked a lot of batters. Often, that is because they are throwing as hard as they can and don't realize that dialing it back from 96-98 MPH to 93-95 MPH helps them to command their pitches better, while still being fast enough that hitters can't make good contact. Perhaps he finally tried that and found success, his BB/9 rate has gone down a lot this season, a significant break through for him.
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