Madison Bumgarner couldn't buy a strike and Hyun-Jin Ryu was back to keeping hitters off balance in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 3, BB, SB(3). BA= .206. Pence did not figure in any scoring, but hopefully this is a game to build on for him.
Ehire Adrianza- 3 for 3, 2B. BA= .200. Adrianza had half the Giants hits and their only XBH. With Hicks struggling on D and due for a regression at the plate, maybe we see more of Adrianza in coming games?
Madison Bumgarner- 4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 99 pitches. ERA= 3.48. I did not see the game, but from the Extra Giants description of things, Bumgarner was squeezed by the ump the whole game with seemingly every close pitch called a ball. Beyond that, I think it is safe to say Bummy has not quite hit his stride yet this season.
The Loss drops the Giants into a first place tie in the NL West with the Dodgers at 10-6. The Rockies topped the Padres 3-1 and are in 3'rd place, 2.5 games back with the Padres in 4'th, 3 games back. The D'Backs had a day off to regroup and are 7 games off the pace at 4-14.
The Giants now start a weekend series in San Diego with Matt Cain facing Tyson Ross in Game 1. The Dodgers play the D'Backs this weekend in Los Angeles.
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Hope to see better D from Hicks.
ReplyDeleteAbreu is healthy (for now) and hitting well down in Fresno too (.327 AVG, .362 OBP, OBP .881 as of today).
Was this the worse series of umpiring ever? The announcers rarely go there, but the other night Flemming was all over Winters for his horrible strike zone, even noting that his strikes were showing up as balls on the Pitch F/X (or whatever the tools is). Honestly, from the description, I wondered if Winters was umpiring drunk. And then Pavlovic noted something similar for the umpire last night, Buckminster, squeezing the zone, I mean, that can be expected for young players, but Bumgarner is a vet of four seasons already, should be way past the hazing phase by now. I've been for keeping the umpires around for strike calls, but if this keeps up...
ReplyDeleteI think Bumgarner hit his stride with his last start, he was pretty good in this game but was forced to do things differently in this game because the umpire was screwing around with the zone. I think he'll be fine in his next start.
Yeah, this is the real Ryu, he dominated us before, I think he was just hopped up pitching the home opener for them, and just couldn't control his pitches, that has happened at one time or another to all our young starters.
But we won the series, which is the most important thing, and we should be able to handle SD with Cain, Hudson, Lincecum going, and get another series win.
If PitchFx is the gold standard by which the umps are judged, and it certainly seems to be, then the umps are really unnecessary for balls and strikes because PitchFx if available in real time. For other calls, the current video replay/challenge system seems like it is working out pretty well.
DeleteI think the awkwardness of a computer system calling balls & strikes is what keeps it from being instituted. If the umpire is equipped with communication devices, they'll feel like they're puppets out there, with no real authority. That's no way to keep an essential element of baseball happy. On the other hand, are they just going to stand there as a board behind home plate reads off the count in real time? That, also, would be extremely awkward for them and the pitchers.
DeleteUltimately, I think these guys need to be held to a contract in which their salary and/or jobs are held accountable for their work behind the plate. There are plenty of umps in the minors and around the world who are ready to step up and take jobs for these guys if they can't keep a straight game. There's enough money in MLB for each of these guys to have a decent "buy-out" clause if they get released from the game, to not have it destroy families, but prevent the kinds of regrettable games that fans will always remember, for all the wrong reasons (such as the 1997 playoffs, where Livan Hernandez was aided by plate ump Eric Gregg in the most lopsided strike zone ever conceived).
So I'm split on the whole thing. As I said, rather than computer control of the game, I'd much rather just see umpires get better.
the problem lies with the long ago ump strike, when the mlb terminated actual competent umps and then filled their spots with incompetents....the field has never recovered
ReplyDeleteand if line judged in tennis can deal with being puppets to computers...so can the incompetents who are somehow graduating to become mlb umps
within a decade, i believe we will see an entire computerized system....will happen soon after the japanese institute one
i listened to bits and pieces of the game...hard to tell what was going on, as vin was telling stories and then fric and frac babbled on and on about puig
didnt expect the giants to sweep....series win is fine by me
wonder how wilson is taking being a total non entity in los angeles
bacci