Tim Hudson got bitten by the longball early, but settled down to pitch a QS. The Giants offense sputtered against Francisco Liriano and they went down to their 6'th consecutive loss. Key Lines:
Buster Posey= 3 for 4. BA= .283. 3 singles out of the 3 hole, but the #1, #2 and #4 went a combined 1 for 12.
Michael Morse= 1 for 4, HR(15). BA= .272. A welcome dinger from Morse who now has 2 in something like his last 100 AB's. He K'd in this other 3 AB's, though.
Tim Hudson- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 11/4. ERA= 2.71. Huddy gave up both dingers and all 3 of his runs in the first 2 innings. His overall line was good enough that he should not have lost with average offensive support behind him.
Dan Uggla- 0 for 3, 2 K's. BA= .149. In 4 games as a Giant, Uggla is now 0 for 11 with 1 BB and 6 K's.
The Loss was the Giants 6'th in a row, 5 of them at home, and dropped them 3 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. The Loss also dropped them into a tie for 3'rd place in the Wild Card race with the Cardinals, 0.5 games behind these same Pirates.
Tim Lincecum tries to stave off another sweep and break the losing streak in an afternoon game facing RHP Charlie Morton.
With less than 48 hours to go until the trading deadline, how do you think Sabes is feeling about investing prospects and more money in this team?
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What is Brandon Hicks doing these days? I wasn't paying attention to him before he got cut. Was he totally toast? Or can we scrape off the burnt parts and still get some homers and defense out of him? Like most everyone, I was tired of Uggla before he even stepped onto the field.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see Ishi back but that was a rough AB for him in the ninth.
there are too many holes to plug
ReplyDeleteand dear lord, please give uggla his walking papers
bacci
Charlie Morton has a 2.51 career ERA against Los Gigantes. I'm thinking this is going to be yet another sweep, unless Big Time Timmy Jim can somehow find his cape.
ReplyDeleteDan Uggla is absolutely unwatchable. Joe Panik is a perfectly good substitute for not having a savvy vet. I think bringing in a guy who is this bad just demoralizes the team. They all know his batting average - yes, his batting average - and just put more pressure on themselves.
I think the dumpster dive go grab the cut vet move needs to be retired. 2010 seems a long way off right about now. And in the meantime we've suffered through Bill Hall, Jeff Frenchman and now this indignity. Enough.
If Sabean sits on his hands for the 2nd straight year that signifies to me that the Giants need completely new strategies, because they've always had huge confidence they can fortify to keep contending. The pressure of the 2nd wild card, as well as the CBA's focus on draft picks being "valuable" (in the late 20s and 30s) mean teams are hoarding to a new degree, and you simply can't get good deals done, especially with the farm you have. Its a good farm system, but its different than most, and you can't sell it to most. That's the price you pay for being the monks of baseball.
Although I'm curious if Henry Owens or Joe Panik have more trade value. Joe Panik's skillset might really appeal to a smart savvy front office like the Rays...
Sabes has made some savvy dumpster dives, but Uggla was not one of them. It was just too obvious he was done, done I tell you! I agree with you about the demoralizing part. I know Panik had the ankle sprain when Uggla was called up, but if Panik can play, he needs to be out there every day until/unless Sabes goes big at 2B.
DeleteI'm starting to think Sabes waited too long to upgrade 2B and maybe CF. If he really wants to make the postseason again and thinks this team can do it, he needs to go big at least at 2B. I'm talking Murphy, Zobrist, Cabrera. Maybe those guys haven't come available, but if they were for the right price, Sabes should have pulled the trigger at least 2 weeks ago.
Hate to give up when the team is just a half game out of the Wild Card, but part of me would like to see Sabes go get as much as he can for Sandoval, Morse, Romo, anybody who is not nailed down for next season.
The Giants have been bit by injury bad at 2B, its almost like its cursed: since trading off Ray Durham and his fragile hammies in 2008, they've gone Manny Burriss (hurt back then remember) and Freddy Sanchez (hurt after "the trade") in 2009, 2010 Freddy stayed relatively healthy (111 games) with Uribe helping (DeRosa only managed 26 games). 2011 Freddy goes down, hello Jeff Keppinger and the concrete legs. 2012 they start with hope like hell with Manny Burriss because Freddy's still hurt, then its Scutaro to the rescue, but Ryan Theriot actually had the most games played. 2013 Scutaro goes down, warrior style, and Tony Abreu is the sub.
DeleteI really liked Ryan Theriot. He was most likely the best backup plan they've had in the past 5 years. But he didn't want to be the backup plan no more!
I think Cabrera or Murphy is going to kick loose tomorrow. Or a wild white sox trade where the G's get Beckham and Adam Eaton.
I don't think any of those players, even Sandoval, have much value. Although Ryan ZImmerman is... hurt again. Shocker.
Beckham and Eaton would be a really sweet trade. A bit risky, but sweet!
DeleteI can't agree more boys. I still think Philly matches up better with us for a trade considering they may need all the pitching prospects they can get if they decide to trade away Hamels and/or Lee. Utley and Revere would fill our 2 holes very nicely I must say. If not then trade Panda for sure and hope to get something for him. Next year is looking more and more like a rebuilding year so might as well start cleaning house early.
DeleteWell we somehow got out-keystone copped by the Pirates to prevent the first 6 game homestand loss in SF history. Timmy was brutally bad, bad Timmy, Bochy was sleepwalking through, but a win is a win.
DeleteApparently we are in on Emilio Bonaficio. I hate this move - we could have signed him for cheap in the offseason, and now the bottom feeding cubs are holding him hostage. He has no power and is basically what the Giants hoped Arias would be, but he also plays the OF. I'd much rather they go after one of the bigger names, or try and pry an OF loose. Bonafacio is pretty brutal at 2B.
Gordon Beckham and Eaton... That would be a decent haul. Or if they want to go spin Crick off, Revere and Utley.
Panda had a nice game today, but as usual, no extra base power. I really don't think he's worth backing up a truck for, maybe the Giants are hoping they can lowball him and get away with it. They should do their research. The Cubs and the Red Sox will be players for Panda, and once a player hits the open market, they have a habit of not coming back to the original team, the QO is poison for negotiating. The Giants offer 3/40 and then come up to 4/55 or something. All those clubs have to do is match. He'll go with the other club. They have a protected first round pick, they won't care about losing the 2nd rounder. Bye Pablo, hello 30th pick of the draft. The Giants will pick a white boy with limited athletic appeal, and we'll call it a day!
What's with the harping on color/race? The Giants surely aren't racist, since they have and have had many players of color. They happen now to have no players of color who are of American birth; but is it your (repeated) point that they should do something other than pick the guy who they think will have the best chance of being a top major-leaguer? If not, what is your point, on this site and on your own site?
DeleteWe are the team of Mays and McCovey. We are the team of Frank Robinson. We are the team of Bobby and Barry Bonds. I feel its a shame we don't have a single African-American. So I harp. Guilty as charged. I feel the Giants should be making special efforts, and as a pattern, the majority of their picks since 2008 have been white.
DeleteI'd really like a player like Andrew McCutchen - can't get him, he's locked up, and he was picked early in 2005. I'd also like a player like Josh Harrison - the Pirates got him in a pitcher dump back a while ago.
I don't think the Giants are racist. But I do think they need to expand their horizons. They passed on Travis Demeritte to pick Christian Arroyo. While I think both of those players are in the same tier of quality, I would have preferred the Giants roll the dice on a guy with more athletic upside. I want to emphasize that some of the code words for African American athletes are very stereotypical, and I want to avoid them. My main point is the Giants should be looking for the next great African-American player though. I can give other examples of them passing... well hell, they just passed on Touki Touissant in favor of Tyler Beede. That is going to be a huge test of the best chance to be a top major leaguer. That's the kind of test that gets people fired if they're wrong.
Some part of blogging is analytical. But there is also an emotional side. This is partly my emotional side. First prospect I ever aware of was Chris Brown. Old timers will have other names... But I grew in Oakland and Berkeley in black neighborhoods, my first game ever I got Ricky Henderson's autograph and I want my team to have the best players possible.
And on the scrappy white boy side, Billy Martin managed those A's I saw for the first time, he grew up about 10 blocks from my family's house in Berkeley, and I attended the same HS. I met him late in life, he was a... character. I like the scrappy white guys too. What I'm saying is the Giants need to push the envelope better.
As a long-time, frequent reader of Shankbone's comments, I will happily defend him against any charge of being silly or ignorant; and any Giant fan who doesn't know his excellent blog is doing him- or herself a severe disfavor.
DeleteHowever it is true, as Anon says, that fewer and fewer black Americans are making it to MLB, and not because of racism. The Giants have drafted athletic black Americans, such as Wendell Fairley and Emmanuel Burris, without (I think) making that a priority, so that I doubt that they need to expand their horizons. One May fault their drafting philosophy
. . . may fault their drafting policy, but only after folding in to the roster of their signings those IFAs who complete the picture of their farm. If young IFAs present high risks along with high ceilings, maybe the team is well served by lowering risk, as best they can, among draftees. I don't know. As to Toussaint, if he "counts" as an American rather than a Hispaniolan (Haitian) black along with MLB Dominicans, one can easily see why the Giants might prefer lower risk and closeness to the majors (Beede), esp given Stratton's struggles and the lack of heirs apparent to the Giants' aging and unpredictable pitching staff. Since prospects, as Shankbone has very recently pointed out, are currently overvalued, perhaps a good policy is to focus on drafting players who can graduate from uncertain prospect status quickly, and so become quickly assessable.
DeleteThanks for the nod there campanari, I don't sweat anonymous trolls, they're cowards. The Giants are the only org without an African-American on the 25. And in this day in age, we do have some different definitions, which is a good point. Hell, most my friends are of mixed marriages and America is changing a ton. And MLB is going through a period where they really need to address affirmative action no doubt. Your examples of drafting come pre-2008. Burriss is a supplemental pick from 2006, and Fairley a supplemental from 2007. That is one of my points, its been a while. I'm asking for some high profile moves. I don't think its unreasonable. We're getting a bit removed from Barry, Grissom, Durham. And hell, with the system getting heat (way too much heat, but some deserved) I felt like bringing it up. The Pirates are a fun team to watch, it stuck in my head.
DeleteDerek Hill would have been a nice pick this year, and possibly another great Sacramento story as well.
DeleteThis team plays like world-beaters on the road, but I've never seen them scuffle so bad at home. It's very frustrating, and I decided NOT to buy tickets for today's game because of it. I don't know if this has been mentioned on Twitter or anywhere else yet, but if we don't pull one out today, the Giants will come back from their 10-game roadie without having won a home game in over a MONTH! Has something like that ever happened before?
ReplyDeleteOn the trade front: Gosh, it feels like we're 10 games out, doesn't it? If I recall, the 2012 team was really sputtering around this time. Unfortunately, that team brought in two magicians at the deadline in Scutaro and Pence. It's going to be tough to do something like that this year, but I'd still like to see Sabes try. Two months of baseball left. If you pull the right strings, this team could get hot again at just the right time...
You just outlined the crux of the Giants situation. If they want to continue to enjoy the sellout crowds and the garlic fries concession, they need to work, and work hard to improve the team. Two years in a row of sitting on their hands is unacceptable. And Sabean scolding the players as "not what they expected them to be" is also unacceptable. He made the team, he drafted the players, he signed the IFA guys, the buck stops with him. Lack of proper prep work (getting a backup plan for 3B/2B, much discussed here and elsewhere in the offseason) does take a bite out.
DeleteThe Cards in 2011 are the prime example of don't ever give up. If the Giants made some more aggressive tweaks, there was the chance that it could have been them.
It's very hard for the "average Joe" fans these days, especially those of us who don't live in the Bay. $50 minimum for any "non-binocular-needing" seat, another $30 whether you want to take the ferry or drive into the park. Extra for food, gas, etc. I love going to the yard, but if I'm going to fork up that kind of dough, I'd better be getting a decent return. 5 L in a row at home isn't gonna cut it!
DeleteAs recently as 2 weeks agp. right after the All Star break, they came out and played well. And now, it seems there is no life.
ReplyDeleteIt's a victory or some sort, when we don't get shut out.
We talk about chemistry, leadership and mental toughness. This is the time we need them...even if we face many holes. There are still two months of baseball left, as coverchatter said.