This game was completely overshadowed by the pre-game ceremony retiring Barry Bonds #25. Barry looked great as in he probably could have helped the Giants offense in the game! Such as it was, a very smart manager named Earl Weaver once said winning baseball consisted of great pitching and 3-run homers. The Giants and Pirates both had 6 hits in the game, but one of the Pirates hits was a 3-run homer by Josh Bell in the 4'th inning. The game was essentially over at that point. Key Lines:
Ty Blach LHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 5-0. ERA= 4.47. Blach has been more effective out of the bullpen. He had allowed just 2 ER in 12 IP since July 5 all in relief. The 3-run dinger in the 4'th is what did him in which is about right as 1 time through the lineup is about his limit.
Casey Kelly RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 8/1. ERA= 0.00. Kelly is an example of a signature Giants scouting strategy of going after players who were once highly touted prospects who fell on hard times for whatever reason. They've been very patient with him at the AAA level as he has worked his game back into shape. That can be very tough to do in the PCL where an ERA of less than 5 is generally a good sign. Based on his performance tonight, it seems like it's time for him and Ty Blach to switch roles for the next start in the sequence and see what he can do. Who knows, they may have themselves a gem for next season with a few years of contract control?!
********************************************************************************
The D'Backs and Dodgers both lost today so the Giants remain 6 games behind the co-leaders of the NL West. The Rockies topped the Dodgers 3-2 so they are just 1.5 games from the top spot.
*********************************************************************************
Young Dereck Rodriguez tries to keep his magical season going tomorrow facing Joe Musgrove who is a hot pitcher himself right now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Kelly: Just five innings, but they were nice innings.
ReplyDeleteIf my name is Tyler Beede I see a pitcher (two pitchers really) who pitched my game at AT & T last night. Maybe Tyler can say to himself - Kelly is a former No 1 pick who turned it around and was given another MLB shot after failing - heh I can do this too.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't really matter that Blach threw a meatball into Bell's grinder -- a 91 mph FB up and not in, it might as well be a BP pitch, but the game was over in the bottom of the third when the Gs got 2 runners on base -- one all the way to 2nd -- for the only time in the game.
ReplyDeleteFittingly the game ended on a DP -- dontcha just love that when it goes the other way? -- SF did not have an LOB in the last 5 innings of the game!
Loss dropped SF out of contention for post season, at least for CBS Sportsline bettors: 78.5 wins won't do it. Now < 1% chance, $100 will get you more than $10K if the Gs get into the WC.
While waiver trades can be tricky, there's a break for McCutchen: Pittsburgh is second only to the Nationals from the top of the bidding order, maybe they'd give up a prospect, how 'bout Bryan Reynold?
For years Ive wondered if the Giants organizational strategy for winning with a home park like AT&T has been backwards. Last nights game made me think about it again and Im fairly convinced that ANY pitcher can do well at AT&T and the Giants need to stop overpaying for pitching (starters in particular). The flip side is that not every hitter can consistently contribute in that park offensively and that is where the Giants should be spending most lf their money.
ReplyDeleteForever we’ve heard that hitters dont want to sign here because their numbers will suffer at AT&T. Therefore management has consistently spent money on starters like Shark and Cueto, Zito, Cain, Timmy, and soon it will be MadBum. The 3 World Series Championships speak for themselves but so does this season and the success we are seeing from guys like Holland, Suarez, and DRod. Last night we saw Blach and Kelly hold a good team to 4 runs. Kirk Rueter, Russ Ortiz, and even Jason Schmidt blossomed in AT&T. ANYONE can pitch here it would seem so why overpay for pitching?
As for hitters, the last big contract the Giants shelled out for a hitter was Hunter Pences deal. Last offseason it was bargain basement prices for several good hitters but the Giants werent in a position to take advantage of the market. Next year they can blow the CBT out of the water with minimal penalties so this offseason is a great opportunity for them to bring in impact offensive players to support the existing talent that is falling short.
Take it one step further and trade MadBum. The Giants record has actually gotten worse since he has been back in the rotation. For the first 8 weeks of the season the rotation was getting by with Suarez, Stratton, Holland, an injured Cueto, Blach, and later DRod. MadBum is a great pitcher but I wonder if that greatness is being wasted on this team. Next year will be a lot like this year and after that it is going to take 25 million a year to keep MadBum. Ask yourself this question, if the Dodgers offered us Walker Buehler for MadBum right now would you say yes? They could restructure this team in one offseason with one trade and a couple of free agent signings and the fans would be excited to come to the ballpark next season. Its going to take some bold moves to fix this mess and letting go of MadBum might be just what this organization needs.
ANYONE can pitch here it would seem so why overpay for pitching?
DeleteEven if your premise is correct, are half the games still played in other parks?
I never understood the Shark' s big contract because he was never an ace pitcher. Cueto s contract was ok since he's an ace pitcher. Part of the reason they were signed is that the farm system went through a dry spell developing starting pitchers.
DeleteLG
This might be a bit of an overstatement, but there is some merit to what you say.
DeleteThere was an article I read this morning, I think on Fangraphs, which said that 60% of all HR's land within 10 feet of the fence. Now that records like that are available and available for each hitter, the Giants should be able to identify hitters who hit a higher percentage of long HR's and go after them, even overpay if necessary.
As for pitching, I don't think they can just bring in any pitcher and expect them to do well, but they should not have to overpay for pitching.
The Giants made a lot of changes in the off season including to the coaching staff in the hopes of improving the offense, yet they are ranked #12 in the NL in average 251 and runs 478. I'm wondering if 1st year hitting coach Alonzo Powell will be back in 2019.
ReplyDeleteLG
For all his ups and downs, Shark has always been a guy who can give you a bunch of Quality Starts eat innings and take heat off the bullpen. Pitchers like that aren't all that easy to find.
DeleteThat's true, but it was a stunner at the time since I didn't think he was worth $19 mil a year, and Giants were known for developing their own pitching. They need to get back to developing their own pitching on a consistent basis when Sabean was the GM.
DeleteLG
A lot of that was Dick Tidrow. I'm not sure how much he is currently involved in scouting and developing pitching in the organization.
DeleteYou have to remember that before the incredible run of Cain, Lincecum and Bumgarner, there was AFW(Ainsworth, Foppert and Williams). There is a lot of luck involved.
I've wondered how much Tidrow was involved. I remember reading how he told Sabes not to show up at Timmys games since he didn't want other teams to know the Giants were on him. An interesting thing I read is that Madbum, Timmy, and Cain were all signed before John Barr came to the Giants. Yes there were high hopes for those 3 but it didn't work out. Agreed there is a lot of luck involved. Didn't Fopport and Ainsworth develop arm trouble?
DeleteLG
i think we will be seeing chris shaw up with the giants in the coming days and adding him to the 40-man roster protects him from the rule 5 draft this offseason.
ReplyDeleteSince Pabs left (2014) and Hunter got brittle (2015), the Giants have patched 3B and the OF.
ReplyDeleteMore recently, and this year in particular, SF patched the patches.
Spent ALL the available money (and then some?) for a last gasp.
It didn't work, and of the "core" only Crawford has been available every day, with Buster missing 20 (concussion and needed catcher rest) and everyone else missing 30 or more games.
Add to that, the Big 3 SPs have been anything but BIG, with Bum making just half the starts he would have at this point and the other 2 off the chart.
It's an aging team except for the exciting new players. FAs make a team older, only Bryce Harper is a strong addition that would make the team younger. If the Giants would have to overpay to get him to SF & AT&T, that could be $400,000,000, eating all the benefits of Pence and McCutchen being off the payroll -- for ONE GUY. One controversial guy. Kinda Bondsian, but Barry had many good reasons to come home to The City by the Bay. Bryce has none.
How well did building around the ONE GUY work? None championships.