Odds and Ends

The travel day gives us a chance to reflect and revel in the great pitching duel from last night. In thinking about Matt Cain's last 2 starts, I became convinced that he might have broken a record, or at least come very close to breaking one for fewest baserunners in 2 consecutive 9 inning starts. I asked the question several times in various websites. Finally got a response from another commenter on Fangraphs: Cain missed the record by 1 baserunner. Cain allowed 4 baserunners in 2 consecutive 9 inning starts. There are 3 record holders with 3 baserunners allowed and they were pretty good pitchers and not at all recent: Billy Pierce, Howard Ehmke and the Big Train himself, Walter Johnson! Matt Cain's last 2 starts are right there with the two consecutive best in the entire history of baseball and we all got to witness it in one way or another! How great is that?

Dave Cameron wrote a nice piece for Fangraphs on the pitching duel, Cliff Lee and Matt Cain Pitch Into History. Sure enough, some idiot(not Dave) had to post a comment about how he thought Cain's xFIP went UP in last night's game. Just like I predicted. At least it wasn't a Fangraphs writer! I actually think the guy who wrote might have meant it as satire, but when I played along with the gag by saying "He's gonna regress any game now," someone else jumped down my throat acting like I was a stupid idiot who didn't understand the Cain is not going to continue pitching shutouts every game.

Eno Sarris wrote a post on Fangraphs, Brandon Belt Singles Past Straw Men, in which he erects a forest of straw men to theorize that Belt's one AB last night, that's right, one AB, is a microcosm of why the FreeBelt crowd is right and Giants management is wrong. A popular sentiment out there is that the Giants have to play Belt every day, either in the majors or in Fresno. I have subscribed to that theory myself at times, but have come to believe the Giants may be handling him just right. Belt is not going to develop by playing every day mired in a deep slump, becoming more frustrated with every game. He also is not going to develop by hitting .400 against vastly inferior pitching in Fresno. Baseball is full of players who started their careers in reserve roles and played their way into starting gigs. Bochy is good at putting players into positions where they are more likely to succeed. Give Belt his chances. When he does good, reinforce it. When he messes up, use it as a teaching moment, but let him continue to soak up the MLB atmosphere and rub shoulders with and learn from other MLB players and coaches. Just calm down everybody! Brandon Belt is going to be fine and so are the Giants.

Game Wrap 4/18/2012: Giants 1 Phillies 0

The Matt Cain/Cliff Lee matchup in the rubber game of the Giants 3 game series with the Phillies promised to be a pitching duel and it certainly lived up to its billing as the scoreless frames extended into extra innings. Melky Cabrera finally sent the fans away happy with a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the 11'th inning. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 3 for 5. BA= .314. Melky leads the way again. Walk off single for the win!

Brandon Belt- 1 for 1. BA= .211. Belt started with winning rally with a 1 out single up the middle.

Matt Cain- 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.88. Take that, Fangraphs! Cainer has entered the realm of elite pitchers, I don't care what his xFIP says! 4 baserunners in 18 innings over 2 games. I don't think you can pitch any better than that!

Cliff Lee(Phillies)- 10 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 1.96. I don't think many Giants fans like Cliff Lee very much, so there is extra satisfaction in knowing that he knows his main accomplishment in this game was to make Cain's game all that much more awesome! You were good, Cliff. Matt Cain was better! Take that, Cliff Lee!! Take that, Phillies!! Take that, Charlie Manuel!! Hey, can you tell I'm pumped?

The NL West leading Dodgers lost another walk-off game to the BrewCrew allowing the Giants to gain another full game to 3 behind the leaders. The Rockies topped the Pathetic Padres 8-4 to also move to 3 games behind the Dodgers. The D'Backs lost for the second game in a row to the Pirates to stay 2 games off the pace while the Pathetic ones remained 6.5 games behind in the division cellar.

The Giants have a travel day tomorrow as they head to the Big Apple to take on the Mets with Barry Zito going against Jonathan Niese in game 1 Friday evening.

Game Wrap 4/17/2012: Giants 4 Phillies 2

Madison Bumgarner pitched his first game as a multi-millionaire and gave a Quality Start. The Giants continued to struggle with RISP, but managed to push across enough runs for the W. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5, 3B(3). BA= .222. Pagan is on a pace to hit 40 triples. His BA is still low, but on the rise.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .341.

Buster Posey- 3 for 4, SB(1). BA= .375. Buster isn't hitting for much power, but he is hitting 'em where they ain't. His steal of 3B, probably ill-advised but successful when he somehow eluded Polanco's tag, helped the Giants get insurance runs.

Nate Schierholtz- 3 for 3, BB. BA= .360. Nate is forcing his way into a permanent starting role.

Brandon Crawford- 0 for 4. BA= .214. Crawford looked a bit lost at the plate tonight. He left 8 men on base. He also made an error, but made several other plays a lot of SS's don't make. He's still a work in progress, but please ignore the errors. He more than makes up for it with plays others don't make.

Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 9/2. ERA= 3.63. Fishface got him for a longball. Other than that, he was able to limit the damage by keeping it on the ground.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's, Save(1). ERA= 0.00. I dropped Wilson from my Savvy Vets fantasy team and added Casilla because I believe Casilla will get most of the Save opps in Bochy's committee. That move looked good tonight.

With the win, the Giants gained a game on the NL West leading Dodgers who lost to the BrewCrew on a 5-4 walkoff in Milwaukee. The Giants are now 4 games off the pace. The D'Backs also lost 5-4 to the Pirates, so they stay 2 games back of the Dodgers in second place. The Colorado Rockies also gained a game on the leaders and are tied with the Giants after beating the Pathetic Padres 5-3. The Pads fell 6.5 games behind the Dodgers.

Matt Cain goes up against Cliff Lee tomorrow night at AT&T Park.

Game Wrap 4/16/2012: Phillies 5 Giants 2

I"m getting sick and tired of watching Barry Zito starts where he gives up 4 runs in the top of the first inning and you know the game is over right there....wait, what? Oh, hi guys! Did I just do a good enough impression of a MCC post? Seriously, maybe the Giants need to shuffle their rotation so Timmy isn't going up against the other teams' ace every time, because it's getting to the point where you feel like they don't have a chance in those games. Roy Halladay looked beatable tonight, but I don't care if your team is the Bronx Bombers, you do not fall behind Roy Halladay 4-0 in the top of the first inning and expect to win. Just ain't gonna happen. Key lines:

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5. BA= .200. Pagan is starting to get a few games with multiple times on base.

Buster Posey- 3 for 4. BA= .321. 3 ground ball singles. I would like to see Buster get the ball up in the air a bit more often.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 4, 2B, E(4). BA= .237. Despite the errors, Crawford has a strongly positive UZR so far this season. So strong, he has already put up 0.4 WAR, which pro-rated over a full season gets you to 8 WAR! Not that I think he's going to end up with 8 WAR, but he IS only hitting .237.

Tim LIncecum- 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 10.54. In Timmy's defense, he might have gotten a bit BABIP'd in this one. He actually settled down and pitched a pretty good game after the first inning, but again, with Roy Halladay on the mound, 4-0 might as well be 20-0. You aren't gonna win the game!

Madison Bumgarner signed a long term contract with the Giants which guarantees him a minimum of $35 M through 2017 and gives the Giants conrol of his contract through 2019 by which time he will be still only 30 years old. If he achieves certain incentives, such as winning the Cy Young Award and if the Giants pick up his options for 2018 and 2019, he can make as much as $70 M out of the deal. While there is some risk to the Giants in this contract, it pales in comparison to the risk they took on with Matt Cain. The probability is that this will end up as a great contract for the team even while it guarantees Madison Bumgarner a lifetime of financial security. Win-win!

I hope this finally, finally puts to rest the internet meme's about Giants ownership and Rainy Day Funds and closing "Windows of Opportunity" and Brian Sabean and Larry Baer and all the other uninformed poppycock that's been thrown around for way too long. Brian Sabean said the team's priority was locking up the core of young pitching and the Giants have done just that. There is a strong pipeline of talent coming along in the minors that will both add to this core and allow the Giants to continue to afford it.

Madison Bumgarner takes on Joe Blanton and the Phillies tomorrow evening at AT&T Park.

Game Wrap 4/15/2012: Pirates 4 Giants 1

Ryan Vogelsong pitched a QS in his 2012 debut, but the old RISP bug started biting the Giants hitters again. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 1 for 4, 3B(2), BB. BA= .171. Triples Alley looks like it was tailor made for Angel Pagan. He might hit 15 or so this year!

Brandon Belt- 1 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(1). BA= .143. Nice little game for Belt, although the ump blew it calling him safe at 2B on the double.

Emmanuel Burriss- 1 for 3, BB. One of his outs was a great AB where he grounded out to SS, but drove in Belt from 3B with the only run. I'm not sure how much of an upgrade Freddy is going to be at 2B.

Ryan Vogelsong- 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.84. Vogey looked a bit shaky in the 2'nd inning, but recovered nicely to retire 11 batters in a row at one point. He looks ready to pick up where he left off last year.

The Giants record fell to 4-5 as their 3 game winning streak was snapped. They now trail the NL West leading Dodgers who are 9-1 by 4.5 games. The Dodgers squeaked by the San Diego Padres 5-4. The Padres are the NL West cellar dwellers at 2-8, 7 games off the pace. The Arizona D'Backs topped the Colorado Rockies 5-2 to improve to 6-3,2.5 games behind the Dodgers while Colorado is tied with the Giants at 4-5. The Dodgers have played 7 of their 10 games against the Pathetic Padres, which may explain part of their fast start.

Tim LIncecum takes on Roy Halladay tomorrow evening at AT&T. Both pitchers have had velocity issues this spring, but Halladay is 2-0 while Timmy is 0-1.

Game Wrap 4/14/2012: Giants 4 Pirates 3

The GIants got bad news today that Brian Wilson has evidence of damage in his elbow that will likely require surgery. On the field, Barry Zito gave them a Quality Start and the offense scored at least 4 runs for the 7'th consecutive game to open the season winning this one on a walkoff error. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, 3B, BB, SB(1). BA= .161. Pagan seems to be seeing the ball better and making more solid contact. Think 2010 Andres Torres for his upside.

Hector Sanchez- 1 for 4. BA= .286. Sanchez and Zito teamed up well again as battery mates. The Hector singled to lead off the second inning and scored ahead of Nate's triple. He ran the bases really well until the last 10 feet or so before reaching home plate when he looked like he might collapse before reaching it. Good thing there were no outs at that point which gave him time to recover before having to put the gear back on.

Nate Schierholtz- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .353. Nate seems to be close to locking down the starting RF job. That forces Melky to LF which chokes off an outlet for Huff/Belt. I think the writing is on the wall for Giraffe. The missus might want to start apartment hunting in Fresno.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 4. BA= .233. The one error notwithstanding, Crawford's D won this game as he made several acrobatic, magical plays. I don't think there is anyone better at charging and barehanding the slow roller. Nice baserunning to take the exrra base on Burriss' single to center even though it didn't end up leading to a run.

Emmanuel Burriss- 2 for 4. BA= .333. Burriss' speed was decisive in scoring the walkoff run. With the bases loaded and no outs, Melky hit a sharp grounder to Barmes who was playing in. It should have been an easy force at the plate or even a DP, but Burriss' speed forced Barmes to hurry the throw and he skipped it to the catcher who bobbled it. Game over!

Ryan Theriot- 1 for 1. BA= .176. Brandon Belt was on deck behind Burriss in the 9'th. He would have been the batter had Burriss made an out, but when Burriss singled, Bochy pulled Belt back and sent up Theriot to bunt. Failing twice at that, Theriot worked the count to 3-2. With Burriss running on the 3-2 pitch, Theriot punched one past the first baseman for a perfect hit-and-run setting up the winning play. There were actually people in the Twitter Universe claiming to be Giants fans who were openly rooting for Theriot to make an out just to prove that Bochy made the wrong decision. Look, people! Players do not put themselves above the team. Fans do not put their favorite player above the team! Bruce Bochy made the right call in that situation!

Barry Zito- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.13. Zito looked terrific for the first 2 batters of the game, then gave up 2 runs with 2 out. He looked distracted and lost. He clearly had lost his release point and was wild. He managed to pull it back together in time and settled down to pitch a 7 inning QS. If he keeps pitching like that, the Giants are gonna be alright.

Santiago Casilla- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Casilla had nasty stuff and was hitting 95 MPH on the radar gun. As the game unfolded, there was not going to be a Save situation so I wouldn't read too much into him coming into the game in the 8'th inning. I"m sure Bochy will do some mixing and matching, but Casilla is the obvious choice for the bulk of the Save Opps, at least until Hembree is ready.

As mentioned above, Brian Wilson had an MRI on his elbow that revealed structural damage that the Giants medical staff thinks will need surgery. Presumably we're talking Tommy John here. This injury likely spells the end of Brian Wilson's career as a San Francisco Giant for several reasons. First of all, this would be his second TJ surgery. TJ redos tend to not have as positive results as the first one. Secondly, Wilson is in the second year of a 2 year contract and is eligible for 1 more year of arbitration. No way are the Giants offering arbitration this offseason if he has a second TJ. I suppose they might be able to re-sign him at a lower $$ amount as a FA, but it's more likely some other team will be willing to spend more to take that chance.

Whoever takes over as closer, and I think it will be Casilla, will be a placeholder until the Heath Hembree era begins.

Ryan Vogelsong makes his 2012 debut tomorrow afternoon. Everybody expected Dan Otero to get sent out to make room for Vogey on the 25 man roster, but now he will likely take Brian Wilson's place with BWeezy going on the DL.

Game Wrap 4/13/2012: Giants 5 Pirates 0

Matt Cain pitched one of the best games of his already substantial career, if not THE best. The Giants offense kept producing. This game was never in doubt from the bottom of the first on. When you look at the Giants lineup and their pitchers, this is the type of game you envision them cranking out 3 out of every 5 or so. Key lines:

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1). BA= .414. Melky continues to lead the way.

Buster Posey- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .300. Great moment when Buster got a standing O his first AB then crushed one off the CF wall for a RBI double.

Aubrey Huff- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .278. There was a tremendous outpouring of vitriol on the internets when it was announced Huff was starting over Belt. All that looks pretty stupid now, huh? I fully understand the desire to let Belt get MLB experience, but it's not as easy a decision as the internet CW is making it out to be.

Nate Schierholtz- 2 for 4. BA= .308. Wait! Nate is hitting .308? He hit at least one other ball hard.

Matt Cain- 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 3.00. Is that about the prettiest pitching line you'll ever see, or what? Shame that the perfecto was lost on a hit by the opposing pitcher. Cain is looking more and more like a harder throwing version of Greg Maddux all the time.

Barry Zito tries to prove that his last start was not a fluke tomorrow evening.

Game Wrap 4/12/2012: Giants 4 Rockies 2

The Giants offense continued to produce runs and Madison Bumgarner put a resounding stop to the horrid SP performances. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 4, 2B(3), BB. BA= .385. Melky continues to lead the way.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, 2B(3). BA= .261. Crawford has a .522 SLG%. If you go back into spring training games, He's hitting .417 over his last 10 games.

Madison Bumgarner- 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO- 13/1. Bumgarner took a no-hitter into the 6'th inning.

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(1). ERA= 9.00. Exhibit A of why the Save is a ridiculous stat. BWeez isn't right, I think that's pretty obvious.

The Giants now return to SF for their home opener on an up note. 2-4 on a 6 game road trip is not what you hope for, but it's not terrible either. Maybe home cooking can get the Giants starting rotation back humming on all 5 cylinders. Matt Cain takes the mound tomorrow afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates who always seem to give the Giants fits.

Game Wrap 4/11/2012: Rockies 16 Giants 8

I missed the beginning of this game, but judging from the numbers, Tim Lincecum put on a pitching performance every bit as wretched as anything Barry Zito has produced. The hitters tried valiantly to fight back, but the bullpen was no better than LIncecum and the Giants ended up losing a lopsided slugfest in Coors Field. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .364. Melky stays hot.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .381. Pablo stays hot. I have both Melky and Pablo on my Savvy Vets fantasy team.

Nate Schierholtz- 2 for 4, 2 HR(2), SF. BA= .400. Nate gets a chance to play and makes the most of it.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, HR(1). BA= .211. Crawford has made major contributions to the offense despite the low BA.

Emmanuel Burriss- 3 for 4, SB(1). BA= .375. Nice game by Burriss.

Buster Posey- 0 for 1. BA= .308. I was busy at work all day and missed the start of the game. I knew something was up with Buster because there was no reason why he would not be in the starting lineup. Turns out he has Herpes Zoster AKA "shingles". Herpes Zoster is an outbreak of the chicken pox virus, Varicella Zoster, along a nerve root. It is usually a self limited condition, especially in younger patients, but in about 20% of cases can cause an extremely severe pain that lasts longer than 6 months. Hope that's not the case with Buster. I've never had it, but have treated many patients with it. The pain, when it is bad, can be excruciating. I believe I have seen it shorten people's lives. There is some evidence that antiviral therapy, which Buster is taking, can reduce the risk of the severe pain reaction. Get well soon, Buster!

Hector Sanchez- 1 for 5. BA= .300. I didn't see the interaction between Hector and Timmy. It appeared Affeldt showed some frustration with him during Affeldt's disastrous stint on the mound. I hope the pitchers aren't blaming Sanchez. They are veteran big leaguers and need to grow up if that's the case.

Madison Bumgarner takes the mound tomorrow afternoon facing Jamie Moyer who gave the Giants fits in spring training.

Game Wrap 4/9/2012: Giants 7 Rockies 0

Statistics are an integral part of baseball. There are things you can understand about the game from studying statistics that you would never guess from just watching the game. On the other hand, there is a reason why they play the games! Barry Zito has been maligned about as much as any ballplayer who has played the game. His performances have truly been wretched at times. There is something about his demeaner that makes you wonder how much he really cares or really even wants to be a ballplayer. On the other hand, Barry Zito has never publicly complained about some humiliating decisions made by Giants management that many, if not most, other players making his kind of jack would have never tolerated. When he stayed back in Arizona to "work on some things", it was easy to write it off as yet another futile way for the Giants to just forget about him for a few days. Gotta hand it to the guy. Whether this resurgence is good for just one game or a few or for the rest of his Giants career, dude stepped up and stepped up big today. I don't think I've ever seen an emotional turnaround quite like this in a long time, if ever. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .333. Melky stays hot.

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4, HR(2), BB. BA= .375. Pablo has come out smokin' at the plate this year. 40 HR's anyone?

Aubrey Huff- 1 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .214. Maybe the way back for Aubrey Huff is a game like this. He does better when he's more selective and drawing BB's.

Hector Sanchez- 2 for 5. BA= .400. Gotta find more ways of getting Sanchez into games, even if they have to bring back a 3'rd catcher.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .133. Crawford's second big double in as many days.

Barry Zito- 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.00. I didn't see the game. I didn't want to see the game. I have no idea what kind of slop he was throwing up there today. I have no confidence in Zito being able to sustain this, but for one day, I take back everything I've said about him being done. Man, what a psychological lift this has to be for the whole Giants team, including management, maybe especially management!

The Giants have the day off tomorrow then Tim LIncecum tries to get back on track on Wednesday evening against Jeremy Guthrie.

Game Wrap 4/8/2012: D'Backs 7 Giants 6

The Giants built a 6-0 lead and looked like they were going for a walk in the park with Matt Cain, ahem, in command and cruising. Then a lot of very strange things happened and the game turned into a house of horrors. Key Lines:

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB, 2 E. BA= .333. Buster looked like his old self at the plate. He had a tough day behind the dish though. One of the errors was more Pablo's fault than his, but he also made some questionable decisions. Even though he struck out to end the game with runners on base, I liked that he took his hacks up there. Jack Clark would have been proud!

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .091. Crawford had some good AB's. Even though the BA looks horrendous, I think he's going to be OK. He did have a tough day in the field but so did just about everybody. Kruk and Kuip were having a fit about the condition of the infield.

Matt Cain- 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K's, 2 HR. ERA= 7.50. Cainer kind of lost his command out there and this park will make you pay for that.

Javy Lopez- 0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 0.00. Lopez came in and did exactly what he was supposed to do. Get a DP grounder, except Craword booted it.

Sergio Romo- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K'. ERA= 0.00. Romo looked like his old self. Too bad it was in a losing cause.

Wade Miley(D'Backs)- 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Kirk Gibson said the D'Backs study the Giants and make adjustments. They now have not 1, not 2, but 3 LHP's in their bullpen! Gee, I wonder why?

The Giants now have to go to Coors Field to face the Rockies with Barry Zito pitching the Rockies' home opener. Hide the women and children. This could get realy ugly!

Arizona, at 3-0, is in first place in the NL West over the Dodgers who lost to San Diego 8-4. Colorado was edged by the 'Stros 3-2 to fall 2 games back at 1-2. San Diego is 2.5 games back and the Giants are in last place 3 games off the D'Backs pace.

Game Wrap 4/7/2012: D'Backs 5 Giants 4

Same song second verse, could get better, hopefully not worse. Madison Bumgarner got hit early and the Giants offense was not quite able to catch up. Sound familiar? Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .500. Pablo is starting off hot. That's a very good thing for the Giants and for my Savvy Vets fantasy baseball team.

Brett Pill- 1 for 1, HR(1). BA- 1.000. Pill provides punch off the bench. All the more reason to think it might not have been a terrible idea to pinch-hit him for Huffy yesterday.

Madison Bumgarner- 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 9.00. When Bumgarner loses his great command, he can get hit very hard. Fortunately, he's shown an ability to recover from these.

Dan Otero- 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.50. Otero makes his MLB debut. He was better than Bumgarner today, but that's not saying much.

Matt Cain tries to salvage game 3 of the series tomorrow afternoon against Tomahawk Boy. A 2-1 series loss on the road is not the end of the world. I suppose a series sweep this early isn't either, but you really don't want to find yourself 3 games behind 3 games into the season. It can take a half season to come beck from that, if at all.

The Dodgers held off the Pesky Padres in San Diego 6-5 in extra innings to go 3-0 with a 0.5 game lead over the D'Backs. The Giants, at 0-2 are 2.5 games off the pace while the Pathetic Padres are 0-3 and 3 full games behind the Dodgers. The Rockies were shut down by minor league journeyman Lucas Harrell and lost to the 'Stros 7-3 to even their record at 1-1, 1.5 games behind the Dodgers.

Game Wrap 4/6/2012: D'Backs 5 Giants 4

The D'Backs took the longball to Timmy in the first inning and the Giants were not quite able to recover losing a closely fought opener to their division rivals. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(1). BA= .400. Melky looks like he's ready to do some damage.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .400. Pablo looks a bit heavy out there. He seemed to be a bit anxious early, but the double in the 9'th was a classic swing and long line drive up the left-center alley.

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .500. Buster had a good game. He couldn't get it done in the 9'th with a chance to tie it, but Buster looks like he's gonna be OK.

Tim Lincecum- 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 8.44. Timmy might have been a bit amped in the first inning and the D'Backs made him pay with two dingers and 3 runs. Timmy dominated after than until possibly tiring in the 6'th inning.

Ian Kennedy(D'Backs)- 6.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.05. Kennedy didn't seem to have great stuff. He had a riding, tailing fastball that the Giants kept getting under and he had them in the popcorn machine all night.

Bruce Bochy- With 2 outs and 2 on in the 7'th inning, Gibson brought in Joe Paterson to face Aubrey Huff. I know Huffy hits lefties pretty well, but Paterson is death to LH hitters. I thought that might have been an opportunity to use Brett Pill for the reason he made the roster, to bring a RH bat off the bench. I imagine 90% of managers would have played it the way Bochy did, but the Giants are very vulnerable to LHP and it wouldn't hurt to make opposing managers at least think twice about bringing one in.

Madison Bumgarner pitches tomorrow against Daniel Hudson in an afternoon game.

Spring Training Update: Game Wrap A's 8 Giants 1

Yusmeiro Petit showed why he has kicked around baseball since being a top prospect several years ago and the Giants failed to generate much offense as they closed out the 2012 Spring Training schedule with a loss to the Oakland A's. Key LInes:

Buster Posey- 2 for 2, 2B. BA= .325. Buster hasn't had a spectacular spring, but if he just does this it will be huge offensive upgrade from the catcher position over what the Giants had most of last year.

Hector Sanchez- 2 for 4. BA= .383. The Hector wins a roster spot!!

Ryan Theriot- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .190. Theriot should be useful against LHP's.

Yusmeiro Petit- 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R. 2 BB, 2 K's, 3 HR. ERA= 4.78. Petit's problem has always been the longball. Looks like it still is!

The Giants finalized their Roster with Bruce Bochy announcing that Aubrey Huff will be the starting LF and Brandon Belt will platoon 1B with Brett Pill. Hector Sanchez won the backup catcher job over a couple of light hitting, but good defensive veterans in a mild surpise. Ryan Theriot will be the reserve middle infielder with Gregor Blanco and Nate Schierholtz the OF reserves.

Eli Whiteside was optioned to Fresno and Chris Stewart was traded to the Yankees for AAA RHP George Kontos who looks like a pretty good pitcher to me.

The Giants have the day off tomorrow then open the season Friday evening in Arizona with Tim Lincecum getting opening day starting duties.

The minor league season opens tomorrow night. Ricky Oropesa will play his first professional game as the San Jose Giants play the Nuts in Modesto. We'll try to put up Down on the Farm summaries as well as Game Wraps each day.

Let's play ball!!

Spring Training Update: Game Wrap Giants 3 A's 2

Giants baseball was on display at the Oakland Coliseum last night as the Giants scraped together just enough runs to support their trademark strong pitching. Key LInes:

Giants offense- 7 players had one hit apiece with Huff having the only XBH, a double. Blanco and Nate each had a SB. Pagan made a strong throw from CF to cut down Cespedes at the the plate.

Matt Cain- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.10. Pretty standard start for Cain. Almost certainly would have been a QS had it been in season.

Bullpen- 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. Affeldt looked sharp(were you watching, Pato?). Romo abused Cespedes with a slider that broke at least a foot wide of the strike zone.

Brandon Crawford was a late scratch due to a mild sprain of the left thumb. He's expected to be ready on Opening Day.

Today is cut down day. It's looking more and more like Brandon Belt will be the starting 1B with Huff moving to LF, Cabrera to RF and Nate to the bench.

Yusmeiro Petit, who won't be on the active roster, will make the afternoon start at AT&T. Petit would seem to be first in line for a callup if the Giants need to replace a starter, at least until Surkamp is healthy.

Spring Training Update: Game Wrap Giants 4 A's 2

Buster Posey made his first appearance as a player since his injury last May. Melky Cabrera had a big night at the plate to lead the Giants. Key Lines:

Melky Cabrera- 3 for 4, HR(4). BA= .359. Cabrera was robbed of another hit by Jemile Weeks ranging far into the hole on the right side. Q: If Melky has another strong year, how much is he going to get paid in FA next year?

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4. BA= .250. If anything Pablo looks like he's gained some weight during spring training. Yikes! He was overswinging last night trying to hit everything into McCovey Cove.

Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .391. Belt turned on two pitches that he drove to the right side. The swing on the double was kind of funny looking. He's obviously trying to draw his hands in on inside pitches to avoid getting tied up. I'm going to play armchair hitting coach here and say I think he might be able to solve this problem by choking up by an inch or inch and a half on the bat handle. I really doubt that gripping down on the nob of the bat really gives a hitter all that much more leverage. Choking up allows you to get more of the barrel on inside pitches. It worked for Barry Bonds and it works for Hunter Pence. I don't know why more hitters don't do it. Belt's arms are long enough to still get leverage and still cover the outer half of the plate.

Madison Bumgarner- 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.59. Bumgarner had the strikeout stuff going, but seemed to have inconsistent command. Max velocity was 92, but I'm wondering if the TV gun was a bit slow?

Matt Yourkin- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.50. Right now, I have more confidence in Yourkin getting MLB hitters out than Barry Zito and it's not particularly close.

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Wilson had great command Throwing mostly cutters and even a couple of nice curveballs that he used to steal strike one. Max velocity was 92 MPH. Again, I wonder if the gun was off by a MPH or two although his FB did not look like the old BWillie heaters. If he does have to adjust to lower velocity, he has some pretty good pitches to do it with.

Matt Cain starts the first game of the rest of his life tonight in Oakland.

Armchair GM(addendum): Matt Cain Signs a Contract Extension!

I said I hoped the Giants would sign Matt Cain to a contract extension. I said I believed they would sign him to a contract extension. I'm a happy guy. Having said that, it is a very big contract for more years than any team should sign any pitcher, but that's the current market. If anybody is capable of meeting the value of their contract, or at least coming close, it's Matt Cain.

Thanks to a remarkably productive farm system and a solid financial situation, the Giants are in a better position to take this risk than most teams. They have prospects poised to take the place of veteran contracts coming off the books over the next 2 years. Cain is the only really big commitment they have past 2014. Timmy will be a FA after 2013, but they bought some time to further evaluate whether they want to go all out to prevent him from hitting the open market then. Sandoval is controlled until after 2014. After that, Posey and Bumgarner don't hit FA until after 2016. They have Belt, Crawford, Brown and Panik contract controlled until well after Cain's contract is done. Like I have said many times, the Giants are as well positioned for the future as any team in baseball and this contract extension is one of the very nice results.

After this contract signing, can we finally put to rest the talk about Giants ownership being cheap, skinflinty, clueless and not caring about winning? Come on! Does anyone really believe that fielding a winning team is not part of the Giants business plan and that they don't realize they have to pay for players capable of winning? I really, really hope we've heard the last of that nonsense!

Of course, there's the other side of the coin. Sabes was in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation where if he didn't get Cain signed he'd be accused of shortsightedness and ownership would be accused of being cheap. Now that the deal is done, the other side of the fringe is already starting to yell about overpayment and needless risk taking. Nope, Sabes and the Giants can't win for losing on these deals, at least in the eyes of the internet oriented fandom.

I'll conclude by saying it's a great contract for Matt Cain. He's set for life. I'm happy for him. He's worked hard for it and deserves it if anyone on Earth does. It's a reasonable deal for the Giants. Everyone should be relieved and happy.

Now, can we please get this season started?

Armchair GM: What Does the Future Hold for Matt Cain?

As frantic roster speculation furiously builds to a penultimate conclusion(I know! I'm trying to keep this a family friendly site), another, much more important drama is building, the Matt Cain extension negotiations. First of all, let me say that no one is a bigger Matt Cain fan than I am. I have a ball he autographed for my daughters from his Cal League days. My gameday shirt is a Matt Cain #43(his rookie #). Make no mistake, I WANT the Giants to sing Matt Cain to an extension. I still believe they WILL sign him to an extension.

Much of the discussion has centered around how much Matt Cain and his agents are demanding from the Giants and how much the Giants should sign him for. That's where we get off into uninformed and pointless speculation. If Cain does sign an extension, we will know for how much and how long and can debate that to death. If he does not sign, there will be furious speculation about what he was asking for and how much the Giants offered, but we will never know for sure.

If you were the Giants management, how much would YOU be comfortable paying Matt Cain for a contract extension and for how long? The Giants were on record early as not wanting to go beyond 4 years. We don't really know what Cain's camp is asking for, but it's safe to assume they want more than 4 years. Some reports have them shooting for a 9 figure total package and the Giants offering significantly less than that. It's pretty easy to read into that a difference in length more than salary/yr. One popular number that seems to keep cropping up over and over as a number the fans accept as a "fair" contract is 6 years/$120 M. I decided to analyze this number and see if we can get a handle on whether it is a safe deal from the Giants perspective.

There is an excellent Fanpost over on McCovey Chronicles by Ott entitled Is Matt Cain a Good Investment? I encourage everyone here to read it. I took a very similar approach in a recent Comments discussion and thought it might be worthwhile to repost that information here in case everybody does not read the comments.

One quite accurate way of measuring player value is through a calculated statistic called WAR(Wins Above Replacement). In the current baseball player market, the average market price for players is between $4.5 M and $5 M per WAR. We'll be generous and cover for some Magic Johnson fueled future inflation by rounding it to $5 M/WAR.

Matt Cain has accumulated 25 WAR in 6+ years of pitching. He has been remarkably consistent while putting up WARs between 3.5 and 5.2 over the last 6 seasons for an average of 4 WAR/year. In the process, he has been a workhorse pitching between 190 and 223 IP each season for a total of 1317. By today's valuation, Matt Cain has been worth almost exactly $120 M over the last 6 seasons. Why then, would the Giants hesitate to give him what he "deserves" for the next 6 year? Let's take a look at where Matt Cain will be on several all time lists if he continues to perform at his current level for another 6 years.

As he stands right now at age 27, Cain is #838 on the all time IP list He has 1 year left on the current contract. Assuming he stays healthy for the season, he'll add another 210 IP to his totals. That gets him to 1527 IP and #688 on the all time list. You can see that he is moving up quite fast. In order for him to earn 4 WAR/year for the next 6 years after that, he would have to average >200 IP. Say he duplicates his last 6 year and gets to 1317 again. that would put him at 2844 IP which moves him all the way up to #152. 152 pltchers in the entire history of baseball have pitched more innings than Matt Cain will have by the end of his proposed contract extension of 6 years/$120 M! In another way of looking at it, there are exactly 2 currently active pitchers who have recorded more than 2844 IP in their careers, Livan Hernandez and Tim Wakefield.

Sorry, I can't seem to get the full pages of Baseball Reference to come up right now, so I'll have to do this from memory. At his current 25 WAR, Matt Cain stands at approximately #143 on the all time list. Add 4 WAR/yr X 7 yrs and you get to 53 WAR. That's all the way up to #43 all time. with just 2 currently active pitchers having more, Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay.

Matt Cain is a pretty unique guy. I don't dispute the Tom Seaver comps on bit. Heck, he might put up 5+ WAR/yr over the next 3-4 years and coast beyond 53! If he does that though, he will be challenging some of the elite pitchers in the history of baseball.

While it is imaginable that Matt Cain could give a return value equal to a 6 yr/$120 M extension, the odds are against it. That conclusion is supported by two different measures discussed here and by a different approach to the WAR data reviewed in the McCovey Chronicles Fanpost. While we all might be relieved and happy to see Matt Cain sign such a contract extension, we also might live to see the day when it does not look like such a good thing.

Spring Training Update: Game Wrap Giants 4 Dodgers 1

The Giants got long balls from Brandon Crawford and Nate Schierholtz and a nice start from Yusmeiero Petit to win the first game of the Dodgers' Showtime Era. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .186. Pagan's second double in two days. Progress!

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 4, HR(1), Assist(Bard at 3B). BA= .220. Nate's arm is one of his biggest arguments for a starting RF gig. He showed that today as well as the dinger. Is it enough?

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, HR(2). Just when I think Crawford is going to go into a prolonged slump, he breaks back out of it. Very encouraging to see a game like this from him this late into the preseason.

Yusmeiro Petit- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.00. Petit's second impressive appearance this spring. Is it possible he is a post-hype sleeper? I'm trying to remember the old scouting reports on him. I believe it was fringy FB velocity with great command and an excellent changeup. Hey, stranger things have happened. He's still only 27 yo.

Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.00. Gotta believe something ain't quite right with Romo.

Casilla(0.96), Hensley(2.89), Machi(2.00) all pitched one scoreless inning each. I think Hensley is a lock for the roster. Machi has impressed and is getting a lot of work this spring.

Matt Cain takes on the Texas Rangers in Surprise tomorrow evening.

Madison Bumgarner was held out of the Dodgers game to prevent the division rivals from getting a look at him. He went 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K's in a minor league game.

Around the League:

Latest reports I read say the Magic Johnson group buying the Dodgers are paying cash. I had read earlier this morning that they were borrowing a large portion of it and wanted to use the future TV revenue to service the debt. The Guggenheim Group let by Mark Walters, who is the deep pockets for this deal, is reportedly worth $125 Billion. Yeah, you read that right.

Zach Greinke- 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.

Jordan Zimmerman- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.

Jeff Samardzija- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. Nice recovery from the shelling in his last start. Still in the running for Cubs #5 starter. Fantasy sleeper if he wins it.

Spring Training Update: Game Wrap Angels 5 Giants 3

The Giants offense continued to struggle and they finally fell victim to a big inning late by the Angels. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 1 for 5, 2B. BA= .179. Well, 1 hit is better than none.

Gregor Blanco- 2 for 4, 2B, 2 SB(11). BA= .356. Is Nate going to lose his job to another spring phenom?

Sandoval and Huff added doubles.

Brandon Belt- 1 for 4. BA= .370. According to Baggs, the Giants aren't thrilled by Belt's setup at the plate and feel he still needs to work on some things despite the lofty spring numbers. Now THAT, is going to get the pitchfork mob going! That Baggs! He is quite the little instigator, isn't he?

Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.26. I didn't see the game, but Timmy thought his fastball command was a bit off.

Otero, Mota, Edlefsen- 1 scoreless inning each.

Yusmeiro Petit gets the start against division rival Dodgers tomorrow afternoon in Scottsdale.

Speaking of the Dodgers, a group headed by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten agreed to purchase the Dogs for $2 Billion, that's right, $2 Billion! Man, did the McCourts get the last laugh out of this or what? Let's just hope there is no money left over to pay players with! Seriously, if Magic Johnson has anything to say about it, the Dodgers will become the Yankees West or the Baseball Lakers. He is all about paying star players lots of money and Showtime and all that.

Around the League:

Freddie Freeman hit two dingers for the second game in a row for the Braves. Woohoo, Savvy Vets!

Alejandro De Aza homered in 4 AB's for the White Sox.

I missed out on Eric Hosmer in my auction draft. Dude is seriously raking with 2 more dingers today.

Mike Napoli blasted a pair too.