It looked like another dominant performance by Matt Cain would come to naught as the Giants defense once again failed to make key plays in the 9'th inning to cause a Blown Save for Santiato Casilla. The defense rallied to make some great plays in the top of the 11'th and Hector Sanchez delivered a walk-off hit to end it in the bottom of the 11'th. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 0 for 3, BB. It doesn't look like much of a line, but Blanco led off the the bottom of the first with the Gaints already trailing by a run and scored when Conor Gillaspie pulled, that's right, pulled a double into the RF corner. You need some speed to score from first on a double to RF in this ballpark.
Melky Cabrera- 1 for 5. BA= .313. This also does not look like much of a line but Melky's hit advanced Gillaspie to 3B and set up a second score on a FC by Pagan. Melky also made a nice runing catch on shallow flyball to LF and doubled up Corey Hart, who was running on the pitch, with a one hop throw to Brandon Belt at 1B. I'm not sure who has the stronger arm, Nate or Melky, but Melky's is more accurate.
Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(4). BA= .267. Pagan stretched his hitting streak to 20 games. This is the first time the Giants have had two 20 game hit streaks in one season and it's only May! Pagan had a rough day on defense, whiffing on a drive to the CF wall that looked like he misjudged, and on a flyball to left-center that he took a bad route to that drove in the tying run in the 9'th. I could be wrong, but think both Rowand and Torres would have had both of those balls.
Brandon Belt- 0 for 3, 2 IBB. BA= .278. Strange game for Belt as the BrewCrew clearly respected his power and disrespected the hitters coming up behind him. Belt has apparently gained some ground with management too as Bochy has said Huff will be mostly playing LF when he comes back.
Hector Sanchez- 1 for 1. BA= .271. Sanchez delivered the game winning hit against an unconventional defense with 5 infielders and 2 shallow OF's. I think the hit, a poke down the LF line would have been a hit against a conventional defense though. OK, let's talk about love of veterans here. The Giants had both Eli Whiteside, who was a veteran of 3 seasons as the Giants backup catcher and Chris Stewart, a guy who had done a good job last year and who Bochy worked with in San Diego that they could have chosen to be the backup catcher this season. Instead, they went with a guy who started last year in A ball and got into just a handful of games at the MLB level at the end of last year. Does THAT sound like a slavish, knee jerk devotion to playing veterans over kids? What's better is the move is paying big time dividends.
Matt Cain- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 2.38. Another tremendous effort by Cain. It was a QS, but the peripheral stats were dominant. Put THAT in you xFIP and smoke it! I think we're witnessing Cainer taking it to a new level right before our eyes. Oh yeah. Matt Cain IS a horse!
The Win evened the Giants record once again, now at 14-14. The Dodgers game against the Cubbies was delayed by rain and they ended up losing 4-3 in extra innings on getaway day. Hehehe! The Giants now trail the Dodgers by 4 games heading into their 3 game series this week in sole possession of 2'nd place. The D'Backs lost to the Mets 3-1 to remain 4.5 games back now in 3'rd place in the NL West. The Rockies lost to Atlanta 7-2 to stay 5.5 games behind in 4'th place while the Pathetic Padres lost to the Miami Marlins 6-3 to stay 9.5 games back and in last place.
Barry Zito takes the mound tomorrow evening facing lefty Ted Lilly. Go Giants! Beat LA!
BTW, Matt Kemp missed today's game in Chicago with a tight hamstring. Most likely an excuse to get a rest on getaway day, but we'll see.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Armchair Hitting Coach: To Pull or Not To Pull?
There is a particularly annoying Post-Game Thread over on MCC from yesterday's game in which the author(not Grant, BTW) acknowledges a great game by Madison Bumgarner, then proceeds to ask a lot of whiny questions designed, I think, to show up the ineptness of the Giants. In the process, though, the author raises an interesting question that I have been pondering myself in the last few days, but from a far different perspective.
The paragraph started with a comment from Bill Schroeder, who was the color guy on the Fox Broadcast yesterday, and who I thought did a pretty good job of analyzing the game. In response to Buster Posey's RBI single up the middle, Schroeder had said, "Just don't pull that ball. You pull a ball, you wind up putting it on the ground." The post author then pointed out that Melky Cabrera had "pulled" a ball to the left-center gap for a triple and Madison Bumgarner had pulled a ball down the LF line an inning earlier for an RBI. Then came this gem: "The point I'm trying to make is ALL THE GIANTS DO IS PULL THE BALL. THAT IS THE ENTIRE APPROACH. THE HITTING MEETING BEFORE EACH SERIES IS JUST A BUNCH OF GUYS SITTING AROUND A TABLE WHILE BAM BAM POINTS TO A DRY ERASE BOARD WITH ONLY THE WORD "SWING" WRITTEN ON IT. The first 4 innings of this game was a tribute to weak contact and could've been photographed and put in a book called the Joy of Pull. Their "swing first" approach is just...well, let's all be thankful that Randy Wolf decided to hang some curveballs."
Now, I'm not going to dwell on the fact that balls hit from alley to alley are not pulled. I'm not going to dwell in the fact that Melky Cabrera, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Angel Pagan are not pull hitters and neither are Brandon Crawford, Joaquin Arias, Hector Sanchez, Emmanuel Burriss, Ryan Theriot or Brett Pill. I think you get my point. If Aubrey Huff is the embodiment of the Giants approach at the plate, then yes, they might be a pull happy team, but who else on the team tries to pull the ball down the line almost every AB? I will also briefly point out that "swing first" and "pull" are not synonyms in hitting vernacular, but I'm not going to dwell on that either.
What I've been thinking about lately, and this post brought to the forefront of my brain, is that maybe, just maybe, the Giants and many other teams in baseball need to be pulling the ball more rather than less. Aaron Rowand and Aubrey Huff have complained, sometimes bitterly, about "Triples Alley" at AT&T Park, pointing out that there is more to it than the 421 foot distance to the wall. The other problem with it is that right fielders take away that alley by playing way over to the left and deep. They concede the RF line completely, knowing that it's shallow enough and they can get over fast enough to hold hitters to no more than a double and often a single on balls hit all the way to the wall. The the other night on the TV broadcast, Kruk used a telestrator to show how the defense of an OPPOSING team was bunched in the center of the field cutting off both alleys. He commented that this defensive alignment is becoming increasingly common because almost all hitters nowadays swing for the middle of the field. Now, you would think that if the opposing team thought the Giants were all dead pull hitters.....oh sorry, I said I wasn't going to dwell on it. In other words, unless you are Melky Cabrera and can absolutely smoke it into those gaps, you are not going to hit many XBH's up the alley these days. Couple that with the difficulty in hitting HR's to the center of AT&T and hitting the ball to the center 3'rd of the park is likely to result in a lot of long outs.
Of course, any time a defense over-covers one area of a field, it opens up other areas. First of all, it opens the 2 outer thirds of the field. Secondly, it just might be easier to hit the ball out of the park down the lines in AT&T than it is to CF and the alleys. The problem is, the art of pulling the ball seems to have been lost somewhere. In my distant memory, I seem to remember a lot of "dead pull" hitters who were quite successful. Maybe it's the pitchers riding the outside corners. Maybe it's evolution of the cut fastball. I don't really know. I just know that as MLB defenses pinch off the corners and as more ballparks have a straight CF fence that extends the power alleys, opportunities are being created for pull and poke hitters, pull the ball down the line or poke it down the opposite field line. This brings us to a Blast From the Past: Darrell Evans.
Darrell Evans is a guy who played for the Giants from 1977-1983. That was the middle third of his career. The first third was played with the Atlanta Braves and the last third with the Detroit Tigers. Bill James has called Darrell the most underrated player in baseball history. I remember not thinking much of Darrell Evans when he played for the Giants. I've always been overly enamored by players with high batting averages. Of course, my ideal hitter is a Willie Mays or Barry Bonds who hit for both high batting averages and hit a lot of HR's, but given the choice between, say, Darrell Evans and Bill Madlock, I've always gravitated to the Bill Madlocks. In my rational consciousness through the education of sabermetrics, I have learned that batting average is largely an empty stat, although I do think it is underrated by many in the sabermetrics community. For an equal OBP, a hit is better than a walk, but I digress. Let's just say that I greatly underrated Darrell Evans too.
Darrell Evans was as dead a pull hitter as ever played the game. I looked up his HR Log on Baseball Reference and found that of his 414 career HR's, 234 were hit to either straight away RF or down the RF line, in other words, between the 304 and 365 ft signs in RF in AT&T Park. 117 were hit to unknown locations. Less than 70 were hit to the middle third of the ballparks. Evans absolutely killed pitches on the inner half of the plate. He didn't swing at pitches on the outer half unless he had to, and did not swing at pitches outside the strike zone. I do remember that he hit a lot of balls down the line that were long enough to be HR's but went harmlessly foul. He only had 2 seasons with a BA above .265, but had a career OBP of .361. You'd think he was a "true outcome" guy but only had 3 seasons in which he struck out more than 100 times. You would also think he "rolled over" a lot of balls, but he only had a couple of seasons with 10 or more GIDP's. He finished a 21 year career with a line of .248/.361/.431 with 414 HR's. Probably not a HOF career but a very valuable one(Bill James makes a very convincing case that if Tony Perez is in the HOF, then Darrell Evans should be too).
I've often wondered what kind of career Darrell Evans would have playing his home games in AT&T Park. Candlestick was an extreme pitcher's park, but the prevailing wind was to RF. How much did that help him? Would the breeze that comes up off McCovey Cove knock down those pulled HR's and keep them in the park, or would they blow even more into foul territory? Maybe, just maybe he would have been the perfect AT&T Park hitter, confounding those RF's who cheat into Triples Alley. You see, Darrell Evans would never hit balls into Triples Alley!
PS: One more interesting tidbit on Darrell Evans. It remains unknown what the count was on most of Darrell Evans' HR's, but of the ones that are known, he hit the most on the first pitch of the AB, 0-0, and hit as many on the first pitch of the AB as in 3-2 and 3-1 counts combined. Being a selective hitter and drawing a lot of walks is not necessarily the antithesis of being aggressive early in the count.
PS: One more interesting tidbit on Darrell Evans. It remains unknown what the count was on most of Darrell Evans' HR's, but of the ones that are known, he hit the most on the first pitch of the AB, 0-0, and hit as many on the first pitch of the AB as in 3-2 and 3-1 counts combined. Being a selective hitter and drawing a lot of walks is not necessarily the antithesis of being aggressive early in the count.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Down on the Farm: 5/5/2012
AAA Fresno Grizzlies topped the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 7-4:
Skyler Stromsmoe(CF)- 1 for 2, 3 BB, SB(6). BA= .314.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 1 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .329.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .347.
Todd Linden(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(3), 2 BB. BA= .260.
Brock Bond(3B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .319.
Eli Whiteside(C)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .226.
George Kontos(RHP)- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 B, 0 K. ERA= 3.07.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Save(8). ERA= 1.50.
Stromsmoe just keeps scrapping away. He's doing pretty well for himself at the AAA level now. He plays practically every position. Wouldn't be shocked to see him get a cup of coffee as a utility guy. I thought Brock Bond had a questionalble arm for 2B. He played 3B here. Interesting.
AA Game 1 Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Altoona Curve 1-0:
Chris Heston(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, GO/AO= 7/2.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Young Mr. Bochy has now pitched 17.1 scoreless innings to start the season with a 16/3 K/BB. He's an extreme flyball pitcher with a GO/AO- .36.
Game 2 Altoona Curve defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-1:
Nothing to see here.
High A San Jose Giants downed the Inland Empire 66'ers 5-2:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(2). BA= .247.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .217.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .269.
Justin Schumer(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.76.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(4). ERA= 2.53.
Lofton continues his hot hitting with a .333 BA over his last 10 games.
Low A Hagerstown Suns downed the Augusta Greenjackets 4-1:
Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.81.
Bandilla still working on control issues. Has 18 K's in 16 IP.
Skyler Stromsmoe(CF)- 1 for 2, 3 BB, SB(6). BA= .314.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 1 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .329.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .347.
Todd Linden(1B)- 1 for 3, HR(3), 2 BB. BA= .260.
Brock Bond(3B)- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .319.
Eli Whiteside(C)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .226.
George Kontos(RHP)- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 B, 0 K. ERA= 3.07.
Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Save(8). ERA= 1.50.
Stromsmoe just keeps scrapping away. He's doing pretty well for himself at the AAA level now. He plays practically every position. Wouldn't be shocked to see him get a cup of coffee as a utility guy. I thought Brock Bond had a questionalble arm for 2B. He played 3B here. Interesting.
AA Game 1 Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the Altoona Curve 1-0:
Chris Heston(RHP)- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, GO/AO= 7/2.
Brett Bochy(RHP)- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Young Mr. Bochy has now pitched 17.1 scoreless innings to start the season with a 16/3 K/BB. He's an extreme flyball pitcher with a GO/AO- .36.
Game 2 Altoona Curve defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-1:
Nothing to see here.
High A San Jose Giants downed the Inland Empire 66'ers 5-2:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(2). BA= .247.
Adam Duvall(3B)- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .217.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .269.
Justin Schumer(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.76.
Seth Rosin(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(4). ERA= 2.53.
Lofton continues his hot hitting with a .333 BA over his last 10 games.
Low A Hagerstown Suns downed the Augusta Greenjackets 4-1:
Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.81.
Bandilla still working on control issues. Has 18 K's in 16 IP.
Game Wrap 5/5/2012: Gigantes 5 BrewCrew 2
The Gigantes got a determined start from Madison Bumgarner and the offense came to life in the later innings for a much needed win to break a 4 game losing streak. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 1 for 4. BA= .259. Pagan kept his hitting streak alive at 19 games with an IF single. Overall, Pagan has had a pretty productive hitting streak with a .306 BA and .528 SLG%, but in the 5 games in May so far, 4 have been for just one hit and he's had no XBH's in May so far. This is why I don't like hitting streaks. As they go on, it becomes more about getting that one hit, no matter how anemic rather than going up there trying do some real damage.
Melky Cabrera- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .318. Melky, Melky, Melky! HR's are great, but to me one of the most beautiful things in baseball is a long line drive up an alley. Does anybody scorch the ball up the alley better than Melky? The Fox broadcast, showed a stat that over some extended period of time, Melky has the most XBH's in all of baseball. BTW, Dave Flemming was the lead announcer for the Fox Broadcast and did a great job. Like him better on the Gigantes radio broadcasts though. Anyway, they just showed that stat for a second and didn't come back to it. Anyone else have the starting point for that stat? Man, I sure hope the Gigantes can find a way to sign Melky long term or else get something really good in return. I'm afraid he is going to get seriously paid after this season. I had a bad thought that he would be a perfect fit for the Dodgers.
Buster Posey- 2 for 4. BA= .329. Buster keeps on stroking the ball.
Hector Sanchez- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .255. Hector moved down in the order for this game. Maybe he was more relaxed down there? He crushed two balls that both landed at the base of the wall, the first in CF and the second in left-center.
Madison Bumgarner- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .125. I'm not sure there is anything Bumgarner doesn't do well on a ballfield. I think he was fed up with the Gigantes offense and decided he was going to have to drive in the runs himself. He did just that for the first Gigantes run of the game to even it up in the 5'th. He also made a very heads up play to cover first base on a grounder to 2B when Buster broke for a ball he had no chance of getting and would have been late to the bag.
Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.31. Bumgarner got into trouble several times but refused to lose. He pitched his way out of the jams with only a single run in the second against him. He also showed a much better curveball than I've seen in the past. Bumgarner now has a variety of breaking balls that go at different velocities. Curve, slider, cutter. He can also still jam the heater in on the hands when he wants to. He is rapidly becoming a complete pitcher out there and it's great to see.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(5). ERA= 1.69. Casilla looked confident out there today and has nasty stuff. I think he's the closer for the duration, barring injury of course.
With the Win, the Gigantes kept pace with the Dodgers who beat the Cubs 5-1, 5 games back. The D'Backs lost to the Mets 4-3 to fall 4.5 games behind in second place. The Rockies and Padres play later.
Matt Cain takes the mound against Shaun Marcum tomorrow afternoon trying for a much needed series win.
Angel Pagan- 1 for 4. BA= .259. Pagan kept his hitting streak alive at 19 games with an IF single. Overall, Pagan has had a pretty productive hitting streak with a .306 BA and .528 SLG%, but in the 5 games in May so far, 4 have been for just one hit and he's had no XBH's in May so far. This is why I don't like hitting streaks. As they go on, it becomes more about getting that one hit, no matter how anemic rather than going up there trying do some real damage.
Melky Cabrera- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .318. Melky, Melky, Melky! HR's are great, but to me one of the most beautiful things in baseball is a long line drive up an alley. Does anybody scorch the ball up the alley better than Melky? The Fox broadcast, showed a stat that over some extended period of time, Melky has the most XBH's in all of baseball. BTW, Dave Flemming was the lead announcer for the Fox Broadcast and did a great job. Like him better on the Gigantes radio broadcasts though. Anyway, they just showed that stat for a second and didn't come back to it. Anyone else have the starting point for that stat? Man, I sure hope the Gigantes can find a way to sign Melky long term or else get something really good in return. I'm afraid he is going to get seriously paid after this season. I had a bad thought that he would be a perfect fit for the Dodgers.
Buster Posey- 2 for 4. BA= .329. Buster keeps on stroking the ball.
Hector Sanchez- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .255. Hector moved down in the order for this game. Maybe he was more relaxed down there? He crushed two balls that both landed at the base of the wall, the first in CF and the second in left-center.
Madison Bumgarner- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .125. I'm not sure there is anything Bumgarner doesn't do well on a ballfield. I think he was fed up with the Gigantes offense and decided he was going to have to drive in the runs himself. He did just that for the first Gigantes run of the game to even it up in the 5'th. He also made a very heads up play to cover first base on a grounder to 2B when Buster broke for a ball he had no chance of getting and would have been late to the bag.
Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.31. Bumgarner got into trouble several times but refused to lose. He pitched his way out of the jams with only a single run in the second against him. He also showed a much better curveball than I've seen in the past. Bumgarner now has a variety of breaking balls that go at different velocities. Curve, slider, cutter. He can also still jam the heater in on the hands when he wants to. He is rapidly becoming a complete pitcher out there and it's great to see.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(5). ERA= 1.69. Casilla looked confident out there today and has nasty stuff. I think he's the closer for the duration, barring injury of course.
With the Win, the Gigantes kept pace with the Dodgers who beat the Cubs 5-1, 5 games back. The D'Backs lost to the Mets 4-3 to fall 4.5 games behind in second place. The Rockies and Padres play later.
Matt Cain takes the mound against Shaun Marcum tomorrow afternoon trying for a much needed series win.
Down on the Farm: 5/4/2012
AAA Fresno Grizzlies rallied for 2 runs in the 9'th inning to beat the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 7-6:
Nick Noonan(SS)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .333.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(7). BA= .345.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.80.
Noonan just turned 23 yo which is not all that old for a prospect at the AAA level. He may not be a bust after all. Roger K is showing some serious power numbers with a .664 SLG% and a .400 OBP to go with it. Looks like that year and a half struggling in AA is paying dividends.
AA Altoona Curve passed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-7:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 3, 2 HBP, SB(7). BA= .243.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .271.
Chris Dominguez(LF)- 3 for 4. BA= .280.
Brown is hitting .282 over his last 10 games and .333 over his last 7. Chris D has a 4 game hit streak but had been slumping badly before that. He has just 1 HR so far this season.
High A San Jose Giants crushed the Inland Empire 66'ers 10-0:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .238.
Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 3, 2 2B, BB, HBP. BA= .240.
Devin Harris(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(3). BA= .180.
Ryan Bradley(LHP)- 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.57.
Stephen Harrold(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 5.06.
Lofton is on a tear hitting .312 over his last 10 and .454 over his last 6. Haven't called Panik's name in he highlights for awhile. His OBP is .350.
Low A Kannapolis Intimidators defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 7-2:
Chris Marlowe(RHP)- 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.95.
Demondre Arnold(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.77.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 16.00.
Derek Law(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.29.
Mejia's struggles continue. Arnold has 17 K's in 13 IP with a 1.63 GO/AO but also has 13 BB's.
Nick Noonan(SS)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .333.
Roger Kieschnick(LF)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(7). BA= .345.
Dan Otero(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.80.
Noonan just turned 23 yo which is not all that old for a prospect at the AAA level. He may not be a bust after all. Roger K is showing some serious power numbers with a .664 SLG% and a .400 OBP to go with it. Looks like that year and a half struggling in AA is paying dividends.
AA Altoona Curve passed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-7:
Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 3, 2 HBP, SB(7). BA= .243.
Ryan Cavan(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .271.
Chris Dominguez(LF)- 3 for 4. BA= .280.
Brown is hitting .282 over his last 10 games and .333 over his last 7. Chris D has a 4 game hit streak but had been slumping badly before that. He has just 1 HR so far this season.
High A San Jose Giants crushed the Inland Empire 66'ers 10-0:
Chris Lofton(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .238.
Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 3, 2 2B, BB, HBP. BA= .240.
Devin Harris(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(3). BA= .180.
Ryan Bradley(LHP)- 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.57.
Stephen Harrold(RHP)- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 5.06.
Lofton is on a tear hitting .312 over his last 10 and .454 over his last 6. Haven't called Panik's name in he highlights for awhile. His OBP is .350.
Low A Kannapolis Intimidators defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 7-2:
Chris Marlowe(RHP)- 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.95.
Demondre Arnold(RHP)- 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.77.
Adalberto Mejia(LHP)- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 16.00.
Derek Law(RHP)- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.29.
Mejia's struggles continue. Arnold has 17 K's in 13 IP with a 1.63 GO/AO but also has 13 BB's.
Game Wrap 5/4/2012: BrewCrew 6 Giants 4
The Giants continued their pattern of falling behind early then catching up only to lose it in the later innings as they went down to their 4'th consecutive loss. In the midst of the gloom, though, there were a few rays of hope. Let's go to the Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 0 for 5. BA= .257. It's happened over and over. Just when you think somebody has emerged to fill an essential role, they turn in a stinker of a game like this. Still, I'd leave him in this spot awhile and see what he does with an extended look.
Melky Cabrera- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .311. How great has Melky been, both on offense and defense? The triple was a liner that was smoked up triples alley as hard as any ball I've seen hit. I don't think the ball got more than 4 feet off the ground at any time but still went deep into the gap and took two skips to the wall.
Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, SB(3). Pagan extended his hitting streak to 18 games. According to Alex Pavlovic, he was also the victim of a very bad umpiring call, although I missed some of the game as we were out celebrating my daughter's birthday and didn't see it.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .294. It looked to me like Belt should have been credited with another hit and an RBI in the 6'th on a ball that was hit really hard under Rickie Weeks' glove with Weeks being charged with an error.
Nate Schierholtz- 0 for 1. BA= .254. Nate was brought in to pinch-hit for Tim Lincecum in the 5'th with 1 out, a run in and runners on 2'nd that 3'rd. He struck out. Nate is now 1 for his last 23. Timmy had retired 10 batters in a row and was only at 84 pitches. On the other hand, I can see the argument that the Giants had an opportunity to get back in the game and don't have that many opportunities to score. You have to go for it when you have the chance. Tough call that Bochy said he regretted after the game. Now THAT doesn't bode well for Nate, I would say.
Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.68. Timmy was as messed up in the first two innings as I've seen him. Still, a hard ground ball hit a foot or two farther right in the first inning would have changed a two run single into a DP grounder to end the inning and he would have been out of it with just 1 run given up.
Steve Edlefsen- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 3/1. ERA= 0.00. Edlefsen threw just 16 pitches in 2 innings.
The Dodgers lost to the Cubs 5-4 in an afternoon game so the Giants remain 5 games behind in 4'th place in the NL West. The Dangerous D'Backs topped the New York Mess 5-4 to move into sole possession of 2'nd place 3.5 games behind. The Rockies lost a slugfest to the Braves 9-8 to remain 4.5 games behind. The pathetic Padres lost to the Marlins 9-8 to remain 8.5 games back in last place.
Madison Bumgarner tries to be the stopper today in an afternoon game facing Randy Wolf who is not a very good pitcher but who has given the Giants fits in the past. I guess you can say that about a lot of pitchers, huh?
Gregor Blanco- 0 for 5. BA= .257. It's happened over and over. Just when you think somebody has emerged to fill an essential role, they turn in a stinker of a game like this. Still, I'd leave him in this spot awhile and see what he does with an extended look.
Melky Cabrera- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .311. How great has Melky been, both on offense and defense? The triple was a liner that was smoked up triples alley as hard as any ball I've seen hit. I don't think the ball got more than 4 feet off the ground at any time but still went deep into the gap and took two skips to the wall.
Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, SB(3). Pagan extended his hitting streak to 18 games. According to Alex Pavlovic, he was also the victim of a very bad umpiring call, although I missed some of the game as we were out celebrating my daughter's birthday and didn't see it.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .294. It looked to me like Belt should have been credited with another hit and an RBI in the 6'th on a ball that was hit really hard under Rickie Weeks' glove with Weeks being charged with an error.
Nate Schierholtz- 0 for 1. BA= .254. Nate was brought in to pinch-hit for Tim Lincecum in the 5'th with 1 out, a run in and runners on 2'nd that 3'rd. He struck out. Nate is now 1 for his last 23. Timmy had retired 10 batters in a row and was only at 84 pitches. On the other hand, I can see the argument that the Giants had an opportunity to get back in the game and don't have that many opportunities to score. You have to go for it when you have the chance. Tough call that Bochy said he regretted after the game. Now THAT doesn't bode well for Nate, I would say.
Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.68. Timmy was as messed up in the first two innings as I've seen him. Still, a hard ground ball hit a foot or two farther right in the first inning would have changed a two run single into a DP grounder to end the inning and he would have been out of it with just 1 run given up.
Steve Edlefsen- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 3/1. ERA= 0.00. Edlefsen threw just 16 pitches in 2 innings.
The Dodgers lost to the Cubs 5-4 in an afternoon game so the Giants remain 5 games behind in 4'th place in the NL West. The Dangerous D'Backs topped the New York Mess 5-4 to move into sole possession of 2'nd place 3.5 games behind. The Rockies lost a slugfest to the Braves 9-8 to remain 4.5 games behind. The pathetic Padres lost to the Marlins 9-8 to remain 8.5 games back in last place.
Madison Bumgarner tries to be the stopper today in an afternoon game facing Randy Wolf who is not a very good pitcher but who has given the Giants fits in the past. I guess you can say that about a lot of pitchers, huh?
Friday, May 4, 2012
Fantasy Focus: Savvy Vets Shakeup
Time to give you all an update on my Savvy Vets fantasy baseball team. We got off to a great start the first 3 weeks, but, much like the Giants, started stagnating last week and now this week too.
The first move was triggered by another manager dropping Howie Kendrick for Angel Pagan. If you remember my post-draft discussion, Kendrick was the guy I had targeted for 2B in our auction draft, but this guy was on autodraft and bid him up to above $20 which was a bit too rich for my taste, even though I am a Howie Kendrick fan. I settled for Dustin Ackley who has been OK, but nothing special at all. Kendrick has been in a slump, but already shows signs of coming out of it. I think he's almost a lock to put up better numbers than Ackley over the ROS. I dropped Ackley for Kendrick.
I had a couple of pitchers who have been hurting me. Matt Harrison was great for the first couple of weeks, but his last two starts have been shellings which essentially sank my ERA and WHIP numbers. Ervin Santana has been a huge disappointment. He was solid, but not great last year. Upside is limited. I wanted to make a change. Lastly, Cory Luebke went on the DL with an elbow and now is rumored to be a TJ candidate. This is bad news as he was solid in the early going and I always like Padre pitchers from a fantasy perspective. So, out go Harrison, Santana and Luebke and in come Jeff Samardzija, Juan Nicasio and Carlos Zambrano.
Alejandro De Aza has been slumping. Yeah he might recover and put up solid numbers, but he also could fade back into baseball oblivion. He was really Ozzie's guy and Ventura probably doesn't have a lot of patience for him. Josh Reddick is a guy I had pegged as a sleeper in the pre-season after his trade to Oakland and has been solid so far. I dropped De Aza and picked up Reddick.
We all know about Pablo Sandoval. He's been a mighty contributor to the Savvy Vets as well as the Giants. No way was I dropping him, so I moved him to my last open DL slot and picked up Pedro Alvarez who has suddenly started hitting dingers again for the Bucs.
Another big reason for the recent stagnation of the Savvy Vets is the slow starts by my two big boppers, Jose Bautista and Prince Fielder. I'm confident both of them will get it going as the weather heats up and then Savvy Vets will really take off!
Despite the stagnation, Savvy Vets is still sitting in first place in the league after going 5-5 last week. We are currently leading in this week's H2H 6-4. I've now used 8 of 40 allotted moves and we're currently in Week 5, so I've still been relatively conservative with moves in the early season.
Here's the current Savvy Vets Roster:
C Matt Wieters
1B Prince Fielder
2B Howie Kandrick
3B Jose Bautista
SS Dee Gordon
IF Pedro Alvarez
OF Andrew McCutchen
OF Melky Cabrera
OF Josh Reddick
UT Freddie Freeman
UT David Ortiz
SP Zack Grienke
SP Madison Bumgarner
SP Bartolo Colon
SP Juan Nicasio
SP Chris Capuano
RP Joe Nathan
RP Santiago Casilla
RP Jordan Walden
P Grant Balfour
P Vinnie Pestano
BN Brandon Morrow
BN Brandon Beachy
BN Jordan Zimmerman
BN Jeff Samardzija
BN Carlos Zambrano
DL Pablo Sandoval
DL Kyle Farnsworth
I'm watching Dee Gordon closely. Despite his anemic BA and OBP and occasional sitting on the bench, He's still helping me win SB's each week which is the only reason I drafted him. I don't see anyone else challenging his starting SS role in LA just yet, so I'm hanging onto him for now. I'm going to have to re-assess my RP/Closer situation with the recent demotions of Balfour and Walden. Not sure if either is a permanent demotion yet, but the Angels acquisition of Freiri is worrisome for Walden.
Any suggestions?
PS: Just found Jonathan Broxton sitting on my league's FA list. I could have sworn he was owned by somebody. He's reeled off 4 Saves starting April 26 and has an ERA of 1.86. I'd say he has the closer job in KC nailed down for now. Dropped Vinnie Pestano for Broxton.
The first move was triggered by another manager dropping Howie Kendrick for Angel Pagan. If you remember my post-draft discussion, Kendrick was the guy I had targeted for 2B in our auction draft, but this guy was on autodraft and bid him up to above $20 which was a bit too rich for my taste, even though I am a Howie Kendrick fan. I settled for Dustin Ackley who has been OK, but nothing special at all. Kendrick has been in a slump, but already shows signs of coming out of it. I think he's almost a lock to put up better numbers than Ackley over the ROS. I dropped Ackley for Kendrick.
I had a couple of pitchers who have been hurting me. Matt Harrison was great for the first couple of weeks, but his last two starts have been shellings which essentially sank my ERA and WHIP numbers. Ervin Santana has been a huge disappointment. He was solid, but not great last year. Upside is limited. I wanted to make a change. Lastly, Cory Luebke went on the DL with an elbow and now is rumored to be a TJ candidate. This is bad news as he was solid in the early going and I always like Padre pitchers from a fantasy perspective. So, out go Harrison, Santana and Luebke and in come Jeff Samardzija, Juan Nicasio and Carlos Zambrano.
Alejandro De Aza has been slumping. Yeah he might recover and put up solid numbers, but he also could fade back into baseball oblivion. He was really Ozzie's guy and Ventura probably doesn't have a lot of patience for him. Josh Reddick is a guy I had pegged as a sleeper in the pre-season after his trade to Oakland and has been solid so far. I dropped De Aza and picked up Reddick.
We all know about Pablo Sandoval. He's been a mighty contributor to the Savvy Vets as well as the Giants. No way was I dropping him, so I moved him to my last open DL slot and picked up Pedro Alvarez who has suddenly started hitting dingers again for the Bucs.
Another big reason for the recent stagnation of the Savvy Vets is the slow starts by my two big boppers, Jose Bautista and Prince Fielder. I'm confident both of them will get it going as the weather heats up and then Savvy Vets will really take off!
Despite the stagnation, Savvy Vets is still sitting in first place in the league after going 5-5 last week. We are currently leading in this week's H2H 6-4. I've now used 8 of 40 allotted moves and we're currently in Week 5, so I've still been relatively conservative with moves in the early season.
Here's the current Savvy Vets Roster:
C Matt Wieters
1B Prince Fielder
2B Howie Kandrick
3B Jose Bautista
SS Dee Gordon
IF Pedro Alvarez
OF Andrew McCutchen
OF Melky Cabrera
OF Josh Reddick
UT Freddie Freeman
UT David Ortiz
SP Zack Grienke
SP Madison Bumgarner
SP Bartolo Colon
SP Juan Nicasio
SP Chris Capuano
RP Joe Nathan
RP Santiago Casilla
RP Jordan Walden
P Grant Balfour
P Vinnie Pestano
BN Brandon Morrow
BN Brandon Beachy
BN Jordan Zimmerman
BN Jeff Samardzija
BN Carlos Zambrano
DL Pablo Sandoval
DL Kyle Farnsworth
I'm watching Dee Gordon closely. Despite his anemic BA and OBP and occasional sitting on the bench, He's still helping me win SB's each week which is the only reason I drafted him. I don't see anyone else challenging his starting SS role in LA just yet, so I'm hanging onto him for now. I'm going to have to re-assess my RP/Closer situation with the recent demotions of Balfour and Walden. Not sure if either is a permanent demotion yet, but the Angels acquisition of Freiri is worrisome for Walden.
Any suggestions?
PS: Just found Jonathan Broxton sitting on my league's FA list. I could have sworn he was owned by somebody. He's reeled off 4 Saves starting April 26 and has an ERA of 1.86. I'd say he has the closer job in KC nailed down for now. Dropped Vinnie Pestano for Broxton.
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