Thursday, April 12, 2012

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.

19 comments:

  1. Groeschner came out with Posey and Bochy to check on Wilson, and when Wilson made a practice throw it was 84 MPH. After that he was at 89 MPH on the fastball and mostly threw sliders. He said it was a minor ankle twist but I don't know how that could hurt his fastball so much.

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  2. its the oblique again, and he is a stubborn sob

    wonder when the giants are gonna start talking extension with melky

    wonder when the guys over and mac chron are gonna shut up about craw not being able to hit

    i do think nate is hurt....1 good game and tonite some very weak if outs...hes stubborn too, but more due to fear

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    1. 765 ab's in the Eastern bookended with injuries and the mcc crowd decides he is terrible. I stopped banging my head on that one a while ago. The answer of course is when grant changes his tune, then the herd will follow.

      Sabean said he'd be open to talking but their side has to get a comfort zone on the Melky front. He seems very serious about his conditioning, I can't wait to see his final babip so that argument can be laid to rest.

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    2. melky is fun to watch, and i have a stinkin suspicion that he is gonna test the fa market

      speed, can play all of positions, hits for avg, some pop, can hit anywhere from 2-6

      giants probably wont offer more than 3 plus option and melky would probably want at least a 5

      wont be upset if he walks...still a good trade

      mac chron has basically turned into a bunch of guys (maybe some gals) trying to out one line the other....flem made a hilarious tweet about them last nite

      i never knew if craw was gonna be able to hit in the bigs...and i didnt care...i knew his glove was gonna carry him to the show

      and he is the marketing depts dream....very good looking kid, family season tick holders, lifelong giants fan, great looking sisters....a magnet for women...within a year, this kid is gonna be selling tons of crap...

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    3. Lots of gals on mcc, including some of the harshest critics. It's an interesting mix of opinions, but loud mob banter rules the day. I stick to the prospect hounds commentary 90% of the time, there is some good heads up stuff.

      Melky might walk and we can collect a nice draft pick under the new cba if he repeats his numbers. Win-win situation if it goes that route. Now that they don't give out type b's for lousy pen arms and backup catchers those extra draft picks may become more valuable.

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  3. I had my doubts about Craw and wasn't shy about expressing them but couldn't be happier to eat a big crow sandwich! My biggest fear with him was his ability to catch up to major league fastballs and he has shown this year that he can. I have a bet going with Shankbone that Craw won't last 40 games as the starter and I will be thrilled to be wrong. What game do you want to go see Shankbone?

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    1. Good to see Crawford hitting some and playing through small injuries. I'm not counting anything yet Pato. Crawford has been as injury prone as Nate. I do like having that defense up the middle.

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  4. Crawford started a bit slow at the plate, but has really picked up. Hitting to all parts of the field and showing some pop. The key in my opinion, he showed up at the park each day knowing he would be in the lineup.

    Do the same thing for Brandon Belt and I believe you will get a similar result. Huff is not going to be a difference maker, but Belt could be. Belt is far superior to Huff as a defender and as a base runner, and those things matter in close games.

    So happy for Crawford. It's great to have a guy at short that can cover ground and pick it. Commit to Belt and the Giants could have two infield spots very well covered for years.

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    1. My big concern with Belt is that he tends to snowball when things start to go bad. He doesn't make the adjustments to get himself out of the funk and seems to get worse and worse with his approaches as his struggles continue. With all of the other options at 1B, I am losing patience with him. I also see a huge loopy hole in his swing that seems to show itself every at bat almost like Goldschmidt only Goldy manages to still rake enough to be relevant.

      Ask yourself who is more valuable to this team going forward; Panda, Posey, or Belt? If not next year then maybe the following they will need to move either Posey or Panda to 1B which could make Belt the odd man out. I hope Panda can stay at 3B for years to come and Posey could probably play decent RF or LF but unless Belt shows he bleongs, I would like to have 1B available for the more valuable players who may need to make the shift there eventually.

      As for this season, Huff is going to get every opportunity in the world to play and with Sanchez emerging and guys like Pill available as well, Belt really needs to step up if he is going to keep the job. Otherwise and I hate to do it to the guy but I think he needs to go back down and work things out this year in Fresno and get ready again for next season with the big club. I don't see the sporadic playing time for him changing and with all the options they have at 1B it just doesn't make sense to let him struggle day in and day out.

      Another option that may upset some fans is to package him in a deal with Nate or Pagan or anyone other then the untouchables for an upgrade at 2B or prospects. This offense all of a sudden looks like we have depth at multiple positions and with young guys like Brown and Panik soon to be here, wouldn't it make sense to flip some of the depth we have? One bold move could be packaging Belt and Timmy for some of the talent over in Texas. They have an amazing farm system and plenty of talent on the major league roster I wouldn't mind seeing on our team. Michael Young and prospects for Timmy and Belt wouldn't be the worst thing in the world....

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    2. Yeah, Timmy for Micheal Young + prospects. Too bad they didn't do that in 2010. And I thought Posey was ticketed for SS. P-Duk how do you sleep at night, with all the possible ways for the Giants to fail. Try counting Affeldt's blown saves it might relax you.

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    3. Pato I have to pile on and say that is a terrible trade idea. I do agree in general with your Belt step up commentary though, it's not going to be fair, calling him out in public is jacked, but ultimately he has to go out and find pitches to hit. You make your own luck in the big leagues. The gints have gone from raving to the prove out routine, he needs to ignore the fan hype. It is unfair to a degree but it's also the reality of the situation at hand. He most likely only has this homestand to show it off. Gulp.

      But back to that trade - Michael Young can't play defense so he is stuck at 1st/dh and is expensive. You really want to trade off Timmy, that is just insanity. The 2b options will be sabean dumpster dives, not blockbusters. Let the lads come home, get their pitching and defense bearings, play out April before going down the blowup path.

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  5. You guys crack me up! I am just throwing out ideas, not carving my opinions in stone or anything! Here is my thought process and I will try to type in short sentences so everyone can follow along. Belt has holes in his swing and may never become a decent major leaguer but his stock should still be somewhat high. He is also from Texas and they don't really have a 1B. Timmy will be gone within 2 years no matter what so if we trade him or let him walk, either way get used to him being gone. Michael Young is a frickin stud at the plate. He may not have the glove he used to have but my guess is he can still play a decent 2B which is by far our weakest position this year, next year, and the year after that at least and that is only if Panik turns out to be ligit. Texas is loaded with pitching prospects. So, put it all together and you have a stop gap at 2B for the next 3 years or so and a couple of young arms that we can plug into the rotation in the next year or two and get right back to dominating opponents with our pitching.

    Eventually Timmy will need to be dealt because I guarantee that they do not give him 100 million after next year. Knowing this makes it a little easier pill to swallow when talking about trading him. When you trade players like Timmy you need to find a team that has something they can give you in return and prospects make the most sense. I can think of a few other teams that may have interest in Timmy but the Yankees farm system has been plundered and I can't see Boston or Philly wanting to give up much to get him. I don't see the Giants dealing with the Dodgers and the Angels are stacked at SP already. Who else is out there that would be a good fit? I can see Belt being more valuable to a team like Texas then anyone else as well since most teams already have strong 1B talent and he is from there. It makes sense to me but then again I love thinking about trade scenarios and playing armchair GM which is better then just sitting around criticizing other peoples ideas and never coming up with one on your own!

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  6. Win, win, win with Melky. He's dirt cheap for the production it looks like the Giants can get out of him this year. If, God forbid, they are >10 games out of a playoff spot near the deadline, they could trade him for a boatload of talent. If they win, he's a slam dunk for a 1 year $12-13 M qualifying offer then get the draft pick or picks. Sign him long term and that's good too.

    Right now, it seems like Bochy has too many choices, all good- Belt, Huff, Nate, Blanco, Pill. Somebody needs to get traded to narrow the choices.

    I think it's also becoming obvious that Sabes is the one who wanted Belt to stay in the majors and Boch is the one who wanted to send him down.

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  7. I know Pagan is a consistent slow starter, but we need to see Blanco sometime soon.

    Timmy isn't damaged goods, he'll work out some kinks, although I don't think he'll ever be CY Young caliber again. It is becoming more and more clear to me that MadBum and Cainer just have the body types and stuff to be real horses and Lincecum is slowly wearing down.

    As for B-Weezy, he's a marketing dream, but his time is near. Luckily for us, we have a stud in Heath Hembree waiting in the wings. His stuff is more electric, he just needs some more seasoning.

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  8. Difference between Cain and Timmy... location location location. Cain was right around 90 all day today but hit his spots and that was all he needed to do. Timmy has looked like Zito does most days having no clue where the ball is going and getting behind hitters or just missing over the middle of the plate when trying to hit a corner. Something has to happen with the logjam as you said Dr. B and out of the guys you mentioned, Belt probably would fetch the most in a trade. Huff isn't going anywhere and looks like he is going to hit this year. Pill is a great bat off the bench and Blanco has potential to have a breakout year like Melky. Nate, Belt, and Pagan should be shopped.

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    1. nate, belt and pagan? which leaves what?

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    2. I'm not advocating trading all of them!! do you not recognize that there is a log jam of offensive options?

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  9. Sorry, the replies don't seem to be working right now.

    Pato,

    Doubt they trade Belt. Probably send him to Fresno first.

    Bacci,

    What did Flem say about MCC? I looked around and couldn't find it.

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    1. https://twitter.com/#!/FlemmingDave/status/190657908617392128

      Just heard this - due to violent SF storm Giants bloggers @mccoveychron and @leftymalo now literally in their mothers' basements

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