Monday, September 5, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Playoffs!?
As the great Jim Mora once said...Playoffs!?
Yes, this is way in advance seeing as how the season is only half way over, but it is half way done so this is relevant to a degree. After watching the SF Giants blow the lead in the 9th and then blow it again in the 13th with a chance to really put it away in the 12th I am reminded of last year when all they needed was one win for the NL West. Well, if they do lost the NL West this year due to one game, this game could be the one everyone looks back on as the one that should have been. Giants baseball is a one run lead in the 9th with two outs and Wilson throwing that third strike to get the save. Today, it was a HR he gave up to tie the game at 1-1. No matter, Giants baseball this year has also been coming back in extra innings to get that one run and the bullpen get's the win. Well, we had that, bottom of the 13th, two outs and bam! A three run homerun and it's 5-2 Cubs win. That is two games in a row the Giants bullpen has blown the save and lost. It is also the umpteenth game the OFFENSE had runners in scoring position (RISP) with less then two outs and couldn't get the runner home. The Giants maybe in first place but how long can the realistically keep this high wire act up? It worked once but can it really work again?
That is the question for this season isn't it? Yes they are in first place by 2 games and they have a better record than last year at the point (10 games over .500 this year, 2 games over .500 last year) but is it going to be enough. As we saw with last year, they needed one game to win and it took them game 162 to do it. So will today's loss that really shouldn't have been but was, cost them the division and playoffs this year? What moves need to be made for this team to finally start generating some offense? Do you trade a J. Sanchez for a bat? No, because you have no one who can take over his position (Zito is not the answer) Do you shell out big bucks for a one season rental? No, business wise it makes no sense to pay some guy 10 million for half a season to see him leave afterwards. Do you hope you can get another Pat Burrell or Cody Ross? Sure, there might be someone like that out there but personally I doubt it will happen again. So what is the answer?
The answer is right in their (yours, mine, ours) backyard, the rookies, minor league guys. Look, the trade market this year is not that great, it wasn't great last year either even though the Giants got lucky with Burrell and Ross. But for that to happen again is highly unlikely and you cannot bet a entire season on that. The Giants have young talented players in their farm system right now that could help this team. The number one guy is here already, Brandon Belt. Yes he's hurt but when he's healthy he should be put in as the starting LF and given a chance to play. He cannot do any worse then these guys are doing now. If anything, he has shown that he can take a walk or two a game and that is better then striking out (Burrell) or grounding out (Tejada). By August we should know who these Giants really area and who these players really are. And if players are not producing (offensively or defensively) there is no reason I can see to put them in day after day. If I had my way, this would be my lineup come August first:
CF Torres/Rowand, 2B Burriss, 1B Huff, 3B Sandoval, LF Belt, RF Schierholtz/Ross, SS Crawford, C Whiteside/Stewart, P
Yes, no Freddy because I honestly do not think he will be back this year (if at all) until the end of the season. I also do not think the Giants will find a catcher any better then what they have now unless they are willing to give up a pitcher or big money (which they wont). I do believe Ross and Nate would split time at RF depending on the match ups and who is hot. Rowand I do believe will get more time in CF if Torres keeps struggling like he is. Tejada needs to sit, offensively and defensively he is a big liability and I could see him traded or released by August. Pat will stay, he is still a threat off the bench (which they need at least for show) and a good leader. As for the pitchers go I see this:
Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Vogelsong
Wilson, Romo, Affeldt, Lopez, Ramierez, Casilla, zito
Yes, Zito they are not going to let him go but he will not be the started unless Sanchez is so bad they put him in the bullpen and start Zito. Mota I believe is the one pitcher they would part with, but the others they would not.
So Playoffs!? I do not know, but the Giants for as messed up as they area at times, are probably the most stable team in the NL West. The Dodgers (Ha!) have no chance, too much drama (even for LA), the Padres are back to being the Padres, Arizona I don't believe can keep it up past August. Colorado will make a run but their pitching has become a problem and the Giants seem to own them. Yes, so did San Diego last year to the Giants but I don't see the Giants losing 10 in a row and collapsing like they did. The Giants for all their flaws/problems/etc are a resilient bunch and have a knack for coming through when they need to.
So Playoffs!? Yes, unless it comes down to one game then today's loss to the Cubs could be the one that got away (even though it shouldn't have)
Yes, this is way in advance seeing as how the season is only half way over, but it is half way done so this is relevant to a degree. After watching the SF Giants blow the lead in the 9th and then blow it again in the 13th with a chance to really put it away in the 12th I am reminded of last year when all they needed was one win for the NL West. Well, if they do lost the NL West this year due to one game, this game could be the one everyone looks back on as the one that should have been. Giants baseball is a one run lead in the 9th with two outs and Wilson throwing that third strike to get the save. Today, it was a HR he gave up to tie the game at 1-1. No matter, Giants baseball this year has also been coming back in extra innings to get that one run and the bullpen get's the win. Well, we had that, bottom of the 13th, two outs and bam! A three run homerun and it's 5-2 Cubs win. That is two games in a row the Giants bullpen has blown the save and lost. It is also the umpteenth game the OFFENSE had runners in scoring position (RISP) with less then two outs and couldn't get the runner home. The Giants maybe in first place but how long can the realistically keep this high wire act up? It worked once but can it really work again?
That is the question for this season isn't it? Yes they are in first place by 2 games and they have a better record than last year at the point (10 games over .500 this year, 2 games over .500 last year) but is it going to be enough. As we saw with last year, they needed one game to win and it took them game 162 to do it. So will today's loss that really shouldn't have been but was, cost them the division and playoffs this year? What moves need to be made for this team to finally start generating some offense? Do you trade a J. Sanchez for a bat? No, because you have no one who can take over his position (Zito is not the answer) Do you shell out big bucks for a one season rental? No, business wise it makes no sense to pay some guy 10 million for half a season to see him leave afterwards. Do you hope you can get another Pat Burrell or Cody Ross? Sure, there might be someone like that out there but personally I doubt it will happen again. So what is the answer?
The answer is right in their (yours, mine, ours) backyard, the rookies, minor league guys. Look, the trade market this year is not that great, it wasn't great last year either even though the Giants got lucky with Burrell and Ross. But for that to happen again is highly unlikely and you cannot bet a entire season on that. The Giants have young talented players in their farm system right now that could help this team. The number one guy is here already, Brandon Belt. Yes he's hurt but when he's healthy he should be put in as the starting LF and given a chance to play. He cannot do any worse then these guys are doing now. If anything, he has shown that he can take a walk or two a game and that is better then striking out (Burrell) or grounding out (Tejada). By August we should know who these Giants really area and who these players really are. And if players are not producing (offensively or defensively) there is no reason I can see to put them in day after day. If I had my way, this would be my lineup come August first:
CF Torres/Rowand, 2B Burriss, 1B Huff, 3B Sandoval, LF Belt, RF Schierholtz/Ross, SS Crawford, C Whiteside/Stewart, P
Yes, no Freddy because I honestly do not think he will be back this year (if at all) until the end of the season. I also do not think the Giants will find a catcher any better then what they have now unless they are willing to give up a pitcher or big money (which they wont). I do believe Ross and Nate would split time at RF depending on the match ups and who is hot. Rowand I do believe will get more time in CF if Torres keeps struggling like he is. Tejada needs to sit, offensively and defensively he is a big liability and I could see him traded or released by August. Pat will stay, he is still a threat off the bench (which they need at least for show) and a good leader. As for the pitchers go I see this:
Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Vogelsong
Wilson, Romo, Affeldt, Lopez, Ramierez, Casilla, zito
Yes, Zito they are not going to let him go but he will not be the started unless Sanchez is so bad they put him in the bullpen and start Zito. Mota I believe is the one pitcher they would part with, but the others they would not.
So Playoffs!? I do not know, but the Giants for as messed up as they area at times, are probably the most stable team in the NL West. The Dodgers (Ha!) have no chance, too much drama (even for LA), the Padres are back to being the Padres, Arizona I don't believe can keep it up past August. Colorado will make a run but their pitching has become a problem and the Giants seem to own them. Yes, so did San Diego last year to the Giants but I don't see the Giants losing 10 in a row and collapsing like they did. The Giants for all their flaws/problems/etc are a resilient bunch and have a knack for coming through when they need to.
So Playoffs!? Yes, unless it comes down to one game then today's loss to the Cubs could be the one that got away (even though it shouldn't have)
Friday, May 27, 2011
Do not give up hope for the SF Giants 2011 season...
Get well buddy!!!
The world is over! Our savior Buster Posey is gone! Throw the towel in we cannot win! We cannot defend our title! What are we to do!?
Ok San Francisco Giants fans, the season is over so you might as well just stop watching and go wallow in your sorrow. I mean, isn’t that what happened Wednesday night? The world came to an end (albeit a few days later than predicted) and now we are left to deal with the chaos that follows. Oh woe for us, our savior is gone what are we to do? What will happen? How will we go on!? That is the sentiment that seems to be settling on Giants Nation everywhere. Look, Buster Posey is hurt, he is not dead and so far his career does not look over with. He will be back be it the end of this season or the start of next. But what we cannot do is abandon the rest of the team because ONE player has gone down. When Pablo Sandoval got hurt it was not the end of the world right? Neither will it be with Buster Posey. One man a team does not make.
But what about the offense!? They cannot score a run and now with Posey out they are doomed!!!
Ok ok, look, even with Posey they were not scoring many runs even with his 13 game hit streak he was still hitting poor with runners in scoring position (RISP). The offensive struggles has been a team wide epidemic (yes epidemic because that is what it is) that has guys like Huff and Ross and Burrell and Torres, etc not hitting how they need to. Once they get back to where they usually are (once can hope) then offensively things will start to look better. Also, let us not forget that Sandoval will be coming back to the team in a few weeks. If he can continue swinging like he was before his surgery that will be like having a free agent. Pablo of this year seems like he could be the Pablo of 2009, which is basically like having a new player. Pablo of 2010 was horrible, but the addition of Posey made up for it. So think of the Pablo 2011 (a la 2009) as being Posey of 2010, he can help make up for that offensive loss. And just for good measure, we have Brandon Belt (who was tearing up AAA) who hopefully now will start hitting like we hope he can. But that is assuming Bochy decides to start playing him regularly and sits one of his veterans that we know he loves over the young guns.
But his catching, his defense, his masterful ability to call the game! How oh how can they replace that!?
Yes, it is pretty obvious that what partly got Posey the ROY 2010 was the fact that he is a damn good catcher. But, do you all really have that little faith in Eli Whiteside? I mean, have we forgotten that he called and caught Jonathan Sanchez’s no hitter in 2009? Has it also be forgotten that in the end the pitcher is the one who decides what he wants to throw and also that he is the one throwing the ball? Yes, Whiteside probably is not defensively as good as Posey, but his game calling I would say is pretty good. If the pitching staff likes throwing to him then you have to assume that he is pretty decent to have a staff like that giving him the thumbs up. And before you talk about his hitting, he knows that he will not put up Posey like numbers but again, the team as a whole is doing poorly offensively.
So there is hope? Is that what you are trying to tell us!? We can hope and believe that this season is not over with!?
Yes, that is what I am trying to say there is still reason to think that they can make it back to the playoffs. Remember, they are in first place and have done this with Sandoval out, Ross out for a few weeks, Torres out for a few weeks. They have done this while scoring the second lowest runs in all of the Major Leagues. So, assuming their offensive gets back to what it can do (which is on average around 3-4 runs a game) and the pitching stays where it is at, there is hope. The core players on this team career wise are better than what they are doing right now. So, if we keep that in mind this season is not lost at all but it is up to the players to turn it on and around. We as fans just need to continue to support them. So let us not throw the towel in, there is a lot of baseball left to be played.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Here we go again (and again and again...)
You know this is like my 3rd (ok 10 millionth) attempt at this and I always start out well but after a while (minutes) I just stop. Why? I have no clue (lazy) why...really I don't (liar). I have tried to come at this from many (oh you have no clue) many angels and it always (miserably) fails. I think this time (not relly) have it figure out and here is what it is (haha!). Since I love taking photos (like thousands) I figure this should be my angle...somehow post around photos. Of course I will have random posts (oh you betcha) that will not be focused on a photo (if ever). So here I try this again (losing focus already) on trying to do this...I keep up on my twitter (@thotsandwhtnots) and facebook rants so why not this?
~S
~S
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