Tuesday, July 31, 2012

No Relief

Hope you all were watching those plucky Olympic athletes, because the Giants game sucked big time.  Another blown save, Romo this occasion.   Another loss, the L went to Casilla.  Our relief pitching is just making shambles of our season.  To paraphrase Nomisnala from yesterday: Romo: strike, strike, hang, bang; strike, strike, hang, bang.  It seems like the phrase "he got away with one there" doesn't apply much to Giants pitchers.   Here is the post-All Star poop (and I mean it in the stinkiest way): Casilla, blown save on the 14th, again on the 18th.  Penny, loss on the 22nd in the 12th.  Romo, loss on the 27th.  Last night, the Giants actually came back, but then Casilla went on to cough up a 2 run shot in the 10th.  Hairston!

Madison Bumgarner pitched pretty well, well enough for a win.  He threw 108 pitches in 6 innings, giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 9 amidst 6 hits (and getting a hit himself).  He fanned the side in the second and sixth, although he also gave up a hit in the sixth.  The Giants have not been able to pick up a 12th win for Maddy since July 13.  But our relief pitchers (perhaps it is time for a new term here, they aren't providing much relief) our secondary pitchers,  gave up a 4-2 lead and then, after the Giants managed to tie the game in the ninth, lost in the tenth.  Romo now has 2 Ls and one BS against 5 saves, Casilla has 5 Ls and 6 BS against 24 saves.  You want your secondary pitchers NOT to have losses and blown saves.  The Ws are less important, as long as someone gets them on your team (preferably starters, as I have argued before).  But a bunch of BS and Ls among the bullpen are killers.

A happy note to end this missive:  We are playing less than .500 ball in the month of July, 11-22.

This just in:  the Giants may have acquired Hunter Pence now that Schierholtz is contributing, although Baggarly says it is not yet a deal.  Don't see how that will stop our secondary pitching from sucking.  The Phillies are having a fire sale, apparently Victor Ino or Vic Torino or whatever his name is, is now a smog-sucker.

14 comments:

Ron said...

Hunter Pence for Tommy Joseph deal is confirmed. Pence is here for at least one more year, although at a high price. Giants needed Pence (or someone similar), because Schierholtz & Blanco haven't been real productive. Justin Christian's presence on the roster was becoming Burriss-like. This seems like an OK deal - not a great one, but OK. Schierholtz has had lots of opportunities to shine - now, he's also giving himself opportunities to whine. Anyway, we needed a bat & an OF. I am confident in a Cabrera, Pagan, Pence OF w/ plenty of playing time for Schierholtz & Blanco.

Now, we need a Relief Pitcher ... Chris Perez ahoy?

Brother Bob said...

Blame me. We left after the 7th with a 4-2 lead. By the time I turned on the car radio it was 6-4 Mets. Sorry.
On the bright side, it was the easiest egress from SF I've had in ages (that was the whole point of leaving early). When the game finally ended the lights of Sacramento were already in sight.
I was in full-on tourist mode yesterday. I was with Andrew, Bill and Chuck. First we went to Fisherman's Wharf and had an overpriced lunch with a view at Alioto's #8, then we went to Chinatown and walked around for a while. There was a small fire near Portsmouth Square and we stood around watching all the firetrucks.
We got to our seats just moments before the first pitch. We sat way back in the centerfield bleachers, so we had the same view as the standard pitch camera.
I had a an Anchor Steam and a polish.
The young lady sitting in front of me had a gorgeous ample ass and she kept standing up to adjust her pants, so that was nice.
I participated in the standing ovations for Andres Torres, both when he came to bat and when he went out to center field. You could tell he was genuinely pleased.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Wow, ya takes a little break from the internet-thingie for some peace and some quiet and ya wakes up to a "blockbuster."

The Sandoval injury revealed the pathetic-ness of the lineup, so I'm not surprised by the deal. They have a young catcher already in the bigs so they can lose Joseph (and they have another in the pipeline, Susac). Trade from depth to get what you need. Having Blanco means you can lose Nate's glove.

The new problem, of course, is the bullpen. Wow--it's systemic, not just one guy.

Casilla: 38-2/3 IP, 54 baserunners
Romo: 31-1/3 IP, 32 baserunners
Affeldt: 40-2/3 IP. 51 baserunners
Lopez: 22-1/3 IP, 36 baserunners
Hensley: 37-1/3 IP. 53 baserunners

Too many hits, too many walks, too many HBP. Those five have also allowed 14 HR in their 170-1/3 IP, which wouldn't be bad for a starter. But relievers can't allow HRs, especially with all the close contests the Giants are in. They do have 165 K, so that's good. But a fresh arm or two could really help. When do we see Hembree?

Ron said...

So, the trading deadline has passed, & we got no relief pitchers??? What are they waiting for? Meanwhile, LA got one of the better options (Brandon League). Now, we have to do a waiver deal. But, no point waiting around - they need to get something done. One more bullpen implosion, & we're in deep shit.

Ron said...

@Mark Hembree sucks at Fresno. Per my post yesterday, how about Bochy, Jr.?

M.C. O'Connor said...

"sucks"? Hmmm.

Struggling, perhaps, in 31 IP in a hitters league. Bochy, a year older, has yet to pitch at AAA, so I'm not ready to say he's a better choice. Yet.

JC Parsons said...

This is a great trade. I have always wanted Pence. Besides his proven offense, I recall he has a spectacular arm and should cover our RF well. Nate was AAAA and that is well documented. Pence is a genuine corner OF; a real #5 hitter. Nate and Joesph were completely expendable and it is not one of those half year BULLSHIT rentals. (Yes I mean the STUPID Beltran deal that cost us Wheeler. And don't bother to mention hindsight cuz I said it was Bullshit the moment it happened.) This is a VERY good deal and I bet it really pays off. Scutaro is also a very good pick up.
No use crying over spilt relievers. If Timmy returns we have enough of everything to do it.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Yeah, I like the pickup. Pence is a good player and will beef things up. The 'pen needs help, but maybe they just need to pull their heads out and pitch better.

When Zack Wheeler turns into Matt Cain, then I'll whine about spilt Beltran. Right now he's an AA pitcher who probably wont see the bigs until 2013. And we KNOW you "called it" when it happened. We promise we wont use the h-word.

JC Parsons said...

Actually Fleming just mentioned that Wheeler has been lights out, dominating. They expect to call him up any day and are counting on Wheeler and Harvey to be "their aces of the future." As in next year.

M.C. O'Connor said...

I don't know, what's done is done. Beltran was the best player available, he cost a lot, it didn't work out. I can live with a gamble like that.

Wheeler has yet to prove he's a major league pitcher and until he does it's a moot point. And I'm pretty happy with the guys we have and the guy we drafted no. 1 this year.

Here's a bigger h-word question. We all wanted to sign Timmy to a Cainian deal last year, the year before, etc. Would you still do that? Still give him franchise money and years?

M.C. O'Connor said...

Poor Buster. He's getting pummeled tonight. Timmy looks good! Looks like Vogie!

M.C. O'Connor said...

TIMMEH!! Wright K looking to end the 7th!!!!


Harvey was impressive. Mets could have something with Wheeler and him as a Dynamic Duo. Only time will tell if they can rack up the CYAs, ASGs, WS ring and Perfecto.

M.C. O'Connor said...

THREE MORE OUTS!!!!!!

Affeldt looked good. We need that.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Hooray! First place! Smogsuckers lose!