Monday, July 13, 2015

This is Not a Book About Bases on Balls


This is a book by Bruce Bochy, manager of the 2015 National League All Stars.  He likes to take walks, by himself after a tough loss, with his wife in San Francisco and to get to the ball park.  The book describes some of those walks.  Not just here, but in Arizona and Cincinnati and other places.  The book reads like Bruce talking, you can almost hear the southern drawl.  And since there is a couple of days with no real baseball.......

14 comments:

Brother Bob said...

This looks like my kind of book. I could write a similar tome about the Citrus Heights region. Maybe it wouldn't sell as well as Bochy's.

Ron said...

My Parents were just telling me about this book - sounds good!

The latest sign of the apocalypse: Batters can call (TV) timeouts during their turns in the HR Contest, resulting in actual TV commercials. I wonder if a hitter would be sanctioned by MLB for failing to use his timeout, due to loss of advertising revenue.

Anyway, at least Joc Pederson didn't win. That guy is irritating, more so, because he is from the Bay Area.

Hope that all of our guys get to play tonight, stay healthy, & contribute something!

Ron said...

Everth Cabrera???

M.C. O'Connor said...

You can never have enough guys. I'm guessing he is Adrianza insurance--y'know, proven ML player in the system in case of an injury to someone like BCraw or Panik.

M.C. O'Connor said...

I think I'd rather have Vogie starting but I suppose Hudson would be a lousy reliever.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

Cabrera provides depth for MI in the minors. The Giants want to kick the tires, since he was talented not that long ago, as he is still only 28 YO. He was averaging 40 SB just two years ago.

His problem seems to be that he stopped taking walks the last two seasons. His BABIP has gone down severely the past two seasons, suggesting that perhaps he lost a lot of speed for some reason. However, his PwrSpd last season was very close to where it was in 2013 and better than 2012, so perhaps it is for another reason.

But if you look at his GB/FB ratio and GO/AO ratio, clearly the big change is that he went from hitting more flyballs to hitting a lot more groundballs, increasing both by 0.5 roughly, he has changed the way he has hit, so if the Giants can switch him back to his prior hitting ways, and get more flyballs, they could get back the All-Star he was in 2013. One danger sign is he has had multiple hamstring issues in the past, 2010 twice, 2013 was his latest.

If the Giants can get him going, perhaps he could take Arias spot on the bench. Arias right now provides no positive off the bench, no real offensive or defensive value, other than good 3B defense. Cabrera is a SH, plays 2B, 3B, SS like Arias, but also can run a lot, he has stolen a lot of bases, and could be a weapon off the bench. Oddly, his SS defense is not all that good during this career, though BB-Ref cumulatively has him providing positive value defensively, but all his advanced stats (DRS, UZR) has been pretty bad defensively at SS but good at 2B and 3B.

And if they can get his bat going, he's definitely an upgrade over Arias, who has no power, no speed, and no defense except for 3B. Or perhaps Adrianza, maybe the Giants don't like what they have seen from him so far since he returned, as I've been predicting the DFA of Arias since last season and he's still here.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

This is Vogie's role for the season, he steps in when others are injured. They are healthy now, so he needs to step back. It would be another thing if he had an ERA like Heston, but he don't. Also, he is in a bad streak of starts right now, which could be a sign of his annual bout with poor pitching - every season, around August, he suddenly loses it, don't know why, fatigue or whatever - so a rest might be good for him.

That said, we don't know what condition Huddy is in. He has been battling hip and ankle issues. Remember, he was operated on just before spring training on his ankle and had very little time to recover from that.

Or Peavy for that matter, while he has two good starts, when he first went onto the DL, Peavy said that the goal was not to get to 100% healthy, but to get back to pitching, implying that he'll be pitching with pain and ailments. He's fine now, but who's to say one bad sleep in bed won't trigger something with his ailing back?

Vogie might be going back in soon should there be any problems with the two of them. And Cain had one setback in spring, he could have another one this season, we don't know. Vogie could be back in soon, we just don't know, but good to know we are covered if he's needed.

But take a good long look at Hudson's good long career. His annual ERA is almost always within 0.5 away from his career average, not too high, not too low. He is like a machine in terms of ERA, this is his first year so far off his career average.

I would bet on that, give him a chance to show what he got. And Huddy was turning around things just before his DL, had some dominant starts. With rest and restored health, maybe he could start this second half like he did the start of 2014, and carry the rotation.

JC Parsons said...

New topics: Picking up Cabrera is rather curious given our depth at that spot and his high risk behavior of late. Some one in our organization must have info that he is cleaning up his act, which makes him pretty desirable on paper (28, very good a little while ago). The other reason may be related to a deal that includes Adrianza, so like MOC said, he ends up being back up short stop insurance. Now that Adrianza looks good at the plate he now becomes one of our only trading chips, along with Susac. Those guys are excellent and would need to bring in a big return, so I don't see it happening. But if packaged....they are both blocked by franchise type players....I'm just sayin. So in one universe, picking up Cabrera is significant, but in most it isn't.

So the starting rotation merry go round begins! I bet they keep Lincecum on the DL, for no particular reason, while they look over Petit/Vogie in the long role. Then whoever screws up will get some mystery injury and go on the DL as they give Lincecum a tryout. By then the rosters expand and the problem is put off til the postseason (hopefully). Not very dramatic. In the final wash, I expect our rotation for the stretch drive to be: MadBum, Cain, Peavy, Heston, and ..... (Brain choice) Vogie, (Heart choice) Lincecum. I guess I figure the next time Hudson gets hurt will be the end for him so chances are good that will be soon. Also, as I have lamented before, I see no role for our Freak. Everyone refers to his previous success out of the pen but that was a long while ago now. They have had a couple chances to experiment with Tim in the bullpen and they seem to give it a wide berth. You can't blame them with his control issues, inability to hold runners, lack of a strike out pitch. On paper it does not look good for #55. Of course, it never has....

The timed Home Run Derby was weird. It seemed like the guy that went second had a huge advantage. At least it sped the whole thing up. I only saw a little bit and when I saw Jocko Penison had a chance to win, I quit watching. The doggers sure did stink up the ASG. heehee. I guess they figure that they will suck in the post season anyway so they may as well make it harder for us. Clever

Zo said...

In 2012 Tim Lincecum was a good choice for relief because, in his starts, he would often go once through the line-up before getting into trouble. The ability to go 3 innings in relief is huge. However, in the intervening years, he has not shown that same tendency (to make it through the batters once). In fact, sometimes his worst pitches are at the beginning of his start, after which he settles in for awhile. That does not bode well for relief.

Zo said...

Hank Schulman put it well in the Chronic today: "The defending World Series champion Giants started the 2015 season 3 - 9. They have had losing streaks of 8, 5, 5 and 7 games. They have had more long-term injuries to important players than most teams could bear. .......Except for one thing......the Giants can honestly say, 'We're not dead yet'."

nomisnala said...

Arias is our secret weapon against Kershaw. This has value if he had no other value.
But he does. Arias continues to be under rated. He plays very infrequently so it is
difficult to get one's timing. Arias is a good fielder, and he can get on a decent
hitting streak.

Campanari said...

Arias has had a negative offensive fWAR each year as a Giant, and only one year, 2013, in which his fielding was worth keeping him around for. This year, like every year before he came to the Giants, his defense has been negative in fWAR. I have to agree with ogc about his lack of value on the roster. So must Bochy, since although he recurs to giving rest to his infielders, he so rarely feels able to give them any. If Everth Cabrera can be got to play respectable ball, now that he is off the PEDs that may have enabled his playing good ball at all (whether as pharmaceuticals or as placebos), I would welcome having him for the time being, to replace Arias.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Susac is NOT a trading chip. Buster has played first base 25 times already this season. That will continue. Giants have the backup catcher they NEED, they can't get rid of him! Adrianza is a potential trade chip, but not being a proven ML-player means he's not worth a whole lot. He may be more valuable to the team in a utility role to keep BCraw (especially), Duffy, and Panik fresh. That could be Cabrera's role (if he gets called up), too, simply to keep BCraw fresh for the dog days. The only way the Giants get another body or two for the stretch run is by trading minor leaguers (or doing the scrap heap/waiver thing). The guys they have that would be desirable trade chips are too important to the current team and next year's team, like the aforementioned infielders. They have some good arms in the 'pen, like Kontos and Osich, but I think we'd all rather have them around, wouldn't we? If they Giants go after some one I expect maybe an outfielder (Pagan insurance) or another starter (if Cain/Peavy falter).

According to MLB Trade Rumors TYLER BEEDE is the one piece everyone wants from the Giants in trade talks.

According to the same source, the Reds want to move Leake, Cueto, and/or Chapman. That's a lot of goddamn pitching talent! What would it take to get Cueto?

Rockies, Brewers, and Phillies could be unloading talent as well. I wonder if Will Venable from SD is available? He's a free agent next year.


obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

Thank you M.C. I've been saying that for a while now, it drives me crazy when I see people talking about trading Susac.

To get any upgrade in trade, it will take trading minor leaguers. And while everyone is asking for Beede, I don't think that's happening, just like when everyone was asking the Giants for Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner. They should just move on.

I don't think Cueto is happening unless you are going to give until it hurts. Beede? Plus probably another SP prospect with good promise, Blackburn, Mella, Mejia. And I would think a good position prospect, like Garcia or Arroyo.

Similarly for Chapman, though it depends on what the right info on his contract is. BB-Ref notes that he's still in arbs next season, but someone claims that Cots notes some sort of player option that lets him out after this season. Obviously, it will cost more if there's an extra year of control. Start with Strickland probably. One of those SP prospects above, as well as the position players, and they could also want another bullpen arm to go with Strickland, say Okert, Osich, Law.

I think Leake would be easier to get. Kind of similar to what it took to get McGehee, but with another SP added to the deal.