SF 6 MIA 3
Buster Posey launched a homer in the 1st and Gorkys Hernandez hit a two-run shot in the next inning and the Giants held on for a win against the Marlins. Derek Rodriguez logged five innings and although he allowed seven hits and three runs he struck out six against zero walks. He also plunked Lewis Brinson who not only messed with Hunter Strickland last night he apparently pissed off the rest of the team. So the rookie had to retaliate, I suppose, which resulted in the usual predictable stuff. The ump issued a warning but the Marlins plunked Buster Posey anyway and then they had to yank their pitcher, Dan Straily. He was the one who plunked Evan Longoria in Miami! The Giants kept their collective cool and the bullpen took care of the final four frames. Alen Hanson shined with both the bat and the glove and Pablo Sandoval continues to contribute.
Derek Holland gets the call tomorrow afternoon, 12:45 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
9 comments:
You’re kind to pass over Strickland’s striking sacrifice of his pitching hand, in punching something still more stubbornly unthinking than he himself is, I.e., a door. He will not be helping his team till August, by which time I assume he will have lost his post of honor as Closer. With Dyson, Melancon, Moronta, Smith, and Watson aboard, I don’t know that his absence will greatly damage the Giants.
You missed our comments on him after the previous post.
Anyway, we've all seen athletes be stupid. Bruce Bochy told a funny story on the pre-game about how Kevin Brown once tore a urinal off the wall and smashed it to bits after a bad outing. Some of these guys have a hard time with the ups and downs.
Strickland was the fill-in closer, at some point they'll put Melancon out there. I think the best thing the Giants have going this year is the 'pen, there's been a lot of good pitching from that group.
Done w/ excuses for Strickland. Done w/ Strickland's potential. Done w/ Strickland & Bryce Harper's 'feud which only exists in the mind of Strickland'. Done w/ the spectacular unreliability of Strickland. Done w/ Strickland as a Giant.
If he's a valuable trade piece, let's do it. Maybe Strickland's departure would make Harper more likely to sign w/ us.
It's hard to say what the organization thinks about Strickland's future, which I suppose is mostly about replace-ability. That is, if they have a guy who can do what he does on the 40-man or in the minors and can be had for the ML-minimum then they could save a million bucks or so by DFA-ing or (ideally) trading him. After his recovery, of course, and assuming they are fed up with him. I've no idea--they keep that personnel stuff pretty close to the vest.
Bryce Harper is not going to sign with the Giants, nor do I understand in which universe would the Giants be attracted to Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper will play on Bryce Harper's ball club, like the Nats are now, not on Buster Posey's ball club. Bryce Harper will not be satisfied with a contract that pays less than Giancarlo Stanton's contract, and that means that the Giants will have to unload a lot more salary than they have coming up next year. And I, for one, would rather watch Buster Posey's ball club.
That said, I agree with everything (else) Ron said. Or should we wait until Hunter Strickland and his macho act gets Buster Posey seriously hurt? Cause that's what almost happened. Strickland blew his save, and then had to get all butthurt because some guy on a losing team (except, of course, against the feckless Giants) flipped his bat (which apparently happened, but wasn't worth much of a mention at the time) then took himself out of the line-up for a few months. Rodriguez hit Brison on the hip, then dickhead Mattingly nearly had Posey hit in the head. Fucking great.
We did not "slay" the fish. We eked out a victory, or perhaps out-lasted them one game for a change. We're down 2 players, and perhaps sinking out of a pennant race because of a team that will finish out the season far, far in last place in their division, but will have won the season series against us. Fuck Mattingly forever and fuck the rest of the Marlins.
Nice interview with Buck Showalter at FanGraphs. I like when older guys stay in the game (he's 62) and move with the times. I hate the "everything was better in the old days" shite you get from some of the bygone stars. Players today are amazing and the game is intensely, internationally competitive and always evolving as well. You can't just have talent, you have to have smarts and a good organization that stays current. And athletes today are different and have different expectations of how to be coached, taught, managed, compensated, etc. Add in the absurd level of scrutiny on not only their performances but on their personal lives as well, it's a different game in a different world. But I still enjoy watching the super-human (at least to me) stuff they pull off on a daily basis!
Judging by the Giants track record of attracting top-tier free agents--Ohtani, Stanton, Lester, etc.--I think Harper is a longshot. They did nab Cueto, but overall this is not a club big-time free agents, for whatever reason, migrate to. That being said I'd love to see Harper on the team! The guy is wacky, that's for sure, and has wild swings in performance, but he is also a ridiculous talent. I'm of the belief that you stockpile talent and work on the chemistry later. By the time most guys get to free agency (Harper debuted as a 19-year old, so he's an outlier) they are usually sufficiently mature to "work well with others" even if their physical skills are declining. They add "intangibles" just by being older and wiser and having a better outlook on success and failure.
Hunter Strickland may be a lost cause, at least as far as the Giants go, but guys have done way worse and been "redeemed" later in their careers, so you can never tell. (And it's the old schoolteacher in me that hates to "write off" anyone, even if I'm disappointed by their behavior. Hate the sin and love the sinner, right?) Again, I've no notion of what Strickland's bosses think of him, maybe we'll get a story on that this week from one of the beat guys.
Clarification: I really don't think that the Giants had or have much of chance to get Harper (w/ or w/o Strickland on the Roster). Same old thing: as mentioned by Mark, the poor track record of attracting top FA's; the notion that the ballpark is awful for left-handed hitters not named Bonds; high taxes in CA; & so on.
Regarding the 'this is Buster's Team' thing, I don't think that that's such a big deal. Like it or not, Buster is in the latter stage of his career - Age 31 Season. We all love him & always will, but his offensive output is declining, his legs are going, &, even in the most optimistic scenario, he's probably got 5 more full years left to give us. Pudge's last season w/ >500 AB's was age 35. Johnny Bench? Age 27. Posada? Age 35. Somehow, Fisk did it at age 43, but that is a wild outlier.
Bryce Harper is a 25 year old OF - w/ his skills, he has 10 more years minimum to be 'the man'. Assuming that Posey's influence continues to decline, he could be 'the man' for us for 9 of those years. That's a pretty healthy dose of being 'Team Leader'.
Still, I'm not expecting Harper to be a Giant. If we're going to spend that kind of money, we should, as always, focus on top Pitching - like, multiple top Pitchers.
I don't buy this media obsession with stuff like "this is Buster's team" or "Harper has to be THE MAN wherever he goes" and etc. It's all just talk for fans to chew on and probably has nothing to do with anything. From what I can tell ballplayers all want to win and they all want to be the best. Hell, Stanton went to the Yankees and he's just one more star in their parade of stars. That's why they are good, they are stacked with talent. Ballplayers, I don't think, are as complicated as fans. They go where they think they can achieve the most and don't sweat a lot of the little details fans and media people fixate on. Or at least what they base their decisions on is far from what sports-writers tell us.
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