The Giants fall flat in the final two games against the Athletics, losing yesterday 4-3 and today 6-2. The offense has been absent for the entire month of July: they've scored only 51 runs in 14 games and are 6-8 over that span as a result. Brandon Belt's appendicitis looms large as he's yet to re-discover his spectacular pre-surgery form.
Yesterday Jeff Samardzija had nothing and as expected was returned to the DL. It seems five straight seasons of 32 starts and 200+ innings has taken its toll. The Shark's value as a pitcher is mostly due to his durability--even if he comes back and pitches effectively later it's a lost season for him. Andrew Suarez looked good again, but ran into some bad luck as the A's strung together a sequence of weakly-hit balls that derailed his day. The bullpen had to be overused in both games and in each case a nearly unhittable reliever (Tony Watson yesterday and both Reyes Moronta and Will Smith today) finally succumbed to the dreaded regression to the mean and yielded runs.
After 98 games the Giants are 50-48 (.510) which is good for fourth place in the NL West. There are eight other teams in the NL with a better record, and three are in the same division. They've got 64 games left and if they play .600 ball (38-26) they'll finish with 88 wins. After 98 games they've managed only that .510 pace so it may be a reach asking for such an improvement. (A .510 clip would yield an 83-79 final record.) At least we are getting a chance to see some great work by the youngsters (Suarez, Moronta, Dereck Rodriguez, Steven Duggar, Ray Black, etc.) and some surprise performances (like Gorkys Hernandez and Alan Hanson) as well as an All-Star campaign from Brandon Crawford.
Enjoy the Break!
--M.C.
9 comments:
If healthy, a rotation of Bumgarner, Cueto, Rodriguez, Suarez and possibly Holland, can get us to at least 88 wins, but the lineup has to hit. Our leading RBI guy cannot have only 42 RBI. Crawford cannot find his way back to a season of batting around 250, he has to continue to hit at close to a 300 pace. With 31 RBI in the first 98 games, Posey needs about 64 RBI in the last 64 games. I watch other teams, and their good hitters just hit better in the clutch. As a team the giants are hitting over 250 but their run production is way below par. Low run production puts additional stress on the pitching staff. Today I thought Moronta had Piscotty struck out before he hit the home run. I think Bochy and some of the players are extremely dissatisfied with the umping this year. They are probably not the only team. But, as more pitchers throw in the high nineties, and pitches also have more movement, I think some of the old eyes behind the plate calling balls and strikes are just not adequate. They may be the best in the world, but they seem to be making an extreme case this year, for some type of electronic strike zone.
.394 team SLG is the culprit. There are 22 teams with a better one. The Giants hit homers in June but can't seem to in July.
Know what the Giants haven't had this year? Much in the way of a winning streak. They also haven't had much in the way of a losing streak. Their longest losing streak was 6 games, and their longest winning streak was 5 games. Both of those, oddly, involved the Phillies. It would be nice to see them string together about 8 wins - or even an 8 - 2 run, or maybe a couple. A 5 - 5 homestand is just extremely disappointing. Given the way that the NL West has gone this year, a little run would put us right back in the thick of things.
Yup. They are an agonizingly mediocre club. They can't seem to--yet--break out of that .500 rut.
What is also disturbing is that our best player, Buster Posey, only has 10 RBI on the road. That is almost unthinkable if one did not see it happen.
electronic strike zone
Would be an exceptional marketing opportunity for the All Star Game.
The ASG would have its highest viewer numbers ever, but MLB won't even consider it because they're afraid of how obvious it'll be that this change needs to be implemented now.
I think the world of Buster Posey, but our best player is Brandon Crawford. Buster's value is mainly based on the art of catching. He's a good singles hitter with moderate power, and has maintained the status of an elite talent from day one of his career. But this year BCraw's the man. There's a great story this AM from the SJ Mercury News comparing Crawford with the best shortstops in SF History. Chris Speier stands out. I shook his hand once.
I think that the electronic strike zone will ultimately prevail in baseball but it is a ways away, technologically-speaking. The system they have in place now for tracking pitches works pretty well but it is by no means ready for prime time. There are a lot of bugs still to be worked out. But it will happen in the next 3-5 years. I feel that fans are culturally ready for the concept of robot umps behind the plate which is a big step.
Posey is not hitting for power and you can't get RBIs unless you jack up the slugging percentage. The whole Giants team has a power shortage.
Manny Machado is apparently a dogger, traded for one highly touted prospect and some other untouted prospects.
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