Maybe it’s the lowered expectations talking, but I was not terribly angry to watch that one slip away. For one thing, Lincecum was good and put his rough stretch another game behind him. For another, I’ve become apathetic to the failures of the Giant offense. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, Giant hitters gotta fish for a first pitch slider…. Read more →
If you were going to talk about the 2011 Giants at length, you would almost certainly cover, in heaps, both Ryan Vogelsong and their run differential-defying ways. Vogelsong is thriving now despite a decade of failure, at least in terms of success in Major League Baseball (more on this later). And the Giants are thriving in the NL West (and… Read more →
Quick links, bullet point style, for your off-day reading consumption: The Hardball Times: 25th anniversary of Robby Thompson’s day in baserunning hell Stadium Journey: San Jose Municipal Stadium review San Jose Mercury News: Pablo Sandoval leaves game but expects to play against Chicago Cubs Baseball-Reference: Not a link per se, but Jeremy Affeldt is really on a roll this June…. Read more →
There’s some huge pregame news today coming from the Giants: Perhaps Jonathan Sanchez’s problems aren’t all in his head. Or perhaps the Giants found a creative way to give Sanchez a two-week break without compromising their roster. In a surprising move, the Giants just placed Sanchez on the 15-day disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. Barry Zito, who will start… Read more →
Fact #1: Jonathan Sanchez can be an incredibly frustrating pitcher to watch at times. Fact #2: Jonathan Sanchez is an above-average starting pitcher in the National League. These two facts are not irreconcilable. In last night’s game, Sanchez only lasted 4.2 innings against the Indians. In what can be best described as a typical Jonathan Sanchez start, Sanchez issued six… Read more →
This is a bit of lab work, but here’s a new graph/chart I’ve been tinkering with. It’s each of Lincecum’s strikeouts by pitch-type from yesterday’s 12 strikeout masterpiece. Each strikeout is color coded for pitch-type (red = fastball, green = slider, yellow = changeup, blue = curveball). I’ve included if the pitch was a swinging strikeout (as depicted by the… Read more →
Scott Reiss has an article about the Giants’ offense and whether or not it’s underachieving: Pat Burrell? Only starting once a week anyway, but in case you’re of the “why isn’t he playing more?”mindset, well, here it is: .221 in 2009. .202 with Tampa Bay before his mid-season resurgence in San Francisco. .221 in 2011. That’s what we call a… Read more →
Piggy-backing on the George Kottaras rumors. Some Kottaras facts: * George Kottaras is a 28-year-old catcher that bats left-handed and throws right-handed. * Career minor league walk-rate (BB/PA) of 13.3% * Career minor league isolated power (ISO) of .177 * In 396 career plate appearances in the majors, Kottaras has an 11.3% walk-rate and a .185 ISO. Very similar to… Read more →
Playing around with Baseball Reference the other day, I noticed something odd. In 966 PAs, there have only been five homeruns hit at AT&T Park by left-handed batters this year. While AT&T is famous for suppressing left-handed power, that’s about a third of the rate that balls usually leave the yard in the post Bonds era. I’m at a loss… Read more →
If you go to FanGraphs and sort the Giants by weighted on-base average (wOBA), you’re sure to laugh (or cry). 1. Cody Ross (.361) Never thought I’d see you here. 2. Pablo Sandoval (.352) You’re back! (We wanted ’09, early ’11 Panda, though.) 3. Jeremy Affeldt (.348) Our first pitcher (and a reliever at that!) 4. Buster Posey (.341) Out… Read more →