I really don’t want to talk about this team right now. When Henry Sosa – on three days rest – shuts you down, well, that’s not a very good sign. If the Giants offense were a person, they would probably be written up somewhere in the Darwin Awards. I think the entry would go something like this: the Giants come home from a hard day’s work and accidentally light themselves on fire while trying to open a jar of pickles with a blowtorch and a ten gallon drum of gasoline. That’s the human equivalent for this offense. If the offense was a person, he’d be walking around with singed eyebrows right about now.
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* Tommy Joseph, the man with light tower power, has been on an absolute tear in San Jose over the past couple of months. The recently turned 20-year-old’s slash-line is currently at .267/.308/.468 in 472 at-bats. That line includes a somewhat scary walk-to-strikeout ratio (BB/K) of 24/94, but over the past two months Joseph has slugged 14 home runs. His power potential combined with recent positive reports on his defense (and his relative age to league) should place him near the top of anyone’s prospect list. I remarked on twitter over the past week with Joseph, Sanchez, and Susac, the Giants suddenly have some nice depth at the catcher position.
* Baggs’ latest blog entry is depressing and I think it hints a little at the upcoming issue with Aubrey Huff’s contract in 2012. Huff’s deal isn’t a back-breaker of Zitoian or Rowandesque proportions, but it’s not chump change, either. Huff’s career has alternated from good to bad pretty frequently, so what’s in store for 2012 is anyone’s guess, but I think the Giants are going to regret Huff’s deal more in 2012 than 2011 in some ways. They’ve got a replacement for Huff in Belt that will cost far less financially and with a good chance of being on par, or better, in terms of production. By all accounts, Huff is a good clubhouse guy, but at some point, you’ve got to be a good on-the-field guy, too.
* Marcos Brenteon of the Sacramento Bee has an article online entitled, “Giants’ Tim Lincecum deserves Cy Young consideration”. He points out that Lincecum’s W/L record (12-10) isn’t representative of how well Lincecum has pitched this year. I agree with the premise that W/L records are worthless. At the moment, Tim Lincecum ranks 7th in the NL in FIP, 6th in fWAR, and 2nd in K/9, those are all great numbers. However, did you know that Matt Cain edges out Lincecum in FIP and fWAR? Bumgarner, Cain, and Lincecum rank 5th, 6th, and 7th, respectively, in the NL for FIP for starting pitchers. Lincecum isn’t the guy this year in the NL, but he’s having a great season regardless. If I had to pick a CYA right now, I’m going with Halladay; he’s tied for the IP lead in the NL, and his 2.12 FIP is beyond ridiculous. In addition, Halladay is walking just 1.09 batters-per-nine (BB/9). Come to think of it, I would probably give the NL MVP to Halladay, too. The last pitcher to win the MVP Award was Dennis Eckersley in 1992.
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