The Giants play their first game of the year tonight in Arizona at 4:10 PM PDT (that’s 7:10 PM for us east coasters). Here’s a list of five things that I’m looking for in tonight’s game. 1. What will Lincecum throw sans slider? Here’s a graph, courtesy of Brooks Baseball, detailing Tim Lincecum’s pitch-type usage by season. Notice the huge… Read more →
There’s been a lot written about Brandon Belt this season. The topics have ranged from “why the heck aren’t you playing him more” to “oh my god please play him more”. And, as Rory noted in his previous post, the bulk of blog writing this year has centered on the Giants’ pitiful offense. It’s bad, if you haven’t heard by… Read more →
After last night’s 9-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Giants’ runs scored per game (R/G) fell to 3.5. That places the team 16th in the National League in R/G. The Giants have scored 395 runs this season. The team also ranks dead last or second-to-last in OBP (.303), SLG (.358), OPS+ (85), and slew of other offensive metrics that… Read more →
If you like, I can throw another, longer title at you: Statistical Evidence: Who is killing the Giants, a team that, when attempting to score runs, resembles an infant trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. We already pretty much know, I think, who is killing the Giants offensively. It’s Aubrey Huff and his terrible encore to his brilliant 2010. It’s… 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 →
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 →
After last night’s 3-0 loss to the Reds, I went over to Baseball-Reference to refresh the National League leader boards. My fears were confirmed; the Giants runs scored per game now sits at a puny 3.51 runs. That’s 15th in the NL, only the Padres have been worse at scoring runs. And if you consider park factors – click this… Read more →
Think of this post as a sort of addendum to Rory’s post, ‘The Giants’ thin margin‘. If I had to describe this season, besides using the word ‘injuries’, I would pick ‘tightrope-ish’. Rory talked about the thin margin for Giants’ victories this year — the team has often won games by one run. One run wins are often the product… Read more →
As if you need a graphic to tell you that. When you’ve got a walk-rate on par with the Houston Astros, you’re doing it wrong.
The Giants and offensive futility have been quite the topic of recent debate on this site, and many other blogs. Thus far in the season, Pablo Sandoval is hitting .313/.374/.530, that’s an wRC+ of 142 (meaning he’s hitting 42% better than your league average batter) and now he’s out for 4-6 weeks after suffering a broken hamate bone in his… Read more →