The 2009 Giants probably surprised a few people when they finished the year at 88 wins vs. 74 loses. Their winning percentage of .543 marked the first time since 2004 that the Giants posted a better than .500 winning percentage. The years from 2005-2008 were dark times. Over that span, the Giants posted winning percentages of .463, .472, .438, and… Read more →
A quick graph post tonight before I turn in. I’m trying to come up with a graph that shows the ups and downs of a player’s progress over the course of a season. I know that the praiseworthy FanGraphs has been doing similar graphs for awhile, but I wanted to try my hand at my own style and it’s good… Read more →
Anyone who’s watched a Pablo Sandoval at-bat should be able to realize within a few pitches that Sandoval likes to swing the stick. According to Fangraph’s O-Swing% statistic (the number of pitches outside of the strike zone that a batter swings at) Sandoval has swung at 41.8% of the pitches he’s seen this year outside of the strike zone. Among… Read more →
Here’s a plot of Pablo’s at-bat today in the 8th inning. Velez was on third and there was 1 out. Ultimately, this at-bat didn’t kill the Giants (the Rockies tacked on another run in an ugly 8th inning by the Giants) but it was a good chance to tie the game. Pitches are labeled by the number in the at-bat… Read more →
Updates have been a little slow lately but watching tonight’s game against the Reds made me think. It seems that teams have really started to pitch Pablo pretty hard inside. Currently, it’s the bottom of the 8th and the game is tied 5-5, but I wanted to share my quick observation with a PitchF/X graph. At the moment, the Reds… Read more →
It’s true. Eugenio Velez is the best player in the universe. Don’t debate it, because you can’t. It’s a cold, hard, scientific fact. The Giants topped the Phillies last night 7-2 with two strong performances from Eugenio Velez and Pablo Sandoval. Velez went 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s. He hit a bases-loaded single in the 4th inning… Read more →
It’s Friday. The Giants are playing tonight. I’m fully caffeinated. The weekend is almost here. Here’s some random Giants-related thoughts: Did you know that Pablo Sandoval has the 16th highest wOBA in the National League right now? His wOBA of .386 ranks him ahead of such players like Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Kemp, Carlos Lee, and Lance Berkman. I’m not sure… Read more →
This is what a .830 WPA hit looks like. Suck it, Joe Beimel. — UPDATE: Also, I forgot to mention this, but the Giants have made another roster move. The Giants have sent down Osiris Matos and called up Pat Misch. “Really, the way we are right now, we need a fresh arm,” Bochy said. “We have been using [Justin]… Read more →
With the 11-7 win against the Washington Nationals last night, Randy Johnson moved one more win closer to the fabled 300 win plateu. Johnson continued his good start, bad start, good start routine with 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, and 9 SO. It wasn’t the worst start in the world but it wasn’t great either…. Read more →
I wanted to post this before I forgot about it. Here is a plot from Pablo Sandoval’s 7th inning at-bat against the Rockies yesterday. He was facing Matt Belisle (with the bases loaded) and after fouling the first pitch off and swinging and missing at the next, he fouled off 7 straight pitches, took a ball, fouled off another, and… Read more →