The Giants find themselves in a familiar position once again after tonight’s game. Dropping the opener of a playoff series at home is starting to feel inevitable. It’s way too early in this series to start panicking, but the Giants have to play better at home. After Game Two in the NLCS, the Giants will play three straight games in… Read more →
First, an image from SFGiants.com: Oh, that’s delightful. Splash images on MLB.com websites often range from stupid to really stupid, but I think there’s something to the prevailing notion that Barry Zito could possibly start a game in the playoffs. The Giants intend on taking five starters into the postseason, with the plan to shift one of Zito or Vogelsong… Read more →
In last night’s 8-6 loss to the Arizona Diamonbacks, fans were once again treated to a weird Vogelsong start. The good news is this: Vogelsong faced 20 batters and he struck out seven of them — that’s a K/9 of 18.90. The bad news: it took 81 pitches to get through 3.1 innings of work and he gave up nine… Read more →
Tweet I once read that in the sea of mediocrity, the guy with his own jet ski is king, or something. The Giants’ bullpen is by no means mediocre – all things considered, the relievers have done an admirable job – but, I still get a little twitchy in the late innings. I say that because I mostly know that… Read more →
There are times when you know you’re watching a superb pitching performance. Much like when you turn on a classic movie, or put on a great record, you just know that you’re in for a treat. Today was one of those times. In the Giants home opener against the Pirates, Matt Cain threw one of the best games from a… Read more →
Over the weekend it was reported that the Giants and Matt Cain are still having, in what Larry Baer has described as, “back-and-forth conversations” in regards to a potential contract extension. The Matt Cain Contract Extension plotline has been, and will most likely continue to be, one of the more interesting threads of this year’s Spring Training. The Giants have… Read more →
A common statement, from both fans and the front office, this offseason has been, “One of the reasons we haven’t spent larger on the free agent market is that we need to lock up our starting pitching (Cain and Lincecum). And spending dollars today, might prohibit that goal tomorrow.” Matt Cain is earning $15M this season, his last year under contract with the… Read more →
Watching last night’s game against the Diamondbacks, and the eventual celebration that took place, left me with a funny feeling. As I tweeted during the game, I found it supremely appropriate that Aubrey Huff, a leader of the 2010 team, but a huge liability this season, made the last out by flying out weakly to center. Oh, the difference a year can make…. Read more →
I wrote a quick blurb for the mothership blog that was posted yesterday on the Giants’ second-half needs. What needs to be fixed or accomplished in the second half? The offense. Plain and simple, the Giants will need to score more runs if they want to stay in the mix for a playoff spot. It’s become a tiresome subject for… Read more →
Yesterday I gave you the Bad and the Ugly in the form of a chart reflecting how abysmal the Giants offense is, position by position. The end result was depressingly remarkable: really, really bad. On a positive note, though, Giants hitters have been better than the Mariners’ hitters, which I guess is something. And last season the M’s were worse…. Read more →