McCovey Chronicles - All Posts

GameThread II

2013-06-18T04:07:15Z

Lineup be semi-trollin

Open GameThread, 6/17

2013-06-18T04:04:52Z

Current Series

3 game series vs Padres @ AT&T Park

San Diego Padres Gaslamp Ball @ San Francisco Giants McCovey Chronicles Monday, Jun 17, 2013, 7:15 PM PDT AT&T Park Edinson Volquez vs Barry Zito Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to center field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 55. Complete Coverage >
Tue 06/18		7:15 PM PDT
Wed 06/19		12:45 PM PDT

1. Gregor Blanco - LF
2. Tony Abreu - 2B
3. Brandon Crawford - SS
4. Hunter Pence - RF
5. Brandon Belt - 1B
6. Joaquin Arias - 3B
7. Hector Sanchez - C
8. Juan Perez - CF
9. Barry Zito - P

Padres/Giants series preview

2013-06-17T20:20:13Z

The Giants are hosting the Padres for a three-game series. Here are the starting lineups for Monday's game:

Giants
LF - Gary Brown
C - Hector Sanchez
CF - Darryl Hamilton
2B - Freddy Sanchez's severed head
1B - Brett Pill
RF - Glenallen Hill
3B - Chris Dominguez?
SS - Tomas de la Rosa
P - Shane Loux (left-handed)

Padres
CF - Will Venable
LF - Max Venable
RF - Ozzie Venable
1B - Cito Gaston
C - Look, the point is that everyone on these two teams is injured
3B - Chase Headley
SS - Except for Headley, of course
2B - Even though he's been close to the worst hitter in that lineup
P - Pitcher with fraying ligament

Look, the point is that everyone … oh, right. Covered it. The Giants are without Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan, and Ryan Vogelsong. The Padres are likely without Jedd Gyorko, Cameron Maybin, Yonder Alonso, Carlos Quentin, Everth Cabrera and 342 different young pitchers.

Unless Scutaro comes back. He might come back any day now, you know.

This means we'll see a lot of Abreus and Ariasises and Denorfias and Kotsapi. Neither team is at full strength, so at least it's kind of fair. Just one of those things, I suppose.

Except maybe it isn't just one of those things. The Padres led the universe in DL time last year, and they're at the top of the list for the three-year span from 2010-2012, too. Casey Kelly, Joe Weiland, and Cory Luebke are all pitchers who were supposed to help the Padres contend by now, but they've needed Tommy John surgery in the past year.

By comparison, the last three Giants starters to need Tommy John surgery were Eric Surkamp, Russ Ortiz (the second time around), and Jesse Foppert. Technically, Shane Loux should be on that list, but he would've spoiled the Jesse Foppert reveal. And if you don't want to count Ortiz's second turn on the Giants, we get a Joe Roa reference.

Maybe that is absolutely just one of those things. Of the hundreds and hundreds of pitchers in professional baseball, maybe Kelly/Weiland/Luebke had three of the weakest ligaments out there. Maybe they were doomed from the moment they threw their first pitch in Little League, a bad combination of body and form. I have no idea. I'm certainly not qualified to drop a bunch of "should of"s on any organization after one of their players gets hurt, even if we're talking about Dusty Baker's Cubs. There are too many variables to come up with a direct correlation/causation analysis for any team going through injury problems.

If I were a Padres fan, though, I'd be a little skeptical. I don't know if training staffs and major- and minor-league and programs are pretty much equally competent , or if you can get some real weirdos mixed in there. To put it another way: Are all staffs basically backup catchers, with some distinctly better than others, but they're mostly interchangeable and impossible to notice unless something goes wrong? Or can one team have a Mike Trout training staff while another team has an Eugenio Velez training staff, with bobbled shoulders, dropped knees, and elbows picked off first in a tie game?

I err toward the former. Which is to say, some training staffs are David Ross and some are Jeff Mathis, but the differences in value can be grossly overstated.

If the latter is true, though, it would be the kind of problem that would derail rebuilding plans and extended runs of major-league success alike. And I'm not sure how an organization would analyze this stuff, either. Glad it's not my job.

For years and years, the Giants have excelled at keeping starting pitchers off the disabled list. There's one there now, but he got there by attempting to bunt. The Padres can't keep starting pitchers off the disabled list. Is that a fluke, one of those things, or something that hints at a larger success or failure for both organizations?

I don't really care about the Padres. I just want to know how much we should be crediting the Giants for keeping their pitchers healthy instead of making fun of them every week when they refuse to DL a position player. And maybe I care about the Padres a little, what with them being divisional rivals, and all.

The Padres are a game over .500, even after the injuries. They're a good team, even if Jason Marquis is basically Barry Ztio before the inevitable freefall. But they're pretty banged up, just like the Giants. I wonder if that's something we should keep expecting, or if teams just get sucked into the injury vortex through little fault of their own. Don't ask me. I use baseball as a vehicle for jokes. That's all I do around here.

Hitter to watch
Kyle Blanks might be the most made-of-glass player on the Padres, which is saying something. He's had just over 1,200 at-bats since the start of 2009 -- that's minor-league and major-league combined -- which is about what a healthy player will get in two years. Michael Young had about the same amount of ABs in 2011 and 2012, for example, as Blanks has had at every level combined from 2009 to now.

But Blanks is healthy and hitting. He's also the most terrifying looking hitter in baseball. So gigantic. He's one of the largest position players of all time, actually. Yet he'd be an undersized power forward. Basketball is so weird.

Trivia question: The Giants have had two hitters as tall as Blanks (6'6") in franchise history. Name them! And then remind me to give you the answer when I forget.

Pitcher to watch
I've given the Padres enough grief for trading Anthony Rizzo away for a sore-armed reliever, but if the Padres can turn Andrew Cashner into a live-armed starter -- and it looks like they have a shot -- I'll shut up. And Cashner's fun to watch, too. Those 100-m.p.h. guys usually are.

But he looks like he's going to quit baseball and challenge Chad Gaudin to a squirrel-eating competition. For no good reason, here is a wall of beard:

Sorry. But when you're in the mood to post a wall of beard, you generally have no choice but to post a wall of beard.

Prediction
Bloops. All the bloops. Except the Padres can hit now, just like the Giants. And they can't really pitch these days (with a few exceptions), just like the Giants.

Still, all the bloops. It's a Padres series.

Buster Posey still leads NL All-Star voting ... for now

2013-06-17T16:41:44Z

First, the good news: Buster Posey is still leading the world in All-Star voting. Why is this important to us? Because we've all chosen a hobby/way of life in which we're rewarded for living vicariously through the successes and accomplishments of men we've never met. It's too late to turn back now. Wooo-hooooo, Buster Posey!

Just over 60,000 votes separate Posey from Yadier Molina, though. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this because Molina is an absolutely excellent player (.352/.394/.488 with Gold Glove defense), and he deserves to start an All-Star Game at some point. It's just that he can do it when Posey retires for all I care. Back off, Cardinals fans. Don't make us pay off even more shady Russians for hacked votes.

Plus, Molina's all yelly and angry all the time. Posey is more chill-the-hell-out-I-got-this. If this time it counts -- and it most certainly does -- I know which one I want behind the plate.

Other updates include Pablo Sandoval's lead slipping (don't care, broken), Marco Scutaro's deficit shrinking (don't care, broken), and Brandon Crawford not getting closer to Troy Tulowitzki (don't care, other guy's broken, and Crawford's manager gets to pick the replacement). I'm okay if none of those guys don't make the starting squad, though I was about a day away from writing a dozen posts about why it would mean something if Scutaro was voted in.

I guess he might just miss a couple days, though. Sure, that's all it is. And if Scutaro comes back without needing to miss significant time, he'll get our full support.

Scutaro is not just going to miss a couple days. This team is so weird.

Posey's making it regardless, but having the Cardinals fans do a Giants-fan thing to Giants fans? Turnabout is most certainly not fair play. It's rather rude, and we shouldn't stand for it. Though I don't exactly have time to click buttons on the Internet, so I'm stuck here, too.

The latest ballot results from MLB.com:

NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STAR VOTING
(as of June 16)

FIRST BASE
Joey Votto, Reds 2,047,945
Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs 1,524,517
Allen Craig, Cardinals 1,191,229
Brandon Belt, Giants 997,066
Freddie Freeman, Braves 924,937

SECOND BASE
Brandon Phillips, Reds 2,021,277
Marco Scutaro, Giants 1,717,875
Matt Carpenter, Cardinals 1,508,314
Chase Utley, Phillies 982,966
Daniel Murphy, Mets 786,414

SHORTSTOP
Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies 2,443,772
Brandon Crawford, Giants 1,293,476
Jean Segura, Brewers 1,188,317
Pete Kozma, Cardinals 905,976
Andrelton Simmons, Braves 771,665

THIRD BASE
Pablo Sandoval, Giants 2,180,147
David Wright, Mets 2,053,744
David Freese, Cardinals 1,152,038
Chris Johnson, Braves 829,420
Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals 686,905

CATCHER
Buster Posey, Giants 2,606,434
Yadier Molina, Cardinals 2,543,588
John Buck, Mets 866,471
Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers 630,902
Brian McCann, Braves 627,056

OUTFIELD
Carlos Beltran, Cardinals 2,385,240
Justin Upton, Braves 2,054,225
Bryce Harper, Nationals 1,981,030
Ryan Braun, Brewers 1,645,094
Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies 1,508,355
Matt Holliday, Cardinals 1,330,471
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates 1,319,419
Hunter Pence, Giants 1,286,163
Shin-Soo Choo, Reds 1,274,755
Angel Pagan, Giants 1,131,176
Carlos Gomez, Brewers 1,027,684
Gregor Blanco, Giants 934,174
Jon Jay, Cardinals 884,323
Domonic Brown, Phillies 837,748
B.J. Upton, Braves 733,744

minor lines, 6/16/13

2013-06-17T07:58:05Z

Sunday highlights from the Giants' farm: Devin Harris homered twice, and Gary Brown homered and singled.

AAA: Fresno lost to Salt Lake 5-2

Fresno: CF Gary Brown: 2 for 4, HR, CS
Fresno: C Jackson Williams: 2 for 4

Fresno: SP Boof Bonser: 8.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K--1 HR

Brown and Williams each had two hits for the Grizzlies, although both still have AVGs below .235. Brown's 7th HR was the Grizzlies' lone XBH and his fourth big fly in his last seven games.

Bonser had season highs with 8.0 IP and 6 K. All 5 ER came during the 3rd though 5th innings. Aside from an error, he was perfect over his final three innings.

AA: Richmond lost to Reading 5-4
(after falling behind 4-0 entering the bottom of the 2nd inning)

Richmond: SS Ehire Adrianza: 2 for 4, SB
Richmond: LF Brett Krill: 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SO

Richmond: SP Jack Snodgrass: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K--1 HR
Richmond: RP Edwin Quirarte: 1.1 IP, 1 K

Krill had his 8th double, a single and a walk to reach base three times. He and Adrianza combined for four of the Flying Squirrels' six hits. Krill has hit .295/.339/.393 through 112 AB in his second full pro season.

Snodgrass had perhaps his least effective start this year, allowing a season-high 8 H. The 5 ER were as many as he had allowed over his previous six starts combined. His ERA remains below 2.50 after a dozen starts. Quirarte, the first of four relievers for the Squirrels, had 1.1 perfect IP. Through 26 appearances, he has a 2.60 ERA, which is lower than his ERA in any of his previous four full pro seasons.

A+: San Jose defeated Visalia 10-8

San Jose: SS John Polonius: 2 for 2, BB, HBP
San Jose: DH Devin Harris: 3 for 3, 2 HR, BB, SF

San Jose: SP Kelvin Marte: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K--2 HR
San Jose: RP Cody Hall: 1.0 IP, 1 K
San Jose: RP Josh Osich: 1.0 IP, 1 K

Harris hit two solo HRs, his 15th and 16th HRs, in the 3rd and 8th innings. He finished the game with 5 RBIs. Polonius reached base in all four plate appearances, raising his OBP to .318.

Making his seventh start among a dozen appearances, Marte allowed a season-high 5 ER. From a statistical perspective, it was likely his worst start of the year, but he left the game with the lead. Hall and Osich each pitched a perfect inning.

A-: Augusta defeated Charleston 2-1

Augusta: CF Andrew Cain: 2 for 4, SO, 2 SB
Augusta: 1B Joey Rapp: 2 for 4, 2 SO

Augusta: SP Mason McVay: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Augusta: RP Matthew Lujan: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K--1 WP

With two singles each, Cain and Rapp had all four of the GreenJackets' four hits. Cain also had his 10th and 11th SB (in 46 games).

In a game that lasted barely two hours, McVay pitched two frames while making his first pro start. Lujan followed with 5.0 scoreless IP in long relief, striking out over a third (6 of 17) of his batters.

ssA: Salem-Keizer defeated Hillsboro 7-6
(after leading 6-0 entering the 4th inning)

Salem-Keizer: 3B Sam Eberle: 3 for 4, HR, 2B, SB

Salem-Keizer: SP Jose Reyes: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Salem-Keizer: RP Raymundo Montero: 1.0 IP, 2 K

Eberle, who had a .630 OPS in 105 AB last summer in the NWL and had reached base just once in his first two games this year, broke out with a homer, double and single.

Reyes, who made six Sally League starts earlier this year, delivered five scoreless innings. Montero had 2 K in a perfect 9th inning for his 2nd save. Last summer, he made eleven starts for the Volcanoes.

DSL: Gigantes lost to White Sox 6-4

Dominican: C Jose Morles: 3 for 5
Dominican: RP Shawn Gomez: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K--1 HB

Morles (18.9 y.o.) singled three times, raising his AVG to .368 after 19 AB. After the Gigantes' starter retired just two of his nine batters, Gomez (18.9 y.o.) provided effective long relief.

Giants Continue Regular Season Impotence in Atlanta, Lose Another Road Series

2013-06-17T03:55:08Z

There was a lot of "That's Baseball!" out there on the field tonight. Sadly, the Giants were on the business end of that saying for the most part and they, as usual, lost in Atlanta.

If you thought the series was going to turn out differently, then perhaps you have chosen to ignore history on account of "That's Baseball!" -- anything can happen. Well, my friend, it's not that simple. Not in this case. "That's Baseball!" simply doesn't apply to the Giants when they're in Atlanta.

Since 2000, the Giants are 17-32 in Atlanta. They typically win one game and lose the rest. There have been some exceptions to this "rule", of course: the 2002 NLDS; 2007, when Giants games were as entertaining as six consecutive episodes of "The Gastineau Girls"; 2010; and, July 2011, when the Giants were Hansel-hot before turning Derelicte. So, really, it's not the Giants fault you're feeling miserable after a possible series win turned into yet another series defeat. You're the one who got your hopes up!

Now that the Giants have lost because of a caught stealing and a Conrad-esque fielding performance the Braves and Giants are now all squared up in terms of baseball karma. Yup. Totally square. So it's okay to review most of this game dispassionately, because there's not a lot to be mad about. The Giants went to Atlanta, where they never win during the regular season, and lost. Tim Lincecum actually pitched a far better game than probably I or the Giants expected. I mean, he looked like he had walked through a car wash by the time he threw his first pitch of the night. The southern humidity was supposed to get to him and get him out of the game early.

That almost happened! Still, I think it's to Tim's credit that the humidity did not get to him tonight. At least, I don't think any of us could counter that with any definitive proof, because Lincecum didn't look any less Lincecumy than he has for most of the season. That looked like practically every other start he's had this season, which is to say that he has looked like a Barry Zito cover band. In the first three innings he walked the leadoff guy. In addition, he gave up a lot of hard hit balls, some of which even found the gloves of his defenders. He also missed the strike zone entirely maybe seven or eight times. Buster Posey jumped out of his crouch to catch a Lincecum fastball so often tonight that Bruce Bochy might consider this the equivalent of a "night off" at first base for ol' Buster.

You know Tim's only doing a cover of Barry Zito's career, though, because it's not a matter of him nibbling. He just has no clue where the ball is going. And yet!

And yet...

Tim Lincecum had a good start tonight. He pitched okay. He kept the Giants in the game. He pitched good enough for his team to win, but the Giants, hobbled by injury, drastic changes in approach with runners in scoring position, and Andres Torres did what they always do when they travel to Atlanta during the regular season: lose two games for every one that they win.

So, thank goodness I don't have to sit here and break down Tim Lincecum's start pitch-by-pitch. For those of you wise enough to avoid the national telecast, you missed out on yet another exploration of Tim Lincecum's "declining" velocity. That was the story of the night for the people who get paid great sums of money to cover the sport and broadcast it to a worldwide audience, and they completely missed the truth of it all: Tim Lincecum has zero command of his pitches. It's really that simple.

For a time, that looked like that was going to be what decided the game. But again, the Giants actually got a great start out of him. They got more than they could've hoped for out of Gaudin yesterday, and Bumgarner was magnificent on Friday. Following Cain's start in the final game at Pittsburgh and... gasp... this turn through the rotation might not be a complete disaster, especially if you buy into (read: cling to because it's the better option) the notion that Barry Zito pitches better at AT&T than on the road. Is tonight reason enough to be optimistic about the rotation in the days ahead? Maybe! Who knows? I certainly don't. There's a whole lot more "That's Baseball!" ahead, after all.

* * *

As you know, Grant has curated a section of this site called "Andres Torres is the best human being in the history of the world". Lately, we're seeing ample evidence that he is a human being, capable of mistakes... imperfect. So, I'll go easy on the guy, especially since he could hurl cinderblocks at me without hesitation. What I really want to know is what's going on with him? Does he have the fielding yips? Lapses in concentration, perhaps?

And I don't mean to dig at his medical situation. I can't imagine that playing defense behind Tim Lincecum is much better than playing defense behind a little league pitcher. Lots of balls going flying all over the place. Lots of standing around and waiting for something to happen. And maybe the stadium lights *are* bothering him. Maybe his glove sucks. Maybe his cleats need some TLC from Murph. Maybe he's just an old baseball player with too many moving parts where anything can go wrong. Is it a parallax issue? I'm going to go with that because it sounds more dramatic and interesting. If Andres Torres is merely just a bad baseball player now, then I'll be extremely disappointed and pretty danged sad. Love that guy, but I'm pretty confident that he cost the Giants two runs because of his glove tonight. He also looked weird at the plate...

Torres, Belt, and Arias all changed their approaches with runners on base.

In his second plate appearance versus the Braves' Julio Teheran (who looked fantastic tonight), Torres watched a curveball for a first pitch strike, then proceeded to swing at and foul off only strikes until he walked. In his next plate appearance with runners at first and second and one out, Teheran went mostly offspeed -- specifically, the slider -- and Torres was chasing and lunging. He struck out.

This followed Brandon Belt's strikeout on a borderline called third strike. Belt went 2-for-4 with two singles and two Ks. Belt wasn't the only one who changed his approach in a big spot, but he's the one who gets a lot of criticism. I love Belt, but sometimes I wonder why a guy who has let the Giants completely change his approach so that he attacks virtually every first pitch suddenly becomes a looky-loo with two strikes. Of course, he does swing and miss a lot for third strikes, too, but it's a lot more surprising when it's a fastball. And a fastball *away*. You and I might be reasonable people, but we know that Belt only hurts himself when he does the one thing the Giants organization hates the most (even more than the Dodgers): strikes out.

Arias, too, changed his approach. The Giants always attack first pitch fastballs. And after Teheran loaded the bases he let a fastball a bit inside (called a ball here in the 4th, but a strike in the 6th vs. Belt) go by and then swung at the next pitch, a slider away, which he hit off the end of his bat and led to Upton's fantastic rolling catch in left field to end the threat. And, really, that catch certainly felt like it sealed the Giants' fate tonight. Jordan Schaefer's niffy-spiffy bunt on an impossible-to-bunt-on pitch that got the runner in from third was definitely a strong supporting piece of evidence, too.

* * *

Even though he didn't have a great night at the plate, I can't end this without mentioning Gregor Blanco. The mountain who plays his former team fired up. Love watching him get excited for every play. That great catch he made in the first was fantastic. I think Blanco's baseball brain doesn't get enough credit. I foresee him being a coach down the line. I think he's got the smarts and the energy for it. So, yeah, Gregor Blanco. I think I'll imagine him filling out a lineup card in 15 years as the manager of the Honolulu Athletics (still in the American League and the designated hitter has been eliminated from history) than think about this one again.

Forget it, Giants fans. It's Atlantatown.

Avoid-Losing-The-Series Thread 2

2013-06-17T01:37:06Z

You can fit this thread in a doorway, which demonstrates the quality of its delivery.

Open GameThread, 6/16

2013-06-17T01:20:27Z

Current Series

3 game series vs Braves @ Turner Field

Fri 06/14	WP: Madison Bumgarner (6 - 4) LP: Kris Medlen (3 - 7)	6 - 0 win
Sat 06/15	WP: Craig Kimbrel (2 - 1) LP: Sergio Romo (3 - 3)	5 - 6 loss
San Francisco Giants McCovey Chronicles @ Atlanta Braves Talking Chop Sunday, Jun 16, 2013, 5:05 PM PDT Turner Field Tim Lincecum vs Julio Teheran Mostly cloudy. Winds blowing out to center field at 1-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85. Complete Coverage >