The Washington Nationals are one game over .500. The San Francisco Giants are one game over .500. The Nationals can hit, but they’re having troubles with their pitching, which is a problem you’d think could be helped by the promotion of their sensational pitching prospect. The Giants can pitch, but they’re having troubles with their hitting, which is a problem you’d think could be helped by the promotion of their sensational hitting prospect.
So the Giants are the reciprocal of the Washington Nationals. You might think that stuff coming up the back of your throat is bile, but it’s not. It’s pride! Yay, Giants!
I’m happy for the Nationals for being a game over .500, while simultaneously bitter that the Giants are just a game over .500. The curse of expectations.
Hitter to watch:
Josh Willingham had a low batting average with the Marlins when he was traded for middling prospects. He hit for a little power, and his on-base percentage was usually pretty good, but he had a low batting average. Fred Lewis with pop, essentially. The Giants couldn’t use that or anything. Didn’t you read that? Low batting average.
Pitcher to watch:
Livan Hernandez has a 1.62 ERA despite having -5 strikeouts in 55+ innings. He’s facing a Giants team that hasn’t scored in 20 innings. The Giants will be pressing and desperate, and they’ll be playing behind Walkson Dingerham, who will give up six runs in the first, making the Giants even more desperate.
This is the perfect storm of frustration. Dooky, dooky curveballs, fluttering toward home at 50 MPH. Tailing 83 MPH fastballs, moving an inch out of the strike zone each time. Sinkers moving low in the zone, just begging for rotund land mammals to beat them into the ground with a runner on first and no outs. Is it the eighth inning already? Good god. And the Giants will try bunting, or hitting and running, or stealing, or something stupid to "get the offense ignited", but it will all fail.
There are jinxes, and there are reverse jinxes. You might think this is the latter, but no, this is just truth.
Prediction
Livan will outhit the Giants this series. Also, this bitterness will fester just a bit more until the Giants win a game.