"Well, shake it up Bochy--"

Not that anyone's gonna notice or anything, but this morning, after seeing Madison Bumgarner's fine effort wasted due to a severe case of hole-in-the-bat (0-for-6 with RISP, 8 LOB), we'll take one more shot at revisiting, revising, and recommending changes to the lineup that ain't gittin' 'er done.

First, it appears Gregor Blanco and Andres Torres' primary qualifications for batting leadoff at the moment are:

• Angel Pagan's injured;
• They play center field (Boch, are you channeling Dusty Baker?);
• They're Latino; and
• They're relatively fast.

Certainly there aren't any statistical justifications for it. Torres is never going to be the Torres of 2010 again, and Blanco, while we've touted him in the past, has enough career ABs under his belt now to show that he's really a fourth outfielder, a back-'em-up and plug-him-in type-- valuable, but miscast as an everyday starter. And yes, we've seen this all before (hence the above reference), and it is with leaden heart we proclaim that  Gregor Blanco is looking like the new Marvin Benard, with a much better glove but a lot less power.

Given the similar platoon crater in left field (our latest acquisition, Jeff Francoeur, over his 1200-game career has averaged about 27 walks per 500 at-bats), it's clear there are too many outs in this lineup. When that happens, we contend it makes more sense to cluster your best bats together at the top, for the simple reason that one big inning is easier to muster up than three small innings. Also, everyone's average goes up with men on base, and if the top five do their jobs, it's bound to help the bottom three.

So, we would identify that top five as Marco Scutaro, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Hunter Pence, in that order.

Without question, Scutaro (.368) should be leading off. (If you're going to argue that one stolen base all year disqualifies him, please leave this site NOW.) The man can hit, and while he's not a walks machine, when you do get on it becomes less important how you get on. Simply put, he makes things happen.

Belt's .340 is not great, but he averages about one walk for every ten ABs, which is standard for a good hitter and stratospheric for this team. He has some pop and hits better with men on base, and in that context his high strikeout total is not as deadly as it may seem at first, since he usually hits the ball in the air and thus avoids the double plays.

The middle three stay where they are; the team is committed to these guys because Posey is fantastic, Pence is still slugging .451, and Sandoval has shown he can do it in the past, even though his present is pretty weak. If anyone is gonna "snap out of it" this year, our money's on the Panda.

The bottom three begins with Brandon Crawford, who's kind of the swing-man here. He's hit for average and for some power before, and he did so earlier this year, and he's another who has shown he's capable of turning it around. Crawford at .280 or above gives us a top six and a bottom two.

And at that bottom, we'd hide the Tanaka/Francoeur tag team in the seven spot, with Blanco/Torres eighth, since their speed might give us a few infield hits and the occasional gap double ahead of the pitcher's spot.

Something tells us the Giants are not going to make a big move at the trade deadline. Given the hand we're dealt, we believe this would be the best way to play 'em the rest of the season.  If our starting pitching strings some consistent starts together, the patchwork top-heavy lineup we've outlined above might just score enough runs to keep everyone interested past the 49ers' home opener this September.

LinCYcum Revisited

Along about the bottom of the fourth inning last night, after Tim Lincecum had disposed of the middle of the San Diego Padres' lineup the way some of us dispose of used Kleenex, we had a strong jolt of precognition (we used to call this presque vu but found out that's inaccurate).  Sure as you're reading this now, we saw the final line for the Padres-- no runs, no hits-- and expressed it colloquially as, "He's gonna do it, Timmy's gonna throw one."

Bless his heart, that he did, and he did so in classic Lincecum fashion-- lots of pitches, lots of strikeouts, thirteen in all.

And yet if  "classic Lincecum fashion" is a term that will carry significance going forward, it's also going to mean what Jedd Gyorko, one of those "disposable" Padres, talked about after the masterpiece: "He was throwing three or four pitches for strikes, and when you're able to do that, you keep guys off-balance."  Lincecum himself said, "I have to pitch with what I've got. That might be more changeups and sliders." 

Indeed, there were several strikeouts last night which Timmy achieved without use of a single fastball. He was dumping some nasty curveballs inside and out, and when he finally did get around to throwing the four-seamer, a few times the batter simply let it go by for called strike three.  

Is Timmy going to make the adjustment that has overwhelmed so many ultra-talented pitchers before him, when raw "stuff" is no longer enough and pitching becomes more about strategy and less about power? Catfish Hunter, so smooth where Lincecum is so angular, famously made it. Could Sandy Koufax, Lincecum's mirror image in some ways, have handled that transition had he chosen to do so at age 31? Lincecum is 29. He's thrown a lot of pitches. He's won every significant award that can be won. He's already shown that while he may be "The Freak", his career has been no freak occurrence. Now, just perhaps, his given the first telling indicator of what's to come.

But for today, for last night, for right now, he bears the self-evident nickname we coined back in 2008: "LinCYcum."

Congratulations, Timmy! You've earned it.

 

Rock Bottom

Well, that's a fine kettle of fish, all right-- checking in before bedtime only to see the Giants have now lost ten of twelve, have claimed last place as their very own, and, to top it off, were no-hit by Homer Bailey last night as some sort of gruesome coup-de-grace.  Not that we're making reservations at Panic Beach just yet or anything, but we're at the point where things have to improve if this ballclub is going to go anywhere, even in this eminently winnable division.

The Giants' mantra since 2007 has been "pitching, pitching, and more pitching"-- particularly starting pitching. As we have seen, this year's model simply isn't able to live up to that expectation. Thus the 2013 Giants have had to hit to win. And, up until about two weeks ago, they were hitting enough to be contenders. Averaging 4.4 runs per game through the beginning of the Atlanta series, the Giants have since scored a paltry 41 runs in 17 games, two full runs per game fewer, and are 4-13 over that span. The pitching is the same it's always been, but the guys who were drilling the ball a month ago-- Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford, particularly, plus Pablo Sandoval, who hasn't hit a lick since returning from the DL-- aren't doing so right now, and until they do, the current state of affairs is unlikely to change.

The Giants are eighth in the league in runs scored, which isn't bad, just average. Problem is, average ain't good enough for these guys. Yes, scoring is down all across the league this year, but three weeks ago the Giants were up around where Cincinnati and Atlanta are right now. And when your pitching staff is still allowing 4.4 runs per game but your scoring has dropped to 4.0 and is still dropping-- well, you're probably going to lose, like, four out of every five games. Which is precisely where we are.   

Yet another annoying thing is that the Dodgers, at whom we were chuckling indulgently a few weeks ago as they floundered chest-deep in a division cellar filled with wasted money, have sailed blithely past us and are still on the rise. In terms of raw baseball talent, no team in the division can match the Blue Meanies, and more experiences like that nightmarish three-game set in LA ten days ago are not what we had in mind. 

Given the current numbers, the Giants would be best served leading off Marco Scutaro, with Brandon Belt in the two-spot. (Nobody else save Buster Posey seems willing to take even a pitch, let alone a walk.) Neither Gregor Blanco nor Andres Torres is getting on base enough to hold the leadoff spot, and it's tempting to conclude that one or the other ought to be in the lineup every day for the rest of the year, but not both. No other outfielder has leaped up and shown much, either; so with Angel Pagan now likely out for the season, how motivated might the front office be to make a trade for someone who can hit at least as well as, say, Hunter Pence?  It depends on many things, including how winnable this season appears to be. The wild-card is almost out of reach already, but a five-team division dogfight looks plausible. The Giants are unlikely to sink so far so fast that they turn sellers rather than buyers at the trade deadline; the decision point will be whether to make a move or merely stand pat and hope for the best.

As for what the Giants might have to offer in trade-- well, we'll review the state of the pitching staff in our next missive.

Seen What I Saw

What's the old saw? "Go to the ballpark and you'll see something you never saw before." Well, on Thursday night at beautiful, underpopulated PNC Park in Pittsburgh, we saw several things we'd never seen before, and all of them added up to a most entertaining 10-0 win for the Giants.  It was a good win for Matt Cain, whose 2013 road wars have featured more than a few defeats. It was a fine win for this depleted lineup, with Gregor Blanco, Brandon Crawford, and Hunter Pence leading the highlight parade.  And it was a most welcome win for the sturdy band of Giants loyalists who came to the park hoping to contribute in any way to a sweep-avoidance maneuver.

In a matter of minutes we saw three events we'd never witnessed before in person. First was an obstruction call which resulted in an awarded run, next was a runner struck by a batted ball to end an inning, and third was a line drive which caromed off Matt Cain's glove into Nick Noonan's for a bang-bang putout-and-assist.

Memo to several unnamed but oughta-know-better sportswriters: it's "obstruction," not "interference" or "defensive interference." Interference is when the runner interferes with the fielder's attempt to get to the ball. Obstruction is what third baseman Pedro Alvarez did between third and home on Thursday night as Brandon Crawford tried to get out of his way during the rundown. We were a little surprised to see the umpires award the run to Crawford, as he was ducking back toward third when the error occurred. The rule states the umpires will award the obstructed runner the base he would have, in their judgment, reached absent the obstruction. However, we did not know the obstructed runner is entitled to advance at least one base. So, thanks to the men in blue for sending us back to the rule book. (Anyone else remember the obstruction call with Benito Santiago in the 2002 NLCS against St Louis, when he was awarded third instead of home? Good-- congratulations to both of you!)

Pence, who hit the grounder that resulted in the obstruction call, was also the guy hit by the batted ball, which is scored a cheap hit for Joaquin Arias and a cheap putout for shortstop Jody Mercer, the fielder closest to the play. Had it happened with less than two out, it would be a dead-ball situation with no runners advancing and no chance for a putout anywhere else.  As for the Cain-to-Noonan lateral, Matty gets an assist, which seems only fair since that ball was destined for center field.

In the top of the ninth, we leaped to our feet in congratulation for Nick Noonan, who had just smacked his first big-league home run-- only to see it followed by a quick, on-field umpire huddle, and then an NFL-style delay while three of the blue men retired to their antechamber and a video review.  (The crew chief remains on the field, we're told, during these interludes to provide some semblance of order and decorum. Presumably the dancing bears and rodeo clowns are kept under wraps for another night.)  In a matter of moments (most certainly not an NFL-style procedure) the umps were back, waving Noonan back to second; the ball had hit, but not cleared, the yellow rail atop the right-center-field grandstand. Like the dancing bears, No. 21's long-ball debut party will have to wait for another night.

It wasn't our first replay experience; that happened the previous night, when the Pirates' Neil Walker clobbered a please-hit-me pitch from the just-departed Ramon Ramirez high and deep to right. It glanced off the facade atop the right-field stands and Walker pulled up at second. After Clint Hurdle made the appeal, the umps retreated to their inner sanctum, then returned with the familiar finger-twirl as Walker pranced around third and scored the run that really seemed to deflate the Giants, who had pulled within 10-6 just moments earlier.

Grim warnings of an impending mega-storm event certainly dampened the turnout Wednesday night as these new, much-improved Buccos laid into Barry Zito with extra relish (not to mention mustard, sauerkraut, and a few other condiments). After walking the leadoff man, Barry Z settled down and threw strikes, many of which ended up in the left- and right-center-field gaps as his harried outfielders chased them down and Pirates merrily circled the bases. Bruce Bochy brought in Ramirez to start the sixth, and the former bullpen standout pitched himself right onto the unemployment line, surrendering four hits, a walk, two homers, and three runs to the six men he faced. Afterward, the club didn't even wait for the road trip to end before announcing Ramirez would be DFA'd and a replacement summoned from Fresno posthaste.

If the season ended today, the Pittsburgh Pirates would qualify as a wild-card team, their first postseason appearance in 21 years. It's easy to see why. Hurdle, who had previous success with a Cinderella-style cub at Colorado in 2007, uses all his players and stacks the top of the order with guys who get on base. His first four on Wednesday-- Marte, Mercer, the redoubtable Andrew McCutchen, and Gaby Sanchez-- combined for thirteen hits and eight runs scored. No, it doesn't always work-- Hurdle switched out four starters Thursday to get the lefties into the lineup, and was rewarded with three measly hits-- but it appears to us the Pirates are about one starting pitcher away from fielding a serious contender, and if they're still in the hunt a month from now perhaps they'll make a move.

Speaking of trades, former Giants Francisco Liriano and Jason Grilli opened and closed Wednesday's game, Liriano getting the start and the win, and Grilli, the NL's saves leader, closing it out in a non-save situation. For those of you scoring at home, Liriano was sent packing, along with Joe Nathan, back in 2004 because the Giants had, just had, to have A.J. Pierzynski as their catcher. Going back five years before that, Grilli, then a minor-league 'phenom' and first-round draft choice, was part of the price we paid to acquire Livan Hernandez. No, the two World Series championships we've won in the past three years don't exactly erase these ignoble moments from our history, though perhaps they do make them more bearable when we take time to reflect.

We've beaten the drum before about Gregor Blanco being our best leadoff man; his Thursday stat line (3-for-5 with a walk, a double, and two runs scored) is not atypical of what he can do. With three starters on the shelf (Angel Pagan and Pablo Sandoval on the DL, Marco Scutaro trying to avoid it), guys like Blanco, Noonan, and Joaquin Arias are going to have to carry more of the load. We'd like to see Blanco get the left-field and leadoff roles for good, with Pagan in center batting fifth when he returns to the lineup.

Hunter Pence's three-run cannon shot to the deepest part of the ballpark Thursday underscored what a terrific season he's having. Slugging over .500, with more homers than Albert Pujols, Pence is thriving in the four-spot-- and for those of you who haven't noticed, our cleanup hitter has stolen thirteen bases and hasn't been caught once.

We know little about Juan Perez, called up in the wake of Pagan's DL stint; he's a 27-year-old rookie, which tend to temper the enthusiasm a tad. But he can sure throw the ball, as evidenced by his center-field relay to third which nailed the aforementioned Mercer trying to advance on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first Wednesday night, and thereby prevented a big inning. (Not to worry, Pittsburgh got big innings in the third, fifth, and sixth, thank you very much.)

And it's a shame about Ramirez. Sent to the Mets, along with Torres, in exchange for Pagan after the 2011 campaign, he carried most of the value in that trade and was considered a potential ace reliever or closer. Is Citi Field some kind of giant sinkhole for players' careers or something? Ramirez, released outright before the Giants picked him up a couple weeks ago, seems to have lost everything since the trade. We hope he can regain his form somewhere, because we remember his 2010 contributions most fondly.

Da Burgh

It goes without saying that PNC Park is one of the most charming and idyllic baseball fields in the land. With the appealing Pittsburgh skyline as a backdrop, the historic Monongahela river flowing past right field, its idiosyncratic dimensions, and its superb sight lines, we rate it equal in every respect to Pacific Bell Park (yes, yes, we know, we know).  We first came here in 2002, back when Pittsburgh was still the nearest National League city to western Virginia, and we have revisited several times since. In years past we stayed up in the Oakland section of town, with its colorful restaurants and shops, while braving downtown traffic to park in the garage right across the Roberto Clemente Bridge from the ballpark. (They close the bridge to auto traffic on game days so fans can walk across the "Mon" from downtown to the park.) More recently we've been bunking out in the Greentree section and driving through historic West End Village to Station Square, where a ferryboat will carry you past the Fort Duquesne fountain and Heinz Field right up to a berth below PNC's right-field entrance. It's a great town, and it's great to see the Pirate fans enthused about their ballclub after a whole generation of steady losing. Maybe we'll see a Giants-Buccos rematch come postseason.

The San Francisco Giants Open the 2013 Season!

Matt Cain, R  

Ace of the staff earns the Opening Day start

Madison Bumgarner, L 
At 23, already one of game's top lefthanders

Tim Lincecum, R  
Will balance of his career go as this season goes?

Ryan Vogelsong, R    
He's 35, and Giants hope he's got another winning campaign left

Barry Zito, L  
The final season of that legendary seven-year contract  

Sergio Romo, R    
Takes over the closer role he earned late last year

Javier Lopez, L            
One of the most effective lefty relievers in baseball

Jeremy Affeldt, L  
Several of these guys comprise Giants' not-so-secret weapon

Santiago Casilla, R  
Could inherit setup role-- if Bochy decides to fill it  

Jose Mijares, L            
Nobody really needs a third southpaw in the 'pen

George Kontos, R  
Few noticed, but his post-season numbers were good

Chad Gaudin, R  

SF tradition of NRIs making the squad continues here

Buster Posey, c            
From team MVP to league MVP to 8 years and $167 million

Pablo Sandoval, 3b  
Now 27, has been with organization for ten years aready  

Angel Pagan, cf      
Let's all hope new-found leadoff skills carry over from 2012

Brandon Belt, 1b  
Looks to have answered all questions and settled in  

Marco Scutaro, 2b  
Postseason hero takes the 'Freddy Sanchez' role 

Brandon Crawford, ss 
Developing into one of NL's top defensive players

Hunter Pence, rf  
Sixth spot the best spot for dedicated free-swinger 

Gregor Blanco, of  
Will open season in left against right-handers

Andres Torres, of  
Welcome back-- for now, he starts in left against lefties 

Joaquin Arias, if  
Showed his versatility and value in last year's NLCS

Nick Noonan, if  
Finally makes big-league roster and hey, he's still only 23 

Hector Sanchez, c  
Expect more playing time as there's no backup first baseman   

Guillermo Quiroz, c    
At 31, has 257 major-league at-bats to his name, all in AL

Earl Weaver 1930-2013

All you really need to know about the "Earl of Baltimore" is this:

• His teams averaged 94 wins per 162 games managed over his career;
• His teams won 318 games over a three-year span from 1969 through 1971; and
• He influenced more managers and coaches than any of his contemporaries.

For those of us who grew up watching Earl Weaver's teams play, it's always been a high compliment to say a team is playing "Earl Weaver" baseball; or, as it was known at the time, "Oriole baseball."

Great starting pitching, a balanced lineup that includes many role players, defensive strength up the middle, and a tendency to hit timely, game-changing home runs-- that's the "Oriole Way," as Earl called it. Today we'll call it "Earl's Way," and to those who've been following the two-time World Champion San Francisco Giants lately, we'll leave it up to you as to whether you recognize the style of play we just described.

RIP Earl Weaver.    

Same Time, Next Year

The original title of this screed, as conceived earlier in the week, was "Dethrone the BBWAA", an idea we still believe has merit.  The voting process for the Hall of Fame is hopelessly skewed in favor of self-righteous media types who never played the game, but who use their vote as a club to "get even" with everyone who ever "done them wrong" over the course of their stunted, alcohol-saturated lives. Bill James had a better idea, and outlined it in his least-known book, "The Politics of Glory" (reprinted as "Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?"). Anyone who cares about the Hall of Fame ought to read it.

Anyway, after considering some comments by Curt Schilling and a few others who seem to have actually taken the time to think about these things, we've backed off on our blanket condemnation. For now. For a year. One year, to let the Crusader Rabbits of the media make their point about the Steroid Era.  One year, as a blanket punishment for everyone who played from 1995-2005 or thereabouts. One year, to get the bile, if not the Beam, out of their systems and then get back to business, which is supposed to be recognizing the best ever to play this game-- warts, steroids, and all.

Schilling said, "I think as a player, a group, this is one of the first times that we've been publicly called out. I think it's fitting. ... If there was ever a ballot and a year to make a statement about what we didn't do as players -- which is we didn't actively push to get the game clean -- this is it."

We're willing to make peace with Schilling's comments.

The point has been made. One ballot. One year.

How about you, BBWAA?  See you next year. In Cooperstown.

* * *

As for the non-politically-motivated Hall of Fame voting, we're truly sorry to see Dale Murphy drop off the list after fifteen years.  Murphy wasn't an under-the-radar sabermetric favorite like Darrell Evans; he was one of the best and best-known players in baseball during his career, and this outcome is truly puzzling.  We trust the Veterans' Committee will set it right before Mr Murphy passes on... Jack Morris' omission is also a head-scratcher. These guys do realize that a 3.90 ERA has to be considered in context, don't they? And 254 wins is awfully hard to hide. Plus Morris was the top pitcher on two World Championship teams seven years apart. Thankfully, there's time left to rectify this one... The third case is that of Tim Raines. We'll presume nobody is holding a brief, decades-old drug issue against him and just figure they're still overlooking him, as was the case during his career when everything he did was done a little bit better by Rickey Henderson. Call it 'second-banana syndrome'...  Actually, if the BBWAA inquisitors had any real credibility left, they would have elected Murphy, Morris, and Raines only, thereby "sending a message" to the Steroid Era and showing they can still recognize a great ballplayer when they see one. Yeah, we know, we're askin' way too much.