Game Thread: 6/8 GDT Mehts vs. Giants

[calsnowskier]

Yeah, after Sanchez, when the pinch hitters hit worse than the pitchers, who don't hit all that well to begin with, you know there's an issue.

Actually, they commented on Boch's masterful use of the bench. Juggling the lineup the way Boch does and getting nice starts out of guys like JCP, Blanco and Colvin.


Of course, they also said that Crawford's big hole in his game is his range, so there is that...

 

[calsnowskier]

Anyone see what happened with Pence?

???

You mean when he got plunked?

 

[SFGRTB]

???

You mean when he got plunked?

Yeah. Looked like from the highlight he was ticked off at something. I mean no one likes getting hit, but I was curious if there was some previous bad blood mentioned?

 

[msgkings322]

Yeah, after Sanchez, when the pinch hitters hit worse than the pitchers, who don't hit all that well to begin with, you know there's an issue.

The bench will improve automatically when Belt is back. Also, Blanco has been hitting well he's no longer a liability. It's really just 2 guys: Arias and Adrianza

 

[Hangman]

Yeah. Looked like from the highlight he was ticked off at something. I mean no one likes getting hit, but I was curious if there was some previous bad blood mentioned?

It was definitely intentional. So I there must have been some bad blood in the past.

 

[SFGRTB]

It was definitely intentional. So I there must have been some bad blood in the past.

Pence was clearly not happy, even walked towards the mound just a little bit. Probably something that goes back some time.

 

[Mays-Fan]

I kinda get it for management and with the best record in baseball, they can just keep doing what they are doing. More so meant some of the fans argument of "Are you really going to pay a reliever 17M"

Sabes has made a lot of outstanding moves. Love him

Rosenthal's Latest: Mariners, Lackey, Tigers

Not that Ken Rosenthal is the ultimate truth, but...

"Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has been plenty busy over the past few days, digging up rumors from all around the league. Here are some highlights from his latest work…"

"The Giants are looking to upgrade at second base this summer. While they could use a starting pitcher, they aren’t likely to make an addition that would turn Tim Lincecum into a $17MM bullpen arm."

 

[msgkings322]

Rosenthal's Latest: Mariners, Lackey, Tigers

Not that Ken Rosenthal is the ultimate truth, but...

"Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has been plenty busy over the past few days, digging up rumors from all around the league. Here are some highlights from his latest work…"

"The Giants are looking to upgrade at second base this summer. While they could use a starting pitcher, they aren’t likely to make an addition that would turn Tim Lincecum into a $17MM bullpen arm."

Tim is perfectly fine as a 5th starter, and a pen arm in the playoffs. The team is 9-4 in his starts so far, and he's 5-4 in decisions. We don't need another starter this year, at least not for what a good one would cost us. In the playoffs we will need Bum, Cain, and Hudson to pitch well for sure. We could end the year with a 6 game lead on the Dodgers and the BRIB and still get bounced in the 5 game first round.

2B can be improved for sure.

And in this as in all things, we trust in Sabean, peace be upon him.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Tim is perfectly fine as a 5th starter, and a pen arm in the playoffs. The team is 9-4 in his starts so far, and he's 5-4 in decisions. We don't need another starter this year, at least not for what a good one would cost us. In the playoffs we will need Bum, Cain, and Hudson to pitch well for sure. We could end the year with a 6 game lead on the Dodgers and the BRIB and still get bounced in the 5 game first round.

2B can be improved for sure.

And in this as in all things, we trust in Sabean, peace be upon him.

Along with a 4th OF, a switch hitter, a guy who wasn't too old, yet had the experience to contribute to a stretch run and deep playoff run, who was a good guy in the clubhouse, yet affordable, with no real strings for 2015. Good with the glove, and had good gap power and pop.

If only you could get all that in just one player, it would be great...

 

[SFGRTB]

Along with a 4th OF, a switch hitter, a guy who wasn't too old, yet had the experience to contribute to a stretch run and deep playoff run, who was a good guy in the clubhouse, yet affordable, with no real strings for 2015. Good with the glove, and had good gap power and pop.

If only you could get all that in just one player, it would be great...

Lets see here...

Check

Check

Check

Check

Check

I think we found our guy.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Lets see here...


I think we found our guy.

LOL. Are you his agent? Or maybe his wife?

 

[tzill]

Along with a 4th OF, a switch hitter, a guy who wasn't too old, yet had the experience to contribute to a stretch run and deep playoff run, who was a good guy in the clubhouse, yet affordable, with no real strings for 2015. Good with the glove, and had good gap power and pop.

If only you could get all that in just one player, it would be great...

We have one of the best fourth OF in the game in Shark. We have four other solid bench guys once we shore up the starting 2b, pushing HRicks to the bench. EA is the weak link, and he'll be gone.

 

[Mays-Fan]

We have one of the best fourth OF in the game in Shark. We have four other solid bench guys once we shore up the starting 2b, pushing HRicks to the bench. EA is the weak link, and he'll be gone.

Respectfully disagree. While Blanco is an excellent fielder and has been hitting well of late, he has been a consistent sub-.700 OPS hitter for us. Ditto Sanchez and Hicks, and it goes down fast from there. We don't have a reliable pinch hitter, and we don't have a reliable DH, thinking ahead to the Serious. To call them "solid" just isn't objective, or, frankly, correct.

Did you know this about Ben Zobrist:

http://baseball.******.com/src_wire...0412/ben_zobrist_mlbs_best_in_war_since_2009/

Ben Zobrist MLB's Best In WAR Since 2009

Simply put, Zobrist is WAY better than anyone we have on the bench right now. And better than some of our starters.

 

[tzill]

Respectfully disagree. While Blanco is an excellent fielder and has been hitting well of late, he has been a consistent sub-.700 OPS hitter for us. Ditto Sanchez and Hicks, and it goes down fast from there. We don't have a reliable pinch hitter, and we don't have a reliable DH, thinking ahead to the Serious. To call them "solid" just isn't objective, or, frankly, correct.

Did you know this about Ben Zobrist:

http://baseball.******.com/src_wire...0412/ben_zobrist_mlbs_best_in_war_since_2009/

Ben Zobrist MLB's Best In WAR Since 2009

Simply put, Zobrist is WAY better than anyone we have on the bench right now. And better than some of our starters.

I don't disagree re: Zobrist. However, and this is important:

ZOBRIST ISN'T A BENCH PLAYER. HE STARTS.

If you seriously don't think Shark is one of the best 4th OF in the game, then I respectfully suggest you take a look at other reserve OF. Bench players are bench players for a reason: they aren't good enough to start. The only guy that comes to mind that is better than Shark would be whichever OF is sitting in LA. Then again, they have a $250MM payroll and can afford to "bench" a starting OF.

Shark would start for probably half the teams in baseball.

Say we get Zobrist (or Utley, or Beckham). Our bench would be:
Shark
TyCo
Arias
HRicks
Hacktor.

That's a pretty solid bench. A starting level caliber OF, a guy who in his only two full seasons in the bigs put up .800+ OPS both years, a perfectly serviceable utility man who puts up 1.0 WAR and plays all four infield positions, a slick fielding middle infielder who has already put up 8 bombs this year, and a switch hitting reserve catcher who is good for about 1.0 WAR as well.

I mean, really, who has a significantly better bench than that?

 

[Mays-Fan]

I don't disagree re: Zobrist. However, and this is important:

ZOBRIST ISN'T A BENCH PLAYER. HE STARTS.

If you seriously don't think Shark is one of the best 4th OF in the game, then I respectfully suggest you take a look at other reserve OF. Bench players are bench players for a reason: they aren't good enough to start. The only guy that comes to mind that is better than Shark would be whichever OF is sitting in LA. Then again, they have a $250MM payroll and can afford to "bench" a starting OF.

Shark would start for probably half the teams in baseball.

Say we get Zobrist (or Utley, or Beckham). Our bench would be:
Shark
TyCo
Arias
HRicks
Hacktor.

That's a pretty solid bench. A starting level caliber OF, a guy who in his only two full seasons in the bigs put up .800+ OPS both years, a perfectly serviceable utility man who puts up 1.0 WAR and plays all four infield positions, a slick fielding middle infielder who has already put up 8 bombs this year, and a switch hitting reserve catcher who is good for about 1.0 WAR as well.

I mean, really, who has a significantly better bench than that?

I agree with most of the points you made, and I don't disagree vehemently with any of them. Hey, that's a pretty good start, no?

Some counter-points, though:

Blanco MAY be able to start for some teams, maybe even half as you say, but that is not to say we can't improve on him. I love his defense, but in inter-league games, including the Series, he would be weak as the DH, and also weak in general as a PH. We are an elite team, performance and payroll-wise, and IMO we can and should do better.

The same can be said for Hicks at 2B. He started out hot, but has regressed to his mean, which isn't SF caliber.

Getting Zobrist would give us a likely starter at 2B, but also a better 4th OF when needed. And when a PH or DH was needed, the bench quality would improve at every rung, and we could save Sanchez to truly only be Posey's backup.

 

[tzill]

I agree with most of the points you made, and I don't disagree vehemently with any of them. Hey, that's a pretty good start, no?

Some counter-points, though:

Blanco MAY be able to start for some teams, maybe even half as you say, but that is not to say we can't improve on him. I love his defense, but in inter-league games, including the Series, he would be weak as the DH, and also weak in general as a PH. We are an elite team, performance and payroll-wise, and IMO we can and should do better.

The same can be said for Hicks at 2B. He started out hot, but has regressed to his mean, which isn't SF caliber.

Getting Zobrist would give us a likely starter at 2B, but also a better 4th OF when needed. And when a PH or DH was needed, the bench quality would improve at every rung, and we could save Sanchez to truly only be Posey's backup.

So, I guess we agree then.

My larger point is that I can't think of a team with a better bench.

Still, we could upgrade the starting 2B.