San Francisco Giants Headed For Dubious Distinction?

[HammerDown]

How humiliating.

A year after winning the World Series, the San Francisco Giants are mired in last place in the National League West. Unless the Giants can move ahead of the San Diego Padres and/or Colorado Rockies during the last three weeks of the season, they will be making the sort of history they'd just as soon avoid.

Only once in baseball history has a team gone from World Series champs one year to last place the next. The Florida Marlins took the 1997 Fall Classic, then plummeted to 54-108 in 1998 following a fire sale in which they unloaded key players like Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield and Charles Johnson.

The Giants have no such excuse. The core of the team, including NL MVP Buster Posey, ace Matt Cain and World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval, was back this season and most experts expected them to make the postseason again.

It hasn't worked out that way. So what went wrong?

In 2012, the Giants scored 718 runs, good for sixth in the league. This year, they are mired near the bottom with a group that includes the Philadelphia Phillies and Padres, with only the Miami Marlins being substantially worse. Posey has been solid but not as dominating as he was in 2012, and the teams has missed the production Melky Cabrera provided before his season ended in a 50-game suspension.

But the difference in pitching has been even more stark. Last season, San Francisco was fifth in the NL with a 3.68 ERA and was among the league leaders in complete games, shutouts and hits/nine innings. This year, the team has the fourth worst ERA in the Senior Circuit and is among the leaders in walks allowed.

Cain has gone from a 2.79 ERA to 4.37; and his other stats are worse across the board as well. After a decent 2012, Barry Zito has been awful. Ryan Vogelsong missed a big chunk of the season with a broken hand and has seen his ERA balloon from 3.37 to 5.62.

Cain, Vogelsong, Sandoval, Jeremy Affeldt and Marco Scutaro all have battle injuries.
Add it all up and the Giants have gone from a plus-72 to a minus-77 run differential. That's the difference between first place and last place — and the reasons the Giants soon could be in the record books.

Credit: BigDDude for the article.

 

[HammerDown]

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[navamind]

The Giants starting pitching has been atrocious. Bumgarner and Gaudin (who has only made 12 starts) are the only starters with an ERA+ of 100 or higher. Cain has the 3rd best at 77. League average ERA+ is 100.

 

[JR Hart]

Whatever 2 out of 3 rings makes it pretty easy to take.

2012 World Series Giants hold Tigers to .159 BA, best ever for a National League staff in WS history.

2010 Giants hold Rangers to .190 BA.

That's 8-1 is World Series play with 4 shoutouts and 2 opponents below the Mendoza line.

There's your history.

 

[da55bums]

Whatever 2 out of 3 rings makes it pretty easy to take.

2012 World Series Giants hold Tigers to .159 BA, best ever for a National League staff in WS history.

2010 Giants hold Rangers to .190 BA.

That's 8-1 is World Series play with 4 shoutouts and 2 opponents below the Mendoza line.

There's your history.

now that was........a guy who knows its the rings that matter...

 

[True Lakers Fan]

I was surprised that the Giants went downhill so fast, but I know they would love to come in and ass whip the Dodgers and make a statement. Dodgers need 6 to clinch division, so they still have to find a way to win and will be fighting hard. I have to say though that I am always happy to see the Giants lose. Nothing please me more then to see the Giants and Yankees get beat

 

[HammerDown]

While I do admit to having utter hatred for the Giants, it's nothing like I felt for the Angels or Yankees of yester-year. Maybe it's the Boche, I don't know.

 

[navamind]

Whatever 2 out of 3 rings makes it pretty easy to take.

2012 World Series Giants hold Tigers to .159 BA, best ever for a National League staff in WS history.

2010 Giants hold Rangers to .190 BA.

That's 8-1 is World Series play with 4 shoutouts and 2 opponents below the Mendoza line.

There's your history.

too bad their pitching's regressed.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I've heard a rule of thumb is a 5 year grace period after a championship where you shouldn't get upset about what your team does. Considering they've won 2 out of 3, Giants fans can basically die happy. They've won more World Series than most of our teams will play in during our life times (save for a handful of teams).

 

[JR Hart]

too bad their pitching's regressed.

Yea no kidding. My point is with 2 out 3 rings, I don't want to hear it. We're digging recent history too much.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

While I do admit to having utter hatred for the Giants, it's nothing like I felt for the Angels or Yankees of yester-year. Maybe it's the Boche, I don't know.

I was never an Angel fan until they hired Sciosa as manager and I really am a big fan of his from his Dodgers days - so as long as he is managing, I will like the Angels second to the Dodgers. I root for the Dodgers first and then the Angels. I was nice to see them get one something like ten years ago or whenever it was

 

[sfsportsfan]

theres a lot of excuses that can be made, but its pointless at this point. shitty year, but i expect the Giants to be back next year.

injuries and bad luck destroyed this year for us.

 

[Inquisitor95]

Considering the kind of history the Astros are making, I'll take this any day of the week.

 

[Liberal Icon]

How humiliating.



Credit: BigDDude for the article.

I thought history is meant to be broken? What most baseball fans remember is the two WS in 3 years not some obscure history most of us fans with short attention span might not even know or remember

 

[Berkeley_Blues]

It's almost guaranteed when we give our Ace $20 million per year -- they tank. We watched with Zito, then Lincecum and this year Cain.

(I was at the game last night to see Zito's last start against the Dodgers. Good win but marred by the stabbing after the game)

 

[Darkstone42]

An Infomercial for Hunter's Hitters: Hunter Pence's Unorthodox Baseball Camp | Extra Mustard - SI.com

At least they have Pence and his sense of humor.