Game Thread: 10/12 Peavy @ Lynn

[msgkings322]

Does the average Giants fan remember AJ, though? Yes, we are all VERY aware of the situation, but we are all lunatics. Does average Joe Game-Goer remember him?

If Matheny used that roster-spot to troll the Giants, I think he gave it WAY more thought than it deserved.

While I'd love to think that managers use roster spots to troll (maybe Bochy is trolling us keeping Timmy on there!), it's not a conspiracy...AJ is a useful bat to pinch hit with, and a third catcher can be useful. Now Matheny looks pretty smart with Yadier getting hurt.

 

[calsnowskier]

I made a post over at Dr Bs about the Cards adding AJ because they feared something medically about Yadi. Doc poo-poo'd the idea and just said they wanted the extra bat in the line up.

Yea...

 

[Mays-Fan]

Why sit Ishi? He is dialed in. Offensively, he may be the Giants MVP right now.

Granted, he's doing well - for Ishi. But Belt is easily the offensive MVP so far. Ishi has a .683 OPS with one 2B, all the rest singles. Ishi's doing OK because pitchers don't have to bear down on him.

Morse brings a dimension of fear. One mistake by the pitcher and "that baby is ...OUTA HERE!!". You can't pitch around him, and whoever is hitting in front of him will see more fastballs.

I see what you are saying. But Morse is the man if he is truly healthy. IMO.

 

[msgkings322]

Granted, he's doing well - for Ishi. But Belt is easily the offensive MVP so far. Ishi has a .683 OPS with one 2B, all the rest singles. Ishi's doing OK because pitchers don't have to bear down on him.

Morse brings a dimension of fear. One mistake by the pitcher and "that baby is ...OUTA HERE!!". You can't pitch around him, and whoever is hitting in front of him will see more fastballs.

I see what you are saying. But Morse is the man if he is truly healthy. IMO.

There's something to this...there's something to be said for hitters with 'presence', it's hard to quantify but some hitters are just 'dangerous' and some aren't. Ishi doesn't have that, Morse healthy does. It's partly why the As suffered so much without Cespedes, it wasn't just numbers with him in the lineup. It's part of why Pagan means so much. It's why the Cardinals are beatable, only Carpenter has it in their lineup.

The Giants have Posey and Panda and Belt, all hitters that teams have to be careful with. And one reason why maybe we should switch Belt and Pence in the order.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Here's some stats on Molina as the Cards C vs others:

Molina's Catchers ERA (ESPN has this) in 2014 regular season was 3.20. The staff had an ERA of 3.50. I ran the numbers, and calculated that with the non-Molina catchers, STL had an ERA of 4.06.

Molina had a 2014 OPS of .719. Cruz, his primary backup, had an OPS of .530. That drops their average position players' OPS by almost .025. That is huge.

Someone said it earlier, and the facts support it - Molina being out probably costs them about a run a game on average.

 

[msgkings322]

Here's some stats on Molina as the Cards C vs others:

Molina's Catchers ERA (ESPN has this) in 2014 regular season was 3.20. The staff had an ERA of 3.50. I ran the numbers, and calculated that with the non-Molina catchers, STL had an ERA of 4.06.

Molina had a 2014 OPS of .719. Cruz, his primary backup, had an OPS of .530. That drops their average position players' OPS by almost .025. That is huge.

Someone said it earlier, and the facts support it - Molina being out probably costs them about a run a game on average.

No doubt a huge blow...but the run-a-game loss is over a season, the SSS playoffs can still screw all that up.

Again, a huge break for the Giants, no other way to see it.

 

[calsnowskier]

Granted, he's doing well - for Ishi. But Belt is easily the offensive MVP so far. Ishi has a .683 OPS with one 2B, all the rest singles. Ishi's doing OK because pitchers don't have to bear down on him.

Morse brings a dimension of fear. One mistake by the pitcher and "that baby is ...OUTA HERE!!". You can't pitch around him, and whoever is hitting in front of him will see more fastballs.

I see what you are saying. But Morse is the man if he is truly healthy. IMO.

To further support your point, in 2010, Ishi was the best PHer in the majors. Having him come in for an AB in the 7th with a runner on 2B could be HUGE. I would rather have a singles hitter in that situation than a 3-Outcome guy.

 

[calsnowskier]

There's something to this...there's something to be said for hitters with 'presence', it's hard to quantify but some hitters are just 'dangerous' and some aren't. Ishi doesn't have that, Morse healthy does. It's partly why the As suffered so much without Cespedes, it wasn't just numbers with him in the lineup. It's part of why Pagan means so much. It's why the Cardinals are beatable, only Carpenter has it in their lineup.

The Giants have Posey and Panda and Belt, all hitters that teams have to be careful with. And one reason why maybe we should switch Belt and Pence in the order.

If swapping Belt and Pence is entering the conversation, than moving Pence to the Lead-off spot should be in the discussion as well.

Pence
Panik
Posey
Panda
Belt
Morse
Crawford
Blanco
Pitcher

We still have length with Morse in there, and now we have some thump at the top.

 

[msgkings322]

If swapping Belt and Pence is entering the conversation, than moving Pence to the Lead-off spot should be in the discussion as well.

Pence
Panik
Posey
Panda
Belt
Morse
Crawford
Blanco
Pitcher

We still have length with Morse in there, and now we have some thump at the top.

I like it, but it's all moot as Bochy will do what he'll do...

 

[Mays-Fan]

To further support your point, in 2010, Ishi was the best PHer in the majors. Having him come in for an AB in the 7th with a runner on 2B could be HUGE. I would rather have a singles hitter in that situation than a 3-Outcome guy.

Agreed about Ishi as a PH vs Morse. Ishi is more of a contact/situational hitter than Morse. Morse probably never bunted in his life, for example (but neither did Huff until he came up huge in 2010). Ishi probably also has more speed to stay out of the DP.

Starting Morse on Tues also sends the Cards a message: we are upgrading our lineup, while you are forced to downgrade yours. Let's play.

 

[calsnowskier]

So how do we feel about Huddy vs Lackey? Huddy looked great against the Nats, but he still smelt like week-old fish for much of the second half of the season.

 

[Mays-Fan]

So how do we feel about Huddy vs Lackey? Huddy looked great against the Nats, but he still smelt like week-old fish for much of the second half of the season.

Did Huddy have a hip injury the last month or two? I thought I read that somewhere. If he's over that I like our chances.

I don't like John Lackey. He's ugly, he spits a lot, he came out of nowhere to beat us in 2002, and he's made over $100mm in salary over the course of his career, which is like $99mm more than me. What not to dislike?

 

[jeep99tj]

So how do we feel about Huddy vs Lackey? Huddy looked great against the Nats, but he still smelt like week-old fish for much of the second half of the season.

You're only as good as your last outing. I like the matchup especially at home.

 

[MarcoPolo]

If swapping Belt and Pence is entering the conversation, than moving Pence to the Lead-off spot should be in the discussion as well.

Pence
Panik
Posey
Panda
Belt
Morse
Crawford
Blanco
Pitcher

We still have length with Morse in there, and now we have some thump at the top.

Why

Pence
Panik

vs.

Panik
Pence

 

[1phlapdown]

So how do we feel about Huddy vs Lackey? Huddy looked great against the Nats, but he still smelt like week-old fish for much of the second half of the season.

It appears that he really benefited from extended time off, as he pitched into the 8th. This go 'round he'll have have 9 days off, and i'm looking for the old fart to "bring it" again.

 

[ColinCoby]

Did Huddy have a hip injury the last month or two? I thought I read that somewhere. If he's over that I like our chances.

I don't like John Lackey. He's ugly, he spits a lot, he came out of nowhere to beat us in 2002, and he's made over $100mm in salary over the course of his career, which is like $99mm more than me. What not to dislike?

Wow! You're a millionaire!!

 

[1phlapdown]

I like it, but it's all moot as Bochy will do what he'll do...

…like bringing in Strickland.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Wow! You're a millionaire!!

I sure am, before taxes, mortgage, cars, food, utilities, and beer for 35 years.