Better pitching: Braves or Giants?

[ColinCoby]

I think most of us would give a slight advantage in a short series to the Giants in regards to starting pitching. That said, the Braves rotation has been very good (although Jurjens is out). Their top 3:

Lowe (16-12, 4.00 ERA, 5-0 in his last 5 starts)

Hanson (10-11, 3.33 ERA)

Hudson (17-9, 2.83 ERA)

Their bullpen is even better than their rotation. Wagner (1.43 ERA), Venters
(1.95 ERA), Moylan (2.97 ERA), Kimbrel (.44 ERA!)). Couple of other guys are very good also: Saito, and a lefty named Dunn.

I think Tzill predicted that if the Giants starting pitching dominates, we win the series. Makes sense to me. If it comes down to a battle between the 'pens, it's anybody's series. Gotta hope Timmeh, Cain, and Dirty bring their A games.

BTW: with Prado out, who has the better lineup?

 

[nateistheshi]

I think most of us would give a slight advantage in a short series to the Giants in regards to starting pitching. That said, the Braves rotation has been very good (although Jurjens is out). Their top 3:

Lowe (16-12, 4.00 ERA, 5-0 in his last 5 starts)

Hanson (10-11, 3.33 ERA)

Hudson (17-9, 2.83 ERA)

Their bullpen is even better than their rotation. Wagner (1.43 ERA), Venters
(1.95 ERA), Moylan (2.97 ERA), Kimbrel (.44 ERA!)). Couple of other guys are very good also: Saito, and a lefty named Dunn.

I think Tzill predicted that if the Giants starting pitching dominates, we win the series. Makes sense to me. If it comes down to a battle between the 'pens, it's anybody's series. Gotta hope Timmeh, Cain, and Dirty bring their A games.

BTW: with Prado out, who has the better lineup?

I'd easily take the Giants pitching staff, I think the Giants are #1 in the NL with the Braves being #3. As far as lineup goes, the Braves lineup is better, however the Braves lineup without Prado or Chipper Jones is barely less than the Giants lineup as long as Uribe and Freddy Sanchez are able to stay healthy. What's your take ColinCoby?

 

[ColinCoby]

I think if Prado were in there, it would be a toss up. I think Derrik Lee is the wild card; if he can provide some key hits and power, that would be huge for the Braves. That said, if you look at the best hitters in their lineup, nobody really stands out.

Infante: .321 8 HR 47 RBI

Heyward .277 18 HR 72 RBI

McCann .269 21 HR 77 RBI

Lee .260 19 HR 80 RBI

After these guys, everyone else on their roster has a BA under .260! And Heyward leads the team in steals...with 11! Speedy teams always give the Giants fits (although Posey has been a huge help of course), so it's nice to see the Braves are equally weak when it comes to team speed.

I've watched enough baseball to know that in the playoffs, you never know what might happen, especially in a 5 game series (I don't know if you know who Bucky Dent is; YOutube his HR against the BoSox!).

I'd like our chances a lot more in a 7 game series; I think the Giants are the better overall team. Equal 'pen, with a slight advantage in the areas of lineup, pitching and hitting depth, and SP.

 

[gp956]

Looking at the number of runs each lineup can produce, the Braves have a clear edge.

Against a league average pitching staff:

Giants (with Guillen in RF): 4.324 runs per game
Giants (with Ross in RF): 4.476
Braves: 4.647 runs per game

So against a league average pitching staff the Braves would be expected to win about five more games. What's a bit mind blowing is 2.4 of those wins come because the Braves pitchers are much better hitters than the Giants pitchers. One thing is clear to me, unless bochy has specific knowledge about him that isn't revealed in the stats, Guillen should be benched.

I used the following lineups in the above analysis, except where otherwise noted:

Projected Lineups

Braves: 3B Omar Infante (.321, 8 HRs, 47 RBIs, 7 SBs), RF Jason Heyward (.277, 18, 72, 11 SBs, .393 on-base percentage), 1B Derrek Lee (.260, 19, 80 with Cubs and Braves), C Brian McCann (.269, 21, 77), LF Melky Cabrera (.255, 4, 42) or Matt Diaz (.250, 7, 31), SS Alex Gonzalez (.250, 23, 88 with Blue Jays and Braves), 2B Brooks Conrad (.250, 8, 33), CF Rick Ankiel (.232, 6, 24 with Royals and Braves).

Giants: CF Andres Torres (.268, 16, 63, 26 SBs), 2B Freddy Sanchez (.292, 7, 47), 1B Aubrey Huff (.290, 26, 86), C Buster Posey (.305, 18, 67 after being called up from minors May 29), LF Pat Burrell (.266, 18, 51, signed to minor league deal May 29 after release by Tampa Bay and called up from Triple-A on June 4), SS Juan Uribe (.248, 24, 85), RF Jose Guillen (.266, 3, 15 after acquired from Royals on Aug. 13), 3B Pablo Sandoval (.268, 13, 63).

 

[ugafan6612]

Giants, but it is close. The Braves have stepped up their top 3 the past month.

 

[SFAnthem]

Giants, but it is close. The Braves have stepped up their top 3 the past month.

random question but how has the weather been over there on the east coast?

Giants bats really slowed down in that Atlanta heat in that 4 game set (weak grounder after weak grounder!) The crisp Autumn weather is beginning to settle in in San Francisco and supposedly Timmy pitches better when it's colder.

Nice Hedberg reference, btw, great comedian.

 

[ugafan6612]

its nice and cool around here. It's gotten to about the 50s at night and as high as 78 or 79 in the day for the past week.
They keep talking about on the radio down here that the cold weather up there might be hard for the hitters so it will most likely be even more of a pitchers duel for the 3 games. I heard about the Lincecum thing too. We barely got him for 3 runs last time. I think that was in ATL though