Author Archives: Thomas Todd

SF Giants lineup: Posey sits against red-hot Padres

Buster Posey gets a full day of rest Monday after playing in all nine games of the Giants’ recent road trip. The reigning MVP caught eight of those games, spending Saturday’s game at first base. Posey collected 15 hits on the trip, raising his 2013 batting line to .316/.390/.515. His .905 OPS is tops among MLB catchers and seventh among all position players in the National League. Hector Sanchez gets his fifth start of the season behind the dish and his first since April 18th.

Sanchez caught Zito in 24 of his 32 starts last year, becoming somewhat of a personal catcher for the lefty. Bochy looks to exploit this comfort tonight at AT&T, where Zito has a 1.94 ERA on the season. He is 4-1 in home starts, to go along with an 0-4 road record and 11.28 ERA away from San Francisco.

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Angel Pagan injury update: Giants center fielder expects a rehab assignment

Giants center fielder Angel Pagan appears close to returning but expects to have a minor-league rehab assignment, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area. Despite a cortisone shot, the hamstring has not healed and he has been unable to run the bases pain-free. Alex Pavlovic of the Merc reports that manager Bruce Bochy says Pagan will get 10-15 at-bats in the minors.

Speed is a large part of Pagan’s game, both on the basepaths and roaming center field. The 31-year-old has 130 career stolen bases and 43 triples, with 15 of those coming last season. The latter is a San Francisco Giants record and led all of Major League Baseball.

The Giants haven’t been entire helpless without Pagan, as Gregor Blanco has mirrored Pagan’s production sans a bit of power. Blanco has an OBP of .341 and plays all positions in the outfield well, but has just one home run in 251 plate appearances.

But Blanco (and Andres Torres, for that matter) haven’t been alone in stepping up. Recent call-up Juan Perez has played stellar defense in his first career cup of coffee, making a running catch into the fence that will certainly make the Giants end-of-the-year highlight reel. He has also flashed some acumen with the bat, notching five hits in his first 11 at-bats.

SF Giants lineup: Giants play for the .500 road trip

After a disappointing loss in Atlanta last night behind Sergio Romo’s ninth-inning meltdown, the Giants still have a chance to break even on their current eight-game road trip. They’ll have to do it against one of the hottest young pitchers in baseball, Braves’ right-hander Julio Teheran.

Getting of to a rough start in his first full major-league season by giving up 4+ runs in three straight outings, Teheran has done that in an outing just once in his last nine tries while posting a 2.66 ERA and holding opponents to a .651 OPS. He faces a San Francisco lineup that is still struggling to get its best players on the field.

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