Author Archives: Thomas Todd

POSTGAME RECAP: Matt Cain Should Pitch To The Score

The reason the Giants aren’t in first place can be summed up perfectly by two things: Matt Kemp, and that 8th inning. Leadoff double. Bases loaded with one out. Christ Posey at the plate. In play, out(s). Inning over. Friggle fraggle frig.

The Marlins manager looks like a genius. Intentionally walking Panda to face Posey, the bringing in a sinkerballer with force outs all around the diamond. Starting to think this Castro guy is onto something. His name is Guillen? He’s not even Cuban? Then what was all the fuss about?

I would say that Matt Cain got Cain’d, but you aren’t supposed to use the word you are defining in the definition. Matt Cain got f*cked. Hard.

Giants with RISP on the season: .008/.012/.016. Or maybe that was just today. Nope, that is in fact from the last five seasons. All the candy and unicorns in the world can’t convince me that even if the umpire makes the right call and gives Theriot a 2-out double in the 9th, that Sanchez knocks him in. Wasn’t gonna happen. The game was lost in the 8th.

Matt Cain loses a game 2-1. Color me surprised.

Stats of the Day:

5: Grounders to first for unassisted putouts induced to left-handed hitters by Nolasco (3 in a row by Belt)

3: The number of bases stolen by Marlins today

2: The number of balls hit by Cain that went further than Stanton’s home run

1: The number of 0-fers Pablo Sandoval has taken this year. Astounding.

0: The number of defensive innings Pablo Sandoval has missed this season (Burriss pinch-ran for him the first game of the season). Astounding.

Jeremy Affeldt Goes To The DL

On October 30th, 2010 Jeremy Affeldt retired 4 of the 5 Rangers he faced in Game 3 of the World Series. On the same date in 2011 the San Francisco Giants picked up a $5 million option to keep the left hander through the end of 2012. Today, Jeremy Affeldt went on the disabled list with a right knee sprain. They have called up 29-year-old lefty Travis Blackley from Fresno, who will make his season debut in his first appearance.

With the loss of Brian Wilson, every member of the bullpen was bumped up a level. Each guy would pitch a little later in the game, face a few more high leverage situations. With Affeldt’s departure, the amount and intensity of the workload for each bullpen stalwart will further increase. There will be added pressure on Javier Lopez to get lefties out, and guys like Mota, Hensley, and Romo will be called on to face more left-handed hitters in high-leverage situations.

Other than a rough 6-hit outing in Martin Scorsese’s The Colorado Affair and a pair of poorly-timed wild pitches, Jeremy Affeldt has been a solid option in the 7th and 8th innings. His 4.06 ERA is not indicative of how he has pitched- Affeldt is striking out almost a batter per inning and has 2.5 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The bullpen is better with Affeldt’s paralyzing curveball and sensual soul patch, and Giants fans should hope for a speedy return.

To fill the void in left-handedness, the Giants couldn’t go with the Usual Suspects- Otero, Edlefsen, Hembree- instead choosing to call up the 6’3”, 190-lb. Blackley. The Australian has had success in Fresno this season, allowing just 16 baserunners in 23.1 innings with a Zitonian ERA of 0.39. But at 29 he is far from a prospect, and this call-up is simply a bridge to Affledt’s return.

The Giants open a three-game series with the Miami Marlins tonight, where Matt Cain (1-1, 2.37) will square off against Ricky Nolasco (2-0, 3.20). Game time is 7:15 PST.

Update: Henry Schulman reports that Bochy expects Affeldt to be out 7-10 days, with a brief rehab assignment.

Eric Hacker > Joe Martinez > Todd Wellemeyer

Andrew Cashner throws hard. Buster Posey doesn’t care.

If the Giants weren’t going to win this game (they didn’t), it’s nice that Posey went yard and Panda extended his hit streak to 20. Dropping a game to the Padres feels like ass. Stinky stinky ass.

Eric Hacker earned his paycheck. Going into a spot start, not overworking the bullpen is the break even point. Hacker ate some innings and kept the Giants in the game.

Hacker’s night was made easier by a curious decision by Bud Black. With two outs and the bases full of Padres in the top of the 6th, he decided to let Luebke hit. This would have been standard operating procedure if Luebke was going to pitch a couple more innings. But curiously, Luebke was pulled after the sixth, just three outs after he struck out with three men on in a close game. Huh.

We’re Going Streaking:

Panda: 20 games. Pay attention ESPN!!!

Pagan: 12 games. Also went yard today. Dude’s hot.

Brandon Watch 2012

Belt: Corey Luebke throws with his left hand. Belt just got off a train in Siberia

Crawford: Craw Daddy sat for the second consecutive day after starting every game this season. I’m gonna do some in-depth award-winning analysis. That Luebke guy throws with his left hand. Also Arias has been getting on base. Easy decision for Bochy. Pay me.

Stats of the Day:

4: The number of home runs this season by Angel Pagan and Buster Posey. They lead the team.

4: Runners left on base by Joaquin “Cinderella” Arias. Midnight has struck.

2: 100 MPH guys the Giants have seen this week. Chapman and Cashner. Giants are countering by re-signing Armando Benitez

0: The number of times during today’s game where I thought “Man, we really need Aubrey Huff right now.” I empathize with Huff’s situation, having battled a few bouts of depression in my life. But it really shines a light on the fact that the Giants are constructed to not need Huff. Belt/Pill/Posey could easily lock down first base for the rest of the year. But alas, baseball isn’t everything. Get well, Huff.