Old and in the way

A specter hovers over the infield sucking the collective will to hit. That Specter comes in the form of anyone not named Freddy Sanchez. The Giants have trotted out a veritable poo-poo platter of middle infielders the past season and half. Okay, "trotted" is being generous, wheeled is more accurate. I'm hoping that in twenty years I can laugh at the Miguel Tejada experience, but for now I'd rather curl into a ball and cry. As for the rest of them, well at least we don't have to deal with Bill Hall anymore, or do we?

Take a look at a comparrison of two players and tell me who you'd rather have?

	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP
Player A	32	21	65	60	2	11	1	0	0	2	0	1	3	8	0.183	0.219	0.200	0.419	21	12	3
Player B	31	16	41	38	6	6	2	0	0	1	2	1	3	8	0.158	0.220	0.211	0.430	24	8	2

Player A is better, but not by a much. Who is Player A? That would be what Ryan Theriot, player B is of course Mr. Bill Hall! Remind me again how he is an upgrade over Mike Fontenot or Jeff Keppinger? Bill Hall was a disaster and Theriot is picking up right where he left off. If the Giants don't do something to get some productivity in the middle infield 2012 is going to look awfully similar to 2011. I'm dissapointed that we're only a game over .500 at this point, but also kind of surprised we're not significantly worse than that. I promise that for my next post I will blog about something positive.

Finding Schierholtz

I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, I tend to think they are convenient ways to cast blame elsewhere and are best left to drug addicts and political extremists. But there is a rumor going around the interwebs that I am prone to believe. The fact that I am introducing this theory to the interwebs in this post is irrelevant. What is relevant is that aliens have abducted Nate Schierholtz. I'll wait a moment for that to sink in... Got it yet? I mean c'mon people why are we not freaking out about this? I remember a time not to long ago when we were all in a collective #freenate movement long before that Belt guy took that mojo. A year ago he seemed to have it all. Speed? Check. Clutch hitting? Check. A mean game face? Check. A strong arm? Have you seen that arm? I'm surprised TSA lets him go on road trips with a cannon like that.

Is Lincecum On The Way Back?

If Tim Lincecum is going to bounce back from an utterly forgettable start to his 2012 season he needs to remember one thing: He's Tim Lincecum Damn-it! His starts in May have been promising for innings at a time but he has yet to display that signature dominance, especially in clutch situations. I'm tired of hearing the excuses about declining velocity, a flaw in his mechanics or any of that other nonsense. As long as he can keep his fastball in the low 90's and regain confidence in his wicked change-up and sprinkle on a slider or two for good measure he should be fine...physically.

The problem Timmy is having is between the ears, which is why it is such a juicy story. He hasn't gone Zito. His last few starts have shown good life on the fastball and a good out pitch when its working. His problem lies in the fact that when he starts to lose a batter or two he starts to tighten up. He needs to get his swagger back. Timmy will only be back when he has at least 2 runners on base with no outs and gets out of the inning unscathed and THEN follows that with a strong inning. He can't get cute and start dancing around the strike zone after getting into hot water.

An Ode to Javier Lopez

I have a secret confession to make; I was against the Giants resigning both Lopez and Affeldt. I had pegged them both into the left hand specialist spot and figured they did essentially the same thing. I'm not totally wrong with that thought, but having both of them available to come up clutch is one of the reasons why the bullpen is so special. Going into the season I was giddy at the prospect of using one of them as trade bait to get a middle infielder. I was correct in predicting how much the shortstop and second basemen would make me crazy, but right now I wouldn't trade them for anyone.

My biggest reason is that Javier is WAY better than his stats would indicate. He has one major flaw that destroys his stats (this of course is totally un-researched but isn't that the point of a blog?) What is that flaw you ask? It is his total incompetence to pitch well in garbage time. He is a reliever built on adrenaline. Garbage time eats him up and he responds with less than stellar performance. When the game is on the line? Nails. His pitch to induce a double play against the Dodgers is one of the best plays of the season.

I can even stand his inability to pitch when the game is already decided. You never like to give up hope, but Javier is built differently than most. I guess my only real problem with the guy is his inability to grow a ridiculous amount of facial hair. Other than that, he's more than you could ever ask of a reliever: Clutch in pressure situations, high strikeout/walk ratio, limits base-runners and provides a great quotes. In short, I love Javier, just not as much as I love Romo.

Things I Like About 2012

Things I like about the 2012 Giants:

• No Aaron Rowand, Orlando Cabrerra or Miguel Tejada.
• Vogelsong's game face and the way he stays angry even after he's been taken out of the game.
• The way Melky rounds first base looking of two. Every. Single. Time.
• Pagan's speed to first.
• Blanco's walks.
• Snot rockets.
• No more Aaron Rowand
• Everything Romo.
• Posey goofing off.
• Pablo's shaving cream pies.
• Pagan and Melky's intensity and refusal to quit.
• All the walks.
• Not freaking out about Zito.
• Did I mention Aaron Rowand yet?
• Awesome giveaways.
• Winning

Things I dislike about the 2012 Giants:

• Timmy's struggles.
• Inability to hit Home-runs
• Crap defense.
• Schierholtz's May.
• The #freebelt movement.
• Crawford's crap defense.
• Pagan's mental gaffes at center.
• The guys in the bullpen who aren't Romo, Affeldt, Lopez, Casilla or Hensley.
• Lack of power from middle infield and first base. Especially first base.
• No more Country Bears recycling video at games.
• Crap in-stadium music.
• Freddy's injury concerns.
• Losing

2012 Predictions April edition

Thoughts and predictions about things for Giants 2012 season

4/21 edition

OUTFIELD

Pagan starting to heat up, is a positive reinforcement of Bochy's tendency to be lenient with veterans. Huff demonstrates the down side of that tendency. Hitting .207 is not going to get it done. If he isn't hitting by the end of the month we won't see huff in August. 

I don't want to jinx anything with an injury bug, but we will have 1 minor injury that will open a hole for Blanco to get some serious playing time. He will struggle for 3-4 games and then go on a tear creating a heated debate whether to leave him in, or give the injured player his playing time back. Schierholtz will hit 2 splash hits and make a game saving play in the outfield that will make us freakout and text everyone we know, even if they aren't baseball fans.

INFIELD

Freddy Sanchez will be ready to go in mid-late July. The Giants will be VERY cautious with him. Burress will play just well enough at the plate that the howls will be muted enough to let him play with confidence. Crawford has been making good contact with the ball, it just seems to be finding the gloves of the defense every time he hits a line drive. We will never be in love with Theriot, but after the Tejada, Cabrerra, Whiteside/Stewart poo-poo platter at the plate last year we'll be happy enough.

PITCHING

Vogelsong will be the first pitcher to hit a home run this year. Bumgarner will hit 2 homers and see 4 plate appearances as a pitch-hitter. Zito will finish the year without going on the disabled list and have 31 starts, a 4.17 ERA and a whip of 1.31 and we will be VERY happy with it.

Clay Hensley will become a fan favorite and make us forget that um guy, whatshisname that we traded to the Mets. Otero is NOT going to be Runzler and we will feel okay with him coming out of the bullpen (but we'd still rather see anyone else).

CATCHING

Hector Sanchez will continue to improve and we will be happy with his performance, BUT there will be some plays behind the plate that cost us a game. Posey will prove to be more than capable of staying behind the plate and stop moving to first by the end of May. He will go on an offensive tear for over  month and will finish the year with over 25HR.

OTHER NL WEST TEAMS

Giants will have OWNAGE over the Dodgers this year. Arizona will be hit by the injury bug but keep within striking distance of the Giants all year, making us very nervous. San Diego will make us CRAZY by stealing a few very winnable games at Petco. Colorado will do just enough to trip up the Dodgers and Diamondbacks that the Giants will win the division with 93 games, 2 over the Diamondbacks and 5 over the Dodgers.

PLAYOFFS:

Giants, Nationals, Cardinals all win their divisions

Phillies and Diamondbacks win the wild-card

Giants all-stars: Posey, Cain, Bumgarner, Sandoval, Cabrerra