I’m a huge Giants fan and I have been ever since 1993, when Barry Bonds came to San Francisco and kept the Giants from becoming the Marlins. Being a Giants fan means that you are contractually obligated to hate the Dodgers with a passion normally reserved for child molesters or Nic Cage movies. I mean, did you see him in Con Air? What was that accent about? Do you think he even read the script before he took the part? If you haven’t seen him in Wicker Man, don’t do that to yourself. But I would suggest watching this clip collection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo&feature=related to see him at his absolute best (a little PG -13ish).
Anyway…..I hate the Dodgers. But after watching the game last night I can hate them, while at the same time appreciate the product that they’re putting on the field. First, I was incredibly impressed with Billingsley. He has great command and poise on the mound, but what really struck me most about him was his ability to consistently throw his breaking balls for strikes. As the game wore on, it became clear that he didn’t have his best fastball. So, he went for his curve and just hammered the outside of the zone with it. He threw it for a first pitch strike, and at any other point in the count. So, he essentially started working backwards; instead of using his fastball to set up his off-speed pitches, he used his off-speed pitches (specifically his curveball) to set up everything else. That meant that he didn’t need to be precise with his fastball, because the Giants hitters couldn’t adjust. He didn’t get the win, but pitched well enough to deserve it.
But Billingsley wasn’t the only Dodger that I was impressed with; their young hitters are outstanding. I think that the misconception is that Manny is pretty much responsible for all of their offensive production, or at least they couldn’t get it done without him. He’s obviously one of the best hitters in the game, possibly ever, and enough has been written about that and his impact on the Dodgers offense. But Andre Ethier and James Loney were both incredibly impressive, especially for young talent, and are developing into genuine stars. Both of them showed remarkable plate discipline, with Loney working a 1-2 count into a bases loaded walk after fouling off pitch after pitch after pitch, and showing an amazing eye at the plate.
Compare that kind of patience with what the Giants showed and you get depressed, unless you look at Ishikawa. He looked good at the plate again last night, and even when he’s not hitting, he still shows the ability to take a couple of pitches and try to see as many different pitches in an at bat as possible. He’s got a compact swing that I think will make him into a hitter with 20ish homerun power, but primarily power to the left and right center gaps; in other words, I think we can expect a lot of doubles from him. He’s also showed a nice ability to take the ball in the opposite direction.
It’s sad when a young hitter like Ishikawa shows more patience then a supposedly veteran hitter in Uribe. Uribe comes up with the bases loaded after Aurelia drew 2 walks (I say this because the 3 – 1 pitch was so obviously a ball, even the Dodgers seemed surprised when they got the call), and then he swings at the first pitch that’s thrown. Let me break this down for you: Broxton had just walked Aurelia, scoring a run and tying the game, he’s having control problems, the umpire just gave Broxton a gift strike in the last at bat, so the logical thing to do would be to take at least the first pitch to see if he can get it over the plate. What does Uribe do? He check swings at a borderline pitch that probably would have been called a ball – way to make a pitcher work! His bat should have been glued to his shoulder in that situation, unless he gets a fat fastball over the middle of the plate. I use Uribe as an example, but he’s just representative of the larger problem of overaggressive hitting by the Giants.
There were some bright spots though. Sanchez struggled with his control, but still managed to string together 5 innings of work with no earned runs. The first 2 Dodger runs were unearned off a series of errors, which will happen occasionally. Defensively, there was one play that stood out in my mind as a positive, and it came from Aaron Rowand in the 7th. A liner was hit to shallow center, and Rowand charged in, accelerated, and held his glove out like he was going to make a knee high catch. Seeing that, the runner held at second. The ball probably dropped 10 feet in front of Rowand, but the base-runner was reading Rowand’s body language and thought there was a chance the ball could be caught, so when it dropped he was only able to advance to third. Had the bullpen come through, that could have been the difference in winning the game and losing.
Speaking of the bullpen, they looked decent. I don’t think they pitched particularly poorly, but were victim to some 50/50 calls by the Umpire and some prolonged work over the past couple days. Hopefully tonight they can get some rest with the Franchise on the mound.
Looking forward to tonight’s game – who would have thought we’d be near .500 right now?
image credit -- touchstone pictures
Anyway…..I hate the Dodgers. But after watching the game last night I can hate them, while at the same time appreciate the product that they’re putting on the field. First, I was incredibly impressed with Billingsley. He has great command and poise on the mound, but what really struck me most about him was his ability to consistently throw his breaking balls for strikes. As the game wore on, it became clear that he didn’t have his best fastball. So, he went for his curve and just hammered the outside of the zone with it. He threw it for a first pitch strike, and at any other point in the count. So, he essentially started working backwards; instead of using his fastball to set up his off-speed pitches, he used his off-speed pitches (specifically his curveball) to set up everything else. That meant that he didn’t need to be precise with his fastball, because the Giants hitters couldn’t adjust. He didn’t get the win, but pitched well enough to deserve it.
But Billingsley wasn’t the only Dodger that I was impressed with; their young hitters are outstanding. I think that the misconception is that Manny is pretty much responsible for all of their offensive production, or at least they couldn’t get it done without him. He’s obviously one of the best hitters in the game, possibly ever, and enough has been written about that and his impact on the Dodgers offense. But Andre Ethier and James Loney were both incredibly impressive, especially for young talent, and are developing into genuine stars. Both of them showed remarkable plate discipline, with Loney working a 1-2 count into a bases loaded walk after fouling off pitch after pitch after pitch, and showing an amazing eye at the plate.
Compare that kind of patience with what the Giants showed and you get depressed, unless you look at Ishikawa. He looked good at the plate again last night, and even when he’s not hitting, he still shows the ability to take a couple of pitches and try to see as many different pitches in an at bat as possible. He’s got a compact swing that I think will make him into a hitter with 20ish homerun power, but primarily power to the left and right center gaps; in other words, I think we can expect a lot of doubles from him. He’s also showed a nice ability to take the ball in the opposite direction.
It’s sad when a young hitter like Ishikawa shows more patience then a supposedly veteran hitter in Uribe. Uribe comes up with the bases loaded after Aurelia drew 2 walks (I say this because the 3 – 1 pitch was so obviously a ball, even the Dodgers seemed surprised when they got the call), and then he swings at the first pitch that’s thrown. Let me break this down for you: Broxton had just walked Aurelia, scoring a run and tying the game, he’s having control problems, the umpire just gave Broxton a gift strike in the last at bat, so the logical thing to do would be to take at least the first pitch to see if he can get it over the plate. What does Uribe do? He check swings at a borderline pitch that probably would have been called a ball – way to make a pitcher work! His bat should have been glued to his shoulder in that situation, unless he gets a fat fastball over the middle of the plate. I use Uribe as an example, but he’s just representative of the larger problem of overaggressive hitting by the Giants.
There were some bright spots though. Sanchez struggled with his control, but still managed to string together 5 innings of work with no earned runs. The first 2 Dodger runs were unearned off a series of errors, which will happen occasionally. Defensively, there was one play that stood out in my mind as a positive, and it came from Aaron Rowand in the 7th. A liner was hit to shallow center, and Rowand charged in, accelerated, and held his glove out like he was going to make a knee high catch. Seeing that, the runner held at second. The ball probably dropped 10 feet in front of Rowand, but the base-runner was reading Rowand’s body language and thought there was a chance the ball could be caught, so when it dropped he was only able to advance to third. Had the bullpen come through, that could have been the difference in winning the game and losing.
Speaking of the bullpen, they looked decent. I don’t think they pitched particularly poorly, but were victim to some 50/50 calls by the Umpire and some prolonged work over the past couple days. Hopefully tonight they can get some rest with the Franchise on the mound.
Looking forward to tonight’s game – who would have thought we’d be near .500 right now?
image credit -- touchstone pictures
You think Bobby "Tyler Walker" Howry looked alright last night?
ReplyDeleteI think he threw some decent pitches that got hit.
ReplyDeleteDecent pitching isn't good enough if this team wants to win.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. Our offense has to step up if we want to win. We have a very good chance to be the leaders in fewest runs allowed and fewest scored.
ReplyDeleteBut looking at our team, I don't see us scoring enough runs to be more than a .500 team. To do more than that, we'd have to get serious middle of the order production from Sandoval. He's the only player on the team who looks like he could be a legit 3 or 4 hitter. I think that's a lot to ask of the Panda at 22 and would be detrimental to his development.
But, it could happen. And guys could surprise. I hope it happens. But I really like the direction the team is going. I just think we need to be patient. Our farm system is top 5 at this point. The San Jose Giants are loaded with talent. Most of that talent will be in the majors within 2 years.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what we will be able to get midseason from a bad team with a high payroll, like Detroit.
ReplyDeleteYou never know. But it has to be the right trade. I want a young player with a manageable salary, preferably someone who is we'll control for a while. Or a Holliday like situation, where we can flip him next year if he doesn't work out.
ReplyDeleteI personally hope we trade Winn. He's got value and he's in the last year of his contract. Rowand too, but that's not likely.