Friday through Sunday of last week myself and seven friends of mine headed up to Reno for a bachelor party (I'm not the bachelor, I'm the best man), and I've been in recovery mode for the last couple of days. I would tell you all about the trip, but you know -- what happens in Reno, stays in...
...okay, there really isn't all that much to talk about. We had fun, drank alcohol in quantities that caused extreme inebriation, gambled, tackled each other, danced a little, etc. Pretty much the norm.
Anyhoo, I've watched some/most of the last couple of Giants games, and I've come to a couple of conlusions:
- Armando Benitez isn't going anywhere. He's going to pitch at least well enough to stay the closer, and may even pitch well, period. His arm looks as good as it will likely get, as far as velocity and break on his pitches, so we should honestly hope that the man can earn all that money on his contract.
- The Giants will not win this division without an offensive upgrade. I've written before as to why this must come at 1st base (because I just don't see Brian Sabean making moves anywhere else), but it needs to happen soon. In June, the Giants have scored three or less runs in 10 of the 18 games played. The Giants are 3-7 in those games. For the month, they're averaging 4.17 runs/game, and 33% of the 75 runs they've scored for the month is wrapped up in two games (a 14-2 win and an 11-4 win).
The pitching is looking great, do the statistics support that?
- The Giants have issued the 4th most walks in the NL, while striking out the 2nd fewest. That isn't a very good combination. However, they have the 4th lowest on-base average, mostly due to their opponents' low batting average...also 4th best in the league.
- Along with those walk and strikeout stats is the worst strikeout rate in the NL and the 2nd worst k/bb ratio.
- They have the 6th best ISO SLG % against (meaning they're 6th best in the NL in dampening power). 5th fewest home runs given up.
Basically, the Giants pitching is all about not giving up hits, and try to make sure they aren't extra base hits when you do. I'd rather have more strikeouts and less walks, overall, because that indicates more ability and talent in your pitching staff, but the other isn't bad.
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Just finished watching today's game, and whaddya know? The Giants score a total of three runs and lose. They have to realize they're lucky to only score eight runs in this series and win two of three, so I hope they don't hang their heads too much over the loss.
I also hope Sabean has had about enough of this lack of offense, and does whatever he needs to do to get a good hitter.
3 comments:
This World Cup has been filled to the brim with those two things you mentioned: Diving and refs changing games. MUCH more so than other cups. FIFA wanted its refs to clamp down on fouls, and now that they're clamping down too much, FIFA is channeling the Guiness guys and saying "brilliant!" instead of trying to limit anything.
It's tough even for me to watch, and I'm a huge soccer fan. There's always been a certain amount of...shall we say...flair going into international soccer matches. But with the refs calling more fouls, that's led to TONS of diving, and it's ruining the game for casual soccer fans who only watch the cup every four years. It would be like the NFL clamping down and calling holding on every last occurence...but only during the Super Bowl.
I would urge you to keep watching. The soccer will get better. Especially with that crappy U.S. team out of there.
Oops. Meant to put that on the other post. But you probably figured that out.
But yes, the Giants need more offense. Maybe they could urge The Thrill out of retirement.
Thanks, San Fran Sports Man, for stopping by and saying hi to the brown guy.
I'm just rhymin' and stealin', Beastie Boys style.
Anyhow, I'm going to watch some more, but I'm no longer going to go out of my way to do so. I saw enough good stuff that I'd like to develop some more fandom, but enough bad stuff that I'm not going to try and do it all in one World Cup.
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