It catches up with you

[klaiggeb]

Incredibly listless performance last night, and Hudson deserved better.

I'm not happy with what I saw; chasing breaking stuff that SHOUD HAVE BEEN identified early, swinging through so many hittable pitches, but honestly, it's understandable.

Having traveled a lot, "jet lag" is real when you change time zones.

There might have been a different result last night, but the travel and time zones AND that long game likely really wore on them.

All that said, however, Posey's INABILITY to tag bozo out at the plate is inexcuseable. Absolutely inexcuseable.

Collisons are NOT allowed.

He slid straight in.

His hands never attempted to move and avoid a possilbe tag.

No excuse. None, for Posey NOT to get the tag down.

I expect more from him.

I expect better from him.

As I said; likely mental fatigue.

boly

[allenreed]

We got screwed by both new rules last night. The no collision rule kept Posey from blocking the plate properly, and then the call was changed (correctly) on replay. Pence played the ball horribly off the wall. That's what killed us on that play.
Pablo's first at bat last night was the single worst at bat I've seen in over 50 years of watching ML baseball. Pitchers included.

[islandboagie]

It was changed correctly, but was that play more obvious than the two reviews we've been screwed on? Nope. In fact i'd say it was harder to see than both of them.

[islandboagie]

In addition, is it just me or does Charlie Morton always make us look bad?

[Rog]

Allen -- Pence played the ball horribly off the wall. That's what killed us on that play.

Rog -- Often, when a play goes wrong, there are multiple mistakes made.

. As you mentioned, Pence played the ball poorly, recognizing too late that he couldn't catch it and not allowing enough room for the bounce off the wall.

. Adrianza never show have thrown the ball.

. Perhaps Pablo could have recognized the situation better and blocked the throw (although he later made a wonderul throw).

. The cagey veteran, Tim Hudson, failed to back up third base, getting caught reacting too late.

. Buster Posey could have been more aggressive with his tag, although the runner made it tough by sliding around the tag with both hands. That is one advantage of sliding head first. The tag often must be on the body, and the hands can get well ahead of the body.

. The runner himself would have made it easily had he been able to react more quickly to the errant throw.

. The umpire missed the call, although it is one that has been called an out throughout baseball history. This time the confluence of the Posey rule and the Replay rule conspired against the Giants and against the player for whom the first rule was named.

So there you have it. At least seven mistakes made on just one play involving only one base runner. The worst mistake of the play? One I haven't heard being mentioned -- Hudson's failure to back up properly. The most veteran player on the field, the Giants' best player on the night -- and yet he made the most eggregious error on the play that cost him the defeat.

As for Adrianza, he could be very close to playing himself off the roster. Fielding is his key, and he didn't perform it well on the key play of the game. He did drive home the Giants' only run, but he hurt the team when he got picked off.

Nick Noonan is hitting .404 in 47 at bats and Joe Panik .333 in 129 at bats at Fresno. Panik is just two games removed from a 4-game stretch in which he got 11 hits in 18 at bats. He's still very light on power, which is a concern, but his K/BB ratio of 15/12 is impressive. He has struck out less than once every 8 at bats. Batting 2nd, Joe has 19 RBI's in 33 games.

Both Noonan and Panik bat left-handed, which would make either of them a nice complement to the fading Brandon Hicks. It could already be deemed that Panik is ready for the majors, although he's just a month's play off a disappointing 2013 season in AA.

Sadly, Andrew Susac has been out a couple of weeks with a concussion, and Gary Brown has cooled a bit. Brown is 1 for 10 and has dropped to .279. He's been striking out more regularly and now has 26 strikeouts to go with hia 14 walks. Brown is now just 5 for 9 in steal attempts after starting the season 4 for 5.

Edwin Escobar goes tonight. Escobar began the season with three very poor outings, but has yielded just 4 runs in 17.1 innings in his last three starts.

The pickoff of Adrianza shows one of the weaknesses of being more aggressive in the base stealing game. The pickoff came at an inopportune time (Is there ever an opportune one?) and could conceivably have cost the Giants a win.

Anyway, at least seven mistakes on the game-deciding play -- five by the Giants. Anyone else counting?

By the way, baseball is a team game, right? A true team makes that play as follows:

. Brandon Belt runs into the outfield in case the ball bounces far beyond Pence.

. Buster Posey moves to first base to take Belt's place. Once the runner gets to second base, he rotates back to the plate.

. Most importantly, the most veteran player on the team backs up third base.


Is that enough points for one post? Think how many more I would have made if I understood the game.



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[Rog]

Boagie --It was changed correctly, but was that play more obvious than the two reviews we've been screwed on? Nope. In fact i'd say it was harder to see than both of them.

Rog -- I think the timing of the tag was a little more clear this time. The decisive camera view was pretty good. By the way, both you and Allen mentioned that the Giants have been "screwed" by the replays. In your two cases, I too didn't feel they were decisive, and Allen began his comment by saying they got the call right last night.

The Giants certainly weren't "screwed" last night, and they may not have been in the two instances you mentioned. Just because the calls don't go our way doesn't mean we got "screwed."


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[islandboagie]

Rog -- I think the timing of the tag was a little more clear this time. The decisive camera view was pretty good. By the way, both you and Allen mentioned that the Giants have been "screwed" by the replays. In your two cases, I too didn't feel they were decisive, and Allen began his comment by saying they got the call right last night.

The Giants certainly weren't "screwed" last night, and they may not have been in the two instances you mentioned. Just because the calls don't go our way doesn't mean we got "screwed."

Boagie- The play last night had a few different angles. In the two best angles I could see Posey clearly tagging Marte, but I couldn't see if Marte touched the plate first. In the other angle I could see Marte touching the plate but it's hard to tell when Posey's glove made contact with Marte. After watching both, if I had to decide, Marte was probably safe, but I'm not 100% sure. However, I dont blame them for reversing the call.

In the steal review with Marte stealing and Crawford tagging, it was 100% clear that Crawford tagged him before he touched the base. I watched the Pirates broadcast and even their homer announcers admitted the review was blown. There is NO question Marte was out on that play, even if you claim it wasn't decisive. It was decisive for those who aren't desperately trying to defend a profession that is now showing it's true success rate, and it's NOT good.

As far as getting the review wrong, either they are stupid, protecting their buddies, or they aren't given the proper resources to get it right. Either way, that needs to change. The success rate should be 100% or still undecided. I should never see a replay and see clearly they got it wrong.

[allenreed]

I was merely pointing out that the rule wasn't in place last year, Marte would have been out. I also pointed out that the call was correctly overturned.

The man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

[allenreed]

You don't watch much football, do you boag?

[Rog]

OK, guys, with literally thousands of good officials to choose from, why ISN'T officiating any good in any sport? If you're going to criticize to the point where almost no official is any good, let's at least have your logic behind why that would be the case.

[rxmeister]

The ending was kind of ironic for me, because I'm the one who advocated changing the call to what looks like the right call, even if it's not conclusive, and they actually do it and it costs my team a game! I won't be a hypocrite though, they did the right thing. Ehire Adrianza killed the Giants on Tuesday, first getting picked off and then with that throw. Good thing he's such an incredible hitter! Keeping a guy who doesn't belong here because the team is out of options is totally wrong. The bench is by far the weakest link this year. Hector is the only non automatic out they have. They need to bring up a real bat, perhaps a long ball threat like Duval.

[allenreed]

I think it's different things with different sports. In football and especially basketball, I think the leagues try to influence outcomes via the officiating.

In baseball the officiating is just bad. Maybe it's always been this bad and we notice it more with better coverage.But it does seem to get worse every year. Balls and strikes seem to be a particular problem.
Maybe the job has become rote for some of these guys. They've simply been there too long. Again, Joe West comes to mind. Union protection is probably another cause. How hard would it be to fire an umpire for incompetence? How much would it cost?

[klaiggeb]

Mark ---Ehire Adrianza killed the Giants on Tuesday, first getting picked off and then with that throw. Good thing he's such an incredible hitter! Keeping a guy who doesn't belong here because the team is out of options is totally wrong. The bench is by far the weakest link this year. Hector is the only non automatic out they have. They need to bring up a real bat, perhaps a long ball threat like Duval.

---boly says---

Mark, I believe I read that Adrianza was out of options, and that sending him down... they could lose him.

IF that's the case, and it seems to be, they're almost stuck with him.

boly

[Rog]

Aside from .285 at Augusta, Adam hasn't hit above .258 in the minors. That is his average this season, and he's done it once before. On the plus side, he has hit 22, 30 and 17 homers the past three seasons and already has 10 this year.

[Rog]

Boagie -- Mark, I believe I read that Adrianza was out of options, and that sending him down... they could lose him.

IF that's the case, and it seems to be, they're almost stuck with him.

Rog -- Ehire is indeed out of options, but if Marco Scutaro or Joe Panik are deemed to be ready, I would think the Giants would simply try to get Adrianza through waivers. He's got an excellent glove, but he's going to have to hit at some point or other teams won't want him either.

As Mark has pointed out, Nick Noonan could be another candidate to platoon with Brandon Hicks.




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[Rog]

Regarding officials, again I would ask the same question as you -- why can't the sports get better officials? But my question isn't rhetorical.

What is it about officiating that prevents the sports from getting good officials out of the thousands of good ones?

[klaiggeb]

Rog---As Mark has pointed out, Nick Noonan could be another candidate to platoon with Brandon Hicks.

---boly says---

Rog, I hate to be picky here, but last year you said that Nick had never hit in the minors and wouldn't likely be able to hit up here, either.

So I have to ask; one short, offensive spurt and you're backing him? I'm confused.

Now, all that said, I wouldn't mind Noonan platooning with Hicks.

Hicks' defense is much, much improved, but you CAN'T hit around .200, pop or no pop, and STILL expect to be the starter.

He has some HUGE holes in his swing. HUGE! And I haven't seen a breaking ball that he won't swing at.

Me? If I'm pitching, he doesn't get a fastball for a strike. I softball him to death until the situation demands a fastball because I have no other choice.

and even then he's likely to swing and miss it.

We've seen that Arias can hit for a higher average than that, and play better defense. He's slick, and smooth, with a lot of range.

He just picked a really bad time to NOT hit. But he has a decent major league track record. 200+ at bats each of these last two years he's hit .270 and .271.

boly

[Rog]

Rog---As Mark has pointed out, Nick Noonan could be another candidate to platoon with Brandon Hicks.

---boly says---

Rog, I hate to be picky here, but last year you said that Nick had never hit in the minors and wouldn't likely be able to hit up here, either.

So I have to ask; one short, offensive spurt and you're backing him? I'm confused.

Rog -- Sorry to confuse you, Boly. I still don't think Nick will hit, but it wouldn't shock me if he replaces Ehire Adrianza as a platoon partner for Hicks/Arias.

I'm hoping the guy can be Joe Panik (0 for 4 tonight, with a strikeout, but still hitting .324 with little power, and possessing a very good K/BB ratio). I just don't know if the Giants feel he is ready yet.

Anyway, sometimes I'm more reporting (echoing Mark's comment that Noonan could be a platoon candidate). Other times I'm evaluating (such as saying I'm hoping the guy will be Panik, not Noonan).

I would think that the better Hicks plays, the more likely the candidate would be Noonan, who would play in more of a backup role. When Hicks falters, Joe could come up as the primary guy.

Noonan is very likely a career backup infielder or minor leaguer. Panik's floor is pretty much Noonan's ceiling (backup infielder), and there is a decent chance Joe will eventually become a starter -- perhaps sooner rather than later. Joe's lack of power even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League is a bit disconcerting. But he makes a lot of contact and knows how to take a walk. In other words, good strike zone control.

But if a batter doesn't keep the outfielders honest, they can choke him off. And Joe's average speed isn't going to get him a lot of infield hits. he's just 23 though.

Gary Brown went 1 for 4 tonight. After getting off to a nice start in his second season at Fresno, he has slacked off some and is now hitting .273. If Gary could hit .273 in the majors with his present .333 OBP and .392 SLG, his fine fielding could help get him a starting job. But hitting .273 in AAA is a lot different than hitting .273 in the majors.

This season Gary has cut his strikeout rate to one every 5.3 at bats compared to last season's one per 4.1 AB's. He's walking nearly twice as often as last year. In other words, he's improving. But he's levelled off after a fast start.


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