Schizophrenic

[klaiggeb]

Well heck. I don't know what to think at this point.

From the worst team in baseball from the all star break last year, to this group; a group I plan on referring to as the 'real' Giants.

No, I don't expect to win every game... but I did and DO expect this team to play the way it has played recently.

All the run scoring?

Nope.

Not what I'm talking about.

Pitching, Defense and TIMELY hitting... that's what won this team 3 World Series rings.

But this is one schizophrenic group!

All of a sudden we start playing Giant Baseball again?

Where did it go?

Why did it go?

And more importantly, why did it suddenly come back?

don't know, and don't care.

I just don't want it to leave again.

boly

[garyd4sf]

The key element is health. That means guys are playing positions that they play well from the return of Posey to Panik to Crawford to Span. When a team doesn't give up botched plays the opponent big inning is adverted.

As to hitting, Posey made a slight change in batting (front foot lift) and it made him a different hitter for now. This y=team is some 20 points behind last years in batting average.

The Starting pitchers are going 7 innings and that relieves the bullpen enormously.

[klaiggeb]

Gary, I don't disagree about health. We basically weren't.

But I can't place the blame for much of our problems on that.

There were too many other problems, not the least of which was FAILURE to hit with RISP.

That's not a health issue.



Consider: The defensive laps by regulars who were healthy. Way too many by Panik, Belt and others.

Consider: The INABILITY of our starters, for way too many games, to pitch well, much less go deep into a game.

And by that I mean, they were constantly falling behind in counts; walking people; NOT commanding the strike zone.

For a good part of the year, Moore in particular, and to a lesser extent, Cueto and everyone NOT named Cain and Blach, all struggled with command issues that were totally NOT expected.

Then the bullpen.

Melancon was NOT right.

Law struggled out of the gate.

Kontos, for a long while, was crap

Gearrin couldn't even locate the strike zone, (look as his BB totals), much less command it.



Posey wasn't hitting for power, he was just slapping the ball.

As an ex coach I ALWAYS hated that leg kick BECAUSE it was too easy NOT to be balanced, as Winn pointed out in the pregame last night.

I loved his adjustment!

Basically, he's gone to what Panik is doing, and the results are IMPRESSIVE!


Pence has been down right putrid


Belt was... well, Belt. Inconsistent as always until the last 5 games or so.



Nunez was awful.


Those aren't issues related to health, thus my Schizophrenic label.

boly

[Rog]

Belt was... well, Belt. Inconsistent as always until the last 5 games or so.


Rog -- Buster Posey has also been inconsistent over his career. Even Willie Mays was a notorious streak hitter.

No matter what, it seems we somehow find something to criticize Belt for. Our biggest area may have been his inability to hit home runs. Now that he's on pace for 30, we have to find another tack.

Not that they are all that hard to find. He certainly isn't having a great season. (Just a good one.) But the thing about Brandon is that even when his average is low, he finds a way to help the offense.

Brandon is averaging over two bases per hit this season. That's Barry Bonds territory. Once again he's fifth in the majors in walks drawn. He leads the Giants in RBI's despite batting mostly second, which isn't a big RBI spot.

Aside from Buster Posey, he's been the Giants' best everyday player. And it isn't extremely close.

Maybe he isn't good enough for the Giants to ride his back, but we fans should certainly get off it. We're being rather oafish in our approach.


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[klaiggeb]

I believe I addressed Buster's inconsistency this year, Rog. Not only this year, but I've been whinning about him for at least 4 years now.



He was slapping at the ball early this year., not driving it.

I pointed that out in multiple posts.

but I also praised him for his adjustments... and suddenly! Whack-a-doodle! he's driving the ball again.

Belt? No adjustments.


Belt, until recently, was hitting .218... and SAT OUT for a game because he was something like 0-21.


He was CHASING crap up that he couldn't hit, and thus was being pitched up.

He was missing hittable fastballs on the hands... and thus, they were pitching him inside.

I pointed THAT out, too.

I also pointed out his 'off balance' swings.

Thus my including him in my post.


You are over reacting to anything negative about Belt the way Don does to negative things about Posey.


You keep coming up with weird stuff to make Belt sound better than he is. Defending him beyond what he deserves.


His inconsistencies are OUTRAGEOUS!


Yeah, he's streaky.

We can all live with THAT.

Heck, to some extent, EVERY hitter, or darned near every hitter is streaky.


Belt being streaky ain't the point.

His inconsistencies are, have been, and continue to be.



As to Willie being streaky... what's Willie's life time average? Something like .302?

What's Belts?

Willy was streaky, NOT inconsistent.

Belt is.


Likely Belt isn't a bad as I make him out to be, but he's ticked me off too many times. Too much of a coach and a technique focused one as well for me to put up with his crap.

But all that said, he ain't what you're professing him to be either.

Not even close.


I DO PRAISE him when I see him living up to what his talent level.


Is he going to hit HRs at this pace all year long?


Mein Gott, nine!


But when he starts flailing away at high cheese... when he makes ZERO adjustments to getting pitched inside... when he CONTINUES to hit INTO the shift and do nothing to change that shift...he gets my deserved criticism.


Holy crap! How many times have both Kuiper AND Krukow AND others pointed out what Brandon needs to do to break the shift up?

I've lost count.

But he won't.

That's being stubborn, and I can't truck with that.

Not that he can't, he won't.


Now I'll add one more point that I've been saying/making/emphasizing since he came up; that bat angle through the zone.

Sheesh!


That is caused by him dropping the back shoulder, chicken-winging his arms, and allowing the bat head to fall.

THAT is what causes his hitting inconsistencies.

But he has NOT made one change to fix that.

Not one.


Consider what a better technique would result him; one HECK of a lot more consistent player.


Until he does what we saw Posey do... adjust, he'll be what he is, and Randy and I and others will be unhappy with him.

boly

[Rog]

You are over reacting to anything negative about Belt the way Don does to negative things about Posey.


Rog -- Don doesn't overreact to negative things about Posey. With Brandon, all I ask for is an even-handed approach. He isn't in the top tier of first basemen, but he's pretty solidly entrenched in the next tier.

And he's been the Giants' second-best hitter this season. There is virtually no question about it. Unless one doesn't go by results.

Last season Brandon finished 27th in the majors in OPS. That means the average major league team had one player who outhit him in that regard. The Giants didn't have any.

Last season Brandon finished second for The Fielding Bible Award for first base.

In other words, Brandon was a pretty good first baseman last season -- not that he got proper credit for it here.

I myself have criticized Brandon. So I guess I must overreact to myself. He's not a great ballplayer. What he is is a good one. Perhaps even a bit better than good. Good to very good probably describes it well.

Brandon hasn't reached my expectations. Defensively he has exceeded them. But not offensively. What he has done offensively has pretty much reached my ADJUSTED expectations for him. After his first couple of seasons, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to reach my original ones. So I put in place revised expectations that I thought were realistic.

He still hasn't hit as many homers as I expected (at least until this season), but my biggest surprise has been how often he has walked this year and last. And after examining his home runs totals, I now realize his home park has had a lot to do with his not hitting as many as I expected.

Let's put it this way: On the road he has come pretty close to my ORIGINAL power expectations. At home he hasn't even achieved my revised projections. Put Brandon in a more homer-friendly park for lefty hitters, and he would likely be in the 20-25 range, perhaps with a peak approaching 30.

This season Brandon IS on a pace for 30. A small amount of the change is that he is hitting them a little more frequently on the road. But the primary reason is that he has more than doubled his rate at home. This season Brandon has hit as many at home as on the road. Which is why he's on pace for more than 30 instead of fewer than 25.

IMO you are overcome by what you view as Brandon's flaws and inability to adjust to them. Just ignore what he DOESN'T do, and judge him on what he DOES do. If you do that, you will see that he's a pretty good first baseman -- on both sides of the ball.

Be unhappy with him all you want -- but appreciate what he DOES. He's essentially been J.T. Snow for the Giants, although J.T. himself may not have gotten quite enough respect.




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[Rog]

But all that said, he ain't what you're professing him to be either.

Not even close.


Rog -- I'm pretty sure he is. Aside from this board, I haven't come across anyone who thinks he his less than a second-tier first baseman. Remember, the MLB Network ranked him #8 among first basemen and #70 overall. I myself was surprised with the #70. I would rank him in the top 100, but not the top 70. There are a lot of really good players these days. (Just not enough of them seem to play for the Giants!)

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[klaiggeb]

Rog, we are never going to agree on this.

We are just not going to.


I see what he could be; not great but certainly good.

I see what he doesn't do... and as an ex player he drives me nuts.


JT, on the other hand, made a MASSIVE change; gave up switch hitting.

What massive change has Belt made?

The answer is simple;

None.

boly

[Rog]

I see what he could be; not great but certainly good.


Rog -- Brandon already IS good in the minds of most. He's not really that far from very good. If we want him to be good, we've already got it.




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