Gusty

[klaiggeb]

Without Hanniger, without Thairo, without JD swinging the bat very well, with Pederson hitting in the .230's and with ONLY 8 HRs... the gutsy performances of this team continue.

Is it sustainable?

With 3 or 4 rookies in the line up many nights per week, and with what I said above, I would argue that no, it is not.

On Friday, though I didn't see the game, everything I read says it was the kids who won it for us.

Last night, it was the vets.


But Pederson and JD in particular have to take giant steps forward.

If this power outage by both of them continues, no matter how well we pitch, it's going to be difficult to continue to not just score runs, but to win.

And now that we've gone back to the land of THE BIG K, striking out in horrendous amounts, we really can't count on SF's or errors or misplays to keep us winning.

As Kruk and Kuip and Carlos and Ritchie, and Alec, and Randy and others around the team continue to say, the vets have to pick up their game. They just have to.

[Islandboagie]

I think they've shown that nobody really carries the Giants, so nobody is irreplaceable.

I know you like Mitch Haniger, but even when he was healthy he wasn't doing crap. In fact, replacing guys like Haniger has made us into a competitive team. With Mitch we were struggling to stay at .500.

Joc Pederson put up a nice season for us last year. This season Joc looks lazy. Joc to me looks like he's a softball player that had one too many in the dugout between innings. At this point Joc is a platoon outfielder, I don't consider him a "must-have" in the lineup.

JD has been really good this season but seems to have worked his way into a slump. Even his hit today with the bases loaded was a cue shot off the bat. I like him, but he too isn't a crucial everyday player.

The players I want to see in the lineup everyday are Matos, Bailey, and Schmidtt. They're the kids, and then need to play every day, or almost every day.

I'd also like to see Bart and Ramos called up soon. Bart can DH and catch on Bailey's off days, Ramos can play LF.

Plug and platoon veterans around the kids, that's fine, but I think it's more crucial to see what our future looks like than try to sneak our way into the post-season. Even if we make the post-season it'll be an early exit due to our poor rotation depth.

If Crawford was hitting I might feel differently. I might want them to give it one last go for his benefit, but it's evident Crawford mailed it in these last few seasons. He gave us some great seasons and helped us win 2 Championships so I'm not mad at him, but I'm not blind either...it's plain to see he had no interest in getting himself ready this season or last.

The only guy I really feel bad for is Wilmer Flores. Since coming here he's been our most consistent hitter, while also being perhaps the best clutch hitter. I wish he could've been around during the 3 Championship runs, I think he would've fit right in. Unfortunately for him he's been stuck in this half-assed revamping era of Giants baseball. The good news is he's got one year left with an option for a second. Maybe the Giants can get a decent rotation in the meantime.

[klaiggeb]

I know Mitch had not done much, but he was hurt out of the gate and I do not think he was ever totally healthy.

You are spot on about fat Joc.

He still is a powerful bat, but like JD hasn't hit for much power at all this year.

I, too, like Flores, and remember I was saying weeks ago he would be attractive to a real contender.

Bottom line, you wrote a very good piece with great points!

[reedonly]

fangraphs currently has the Giants chances of making the playoffs at 73.2% and chances of winning the world series at 4.5% which is lower than only six other teams. I beleieve the reality is that the chances of making the playoffs is more like 50%. FZ might be tempted with a 73% chance.

[Islandboagie]

I don't even know where we sit right now if the season ended today..I usually don't pay much attention unless we're vying for first place. Are we in a post-season position now?

[reedonly]

Third best win percentage in the NL. Tied for the first wild card spot with the Marlins. I think FZ will feel compelled to improve the team through trades but I would prefer that he'd be patient.

Harrison seems to have hit a bit of a wall in AAA but that might be because of the automated strike zone. Giants don't like his pitch counts. I would consider bringing him up to San Francisco just to see how he would pitch with a human ump behind the plate.

Luciano's numbers look bad because of a slow start but he's heated up in June and July.

Whisenhunt has been promoted twice this year and I would consider him untouchable, even as part of an Ohtani trade.

Some of the so called experts say that all three would be needed to trade for Ohtani but I feel the Giants would be weakening depth. Lets see how they fare in Cincinnati before they make a move. Cincinnati has traditionally been tough on them because of the small field and humidity. If they go 3-1, I could see them talking to Anaheim. That being said, I would rather that they not make any trade, especially if it has to include Harrison and Whisenhunt.

[klaiggeb]

Jul 17, 2023 12:23:15 GMT -5 reedonly said:

Third best win percentage in the NL. Tied for the first wild card spot with the Marlins. I think FZ will feel compelled to improve the team through trades but I would prefer that he'd be patient.

Harrison seems to have hit a bit of a wall in AAA but that might be because of the automated strike zone. Giants don't like his pitch counts. I would consider bringing him up to San Francisco just to see how he would pitch with a human ump behind the plate.

Luciano's numbers look bad because of a slow start but he's heated up in June and July.

Whisenhunt has been promoted twice this year and I would consider him untouchable, even as part of an Ohtani trade.

Some of the so called experts say that all three would be needed to trade for Ohtani but I feel the Giants would be weakening depth. Lets see how they fare in Cincinnati before they make a move. Cincinnati has traditionally been tough on them because of the small field and humidity. If they go 3-1, I could see them talking to Anaheim. That being said, I would rather that they not make any trade, especially if it has to include Harrison and Whisenhunt.

If FZ does include all three for a 2 month rental, IMHO, that puts FZ as the primer passenger on the STUPID TRAIN.

Can't believe he's dumb enough to do that for a freaking rental!

But I fear he is.

[klaiggeb]

Jul 16, 2023 22:34:03 GMT -5 Islandboagie said:

I think they've shown that nobody really carries the Giants, so nobody is irreplaceable.

I know you like Mitch Haniger, but even when he was healthy he wasn't doing crap. In fact, replacing guys like Haniger has made us into a competitive team. With Mitch we were struggling to stay at .500.

Joc Pederson put up a nice season for us last year. This season Joc looks lazy. Joc to me looks like he's a softball player that had one too many in the dugout between innings. At this point Joc is a platoon outfielder, I don't consider him a "must-have" in the lineup.

JD has been really good this season but seems to have worked his way into a slump. Even his hit today with the bases loaded was a cue shot off the bat. I like him, but he too isn't a crucial everyday player.

The players I want to see in the lineup everyday are Matos, Bailey, and Schmidtt. They're the kids, and then need to play every day, or almost every day.

I'd also like to see Bart and Ramos called up soon. Bart can DH and catch on Bailey's off days, Ramos can play LF.

Plug and platoon veterans around the kids, that's fine, but I think it's more crucial to see what our future looks like than try to sneak our way into the post-season. Even if we make the post-season it'll be an early exit due to our poor rotation depth.

If Crawford was hitting I might feel differently. I might want them to give it one last go for his benefit, but it's evident Crawford mailed it in these last few seasons. He gave us some great seasons and helped us win 2 Championships so I'm not mad at him, but I'm not blind either...it's plain to see he had no interest in getting himself ready this season or last.

The only guy I really feel bad for is Wilmer Flores. Since coming here he's been our most consistent hitter, while also being perhaps the best clutch hitter. I wish he could've been around during the 3 Championship runs, I think he would've fit right in. Unfortunately for him he's been stuck in this half-assed revamping era of Giants baseball. The good news is he's got one year left with an option for a second. Maybe the Giants can get a decent rotation in the meantime.

I didn't have time to elaborate more, but I will now.

There are many things I like about Hanniger, but topping the list is his swing.

No wasted, set up movement.

No massive, Yaz-like upper cut.

Smooth, quick swing.

No loops in his swing due to bad mechanics.

I think the guy can flat out hit. And based upon his "healthy" numbers in Seattle, looks like he can