Skip to main content

Time to shake up lineup?

Prior to Thursday night's nice little offensive output of 7 runs in Seattle, clutch hits and runs were about as tough to come by as they've been at any point this season. My suggestion, and frankly something I'm surprised Bochy hasn't tried to do more of is mix up the lineup a bit.

One of the big moves I have been pondering over in my mind is possibly swapping Matt Duffy and Angel Pagan in the batting order, at least while Hunter Pence is out. Matty D seems to be putting it together right now and is one of the Giants' better clutch hitters with runners on base and in scoring position. Mix that in with his respectable .293 average and .789 OPS to go along with 6 HR and 31 RBI and you'll see why I like the kid as a 3-hole option in Pence's stead. Not to mention he didn't start playing regularly until roughly a month into the season, and it makes the 24 year-old's numbers pop out even more, especially those RBI. Pagan has had a pretty decent year at the plate up until the last couple of weeks as he's taken a bit of a fall (slashing just .167/.227/.183 in June). He's hit for no power whatsoever, so unless he's at or above .280 and his OBP is at least .330, then he's really not much of an offensive threat. I understood starting the year with him in that spot as the Giants had limited options and Pagan had shown the ability to hit for at least a little pop in prior years. This year, it hasn't been there, at least not yet, and his pedestrian .266 average with a dreadful .303 on base average and weak .330 slugging percentage and whopping 16 RBI's must be moved from that three-spot, and quick.

I mean, I don't wanna turn this into a Pagan bashing, because I still like the player a lot and I know he's just in a slump and is going to get hot again at some point. He's another guy that's gotten clutch hits in big situations so he's earned some leeway, but there's no reason to be hitting him third right now with Matt Duffy just raking to all fields with pop. A lineup (sans Pence of course) of Aoki-Panik-Duffy-Posey-Belt-Crawford-Pagan-Maxwell (swap Pagan and Maxwell vs lefties) would look a lot better, in my opinion at least.

Anyway, that's really been heavy on my mind the last couple of days and I just haven't gotten around to writing it until now. The offense has been the the team's main concern of late and with Hunter Pence sidelined again, and this time for something that may nag him and effect his swing significantly the rest of the way when he eventually does return. I mean, unless he tears something and absolutely cannot go, I have a hard time seeing Hunter go under the knife with baseball still to be played, especially if given an option to play through. However, the fact that the Giants and Pence are being so hush hush about this as well as the fact that he was due back today (June 18th) and he still hasn't made enough progress to be given a firm timetable makes me wonder. They did say he'll be shut down another two weeks but who knows what will happen at that point. Tendons can be tricky, especially ones in the forearm for a guy with a violent hack like Pence's. Also, there has been a lot of talk on Marty Laurie's KNBR show, with credible guests such as Hank Schulman, that would suggest the Giants may be heavy in the market for outfield help.

Their pitching staff has seemed to right itself a bit, and they're getting nothing but positive feedback from Cain and his rehab assignment thus far. You can never use too much pitching, and I'm sure Sabes and Bobby Evans will be monitoring that market too, but with Pence's nagging injuries, along with Pagan's history of running into injury himself as the season wears down, the outfield would certainly make sense as a main area for upgrade. Plus we're starting to hit the part of the year where losing teams are going to start entering selling mode. I'd be all for an upgrade at the utility infield spot over Joaquin Arias if they could find one but that's not a priority. So, as far as outfield targets, I'm not sure who's going to be out there and available. I do like Cameron Maybin from Atlanta, or a couple of guys they just faced with Seattle in Seth Smith and Mark Trumbo. The ladder, Trumbo, is really intriguing actually, because if the Mariners continue to tank, they;re likely going to re-deal him before the deadline and he's just the type of Pat Burrell-esque type of bat they could use, only Trumbo is heaps and bounds better than Burrell, younger and more versatile. He could step into right field and take over for Justin Maxwell while Pence eases back and would allow Boch the ability to actually give guys like Pence, Belt and Aoki nights off and still having a solidified offense.

Comments

Lieutenant Ken Shea said…
They just did put up 7 but your right. Watching Bum lose 2-0 after dealing like he did last night was rough to see. We need more offense. I'd love to take Trumbo off Seattle's hands but didn't they just get him. Probably would have to wait closer to deadline for that one..
Maybin would be nice fit too. Good call on that. He can roam aroand the big outfield and looks like he's late=blooming at the plate finally huh!?
Anonymous said…
any idea who's spot Cain is going to take when he gets off the DL finally? I can't wait to see that guy pitch again!
Berdj J. Rassam said…
I trust that Bochy and his team will make all or most of the right decisions.
Anonymous said…

It is a nice reminder that we do it because we love it. Those nice reviews make it all worth it.
Thank you for helping me make my dream come
true bythis awesome articles for me and for
writing books I enjoy reading.
box office collection of movie
collection of movies

Popular posts from this blog

WORLD SERIES: Giants Move Up 2-0 on Texas

PreGame After taking game one in a surprising slug-fest , the Giants look to go up 2-0 on the Rangers in the World Series on Thursday night. The Giants are sending out Matt Cain, a guy who I'm sure every Giants' fan is pretty confident in. He'll be a opposed by C.J. Wilson, who's in his first year as a full-time starter, but has been brilliant in the role. He did struggle his last time out though, so hopefully the Giants can get to him early and get into his head a bit. I'm going to do something I've never done here on this unique occasion, and sort of do an in-game post. updating this post every time I feel I have something to add. So go Giants, and be sure to check back throughout the game, and after, to vent or whatever! As long as Matt Cain keeps rolling, and the Giants keep coming up with those clutch 2-out hits, we should be OK. Texas has that high-powered offense that can score in a hurry, as we saw last night, so the Giants cannot let down and have to t

Giants Notes: Lincecum Signs, Ross to Boston

Well, even though I touched on it a little bit in our last post, I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts out on the new Lincecum deal since he and the Giants agreed earlier in the week. Also, on the other end of things, the Giants missed out on shoring up their outfield by letting Cody Ross sign in Boston for only $3 million in 2012. First off, obviously, wanted to talk a bit about Lincecum. I've already said here that I didn't expect him to sign a long-term deal that takes him through free agency, but it doesn't mean he wants to leave San Francisco like everyone is suspecting. I mean, if I were Lincecum, I'd probably do the same thing, even if I planned on eventually signing with the Giants long-term. Why take a chance at mitigating your value to just sign a deal? Granted, a 5 year, $100 million deal isn't anything to sneeze at, in this market, if he were a free agent, Lincecum could probably easily command a 8 year, $200 million deal. If he could get

Johnny Cueto.. The Savior!

After a red hot first week-plus to start out April, the Giants hit about a 2-week rough stretch, but it looks like they're finally breaking out of it. Oh yeah, that Johnny Cueto guy looks like he's going to be pretty good too! San Francisco has won four of their last five ballgames to get back to the .500 mark at 11-11, and they did it behind the best pitching performance we've seen to start the 2016 season, hands down! Johnny Cueto dazzled the San Diego Padres Tuesday night at AT&T Park, and while the Pads don't exactly supply the most imposing offensive lineup, it was impressive nonetheless. The Giants' 30 year-old prized off-season signing threw the team's first complete game of 2016, allowing 7 hits and a walk while using 11 K's to help get him out of any trouble he ran into, which wasn't much at all. This was the exactly what the Giants had in mind when they gave Cueto that big deal in December, and this is exactly why I was all for his 2-ye