After the Giants had the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the 8th in that 6-3 ballgame on Saturday in New York, I had one last glimmer of hope. However when Brandon Belt, then Brandon Crawford proceeded to miss giving the team the lead by a few feet for the next two outs, I knew it just wasn't gonna be their day.
What's been the theme for all of April continued on it's final day, as Jake Peavy on Friday, then Matt Cain on Saturday, just couldn't provide quality enough starts to give the Giants a chance to win. When your facing young flame-throwing strikeout artists like the Giants have the last few days you know your going to have little room for error if your pitching against them, and Peavy and Cain both were just too hittable. Now, I'm not going to turn this into a Peavy and Cain roasting, and I'm actually gonna keep it pretty short and simple because everyone who's watched this team to start the year know what they're capable of and they know where their weaknesses lie at the moment. About 1/6 through the season is hardly time to toss your proven veterans off the ship, but it's certainly not too early to start thinking of some backup plays just in case May doesn't go much better. Of course most teams aren't going to start dealing their top players this early in the year but it's never too early to dial up Atlanta and check in on Julio Teheran or maybe reach out across the bay and try to snag the rejuvenated Rich Hill.... Still plenty of time before anything needs to be done, but again, never to early to start planning.
As for everything else, the Giants seem to be pressing a little bit and it can't all be blamed on Matt Cain and Jake Peavy. Buster Posey isn't hitting like Buster Posey is used to hitting and it's showing. Matt Duffy has picked it up somewhat as of late, but still is down about 50 points lower in average than he should be. Span could be hitting better as well. Pence, Belt and Pagan all seem to be doing about as expected but just about everyone else has to step it up a notch. Not that they're doing terribly, but they certainly aren't preforming at a championship caliber level.
On a positive I wanted to point out Brandon Belt. This guy just missed giving the Giants a lead in Saturday's game by about an 1/8 of an inch on the bat, and he just keeps seeming to make loud contact. It seems like every year people say "this is the year Belt hits 30/100" and while I know Belt's streakiness enough to make any concrete predictions, April was the most consistent month, form start to finish, I've seen the big first basemen have. No concussions or little nagging injuries to keep him out of the lineup and he seems to be seeing the ball out of lefties hands well too. He and Hunter Pence have certainly helped offset Posey and Duffy's slow start but if the Giants wanna be more than a .500 team, they need more than just 2 or 3 guys hitting the baseball. Their pitching, especially in the back-end of their rotation and even their bullpen now, is nowhere near good enough to win 2-1 on most nights so this team has got to hit!
What's been the theme for all of April continued on it's final day, as Jake Peavy on Friday, then Matt Cain on Saturday, just couldn't provide quality enough starts to give the Giants a chance to win. When your facing young flame-throwing strikeout artists like the Giants have the last few days you know your going to have little room for error if your pitching against them, and Peavy and Cain both were just too hittable. Now, I'm not going to turn this into a Peavy and Cain roasting, and I'm actually gonna keep it pretty short and simple because everyone who's watched this team to start the year know what they're capable of and they know where their weaknesses lie at the moment. About 1/6 through the season is hardly time to toss your proven veterans off the ship, but it's certainly not too early to start thinking of some backup plays just in case May doesn't go much better. Of course most teams aren't going to start dealing their top players this early in the year but it's never too early to dial up Atlanta and check in on Julio Teheran or maybe reach out across the bay and try to snag the rejuvenated Rich Hill.... Still plenty of time before anything needs to be done, but again, never to early to start planning.As for everything else, the Giants seem to be pressing a little bit and it can't all be blamed on Matt Cain and Jake Peavy. Buster Posey isn't hitting like Buster Posey is used to hitting and it's showing. Matt Duffy has picked it up somewhat as of late, but still is down about 50 points lower in average than he should be. Span could be hitting better as well. Pence, Belt and Pagan all seem to be doing about as expected but just about everyone else has to step it up a notch. Not that they're doing terribly, but they certainly aren't preforming at a championship caliber level.
On a positive I wanted to point out Brandon Belt. This guy just missed giving the Giants a lead in Saturday's game by about an 1/8 of an inch on the bat, and he just keeps seeming to make loud contact. It seems like every year people say "this is the year Belt hits 30/100" and while I know Belt's streakiness enough to make any concrete predictions, April was the most consistent month, form start to finish, I've seen the big first basemen have. No concussions or little nagging injuries to keep him out of the lineup and he seems to be seeing the ball out of lefties hands well too. He and Hunter Pence have certainly helped offset Posey and Duffy's slow start but if the Giants wanna be more than a .500 team, they need more than just 2 or 3 guys hitting the baseball. Their pitching, especially in the back-end of their rotation and even their bullpen now, is nowhere near good enough to win 2-1 on most nights so this team has got to hit!
Comments