2011 Midterm Report & I’m baaaaack…
I’m back and better then ever ready to get this blog back on it’s feet again. Nothing worth explaining except this happens to be around the one year anniversary of the blog and over my hiatus I realized I missed sharing my thoughts on the team and while I’ve been inactive there’s been of flurry of changes within the organization. I start tonight with my first post game blog tonight in a while with the debut of the newest Giant, Mr. Beltran. First this first though:
The Midterm Report on the 2011 San Francisco Giants
On Field Play and Operations: The pitching and definitely lived up to the expectations that came along with it after winning it all last year. Their 3.09 overall ERA as a team ranks best in the National League. The Giants also lead the National League with opponents only batting .228 against the staff. Fear the bear Mr. Brian Wilson has done his job in terms of the most important stat as a closer, the Giants lead the National League with 39 saves. However; the 76% save completion rate and 12 blown saves (team stats not just Wilson), are not so stellar numbers. In comparison, the Phillies have blown three saves all year. The rest of Brian Wilson’s counterparts in the ‘pen sport the second best ERA in the National League for any bullpen, a 2.87 bullpen ERA. Onto the well-known weak spot of this team, the bats. 373 runs scored ranks second worst in the National League and 66 home runs ranks 13th in the NL, by far the worst for any first place team, probably worst since the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants .306 on-base percentage and .666 on base+slugging% are are ranked 14th and 15th respectively in the National League. What does this all mean, you ask? This all means that the Giants pitching has quite obviously, been better than almost every other team they have faced this year which explains their current position atop the National League West. Consequently the offense has seemingly been overmatched by nearly every other offense they face. However the Giants pitching overcompensates and allows this subpar offense to get away with 2-3 runs a game and that’s how the 2011 San Francisco Giants are winning baseball games.
The Current Roster: Up to date with the newest acquisition, Carlos Beltran. The Giant that never was, Bill Hall, has been taken off. The DL and released from the ball club. Now here are the players on this roster where I believe their spot is/should be in jeopardy. (Rowand, Torres, Burriss, Zito, Sanchez, Burrel, Tejada) In a perfect world this is what needs to happen: Emmanuel Burriss is sent down to the minor leagues. Burrell is released and Aaron Rowand is content as a bench player or as a late defensive replacement role. Zito is sent to the bullpen to become a lefty middle reliever or as an emergency starter. Tejada is released and somewhere in this mess Darren Ford finds his way to the ball club because he is absolutely electrifying. It might not all make sense but I believe these moves would put the club in a better position to win and make Bruce Bochy’s job a bit easier.
The Giants as of July 28, 2011: Since the All Star break, the Giants have played stellar baseball. The same formula that trans,aged for them in the first half has carried over and will probably stay to true to the end of their campaign whether it be in September, October or even November. Pablo Sandoval has been the teams best hitter statistically and I believe the protection with Carlos Beltran will benefit both Sandoval and even Aubrey Huff. I’ll even go as far to say the addition of Carlos Beltran will make the entire line up better hitters. Jeff Keppinger needs to be playing every day as the teams best hitting middle infielder. Schierholtz, Ross and Torres all need to rotate playing time and Bochy will stay true to that as he loves playing the hot hand. Fontenot should get the majority of the time at shortstop and I think this puts the team in the best position to win every day.
So this is where the Giants stand as the final two months of the season are dead ahead. the NL West seemingly is no competition in my opinion and if it’s one thing I can guarantee, the Giants will sure make these final two months a wild an crazy ride. Post game tonight recapping the debut of Carlos Beltran, the return of Timmy the kid and analyzing the rubber match of this important 3 game series in Philadelphia.
