Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Stuff That Does Have To Do With the Giants
Baseball is a funny game. I was all prepared to write a bitchy post about how the Giants had rolled over to the mighty right arm of Roy Oswalt, ruining a nice comeback start from Noah Lowry.
So what happens? Oswalt gets belted around for 10 hits and seven runs and the Giants win easily. Pedro Feliz does his "once-in-a-blue-moon" big hit thing and hits a decisive home run off of one of the toughest pitchers in the majors. Maybe I should compare his batting skills to pitchers more often. Maybe the shelling was the karma gods biting the 'Stros in the ass for ostensibly throwing Oswalt at the Giants twice in the same series.
I got home from work at 9:30 last night, and switched the game on right as the Giant bullpen looked ready to cough up the win. I was beginning to think I was cursed, but it turned out that no, Tim Worrell just sucks.
Not to be hard on the guy, because I like him, but Worrell has been atrocious since leaving the closer role. Since April 20, Worrell has pitched 5 total innings (in seven appearances) and given up (lock the children away) 10 earned runs on 13 hits and five home runs. Yuck.
Baseball Prospectus is always commenting on how Worrell is actually an ideal closer because his record with inherited runners on base is atrocious, while he's always been better with nobody on (I'm too lazy to look up the numbers; just take my word for it). Perhaps it's not such a horrible idea to make him the closer, since Benitez always has Giants fans reaching for the Gas-X and Worrell has traditionally been solid in that role.
Speaking of Baseball Prospectus, they have Todd Greene rated as the team's fifth-best player according to Value Over Replacement Player. I'm just saying...
And I'm as sad as anybody about Jeff Fassero being DFA'd. Well, not really. I'll give him this, he was surprisingly terrific last year in a somewhat underrated role. However, even though he's being paid chicken scraps, he just has no business being on a major league roster at this point unless he's pulling a Jesse Orosco/lefty-killing thing out of his bum. I have to say though, that his time in a Giant uniform was a pretty good one, so happy trails.
The Giants play the Cubs tonight, a team ranking dead last in the NL in runs scored. Jason Schmidt could throw a 27-K perfect game tonight and we still wouldn't know if he's back to his old self because the Cubs minus Derrek Lee are horrendous.
The Giants face Rich Hill, a lefty who has had all kinds of control problems in his short time in the majors. Of course, this means nothing to people like Feliz, Matheny, et al, who will hack away at whatever pitch they see fit, scouting report be damned. Still, it's polite to point these control problems out.
It's fun to kick opposing teams when they're down, particularly teams stuck in doldrums worse than the Giants. Here are two of the Cubs' major offseason acquisitions:
Juan Pierre: .238/.284/.310
Jacque Jones .253/.298/.460
Meanwhile, Dusty Baker, with toothpick firmly in mouth, leans back and cackles at his critics, as younger, better, cheaper players toil away on the bench or in the minors. And the Cubs finish below .500 yet again. I'm beginning to understand. (Neifi Perez sports a sexy .440 OPS, in case you were wondering)
-I'm trying to shake the addiction, but....ehhhh, one more.
So what happens? Oswalt gets belted around for 10 hits and seven runs and the Giants win easily. Pedro Feliz does his "once-in-a-blue-moon" big hit thing and hits a decisive home run off of one of the toughest pitchers in the majors. Maybe I should compare his batting skills to pitchers more often. Maybe the shelling was the karma gods biting the 'Stros in the ass for ostensibly throwing Oswalt at the Giants twice in the same series.
I got home from work at 9:30 last night, and switched the game on right as the Giant bullpen looked ready to cough up the win. I was beginning to think I was cursed, but it turned out that no, Tim Worrell just sucks.
Not to be hard on the guy, because I like him, but Worrell has been atrocious since leaving the closer role. Since April 20, Worrell has pitched 5 total innings (in seven appearances) and given up (lock the children away) 10 earned runs on 13 hits and five home runs. Yuck.
Baseball Prospectus is always commenting on how Worrell is actually an ideal closer because his record with inherited runners on base is atrocious, while he's always been better with nobody on (I'm too lazy to look up the numbers; just take my word for it). Perhaps it's not such a horrible idea to make him the closer, since Benitez always has Giants fans reaching for the Gas-X and Worrell has traditionally been solid in that role.
Speaking of Baseball Prospectus, they have Todd Greene rated as the team's fifth-best player according to Value Over Replacement Player. I'm just saying...
And I'm as sad as anybody about Jeff Fassero being DFA'd. Well, not really. I'll give him this, he was surprisingly terrific last year in a somewhat underrated role. However, even though he's being paid chicken scraps, he just has no business being on a major league roster at this point unless he's pulling a Jesse Orosco/lefty-killing thing out of his bum. I have to say though, that his time in a Giant uniform was a pretty good one, so happy trails.
The Giants play the Cubs tonight, a team ranking dead last in the NL in runs scored. Jason Schmidt could throw a 27-K perfect game tonight and we still wouldn't know if he's back to his old self because the Cubs minus Derrek Lee are horrendous.
The Giants face Rich Hill, a lefty who has had all kinds of control problems in his short time in the majors. Of course, this means nothing to people like Feliz, Matheny, et al, who will hack away at whatever pitch they see fit, scouting report be damned. Still, it's polite to point these control problems out.
It's fun to kick opposing teams when they're down, particularly teams stuck in doldrums worse than the Giants. Here are two of the Cubs' major offseason acquisitions:
Juan Pierre: .238/.284/.310
Jacque Jones .253/.298/.460
Meanwhile, Dusty Baker, with toothpick firmly in mouth, leans back and cackles at his critics, as younger, better, cheaper players toil away on the bench or in the minors. And the Cubs finish below .500 yet again. I'm beginning to understand. (Neifi Perez sports a sexy .440 OPS, in case you were wondering)
-I'm trying to shake the addiction, but....ehhhh, one more.
