A 3 and 9 ending season road trip is no way to go into the playoff’s but it’s better than not being there
This has not been a good ten days. The G-Men got swept by the Padres, lost two out of three to the LA Thugs and won two out of three from the Snakes.. The only good news is that they sewed up a wild card spot because the Brewers and the Pirates were busy beating each other up. Now the test for the next four days is the home field advantage which MAYBE can get if they win out the four games left.
The Pirates and the Cardinals have both sewn up spots so the only question there is which is going to be the wild card and which is going to take the division. The tie-breaker for even records is head to head competition so the Giants (which have a better record against the Cardinals than the Pirates) would prefer to see the Cardinals take the division by a hair. That would assure that next Wednesday’s play-off game would be at AT&T. That is what we are playing for now, home field in the wild card game.
Injuries and call-up’s, oh my!
Pagan had back surgery today and is out for the season. Pagan has two years remaining on his contract so we need him healthy. Scutaro has been effectively shut down - although he says he wants to play next year. Scutaro has one year left on his contract and would be a good back-up for Joe Panik if he can really play. He needs surgery also but if he has it, his career is over.
Hector Sanchez is still out on concussion DL, and Mike Morse (who probably won’t be back next year) is out with an oblique strain that won’t heal. Matt Cain’s surgery was successful and we hope that he is back next year. Cain, Peavy and Bumgarner would be a great threesome. The biggest loss is Pagan because Blanco, who has been hot this last month, still isn’t anywhere as good a lead-off hitter as Pagan has been (not even close).
The young guys are performing and I for one am really impressed. Panik is the new starting second baseman, Susac is capable of being a starting catcher, Duffy has been nails as a pinch hitter and Strickland (he who throws 100 mph) is clearly the closer in waiting. I don’t know why we haven’ seen Gary Brown yet but we should I the next three days.
What does this all mean? The Giants are a good team, but flawed. Posey, Panik, Pence (who is in a deep slump), the Panda (who I do not believe will be back next year) and Crawford are solid and Belt, just back from the DL, put one into the cove tonight. On any given day the G-Men can beat anyone if they get ahead early and let the bullpen take over.
Can they repeat 2012 and play successive elimination games? We will see. This is clearly the time that tries fans souls.
The padres series
This is not just about payback for the sweep by the Padres in San Diego over the weekend, this is about another match-up against the LA thugs in the NL Division series. If the G-men win the wild card they could find themselves playing the Dodgers in the NL division series a week from Friday in LA.
That matchup would probably be Peavy against Kershaw (because MadBum would take the wild card game on Wednesday).
What can I say - it’s playoff time!
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
The Czar