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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The good continues to be the rookies. Right now, we are seeing how the G-Men will be looking through the end of this season and going forward. This is a young team with youthful energy and lots of talent waiting to be unleashed. We have seen Casey Schmitt, Blake Sabol, Brett Wisely, Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos, Isan Diaz, Marco Luciano, Wade Meckler and, of course, Patrick Bailey (soon to be a permanent feature behind the dish at Oracle – he’s that good). That’s nine position players and doesn’t include the new faces pitching out of the bullpen. The next step will be calling up the best pitchers in the minors -Kyle Harrison and Carson Whisenhut. Expect to see those two in September along with all the 9 position player rookies.
The kids are playing heads-up defense (the speed of Meckler is breathtaking – I saw his first base hit last week and saw him run down ball after ball in center field) and are the future. Mecker has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the minors (he’s 23 years old) and if he man’s center field like Bailey does behind the plate he is a keeper for sure. The brain trust is using this time to test all possible combinations of the new guys with the veterans that are available (and not hurt, like Yaz). The team's defense is solid and that is why the G-Men are still in the hunt for a wild-card berth in the playoffs.
The bad and the ugly are the same – lack of hitting. If the G-Men continue to fail to move runners into scoring position and continue to fail to get hits with runners in scoring position it's going to be a difficult end of August and September. Maybe we should bring Barry Bonds back. At his age, I suspect he can hit better than 75% of the current roster.
Regardless, the fans have been there for the Giants. The games are well-attended, and the fans are spirited. Hopefully, that will continue for the next month. I can't believe that there are only 40 days left in the regular season.
Looking Long-Range – this is a Test of Young Talent and Coaching
Long range there is a lot to enjoy and appreciate about the young Giants. We are seeing the team jell in real-time, and we are seeing positive results from the experiment with using more pitchers out of the bullpen to make up for not having enough starters (behind Webb and Cobb) to field a traditional rotation. I’m enjoying the experiment with using an opener. If it works, it is an answer to keeping the pitchers in the bullpen (many converted starters) loose and ready to work. That was (unfortunately) demonstrated in the Rays game started by Littell (who was a Giant last year) who was converted from a reliever to a starter. He pitched 7 strong innings for the Rays. He never did that for us. Our principal bullpen guys (especially Junis and Manaea) are doing great in this system and more of the relievers will benefit.
The coaching has been questioned recently and Kapler is not taking the blame well. He got bounced in the one game the Giants won in the Rays series (the G-Men have lost something like 5 out of the last 7 series) and he is understandably defensive about his decision making. The Giants are not hitting no matter what moves Kapler is making. There has been a suggestion that Buster (who is now part of ownership and has moved back to the bay area) take over the team as manager. That will not happen this year but depending on what happens in September that will be a topic in the off-season. Big league catchers have a good history as top notch managers and Buster, besides being a for sure first round Hall of Famer, is as savvy a baseball guy as there is in the game.
The Braves and the Reds – This Home Series Doesn’t Get Any Easier
The Braves (at 78 and 42) are the best team in baseball, and right behind them are the Phillies (who are streaking). The Giants have nine games against those two teams in August before they go into a stretch against all the top teams in baseball. The only break (not really) in the upcoming series may be the Reds, 63 and 59 and 2 games out in the NL central behind the Brewers.
This stretch will be a test of stamina, willpower, and the ability of young players barely out of the minors to take on the behemoths of baseball (and we haven’t even gotten to the September games against the Dodgers). The Giants may have the toughest August and September schedule of any team in MLB. The good is that means the young guys will be tested over and over and honed for the future.
As Yogi said, “It ain’t over til it's over” and it ain't over!
On the board and ready to be picked up are:
FRI 8/25 = Braves [7:15] – 4 – Nurses Appreciation Night
MON 8/28– Reds [6:45] – 4 – Filipino Heritage Night
TUES 8/29 – Reds [6:45] – 3 – Harry Potter Night [I’m going]
WED 8/30 – Reds [12:45] – 4
Let the torture continue!
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
The Czar
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THE PROTOCOL: The firm has four seats in Section 118 (Premium Lower Boxes), Rows 25 and 26. These are awesome seats directly below the press box and 25 rows behind home plate on the left side behind the screen. It is foul ball territory for left-handed batters so bring your glove – I have collected 22 foul balls myself over 23 years and am looking for more. If we don’t use all the tickets ourselves (or clients and friends of the firm don't claim them by calling me and reserving a game), then my next step is to give the tickets TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO GETS BACK TO ME PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE SERIOUS. If you ask for the tickets and don't use them, you will be taken off the list unless there is a seriously good reason. There will be a wait list.
When there are four seats available (we split up a lot of games) we will allocate the tickets two and two if the first people back just want two tickets. You can also go for four and might get them. I'm the Czar, my call.
Oh, and BTW, The Czar found the original Hinman & Carmichael brick from 2000 (after looking for it every year since 2000) and found H&C’s Gotham Club Founders Bat! If you are on the patio, or in the Club, look for the symbols of baseball!
