SB Nation User Blog: DuikeBuike

Big Bomber John Bowker

DuikeBuike — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:10:53 -0000

I came across this on milb.com while checking out John Bowker's stats.

Was one of top NL rookies in 2008, making his ML debut and batting .255 (83-for-326) with 31 runs, 14 doubles, three triples, 10 HRs and 43 RBIs in 111 games for San Francisco...rankedamong NL rookie leaders in avg. (10th), HRs (T4th), hits (9th), 3Bs (T4th), RBI (6th), total bases (T7th - 133), multi-hit games (T9th - 18), extra base hits (7th - 27) and slugging pct. (6th - .408)...began year with triple-A club, but was recalled April 12 and had fantastic 1st Half, batting .274 (64-for-234) with nine HRs and 38 RBIs in 75 contests...his nine HRs at All-Star Break led team, becoming first rookie to pace club in HRs at Break since Dave Kingman in 1972 (21)...his 38 RBIs were also tied for 4th-most by SF rookie prior to Break (Dave Kingman tops list with 58 in '72) and his .274 avg. ranked as sixth-highest mark by rookie before Break in SF history (Gary Matthews is first with .316 clip in 1973)...

I'm not saying that John is going to turn into a Dave Kingman or Gary Matthews, but he should be on the team, and he probably should have been the starter from Opening Day. Ishikawa has had a far more longer slump than John, and Bochy/Sabean are sticking with him. But of course the organization throws John under the bus because he had a slump in his rookie year, and the league figured him out, something that most rookies experience.

And it seems that he's working hard and fixing his problems. (K:BB of 18:24)

NL West Farm System Values

DuikeBuike — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:12:02 -0000

NL West Farm System Values

Found a simulation on NL West farm systems on the Dodgers blog site.

Someone has made an offer to Furcal...

DuikeBuike — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:57:27 -0000

Someone has made an offer to Furcal...

According to mlbtraderumors.com, an undisclosed team has made a 3 yr./39 mil offer to Furcal.

Could it be the giants...thoughts?

Wow?

DuikeBuike — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:47:22 -0000

Wow?

I was just watching PTI ,and when Wilbon and the other guy discussed the NL Cy, they both said that the last person they would have voted for would be Lincecum. What's up with that.
They said Sabathia was the clear favorite, and they stated their reasons for Lidge, Sabathia, and Webb, but said nothing about Lincecum, except that he should have finished 5th. What? Was I missing something here? It seemed like Lincecum had the best stats by far.

Well, it doesn't matter now, but Lincecum deserved to win, right?

2.58 to 2.66

DuikeBuike — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:20:43 -0000

2.58 to 2.66

The official game scorer changed the Rich Aurilia error to a hit after the game. This raises Lincecum's ERA from 2.58 to 2.66. He now trails Johan Santana in terms of ERA.

Bent on helping Lincecum's cause, the Giants announced that they will appeal a fourth-inning...

DuikeBuike — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:16:54 -0000

Bent on helping Lincecum's cause, the Giants announced that they will appeal a fourth-inning scoring decision that tacked two earned runs onto Lincecum's line. With the Giants clinging to a 3-2 lead, Colorado scored two runs on Troy Tulowitzki's ground ball to the left of third baseman Rich Aurilia, who did not come up with the ball. Official scorer Michael Duca initially ruled the play an error, which made the runs unearned, but changed it to a hit after the game.

This is from sfgiants.com, and this now puts Lincecum in second place in the NL for ERA behind Santana's 2.64. OUCH

I'm not feeling good about Neukom

DuikeBuike — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:48:37 -0000

I'm not feeling good about Neukom

We need to get in contact with the Giants org. I will not be able to take another year of: Winn, Rowand, Molina, and some big power third baseman acquired via trade, while TI rots on the bench. What's the point of a farm system when you don't use your prospects?

Now and Then

DuikeBuike — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:30:47 -0000

2008 Opening Day Starting Lineup
Lf-Dave Roberts
Cf-Aaron Rowand
Rf-Randy Winn
3b-Rich Aurilia
ss-Brian Bocock
2b-Ray Durham
1b-Rich Aurilia
C-Bengie Molina

Today's Game Lineup
Lf-Fred Lewis
Cf-Randy Winn
Rf-Nate Schierholtz
3b-Scott McClain
ss-Emmanuel Burriss
2b-Eugenio Velez
1b-Travis Ishikawa
C-Pablo Sandoval

In my opinion, today was the best lineup of the season yet. I'm actually looking forward to the next season even though the Giants are 62-80. Lots of people thought we would finish with 62 total wins.

Anyways, for the offseason I hope our new guy fires Sabean and Bochy and replaces them with 2 guys that are all for youngsters. They've overdone their stay and they are continuing to hold back our rebuilding. I want Lewis to have the rest of the year off and have surgery for his bunion to be fully healthy for opening day next year. I want Emmanuel Burriss and our other youngsters to continue their development in winter/fall ball.

Regarding trades and FAs, I would first off, like the Giants to trade Aaron Rowand. I knew from the minute he recorded the last out at the 2007 All Star Game that he would not fit at ATT. I would be happy if we could receive for 1 or 2 B level prospects in return. He is an average player that we are overpaying. Lots of people are in favor of trading Randy Winn, but I think Winn is a much better player than Rowand. This deal would lighten our payroll to go after CC Sabathia. I think signing CC to 5 years 90-100 mil would be a great deal for the Giants. He would give us a slight home discount because he grew up around the bay. This would take pressure off Zito and would establish our rotation as the best in the bigs. My next signing would be Dallas McPherson. I would like to see the Giants sign him to a 2 year 3-6 million dollar deal. He's somewhat young and has plenty of pop. We have no solution at third next year, and I would much rather see the Giants sign McPherson over Crede/Aurilia. The last offseason deal I want to see is the trading of Big Money. He's slow, old, and blocking Pablo. We could probably get a solid prospect or two for Bengie because of his offensive numbers for a catcher. Pablo has proved he can hit at any level, and I disagree with moving him to 3b or 1b because that would decrease the value of his bat. I know we have Buster, but the worst case scenario is Buster is successful, and is ready for 2010. Fine. Then move Pablo to either 1b or 3b. These offseason deals would maintain our 80 million dollar payroll, but in my opinion, put a team on the field that could win 80-90 games.

Now, the 2009 Sf Giants:
1. ss-Emmanuel Buriss-Hopefully Burriss can have a solid first full season playing everyday and maintain a .270 average, a good OBP, and steal 30 bags.
2. Cf-Randy Winn-I think Winn will be much more effective out of the 2 hole rather than the 3 hole. Look for him to put up similar numbers to this year.
3. Lf-Fred Lewis-If Fred can be healthy all year, he could be scary. He could bat around .300 with 15-20 Hrs and 30 stolen bases. This 1-2-3 punch would give the Giants the quickest top of the order in baseball.
4. 3b.Dallas McPherson- He's got 40 bombs in the minors this year, so I would be satisfied is he hit around .250 with 20-25 Hrs. Expect a ton of K's.
5. C-Pablo Sandoval-I think he has proved that in a full major league season he can hit .300 with around 20 Hrs. The guy can flat out hit. We'll have to see.
6. Rf-Nate Schierholtz-Nate would definitely have his ups and downs next year if he had the opportunity to play everyday, which he deserves. I think he could hit around .270 with 15-20 Hrs. This would be huge for him, and he could really be a solid player in 2010.
7. 1b-Travis Ishikawa/Scott McClain-I have heard that TI really struggles with lefties, so if we had a good season going, have TI start against righties and McClain start againts lefties. If the season is lost, let TI play everyday so he can learn to hit the lefties.
8. 2b-Eugenio Velez-I think Velez could be a royal pain in the arse to a lot of teams in the 8 hole. He needs to work on his defense, but his eye is greatly improved since his last showing in the majors. I would expect Velez to hit around .240, steal around 30 bases and hit an occasional home run.
9. Pitcher

Starting Rotation-
1. CC Sabathia-CC would flat out dominate at ATT.
2. Tim Lincecum-Our second Cy Young Candidate
3. Matt Cain-Matt's breakout year where he wins 15 games and has a winning season.
4. Jonathan Sanchez-Sanchez improves, gets his ERA around 4.
5. Barry Zito-Zito feels better now that he is not making the most money on the team. Gets his ERA down to the low 4s.
6. If Lowry can return and be the Lowry of 2007, I would use a 6 man rotation to preserve our young arms, and have our pitchers be fresh for every start.

Bullpen
Closer-Brian Wilson
8th-Sergio Romo
Reliever-Alex Hinshaw
R-Jack Taschner
R- Kevin Correia
R-???
R-???
R-???

Bench:
UTL: Kevin Frandsen
UTL: Ivan Ochoa
Lf: Dave Roberts
1b/OF: John Bowker
C: Steve Holm

If all these predictions were to come true, the 2009 Giants would probably win 100 games, but hey, a man can dream, right?

why doesn't lewis have his surgery now?

DuikeBuike — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:39:13 -0000

why doesn't lewis have his surgery now?

The giants could have lewis take the year off early to repair his bunion to let nate schierholtz and jon bowker get some extra ABs in September. This would make sense to me. Lewis has been struggling a little lately and i want the giants organization to see if schierholtz can be an everyday player. Side note: what is up with everyone being down on schierholtz' power. He seems like a 20 HR kind of guy.

Welcom Home Nate!

DuikeBuike — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:04:36 -0000

Welcom Home Nate!

And Nate welcomes us going 4 for 4 with 2 HRs a single and a double. Can't wait to see the kid in SF