Every boxscore I've seen for the Giants 1-0 win over the Phillies has Bastardo charged with an earned run. Isn't this wrong? Admittedly I didn't see the full video of the game, and it's not perfectly clear in the MLB condensed game (check at 10:41), but Belt seemingly wasn't within 40 feet of second base at the moment Pagan's ball hit Wigginton's glove.

While it's true you can't assume the double play, shouldn't the scorer still assume that because it's a tie game in extra innings, man on first and less than two out, the play is going to second base especially since Belt isn't stealing? Which is in turn to say that without the error, there would be a man on first and two outs, and Pagan doesn't score on Melky's single?

Rule 10.06(d) No run shall be earned when the scoring runner's advance has been aided by an error, a passed ball or defensive interference or obstruction, if in the official scorer’s judgment the run would not have scored without the aid of such misplay.

and... (f) Whenever a fielding error occurs, the pitcher shall be given the benefit of the doubt in determining to which bases any runners would have advanced had the fielding of the defensive team been errorless.

Helluva game, glad the Giants won, etc., but hate to see Bastardo get charge with an earned run where he probably doesn't deserve one. It could cost him money later.

The Giants offense is dreadful and except for brief periods it has been failtastic throughout 2011. But where does it stand in historical terms for a defending World Series winner? 

In 2010 while winning the NL West the Giants posted a team OPS+ of 97. Just subpar, surprisingly. This year (before the Timmeh meltdown yesterday) the team's OPS+ stood at 84. It wouldn't surprise to know it's fallen to 83 now. 

This differential of 13 (possibly 14) would become the largest drop in OPS+ by any defending champion in the Wild Card Era, surpassing the decline of 12 points of OPS+ suffered by the "defending" Florida Marlins in 1998 (OPS+ dropping from 98 to 86).

"Defending" in quotes invites you to keep in mind that those Marlins actively dismantled their team following their '97 Championship, electing to part with some very expensive key parts in a cost-cutting move. 

Does this resonate with you? These Giants hitters are actually performing quantifiably worse than a team that wasn't even trying to repeat as World Series winners. 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=10522

Any player who was not on a 40-man roster on Nov. 7 qualified for free agency if he had accumulated at least six years of service time (minors and majors inclusive) while still bound by his first uniform player contract. That contract is broken if the player is released or granted free agency by other means before he logs six years.

San Francisco Giants (22)
RHP: Rafael Cova (AA), Eric Hacker (AAA), Matt Kinney (AAA), Mike MacDonald (AA), Osiris Matos (AAA), Scott Nestor (Lo A), Tony Pena Jr. (AAA), Ronnie Ray (AA)
LHP: Geno Espineli (AAA), Horacio Ramirez (AAA), Andy Sisco (AA), Jake Stevens (AA), Dontrelle Willis (AAA)
C: Steve Holm (AAA), Guillermo Rodriguez+ (AAA)
1B: Michael Sandoval+ (Hi A)
2B: Derin McMains+ (AAA)
3B: Jesus Guzman (AAA)
SS: Juan Ciriaco (AA), Sharlon Schoop (AA)
OF: Joe Borchard (AAA), Clay Timpner (AA)

Hacker has already signed elsewhere.

Yes! Sluggers! Sluggers Good! Must get sluggers! But how many sluggers who regularly would hit the longball to right center everywhere else would merely hit long flyball outs in Mays Field? 

Now you can find out. Learn to love http://www.hittrackeronline.com/ with your whole body, even your MVP-P, plus this correctly sized overlay I threw together (maybe a real graphics person wants to take another pass at it and clean it up?)

The raw HitTracker data for Buster Posey's "True" HR for 2010 is here.

This is the overlay in .png format with a transparent background which you are free to use for any non-commercial purpose:

Put them together and there's tasty:

HitTracker would be miles ahead if they made this a native feature. Meh. 

Uh, this writes itself mostly, because the Giants pretty much have to do nothing at all. 

Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt are already under contract for 2011 at a cost of $49.5 million. 

The remainder of the pitching staff are mostly arbitration-elgibile players: Jonathan Sánchez, Chris Ray, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, and Ramon Ramirez. They earned a combined $5.4M in 2010 and using the general rule-of-thumb that should they go to arbitration they'd get a 50% raise, we can expect the cost from this group to be no more than $8.1 million. 

The indispensable man in this group is Sánchez who accounted for the lion's share of this portion of the payroll in 2010, earning $2.1 million. The odd man out if the team needs to economize may be Ramirez, the second highest paid at $1.16M, although his career .597 against right-handed batters probably makes him a bargain.

The Giants are on record via Brian Sabean as not liking the arbitration process. I'd expect them to offer these guys contracts for what they would have gotten anyway. Why wreck unit cohesion over the chump change of a $100,000 or less, especially since the contentious amount is dwarfed by the playoff money they'll get? 

The final group of players are those who aren't yet arbitration eligible: Sergio Romo, Dan Runzler and Madison Bumgarner. Romo and Runzler made a shade over the rookie minimum of $400,000 and will probably be back for under $1 million for both; one of the joys of playoff money is that you don't have to open your wallets as a GM. I have no sources for Bumgarner's contract, but I guess it's the rookie minimum and he's still fat from his signing bonus; his shot at some big paydays is yet to come. So expect all three back for maybe $1.4 million. 

Waldis Joaquin lurks in the background at Fresno and would make the pro-rated rookie minimum if he's called up. I expect Guillermo Mota to try his luck elsewhere, especially if the experiment to stretch Runzler out as a starter is successful in which case he'd be a long man as well as a spot starter. 

I somewhat suspect the Giants will leverage the early part of the 2011 schedule and break camp with 11 pitchers. If that's the case, expect Casilla or Ray to open the campaign at Fresno along with Runzler who could continue to learn the starter's trade at AAA, leaving Lopez and Affeldt to handle the southpaw work from the bullpen until late April. 

Starters: Lincecum, Sánchez, Cain, Bumgarner, Zito

Bullpen: Ray/Casilla, Romo, Ramirez, Lopez, Affeldt, Wilson

Ready when needed: Ray/Casilla, Runzler

Cost: $59 million in 2011. 

The numbers mostly speak for themselves. Nope, I did not try to control for games where both teams allowed unearned runs. 

Giants 2010 record in games when allowing any unearned runs

Regular season: 8-18

Playoffs: 1-3

Overall: 9-21 (.300)

Giants 2010 record in games with opponent allowing any unearned runs

Regular season 27-6

Playoffs: 3-0

Overall: 30-6 (.833)

In a Series as tight as this, the team that makes the fewest mistakes and which recovers most gracefully from their mistakes, is going to win. 

A reflection upon baseball and my twentieth year as a Giants fan.

I was raised in Oriole country on a diet of the Robinsons and Blair and Rettenmund, Ellie Hendricks, Boog Powell and some amazing pitching, I was crushed in '69, elated in '70, infuriated in '71 (but learned to be disquieted by Oakland then, too).

During this time I was captivated by the Giants on the Game of the Week with the exotic chain-link fence in their strange home park and the awesome Bobby Bonds and the semi-hushed reverence in which the announcers spoke of this strange player, McCovey, and the novelty of another team wearing orange and black. 

Transplanted by the doings of grown-ups to Kansas City for two years, I got home games at both KC stadiums. I learned to love Amos Otis and  Paul Splitorff, Pinella, Dick Drago, Cookie Rojas and Freddie Patek. Dreamt of a Royals-Orioles playoff series. And I learned to hate Oakland even more in '73 as I watched the Orioles falter in the ALCS from the living room of the son of the man who dropped the atom bomb. 

Back to Baltimore after another move, and a long run of seasons that never yielded Real Ultimate Victory. Effing Oakland again in '74, although they did have the courtesy to beat that annoying blue-clad team from the West Coast. And the effing Pirates again in '79 and that stupid song. It was in the bag, what the hell happened? 

Flash-forward to '83 and at long last another Whole Shebang trophy for the Orioles. And over those ridiculous Phillies no less. The temerity of some people to compare Schmidt to the sainted Brooks Robinson... 

And here the Orioles begin an alarming drop into mediocrity, usually with pinstriped scorch marks, and here I am at the age where the wider concerns of the world begin to intrude on a young man's leisure time. 3 cars, 5 girlfriends, uncountable miles and beers and hours on phones and the great issues of life and the small details and a plane ticket to Oakland with my worldly possessions in a duffel bag and a job and a place to stay waiting and it's '86 and I'm fairly disconnected from baseball for the first time in my life. 

All change... Between one forgettable East Bay month and another and another I cross paths with a Red Sox fan. We run in the same circles, the sort who look down on pro sports, but he has kept the faith. We talk a little ball. We can have that talk, there's no real grudge between Boston and Baltimore. And one day soon after, I pick up a paper on the way to the laundromat and check the box scores. 

I wasn't going to be an Oakland fan. I'm all in favor of supporting the home team, don't get me wrong, and if some sad sack drove the wife and kids up from Anaheim for a series I'd point him to the Coliseum, but there was just too much history there. I never went to an A's game until I became a Giants fan, stayed six innings in their toilet of a stadium and got on BART. Never again. 

I tried to keep up with the Orioles as they had their near miss in '89 before succumbing again to more lost seasons. As the '89 season drew to a close and the playoffs progressed my one thought was that Oakland must not win. It was that simple. Oakland must not win. Then Games One and Two. Then the earthquake (for which I am solely to blame as it was the only day I ever went barefoot in public in the East Bay). Then Games Three and Four. And it's Oakland. Again. 

A few more life-changes in the months after the quake and I'm a San Francisco resident all of a sudden, and more seasons of poor play from both the Orioles and Giants would follow. But as with the lore of the city itself, the local baseball life crept into my consciousness and before long I'm suffering through the '91 Giants along with everyone else. There was no bandwagon to ride, just vacuumed up in the wake of the tremendous level of suck of that ball club. Then 1992 happened. Another awful year, so much talent wasted. I was really starting to understand...

What I miscalculated was the local sentiment towards the Braves, and I nearly got my ass kicked out of (or in) the Toronado Bar in Lower Haight at the end of the NLCS. I watched a much-admired power-hitting young left fielder with a mediocre arm fail to retire a very slow baserunner at the plate. The Pirates had lost and I was a bit too vocal in my appreciation, but with a quick re-cap of my baseball trajectory my rooting interest was understood, even appreciated. 

'93, a horror. '94 even worse in some ways but at least I had someone to share that with who was a blood Gfan. More years of frustration and you know what the numbers are. You know the names. Above all else the mind numbing gack of 2002 blurring together in my subconscious with the disappointment of '79. Say it as one: it was in the bag, what the hell happened? 

In many ways, the arc is complete for me now as the team I love stands once again at the brink, clad in orange and black, poised to redeem themselves of an embarrassing failure on the same stage not that many years ago. And for some reason, although both calculation and experience should tell me the proposition is tenuous, I'm willing to put aside fact and memory and just exercise simple faith that this is going to happen for us. 

That, I think, is what being a fan really comes down to; putting on the shining armor of naive hope for a single year, a single series, a single game, inning or pitch and just wanting it and believing your team is going to get it done. Believing that this is going to be the year when the monsters aren't under the bed, and the fire-breathing dragon of doubt and disaster isn't going to swoop in and toast the dream yet again.

That's all I need. The simple faith of the crew cut kid in his Orioles cap sitting on his grandparent's sofa in October simply... suffices. I'm good with it all. I'm ready to party. I'm ready to shake the hand of any Rangers fan with sincere congratulations however it may go. I'm ready to say "We got this" without offering an explanation or apology. Because I believe and that -- suddenly, surprisingly, satisfyingly -- is enough. 

Let's play some baseball. Let's slay the dragon. Let's go Giants. 

Summary of WPA (Win Percentage Added) from baseball-reference.com for the Giants-Phillies NLCS.

The Giants offense, taken as a whole provided -0.273 WPA, and the pitching 1.272 WPA. 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-philliesnlcsgamefour102110

Coulda/woulda/shoulda all around. 

Passan and the media coulda/woulda/shoulda seen the Phillies for what they are: a successful team over the last few years with a stellar front of the roatation, but otherwise primed to underperform. The bullpen was never on the list of things to worry about in this series; the hitters had a nice run but the regulars are all past or passing thirty and this is their exhale.

In a word creaky. In eight words, not being allowed to play to their strengths. The Giants haven't completely shut them down, but limiting the Phillies to 3 multiple-run innings in 4 games has been a major help. The runnin', gunnin', hit to all fields at all times Phillies morphed into a "two bloops and a blast" ballclub while no one was looking.

Slugging .328 (75 points lower than their season average) it's their worst performance in a playoff series since... well, since the anemic .273 they put up this year against the Reds. Before that you have to look back beyond the .366 they put up while being swept by the Rockies in 2007 to find such a pronounced playoff power failure. 

Manuel coulda/woulda/shoulda gone to other than Oswalt for the ninth, but he was the best out there whether or not he chooses to use the closer Lidge and fly in the face of the typical doctrine of tied games on the road. With benefit of hindsight the sixth inning would have been the time but the situation wasn't right. He got beat with his best, so I say let it go.

Coulda/woulda/shoulda been a Fanshot... but, meh. 

Props to them, "Rational Pastime" is one hell of a name for a sabermetrics blog. 

Just found them today and I thought it worth passing along this chart.

Obviously a final World Series head-to-head can't be done until both LCS are complete. But, wow... the Yankees really crapped their sliding shorts! Philly is more or less back where they started, Texas ascendent, and the progress of the Gaints has been... torturous. 

Texas (41.8%), San Fran (32.5%) Best Bets to Take Home Commish Trophy

Giants catching records in post-season play and there's a good chance he'll own most or all of them sooner or later.

Two are in the bag

Most PO by Catcher in a NLDS

- Franchise record:

1. Buster Posey, [39], S.F. Giants, 2010 NLDS [through 3 games]

2. Benito Santiago, 32, S.F. Giants, 2002 NLDS (5 games)

Most PO by Catcher as rookie in any post-season series

- Franchise record:

1. Buster Posey, [39], S.F. Giants, 2010 NLDS [through 3 games]

2. Tom Haller, 29, S.F. Giants, 1962 World Series

One more in hand, but which will it be?

Most PO by Catcher in any 4 game series

- Franchise record:

1.* Buster Posey, [39], S.F. Giants, 2010 NLDS [through 3 games]

2. Dick Dietz, 34, S.F. Giants, 1971 NLCS

* - series length not final

Most PO by Catcher in any 5 game series

- Franchise record:

1. Gus Mancuso, 32, N.Y. Giants, 1931 World Series

1. Benito Santiago, 32, S.F. Giants, 2002 NLDS

And because he's Buster Posey...

Most PO by Catcher in any post-season series

- Franchise record:

1. Frank Snyder, 43, N.Y. Giants, 1921 World Series (6 games)

2. Chief Meyers, 42, N.Y. Giants, 1912 World Series (8 games)

3. Gus Mancuso, 40, N.Y. Giants, 1936 World Series (6 games)

4. Benito Santiago, 40, S.F. Giants, 2002 World Series (7 games)

5. Buster Posey, [39], S.F. Giants, 2010 NLDS [through 3 games]

- San Francisco record:

1. Benito Santiago, 40, S.F. Giants, 2002 World Series (7 games)

2. Buster Posey, [39], S.F. Giants, 2010 NLDS [through 3 games]

You know you were wondering...

Most PO by Catcher in a single post-season

- Franchise record:

1. Benito Santiago, 96 (2002, 3 series, 17 games)

2. Terry Kennedy, 49 (1989, 2 series, 9 games)

3. Frank Snyder, 43 (1921, 1 series, 6 games)

4. Chief Meyers, 42 (1912, 1 series, 8 games)

5. Gus Mancuso, 40 (1936, 1 series, 6 games)

6. Buster Posey, [39], (2010, 1 series, [3 games])

Most PO by Catcher in all team post-season series (career)

- Franchise record:

1. Benito Santiago, 113

2. Frank Snyder, 90

3. Chief Meyers, 83

4. Gus Mancuso, 80

5. Wes Westrum, 52

6. Terry Kennedy, 49

7. Hank Gowdy, 44

8. Buster Posey, [39]

I'm not entirely sure about this but I think GDP³ wrote himself into the history books in Game 1 last night. 

Most put-outs recorded by a rookie playing catcher in his post-season debut.

14 - Buster Posey, S.F. - 2010 NLDS (Game 1)

13 - Andy Etchebarren, Balt. - 1966 WS (Game 1) {4gm +6+6+7=32 PO}

5 - Yogi Berra, N.Y.Y. - 1947 WS (Game 1) {6gm +6+2+6=17 PO, [recorded 3 total PO as RF in Games 6 and 7]}

5 - Yadier Molina, St.L. - 2004 NLCS (Game 4) {1gm =5 PO}

I can't recall even one of Lincecum's strikeouts needing a throw to first to get the batter. 

The numbers in curly braces are the by-game numbers for the rest of the player's debut post-season series. The records for first two and three games would belong to Etchebarren (19 and 25) and those may fall as well. 

I'm not finding any other rookie catchers to make the post-season, but if there are more, please add.

Post your photos from gol'-dang Un'merican places when you watch and represent. 

In the Big Mango and lucky to get a snowy satellite picture from Formosa TV. Baffling Chinese overdub of the TBS broadcast, but beats the living hell out of listening to that imbecile Dick Stockton. Go 巨人! (a very large strong person who is often cruel and stupid; an unusually large person, animal or plant... thank you Google Translate. xoxoxo 75x.)

In the Wild Card era, NL teams that make the playoffs after a .650 or better September are 12-5 in the NLDS. Your San Francisco Giants just went 19-10 (.655).

This is effectively 11-4 since the 2003 Marlins-Giants matchup was going to produce a winner and a loser no matter which club took the division series. 

Of the five series losses by .650 or better teams, three were to the eventual World Series winner and one to the NL champion. 

2008: LAD, PHI

2007: COL

2006: SDP* [lost to St.L. WS winners]

2004: HOU

2003: CHC, FLA, SFG* [lost to Fla. WS winners]

2002: SFG, STL

2001: STL* [lost to Ari. WS winners]

2000: STL, SFG* [lost to N.Y. NLCS winners]

1999: ARI, ATL* [lost to N.Y.]

1998: ATL 

1996: STL

No, nothing to do with Timmeh's hair or the beards of Wilson, Romo & Co. 

Imagine it's noon on Sunday. The Giants have split the first two games of the season-ending series with the Padres, are NL West Champs and locked in for a Division Series with home field advantage. The Braves have dropped the first two games of their final series and are hopelessly behind the Phillies in the late innings of their last game. 

The Giants have nothing more to do than take a few curtain calls, make 27 outs, avoid injuries and be ready for Game 1. 

How do you play it? 

Do you make a semi-serious effort to win on Sunday, put one last beat down on the Fathers (oh teh Patricidal joy of eliminating a division rival from two races in one weekend...) and get ready to face Atlanta while sending Cincinnati into the meat grinder against the Phillies? 

Or do you play it soft, send out a starting lineup of mostly reserves, limit Sanchez to 80 pitches and then run through the back end of the bullpen, and take a meaningless loss thereby setting up a Wild Card playoff game which might send the Padres against Philly and bring the Reds here?

A composite boxscore for a postseason team's pitching looks like this:

4 Games, 35 Innings Pitched

22 Hits (4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR)

8 Runs Allowed (7 Earned)

34 Strikeouts, 8 Walks (1 IBB), 1 HBP

1.88 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, opponents batting .181/.237/.282

Would you feel good about that team's chances of having gone 3-1 in the best-of-five series? 

Continue reading this post »

Mortal Locks [Pitching]

Starting Rotation. You simply don't tamper with this. Tempting perhaps to drop Zito for Bumgarner, as a flight of fancy or intellectual exercise, but this isn't some effete European school of architecture, so no. Just no. And take off that beret; you look stupid in it. 

SP - Lincecum

SP - Zito (L)

SP - Cain

SP - Sanchez, J. (L)

The Bullpen. These five are in without question. Their brilliance causes migrating birds to lose their way and astronomical observatories within 2000 miles to go blind. 

RP - Lopez (L)

RP - Affeldt (L)

RP - Romo

RP - Ramirez

CL - Wilson

Now you pick, picky you. 

LR - Bumgarner (L)

RP - Runzler (L)

RP - Ray

RP - Casilla

RP - Mota 

One of these things is not like the others, yes, one of these things just doesn't belong. Mota gets a full playoff share but there won't be a uni in his locker on game day. If the Giants go with a 13-man pitching corps then all the rest are in. 

With a 12-man staff things get interesting. For the 5-game NLDS there would seem to be no real role for Bumgarner. In a situation where a long man is needed, there's enough flexibility to give the rest of a game to the bullpen, or have somebody throw an inning while another starter gets loose.

Runzler is essentially a Lite version of a Lopez-Affeldt mash-up at this point. Underused since coming back from injury and no playoff experience. It's probably the roster of the NLDS opponent that decides his fate: will the bad guys have a starting line-up and bench that begs to have another LOOGY on tap. 

Ray vs. Casilla for the Heavyweight Championship of OMG If Either Pitches Twice We're Probably Losing the NLDS Anyway...

Casilla has been money (Lao Kip or maybe Bolivian Pesos, anyway) since the first of August and pitched just two games where's he's been charged with earned runs: a single run in an inning of work as the Giants got drubbed 9-0 in a get-away day game at St. Louis then Affeldt couldn't pick him up versus the Snakes a week later. 

Ray's been virtually forgotten since a 4-run 8th inning boo-boo at Philthy in mid-August. Despite a 3 game clean sheet in 2 innings of work in the past week or so, Bochy seems to have forgotten his successes earlier in the season when he was shiny-shiny and isn't finding too many spots to use him. 

There may be some injury issue that hasn't made the papers but either way he's less a full-inning set-up man now and more a ROOGY; think of him as the filling in a Lopez-Affeldt finger sandwich appetizer before a main course of Wilson. Or... no, I'm hungry dammit. The food metaphor stands. 

Survey says: If Bumgarner's in, then Casilla and one of Ray or Runzler (again based on the match-ups) to round out a 12-man staff. The odd man out gets a pep-talk and some side work to stay sharp for a 7-game NLCS. Otherwise Bumgarner and Mota play some long toss and trade restaurant tips with Steve Decker and Steve Holm down at the spring training facility.

Mortal Locks [Position Players]

The backstops. GDP3 is like unto a deity and his merest glance causes barren fields to become fertile again, great fish leap from the depths of the sea just to gaze once upon his face then die contented on the shore, and there's a persistent rumor that his touch cures leprosy. Eli Whiteside is the other catcher and likely sees the field only if we have to play at Krypton or we somehow run out of first basemen. 

C - Posey

C - Whiteside

Around the horn, round up the usual suspect gloves. The only real question marks here are Renteria's fragile body and Freddy Sanchez's tender knee. It seems almost certain that the Giants would go into the playoffs with the worst left side of any post-season team. Statues with inconsistent bats are not a wellspring of hope; a recent rash of poor fielding decisions and throwing errors don't help. 

Scary thoughts are scary: what if Sanchez's knee flares up once the playoff roster is set and the NLDS is underway? Sandoval, Renteria, Uribe and Huff around the horn would confuse ballpark patrons into thinking they'd stumbled into the Museo Nacionale. 

1B/OF - Huff (L)

2B - Sanchez, F.

SS/3B/2B - Uribe

3B/1B - Sandoval (S)

SS - Renteria

1B - Ishikawa (L)

In the outfield there are also no surprises. Guillen was a known quantity when San Francisco got him: all hit, no field. But the Giants power potential would decline too much to drop him in favor of Cody Ross or Aaron Rowand. 

All indications are that Andres Torres will be all the way back from his appendectomy; you should never mention an appendectomy in a sentence without a semi-colon. He's a gutsy player with fire in his belly who can stomach a pressure situation and let's move on, shall we? 

RF - Guillen

LF - Burrell

OF - Torres (S)

RF - Schierholtz (L)

Yes, but the mortal locks go up to eleven... which is actually twelve. And that leaves us with zero or one players left to select depending on how many pitchers the Giants carry. 

All things being equal Aaron Rowand doesn't even belong in this conversation. He's been in a season-long hitting funk that seems to have no end in sight. All things are not equal; can you really bench your highest paid position player with two years left on his contract? You can and you just have to hope that he takes it with the same level of professionalism as he has his very infrequent playing time in the second half of the season. 

That leaves only one player to choose as a semi-lock and one who's on the bubble pending a decision on the pitching. 

I pick Fontenot. He's the only lefty hitting option who can man the middle infield for starters. He's a second basemen by trade and vastly superior on defense at the position compared to Uribe. 

The potential complications which could see Ross getting some support have mostly to do with center field. If Torres is out for any reason and you've dropped Rowand, you don't have a center fielder. Nate Schierholtz would give an effort out there and he played the position at the Olympics, but c'mon... (Although I read somewhere he could play third base.)

A lineup without Torres, Ross or Rowand would see an outfield of Burrell, Nate and Guillen or Huff, Nate and Guillen. Stop laughing. Imagine a game when you've lost Torres and already burned Ishikawa as a pinch hitter. Stop laughing so hard you cry. Imagine playing the last 3 innings or more, needing to keep it close and down a few runs, with an outfield of Huff, Nate and Guillen, and Posey at first and Eli Whiteside catching. Stop crying. A two run deficit turns into a rout, the Giants without Torres go down meekly the next day to lose the series 3-1. Stop sobbing and take your head out of the oven. 

2B/SS - Fontenot (L)

OF - Ross

CF - Rowand

Just because... Velez, no. Ford, no. Burris, no. There are no hits in there at this time. 

Final verdict: 

Fontenot and Ross both in, plus Casilla, with Ray or Runzler (again based on matchups). Yep, 11 pitchers and 14 position players. You didn't see that coming, admit it. 

Justification:

The Giants defense is just so sub-standard and potentially fragile that it could result in a uberfael with just one badly-time injury. The offense can be so weak some nights that having one extra bat on the bench to take advantage of match-ups might make the difference, especially against a club with a middling bullpen. 

At the same time the pitching has been so eye-poppingly awesome that having two starters and two or more relievers all go in the tank at the same time seems unlikely. Pre-season punditry said the Giants were going to have to win it with pitching and that's still the reality. 

The time to get it done is the last week of the season, clinch a playoff birth as fast as possible and limit the innings of the starters while keeping the bullpen tuned up. Remove fatigue as an issue and eleven pitchers will be plenty. 

If you must:

Drop Ishikawa and assume Sandoval and Posey are Huff's backups at first base, subtracting one inconsistent left-handed bat. Add the loser of Ray/Runzler or Bumgarner. 

Ain't Havin' It:

Aaron Rowand. He's useless and it's evident to everyone. Nothing more than an extra pair of legs and a moderately useful glove. Which means more if you can rememeber one Shinjo? flailing away as time ran out on another Giants season. Which means Sabean and Bochy will come up with some arcane rationale to put him on the roster. 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=300728126

"Since he's been at the top of our lineup, to me, he's been our MVP," said Huff after [Andres] Torres' ground-rule single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Giants to a 10-9 victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night. "If he gets on base two times, more times than not we're going to win. He's really carrying us, especially lately."

Yeap, it's true. 

When Torres starts and bats first, the Giants are 6-2 when Torres has 0 times on base, 10-12 with 1 TOB, 14-2 with 2, 4-5 with 3, 4-0 with 4 and 0-1 with 5. 

...and what is this? He's proven before that he can hit singles with the best of them and while he probably won't hit .344 again if he continues his solid start... Who knows? 

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Yep, it's shocking, astounding, even scandalizing, to learn that Timmeh is second best at anything, but in this case he is. Ubaldo Jimenez is first with 61. 

Phrasing the response in the form of a question... What is active streaks of consecutive games started without allowing multiple home runs, Alex?

If Jimenez can keep it going for 4 more games he'll tie Bob Bruce for 25th place on the NL all-time list. The NL (and MLB) record is 166 consecutive starts and seemingly out of reach forever; as with the single-season record for triples, the game has simply changed too much. The NL record for combined consecutive starts and relief appearances without allowing multiple home runs is 573.

-75-

Just like the sound of one hand clapping and various other confounding queries involving mountains, streams and other naturalistic themes, this is a trick question. The correct answer of course is that the Panda fixes himself, and no need to look to religions other than baseball to illustrate this. 

If you hadn't been keeping up, Pablo Sandoval is now officially having a terrible May, posting a line of .087/.130/.087/.217 through the month to date. And while the average Giants fan can't be pleased about this, the bigger question is: is this something to really worry about? 

Unless Sandoval is struggling with an undisclosed injury -- and from his defensive play there's no reason to think so -- we can probably just relax and wait. Here's why...

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