So, my boy Belt has taken quite a verbal lashing in the past week. It's been a little tough to listen to. Yes, he's been struggling. Yes, he's had a really slow start to the second half. July has been a tough month for him. But he should still be starting practically every day. Now, before you call me (maybe) crazy, let me explain myself.
Belt has the potential for power that first base needs. So far this season, he has four homeruns. Nobody else has as many at that position. Brett Pill has three on the season and Aubrey Huff has just one. Posey has hit just one homer at first base (yes, he has 12 on the season, but only one has come in the games when he's started at first). Belt has 211 at-bats on the season. While four homeruns in 211 ABs are not the best stats, Belt has shown us that he has the ability to drive the ball. Like I've written about before, he hit his four homers doing the stretch in June where he started 17 games in a row. Since then, he hasn't started more than four games in a row. For a 23-year-old who's expierencing his first full year in the majors, consistent time at the plate is crucial for his development. Brandon has looked lost at the plate in recent at-bats, swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and taking called strikes that are seemingly right down the plate. But how is he supposed to work through these issues from the bench?
Defensively, he's also the Giants best option. Posey has committed two errors at first base, the same as Belt. Posey has a .989 fielding percentage behind the plate and has only one passed ball. Hector Sanchez, while solid at the plate, has struggled a little defensively. He's got a .987 fielding percentage with two passed balls in half the innings that Posey has played at catcher. It's not that Sanchez isn't a great prospect with a lot to offer this club, but right now Posey is the best option behind the plate. It's a detriment to the Giants, at least on the defensive end, to have Posey at first base. Looking ahead to a the pennant race in September and, hopefully, any playoff games, Posey behind the plate and Belt at first gives San Francisco it's best defenive team. That's the team that should be on the field in a big game. Why would we not want to see that team as often as possible during the regular season?
Lastly, the desparaging remarks from Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean have got to stop. We are all painfully aware when a player is struggling at the plate. And I'm pretty sure that Brandon Belt is aware that he's only batting .150 with zero homeruns and two RBIs in the month of July. However, I can't see how Bochy openly saying that Belt is having a tough time is helpful to Brandon. And the remarks about Huff coming back to help out Belt isn't realistic. Huff is not the future at first base. Prior to his injury on June 13, Huff was batting .155 with no homeruns and five RBIs on the season. He'll turn 36 this December. His contract is up at the end of this season, and it seems unlikely that he'll be back for another season with the Giants. And while Belt is not exactly making the strongest case for himself to start every day, his stats at least show signs of the first baseman he could become. Belt's .348 OBP ties him for seventh in the league among first basemen. This is largely helped by his 37 walks for the season. It's not much, but it does point to Belt's ability to take a pitch and have a patient at-bat.
At some point, the Giants will have to decide who they want to invent in as their first baseman of the future. If it's Brandon Belt, then they need to commit now. If their banking on him to be playing 1B for this franchise, Bochy needs to put him out there every day. Belt will grow at the plate with consistency. It will not only help him work out the kinks in his swing but will show him that his manager and team believe in his ability to get the job done. Right now, the poor guy could use all the confidence boosting that he can get.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Here We Go Again
So, the second half of the baseball season starts tomorrow. I can't wait. The Giants finished the first half at 46-40, just a half game behind the Dodgers (and zero games back in the loss column) for first place in the National League West. San Francisco had some great moments in the first half: Cain's perfect game and sweeping the Dodgers in three games with three shutouts. It was all capped off by the Giants making their fans look smart (and Mets fans look bitter) when they dominated the All-Star game in Kansas City. Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, and Melky Cabrera went 3-7 with one walk, zero strikeouts, and five RBIs. Matt Cain pitched two shut-out innings, setting the tone for the rest of the National League pitching staff to pitch seven more. Cabrera was named MVP. The night literally couldn't have gone any better for the Giants or their fans.
While these moments have been great and have provided some great first-half memories, there are definitely things that the Giants need to work in the second half if they want to make a push for the postseason.
1. Lincecum. The Giantts are 46-40 on the season and are 4-14 in Tim Lincecum's starts. That means they are 42-26 when he's not on the mound. He's shown flashes of brilliance (April 23 against the Mets, April 28 against the Padres, June 27 against the Dodgers) but has mostly been erratic and inconsistent. His velocity has been up and down, and he's been leaving a lot of pitches up. Hitters are making him pay, and his ERA is a league-worst among starters at 6.42. There's not much I can say that the stats don't. Timmy just needs to rebound in the second half. Let's just leave it at that.
2. Belt. Brandon began to show his offensive abilities in the last month with more consistent playing time. From June 7 to June 26 he started a season-high 17 games in a row. During that time, he raised his batting average from .236 to .261. He hit four homeruns with 14 RBIs. However, to end the first half, Belt only started six of the last 11 games. During this inconsistent playing time, he hasn't hit any homeruns and has only one RBI. Brandon Belt is 23 and needs consistent playing time to become the kind of high-caliber first baseman that we all know (or hope/pray) that he can be. I'm hoping and praying that Bochy realizes this as well.
3. The Closer. Santiago Casilla did a great job for the most part in the first half of the season. He converted 21 of 25 save opportunities. He has a 2.84 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched. However, he's also given up 31 hits in those innings. He's blown three of the last four save opportunities. His opponent's average is the highest that it's been since 2009 with the A's at .228. In the most devastating blown save of the season last week against the Nationals, Casilla was seen shaking off Buster Posey repeatedly. I know that Casilla is just a temporary fix until Brian Wilson hopefully returns next season, but it might be nice to give someone else a shot at closing in the second half. Sergio Romo's slight frame makes him seem a bit fragile for the role full-time, but his stuff is wicked. Brad Penny is also back and strong and healthy. I mean, after the past couple weeks, what've they got to lose?
Like I said, overall, the Giants have had a great first season. They've all been pretty healthy (knock on wood), and Sabean's off-season pick-ups have been great. Plus, it really doesn't hurt that one of them was just named the All-Star game MVP. As fans, we've had some great stories. Let's hope they keep on coming in the second half.
While these moments have been great and have provided some great first-half memories, there are definitely things that the Giants need to work in the second half if they want to make a push for the postseason.
1. Lincecum. The Giantts are 46-40 on the season and are 4-14 in Tim Lincecum's starts. That means they are 42-26 when he's not on the mound. He's shown flashes of brilliance (April 23 against the Mets, April 28 against the Padres, June 27 against the Dodgers) but has mostly been erratic and inconsistent. His velocity has been up and down, and he's been leaving a lot of pitches up. Hitters are making him pay, and his ERA is a league-worst among starters at 6.42. There's not much I can say that the stats don't. Timmy just needs to rebound in the second half. Let's just leave it at that.
2. Belt. Brandon began to show his offensive abilities in the last month with more consistent playing time. From June 7 to June 26 he started a season-high 17 games in a row. During that time, he raised his batting average from .236 to .261. He hit four homeruns with 14 RBIs. However, to end the first half, Belt only started six of the last 11 games. During this inconsistent playing time, he hasn't hit any homeruns and has only one RBI. Brandon Belt is 23 and needs consistent playing time to become the kind of high-caliber first baseman that we all know (or hope/pray) that he can be. I'm hoping and praying that Bochy realizes this as well.
3. The Closer. Santiago Casilla did a great job for the most part in the first half of the season. He converted 21 of 25 save opportunities. He has a 2.84 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched. However, he's also given up 31 hits in those innings. He's blown three of the last four save opportunities. His opponent's average is the highest that it's been since 2009 with the A's at .228. In the most devastating blown save of the season last week against the Nationals, Casilla was seen shaking off Buster Posey repeatedly. I know that Casilla is just a temporary fix until Brian Wilson hopefully returns next season, but it might be nice to give someone else a shot at closing in the second half. Sergio Romo's slight frame makes him seem a bit fragile for the role full-time, but his stuff is wicked. Brad Penny is also back and strong and healthy. I mean, after the past couple weeks, what've they got to lose?
Like I said, overall, the Giants have had a great first season. They've all been pretty healthy (knock on wood), and Sabean's off-season pick-ups have been great. Plus, it really doesn't hurt that one of them was just named the All-Star game MVP. As fans, we've had some great stories. Let's hope they keep on coming in the second half.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Second to none
With the Giants having a day off today, it's given me some time to think about a position that's maybe flown under the radar a bit in the past couple years: second base.
Not that I don't love me some Freddy Sanchez (apparently all Giants fans feel the same, voting for him enough for him to finish 4th in the All-Star voting this year...without him having played a game. Yeah.), but, let's be honest, he hasn't been the most reliable second baseman during his Giants tenure. In June 2011, Sanchez went down with a shoulder injury that he just couldn't seem to recover from and that sidelined him for the rest of the season. This could've been totally devastating for the Giants - Mike Fontenot was on the disabled list when Sanchez went down, and Bill Hall was signed to replace Sanchez before Hall also went on the DL. Finally, Sabean had had enough. On July 20, he traded for Jeff Keppinger from the Astros. Keppinger went on to bat .255 with 17 RBIs and two homeruns in 56 games for the Giants. He stepped in and filled a void in a huge way for the 2011 Giants, who finished 2nd in the National League West.
When this season started out, Freddy Sanchez was once again leaving a void in the number four position. Sanchez managed to appear in five games during spring training this year but has since struggled to come back from his shoulder injury from 2011. With Keppinger signing with Tampa Bay in the off-season, second base for the Giants was once again a black hole. Luckily, Sabean signed Ryan Theriot in the off-season to back up, well, whoever was playing second base that day for the Giants. But when Sanchez started the year on the DL and Emmanuel Burriss started to flounder, Theriot stepped up. Even though he's struggled a little bit with staying healthy (is this position cursed for the Giants?), Theriot has come back and been a huge contributor to the Giants push for first place in the NL West lately. He's currently batting .272 in just 53 games this season. He's only got 22 strikeouts on the season and already has 16 RBIs. He's also only got two errors on the season so far. And, let's face it, that's pretty dang impressive in this line-up.
It may seem like a small thing, this whole "having-a-healthy-second-baseman thing," but these guys have helped give the Giants winning seasons the past two years. Without Keppinger, I don't know if the Giants finished over .500 in 2011 (they finished 86-76, ten games over). Theriot has been clutch and has filled the huge whole left by Freddy Sanchez. And while I don't know how the Giants will finish off this season, I know that Theriot has helped them get to where they currently are...which, by the way, is first place.
Not that I don't love me some Freddy Sanchez (apparently all Giants fans feel the same, voting for him enough for him to finish 4th in the All-Star voting this year...without him having played a game. Yeah.), but, let's be honest, he hasn't been the most reliable second baseman during his Giants tenure. In June 2011, Sanchez went down with a shoulder injury that he just couldn't seem to recover from and that sidelined him for the rest of the season. This could've been totally devastating for the Giants - Mike Fontenot was on the disabled list when Sanchez went down, and Bill Hall was signed to replace Sanchez before Hall also went on the DL. Finally, Sabean had had enough. On July 20, he traded for Jeff Keppinger from the Astros. Keppinger went on to bat .255 with 17 RBIs and two homeruns in 56 games for the Giants. He stepped in and filled a void in a huge way for the 2011 Giants, who finished 2nd in the National League West.
When this season started out, Freddy Sanchez was once again leaving a void in the number four position. Sanchez managed to appear in five games during spring training this year but has since struggled to come back from his shoulder injury from 2011. With Keppinger signing with Tampa Bay in the off-season, second base for the Giants was once again a black hole. Luckily, Sabean signed Ryan Theriot in the off-season to back up, well, whoever was playing second base that day for the Giants. But when Sanchez started the year on the DL and Emmanuel Burriss started to flounder, Theriot stepped up. Even though he's struggled a little bit with staying healthy (is this position cursed for the Giants?), Theriot has come back and been a huge contributor to the Giants push for first place in the NL West lately. He's currently batting .272 in just 53 games this season. He's only got 22 strikeouts on the season and already has 16 RBIs. He's also only got two errors on the season so far. And, let's face it, that's pretty dang impressive in this line-up.
It may seem like a small thing, this whole "having-a-healthy-second-baseman thing," but these guys have helped give the Giants winning seasons the past two years. Without Keppinger, I don't know if the Giants finished over .500 in 2011 (they finished 86-76, ten games over). Theriot has been clutch and has filled the huge whole left by Freddy Sanchez. And while I don't know how the Giants will finish off this season, I know that Theriot has helped them get to where they currently are...which, by the way, is first place.
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