With the second half of the season about to begin, I want to give out my grades for three of the Giants' main areas of on-field production: offense, starting pitching, and bullpen.
These grades are determined by the team's first-half performance in one of those three specific areas, how that performance compares to the preseason expectations, and how all of that compares to the rest of the league.
Offense: B+
- Cabrera has been one of the most valuable position players in the NL thus far. While his sky-high BABIP might point to a second-half regression (although, I don't think he'll regress as much as others think), not many hitters have been better in the first half.
- Sandoval missed over a month because of a hand injury but he's been almost as good as his 2009 and 2011 self when in the lineup. Unlike Cabrera, Pablo's rate of success this season is pretty much where people expected it to be.
- We weren't sure what we would get from Posey going into the season, but I don't think anyone would complain about his .289/.362/.458 line at this point in the season. The patience, power, and overall hitting ability we came to expect from him during his rookie season are all still there, just not as explosive as they were when he got called up. Giants fans are just glad to see Posey at and behind the plate (also playing solid defense). The numbers he's put up this season are just gravy at this point.
- Let's talk about the two Brandons -- Belt and Crawford. Belt seems to get a lot of criticism from fans and media members for his mediocre batting average and low home run total (both areas people hoped and expected Belt to produce in), and the criticisms are fair. For a first baseman who was so highly touted going into last season, the high strikeout rate and low home run total are definite signs of concern. But one thing he's really excelled at is drawing walks. In fact, he might be the most patient hitter on the team, as his 14.2 BB% and .358 OBP (.104 higher than his BA) suggest. Getting on base might be the most important thing a hitter can do, so Belt has proven to be more valuable than some people might lead you to believe. Crawford, on the other hand, is just plain awful. I don't care how good his defense is.
- Angel Pagan? Eh.
- Ryan Theriot? Double Eh.
- Gregor Blanco? Reminds me a lot of Andres Torres in 2010, which means he's been extremely valuable to the Giants. Hopefully he doesn't regress, although nothing he does will ever make us forget this incredible catch.
- Bruce Bochy, please stop giving Hector Sanchez starts at catcher. He has 2 walks in 125 plate appearances. Enough said.
- Matt Cain = workhorse. His leap from very good pitcher to elite this season shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
- Madison Bumgarner hasn't been quite as consistent as Cain, but his overall production this season is about where people expected. Look for MadBum to finish the year with an ERA right around 3.00.
- Ryan Vogelsong has carried his 2011 resurgence over into the first half of 2012. Melky is getting all of the attention this year as a surprising star but I'd say Vogelsong's continued success is even more inexplicable.
- Barry Zito has been all over the place this season. He's been dominant at times, utterly dreadful at others, and somewhere in between the rest of the time. At this point, Giants fans will settle with 4.04 ERA and be glad at least hasn't been as bad as...
- ... Tim Lincecum. Almost no one can explain what's happened to him this season. I always hear media members say his velocity is down but in every game I've watched him, he's thrown 90-94 MPH. Velocity ain't his problem. Control and command are his biggest issues (4.66 BB/9 and 1.02 HR/9 this season, by far the most he's ever had in both categories), as it seems like he constantly falls behind hitters and misses his catchers' targets. The question is why have his command and control been so atrocious this season (especially out of the stretch)? No one seems to be able to definitively answer that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but if he doesn't at least have a quality start on Saturday against the Astros, the Giants have to put him in the bullpen or send him down to the minors. He's practically been an automatic loss every time he's taken the mound this season.
- The bullpen hasn't been as good as it was the last couple years and it might not even be in the top-10 in the majors, but given the fact that Brian Wilson (Tommy John surgery) and Guillermo Mota (drug suspension) practically have and will miss all of this season, the Giants' bullpen has been better than I would have imagined.
- Sergio "Don't call me Tony" Romo has been one of the best relievers in the game. It's a joy to watch a guy who barely throws 90 MPH routinely fool hitters with only a fastball-slider combination (it helps that his slider is straight-up FILTHY).
- Santiago Casilla has done an admirable job until as of late filling in for Wilson. He shouldn't be the closer (read my previous post) but he hasn't been much worse than Wilson was last year.
- Javier Lopez hasn't been nearly as good as he was the past two seasons but he still poses matchup problems for lefty hitters.
- Jeremy Affeldt has quietly been the Giants' second-best reliever (2.90 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 3.39 xFIP), and his .323 BABIP suggests he might even improve in the second half.
- Clay Hensley? See Pagan
- Shane Loux and Steve Edlefsen? See Theriot
The Padres and Rockies are non-factors. The Dodgers had so much going for them in the first half, even a healthy Matt Kemp for the entire the second half might not be able to overcome the regression of the rest of the team. The Diamondbacks are the most worrisome, although they just don't seem to be clicking as much as they were last year (please, please, PLEASE trade Justin Upton, Arizona).
The Giants just feel like best team in this (pretty weak) division. Anything less than a division title would be a disappointment.
No comments:
Post a Comment