Giants No Longer Care for First Place
Rarely do I go out of my way to doubt the will to win of an entire team with such cliches as “they don’t want it enough.” If these last few games have been any indicator though, the Giants really don’t seem to have any interest in winning ballgames right now. Carlos Beltran and Pablo Sandoval excepted, every hitter in the everyday lineup looks absolutely lost at the plate. The accumulation of first pitch swinging, the refusal to work a walk, the lack of range in the middle infield, and the poor decision-making of the management all add up to what’s been a painful five game stretch where the losses have really not even been close.
Pictured: Aubrey Huff grounding out to second base. Again.
Let’s start with the approach at the plate. As a team over the last two weeks, the Giants have the lowest walk percentage of any team in baseball, at 5.5%. In that same period, the Giants also lead the Majors in percentage of swings out of the strike zone at a whopping 37% (the median in those two weeks is 31.8%). In terms of overall swing percentage, the Giants are second only to the lowly Mariners. Simply put, this team seems to be compulsively aversive towards taking pitches. Opposing starters routinely pitch into the 7th and 8th innings thanks to obscenely low pitch counts that are largely the fault of overaggressive hitters.
Next we get to the lack of range on the infield. Jeff Keppinger has an UZR/150 of -5.4 right now at second base. In layman’s terms, he has the range of a garden gnome, as we’ve seen firsthand the last couple of games. In all fairness, this is a problem without a readily available solution, as there’s really no alternative to Keppinger that can be at the very least average at the plate, but it’s worth mentioning.
Finally we get to the decision-making. Andres Torres has apparently “lost the confidence of management,” after hitting .260/.313/.364 last month, and as such hasn’t been seen in two days. Players who apparently still have the confidence of management include Cody Ross (hit .193/.304/.281 in July), Aaron Rowand (.246/.292/.377 on the season) and Aubrey Huff (.240/.294/.370). The personnel decisions of this team baffle me in too many ways to describe, and it’s losing ballgames. Whenever a team is not putting it’s nine best available players on the field, it becomes difficult to win, an idea that should seem simple but is somehow going right over the collective heads of the management.
The Giants have really outdone themselves in terms of finding ways to not score runs right now. I can only watch so many 2-3 pitch at-bats ending in pop-ups and lazy grounders before I’ve had too much. If this team actually has any interest in staying in first place (and at this point that seems like a big if), then they need to start taking better at-bats. Take the first two pitches of every AB the first time through the lineup. Allow yourself to take a walk in three-ball counts. And for the love of Christ, stop chasing pitches well out of the strike zone.
I realize that as someone who’s writing and observing rather than actually playing all this may seem easier said than done, but the Giants have reached a breaking point. Unless Brandon Belt and Andres Torres get to play every day, and unless the hitting approach improves, they might find themselves watching the Diamondbacks in the postseason while they sit at home pondering all the “what-ifs” in October when these concerns could have been addressed in August.
Agree 100%. You added the stats to what I’ve been seeing. Maybe something happened on the flight back from Philadelphia — maybe that was the “prove it” game and now they all want to go home for the winter. And now, the malaise appears to be spreading to our amazing pitchers. Groan!
Agree with your analysis. Some players with questionable records, or even out of baseball, caught fire last year and, with tremendous hitting, pulled off the miracle. Now, they are back to usual form. This lineup is weak- compare the Giant batters to the Phillies, Braves, Diamondbacks, and many more teams. The lack of production is no fluke.
Why is the hitting coach still there? Other teams would have fired long ago a guy whose team consistently fails to follow correct batting practices, as you have correctly observed.
This team is not championship caliber- perhaps next year.
of course, the whole Beltran situation is uncertain.
Bouchy (Botched or Botchy) has proven just the opposite this year of last. They went into the season with the assumption that bringing back as many of the original team from last year would be to their benifit. The Juan Uribe loss was their first mistake & as we now can see the loss of Rentaria is now huge. The lack of belief by Bouch that Brandon Belt cannot do better than Huff tells you that his time for making the right move is going bye-bye. He’s not only hurting the team by not playing Belt, but also ruining him as a player when he’s not getting his due. Huff has proven that last year was a fluke & the way he is right now is what he is, a replacement not a full time player. Nate is a prime example, they gave him a chance & he’s producing. However, since moving him to left his energy is all in learning a new position & it is affecting his offense. Pablo Sandavol is their only true hitter this season with Beltran/Keppinger now in the mix. All the others are guessers led by Mr. Huff who right now is mistyfied by all. All the rest don’t go up there with the strike zone in mind, they go up there for their one pitch & after two strikes of guessing their at a total loss & will swing at anything. Crawford was brought up way to early offensively & proved that. He was outstanding defensively but it hurt him in the long run. However it did give him insite on what he now has to improve on back in the minors. The Giants brought up one of their minor league catchers earlir but didn’t give him a chance & he could hit. I don’t know what that was about, but it wouldn’t have hurt to give him a try considering what they have now. Give Belt a shot & stick with him. Put Huff on the bench & let him think it over & I don’t mean for just a game or two. Use him in the late innings as a replacemednt as that is what he is at this point. I thin the lack of offense support is now in the minds of the pitching more than ever & it’s carrying over to their concentration. The Giants go as their pitching goes & without hitting support they won’t make it. Way to many walks shows the lake of concentration because their not getting team hitting support. Bring back Barry as hitting advisor, a wild move, but at this point maybe he can help. He knew the strike zone better than anyone. Forget what your paying a player & play you best players now. The lower payees may be your best option at this point. Bite the bullet & get rid of the money makers who are not producing. This is my first time venting, kbfly
This is the best comment I have read in so long time. Maybe we would have to say, in discharge of the players, that they are trying to overshow their capacities and making so many mistakes because of that.Or maybe they lost the cave’s affinity. It’s to Bochy and the managment to make the right moves or the right talk.