- What a weekend. This series was defined by defense, and not in a good way. Countless times, the Giants made stupid mistakes in the field -- and it cost them. But I'm still not worried. Yes, Aubrey Huff looked pretty bad out there in right field tonight, especially on that Marcus Thames "triple". But I don't think the Giants will continue to make these mistakes -- I just don't. If they were showing a complete inability to even get to the ball in play, then I'd be worried. But four games into the season, defense just isn't (yet) on my list of worries.
- That said, I'd love to see Nate Schierholtz get a start in this next series against the Padres. Nothing wrong with giving Huff a day off -- and I really want to see what Nate can do, given a chance to start.
- I don't generally care much about batting orders, but I want to see some gradual changes. It doesn't make sense to me to have OBP guys like Pat Burrell and Brandon Belt batting 6th and 7th respectively in the order. I'm all for moving Freddy Sanchez down to the 7th spot.
- In case you didn't know, Miguel Tejada sucks. In general, it's not a good idea to swing at a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat with two outs in a late inning of a game in which you represent the winning run. And if you're going to do so, produce good results in doing so. Don't foul out to end the inning...
- After this series, I'm confident that the Dodgers -- not the Rockies -- are the team to beat. We saw their upside in this series. A productive Matt Kemp, some offense throughout the lineup, and great pitching. Of course, things will start to go back downhill for them once their horrid outfield defense of Thames/Kemp/Ethier takes its toll. And Aaron Miles and Jamey Carroll will not keep playing this well -- mark my words!
- Bright side: Jonathan Broxton is definitely not an all-star closer anymore; Cody Ross and Brian Wilson will hopefully both be back within a few weeks; Freddy Sanchez, Brandon Belt, and Pablo Sandoval all look good at the plate; Aaron Rowand isn't entirely worthless -- nice home run off of Broxton.
I think once Ross comes back, Burrell will make an excellent pinch hitter, and the Giants will once again be solid in terms of outfield defense. That should make a big difference.
Off-day tomorrow. Good. This stuff is stressing me out. Sort of. But there are still 158 games left. There's still time to salvage this season! I think...
Also, I've installed a forum here. It's entirely experimental at the moment -- I imagine it will be highly inactive, and it might not stay up for long. But feel free to go there and post whatever's on your mind in regards to the Giants or baseball in general.
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