Tag Archives: ross

Week in Review (4/11-4/17)

Posted on by

Results:

4-2 (8-7 overall; 4.0 GB)

6-1 L vs.LA; 5-4 W vs.LA; 4-3 W vs.LA; 5-2 W @ Ari; 5-3 W @ Ari; 6-5 L @ Ari

Hitter of the Week:

Aaron Rowand keeps trying to sneak his way into this honor, but I refuse (although he collected more total bases this week than Buster Posey did)…so, tie…Posey and Pablo Sandoval. Somewhere, there is a version of 2010 that had Posey and Sandoval in the middle of lineup, mashing the NL and leading the Giants to glory. The Giants found glory in 2010 and Posey had a lot to do with it but Pablo forgot about his role. Looks like he’s back, though, and this is the vision we had last year. Also, these guys are  24 years old!!! 5 home runs and 13 RBIs. Well done boys, we’ll take some more please!

Pitcher of the Week:

Matt Cain continue to quietly dominate. How solid is this kid (won’t be 27 until the season is over)? He always seems to be overlooked and that trend continues this week, because the beard is back. Brian Wilson: 4 games, 4 saves, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks, 1 hit. And he ended a 1 run game against the Dodgers (5-4) by striking out the side. BW thank you for being awesome. Pitcher of the Week. You’re welcome.

Looking Ahead:

Bottom line: the Rockies are wicked hot. The Giants play them next. Three times. At Coors Field. There is no way that is going to go well. Right? The good news is Lincecum, Sanchez, and Cain get the starts. The bad news is the Rockies are hot and only bad things happen at Coors. This is a cover-your-eyes-and-peek-through-a-finger-to-watch-the-action type of series. Not looking forward to it. After that, back to SF for three against the Braves who are not off to a great start, but that is still a good team.

Zito is now on the DL, Torres is on the DL, and Ross is coming off the DL (possibly this week). As a result, this team is still a work in progress. That said, the week ahead will go a long way to giving some shape to what kind of season this will be. Big, important week. Go Giants.

(-SB)

Advertisement

Crowded in the Outfield

Posted on by

The Giants have a problem. Actually they have a few this season, but the one I’m most focused on has to do with having too many Outfielders and not nearly enough roster space.

The Legendary Cody Ross, he of last years NLCS MVP-ness, will quite obviously return to starting in Right Field once he comes off of the DL, so the question is then which Giant gets bumped for the roster space? This might not be a huge issue if Andres Torres ends up on the DL, but at some point in the near future,the Giants will have one player on the roster too many. So who loses out? Let’s take a look at some options.

Aaron Rowand: Going into the season, Rowand was nothing more than a 5th outfielder who was making way too much money and couldn’t hit to save Buster Posey’s life. At the start of the season he was my choice to be traded (or rather given away for a dozen bats or something) or just plain cut. However something has happened since then. He’s actually hitting. Not great, not outstanding, but he’s hitting, which is something the Giants as a whole are lacking right now. His defense isn’t there anymore, but is he on the chopping back?

Nate Schierholtz: 4th outfielder who isn’t hitting well, but is filling in as the Giants late innings defensive replacement. At this point no Giants fan sees Schierholtz as anything other than an extra defender, but that’s totally ok. He’s young, got good defense and has no more minor league options,which is a big issue to consider when thinking about who is leaving the team.

Pat Burrell: Oh Pat. Pat, Pat, Pat. Burrell has a lot of things going for him. Last years heroics, a really cheap contract…and actually that’s about it at this point. Pat may have 3* home runs, but his offense as a whole has been lacking. He’s not great in the outfield and, as stated above, he’s on a super cheap contract, which means the Giants wont be eating that much money if they cut him loose.

Brandon Belt: Calm down Giants Nation. Yes I am mentioning sending The Chosen One down to AAA as a possible fix for the outfield problem. Multiple reasons why I think this: First, his offense hasn’t been all that great. He’s totally shown potential and has shown flashes of brilliance but I don’t’ think it would kill him to season a bit at AAA for a while. Second, Aubrey Huff, by far, should be a first baseman, not an outfielder. This move would let Huff go back to first, opening up room in the outfield. Finally, Belt has minor league options remaining, which means the Giants wouldn’t lose anyone in the process.

Mark DeRosa: Will not happen since he is owed a good deal of money and can play pretty much any position.

So what do I think? Honestly at this point it’s down to trading/cutting Pat Burrell or sending down Belt. I think Burrell getting cut is the most likely, Belt being sent down makes the most sense to me. But what say you readers? Feel free to opine!

(-NW)