Monthly Archives: February 2020

Episode #190: Spring has Sprung

masonsaunders

Photo of the winning team for calf roping at a rodeo in December. Yes, the man on the right is Madison Bumgarner. The story broke earlier this week, exposing MadBum, who competed under the alias “Mason Saunders.” This is so Madison Bumgarner. 🙂 (Photo from Rancho Rio’s Facebook page).

You can download the episode here, or stream it below!

The crack of the bat, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the warm rays beating down on the fans. Baseball is officially back as spring training and the cactus league is a week into the 2020 season. Eric and I chat about our impressions of the first week of Giants’ baseball, and to be honest, although this team may not be that good, what if they surprise us. No, not playoff surprise, but maybe a 75 win season? Time will tell.

We also dive into “who is Mason Saunders?”, revisit the Houston Astros cheating scandal, Aubrey Huff, possible playoff expansion, and we even have our first music break, with a song sent in by a listener. Enjoy “Baseball always brings you home” by Shel Krakofsky and Dave Dresser.

Chad

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2020 San Francisco Giants: The Outfielders

Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants

Mike Yastrzemski of the San Francisco Giants (Norm Hall/Getty Images)

The San Francisco Giants have run through a ton of outfield combinations over the years. Especially since the departure of Barry Bonds, but that’s kind of ancient history by now. Can you believe he’s been retired for 13 years? Watching him hit dingers still feels like yesterday, but it’s so long ago.

*Shakes head back in forth to snap myself back into 2020 after daydreaming about Bonds home runs*

So, the 2020 Giants outfield. Once again, it’s going to look a little different than it did to start last season. Just like it looked different the year before that, the year before that, and on and on. Continue reading

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2020 San Francisco Giants: The Infielders and Catchers

Mauricio Dubon of the San Francisco Giants

Mauricio Dubon of the San Francisco Giants (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

We got a taste of San Francisco Giants baseball after pitchers and catchers reported for camp yesterday. They will start their work today. The full squad starts workouts on Monday February 17. If you missed the pitcher preview from yesterday, here you go.

Now that pitchers are in Scottsdale, let’s turn our attention to the infielders and catchers. One name you won’t see below is Aramis Garcia. He had to have hip surgery and is out for the year. Garcia was the only catcher on the 40-man roster with Buster Posey. Now, it will be a competition of the non-roster guys to back up the Giants stalwart. Continue reading

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2020 San Francisco Giants: The Pitchers

Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants

Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Today’s the day! San Francisco Giants players are in camp. Workouts for the 2020 season will start tomorrow as pitchers and catchers have now officially reported for Spring Training.

Baseball is here!

Opening Day is only 44 short days away.

There’s a ton of players in camp this season and first up in our 2020 Spring Training Preview is the pitchers.

Last season, the San Francisco Giants pitching staff was pretty average, finishing in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories. They had a 4.38 ERA, 15th in baseball out of 30 teams. Their batting average against was 12th best, and HR’s allowed were 14th best in all of baseball. Other than that, the Giants didn’t strike a lot of guys out, only averaging 8.4 K’s per 9 innings, 23rd in the league. Continue reading

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Episode #189: The Reverend is Back

pence2

Hunter Pence was a hit at Giants FanFest, just a couple of days after signing back with San Francisco. Photo by SF Chronicle

You can download the episode here, or stream it below!

Pence is back, along with the Panda. Pretty soon we might see Barry Zito as the batboy. For all the analytical signings that Farhan zips out, he signed two fan favorites. We talk about all of the signings, FanFest, media day, Giants players adjusting to life without Bumgarner…and ALERT, PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT TOMORROW! What a sweet sentence that is.

Alas, we know there is some overlap with Giants and 49ers fans. However, if you don’t like the 49ers or don’t care about football, fast forward this episode about 20 minutes, as Eric and I get into the mess that was the Super Bowl. And…with new software we’re still trying to dial in the audio levels, thanks for your patience!

Also, Eric is writing all week. Be sure to check out his work right here at http://www.torturecast.com.

Chad

@chadk21

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2020 San Francisco Giants baseball is here!

Gabe Kapler and Farhan Zaidi of the San Francisco Giants

Gabe Kapler and Farhan Zaidi of the San Francisco Giants (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Spring Training starts this week for the San Francisco Giants so let’s dust off the old typewriter and dive in to a new season as Giants fans in the year 2020. Pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training tomorrow with the first workouts of the year coming on Wednesday.

There’s been a ton of change within the Giants organization since this time last year. Gabe Kapler was hired as the new manager after Bruce Bochy retired following the 2019 season. Farhan Zaidi remains the VP of Baseball Operations and the man in charge, but he did hire a new General Manager with the addition of Scott Harris. Continue reading

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