Yeah, we missed a show, but they went 1-6 that week and would’ve had to have recorded the show on Zoloft. So, we skipped it. This week was a little better….
Oh, and by the way, Chad will be covering the A’s-Giants game on Thursday, 5/30 (12:45pm) from the press box, so be sure to tune in for sober tweets during the game.
Talking Points
Giants have been scuffling. Now in second place, 1 back of AZ
Last year, after 51 games, Giants were 27-24, 5.5 GB of LAD, 1 game back of what they are now: 28-23
Discuss my Uncle’s memorial game
Giants have gone 5-8 since our last show…
The Week in Review
Injuries: Broken pinkie for Vogelsong, out 6-8 weeks
Injuries: Casilla out with leg surgery to remove a cyst from his tibia. Expected to return after the ASG
Rosario sent down to AAA to make room for Kickham’s start tomorrow
Pagan’s inside the park homer walk off
The Big Question
Is Kickham the right choice to replace Vogelsong?
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Willie: @djp4cal: “Booing Posey is like booing America.”
Hey, the Giants are in first, the Dodgers in last. What else is there to be happy about?!
Talking Points
Giants have second best record in NL, in first place, Dodgers in last, took 3/4 from 1st place Braves
Giants rotation getting better, but still 12th in NL for starters (4.25 ERA)
Zito (3-1, 2.75 ERA) and Bumgarner (4-1, 2.18 ERA) have remained mostly issue-free, but Lincecum (3-2, 4.07 ERA) hasn’t achieved true consistency and Vogelsong (1-3, 7.78 ERA) has one quality start in seven appearances.
Cain won his first two May starts, yielding three runs over 15 1/3 innings. That’s a 1.76 ERA.
The Week in Review
Lost 2/3 vs Philly, won 3/4 from ATL
Giants now have the BEST BA in the NL at .266, 3rd in runs, 3rd in RBI
The Big Question
Can Lincecum perform like this again? 7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits. Vintage.
Giants ASG dark horse, go!
Armchair Manager
Should Gaudin move up in depth? 21 IP, 1.27 ERA, 21K, 15H, .195 BAA
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Willie: kyleconaway: Hey @Williedills, I love you and all, but your #Giants can go straight to hell. #GoBraves #TomahawkChop4Life
Chad: “Thomas Todd @HammerheadT @chadk21 @williedills @friedduck @TortureCast Damn, why didn’t we think of that?” That’s right, we’re on YOUTUBE!
We’ve decided to expand access to our podcasts by putting them on YouTube! They’ll normally be posted a little after they go up on iTunes, Podomatic, Stitcher, and our website, but if you can’t find us now, you might be a Dodger fan…
Willie and Chad kept this podcast much shorter than usual, mostly because Willie wanted to throw himself out of his apartment window after that crushing, epic, utterly pathetic choke-job the Warriors pulled in San Antonio. They blow a 16 point lead with less than 4 minutes left!! Then leave Ginobli THAT WIDE OPEN for a 3 pointer with 3 seconds left in double OT!!!!??
But, we digress and get back to talking Giants baseball and their tonic that was a 6 game winning streak.
Talking Points
Giants have now swept every other team in the NL west, mental edge from here on out?
0.5 ahead of COL, 3rd best record in NL after tonight’s loss
After 32 games last year, they were 15-17 and 6 GB of LA
The Week in Review
Cain won his first start!
Panda caught fire, Scutero hitting again, Posey getting back to normal Posey
The Big Question
Vogelsong: 7.20 ERA after 6 starts. Can he work through this?
We welcome Eric Nathanson to the show. The man behind 2outhits.com and a Giants fan out of…ahem, Chicago?! We start out the show trying to understand how such a die-hard Giants fan developed this way WITHOUT EVER HAVING BEEN TO SAN FRANCISCO! Willie also tests both Eric and Chad’s knowledge with a little Giants trivia.
Talking Points
What the hell is going on?! The sky is falling!! 5 losses in a row!
The Week in Review
Lost 2/3 to AZ, swept by SD. 4 out of those 5 could’ve easily been wins, have only been outscored by 7 runs over the 5 game losing streak (3 went extra innings)
The Big Question
Vogelsong and Cain? Can they right the ship quickly?
Is it time to send Hector down? Could we use some bullpen depth?
Should Marco be moved down in the lineup?
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Chad: Jason Collins @jasoncollins344hAll the support I have received today is truly inspirational. I knew that I was choosing the road less traveled but I’m not walking it alone
Willie: MLB: “Everybody knows somebody who’s gay. If you can’t deal with it in 2013, you need to go somewhere and hide in a cave.” – @LaTroyHawkins32
Eric: @pourmecoffee: Gay people play sports. You can deal with this America. I believe in you.
Our New Favorite Guy
Willie: Timmy: getting back into his stride perhaps? Lotsa Ks, less wild and finally accepting of Posey perhaps?
Chad: Bumgarner: 1.87 ERA, 3-0 sub 1 WHIP, country bumpkin can PITCH!
Ben: Brandon Crawford: Seriously, Matt Kemp WISHES he was as gifted a hitter as Brandon Crawford.
Eric: Hunter Pence: That guy plays every play like it’s his last. And how can you not love the stilted motions?
Honorary Mention: Jason Collins and Robbie Rogers: Look, we’re all San Franciscans here (well, some honorary). This should be pretty obvious.
We Should Hate This Guy
Chad: I’m abstaining for positive energy and kharma for the team
Willie: Chris Broussard – slamming Jason Collins on the air as not a christian because he’s gay. Nice job being a bigot, homey. Good luck with that.
Ben: Almost anybody who writes in the comments section.
Eric: I have the same hate for Broussard, but love for Giants
Why We Will Win It All
Chad: If we stop playing like shit
Willie: We are getting the slump out of the way early. After 5 straight losses we’re only 2 GB and still above the Dodgers. Suck on that.
Ben: Depth depth depth. Also, Nick Noonan.
Eric: Bruce Bochy is the best in the biz in a short series.
We want to thank Eric Nathanson for joining us on this extra-long, but thought-provoking episode of Torturecast! Don’t forget to follow him @2outhits on Twitter!
Vogelsong is struggling to return to 2011-2012 form. And he hates cereal bowls a lot. (photo: dailyrepublic.com)
We love the game face. We love the bull-dog determination. We love the playoff performances last year that helped them win it all.
But everything has gone south for Ryan Vogelsong so far this year. The question is, why?
I’m not going to pretend that I know, and I’m going to guess he would just called it an unlucky slump, and there is certainly some truth to that. I’m not trying to single Vogey out in this article, as Cain is worth of one as well (so that may be coming soon). However, Vogelsong is that guy we all pull for, the underdog, and I want to at least consider why this may be happening.
In a stunning turn of events for the first 25 games of the season, the Giants are second to LAST in starting staff ERA at 4.27 and only ahead of the team that just swept them (SD at 5.33). This is abhorrent, Twilight zonish, perplexing. This staff is supposed to be part of the NL-elite, not within the neighborhood of the Padres or Rockies. Of course Cain and Vogey are the two main culprits, with ERAs of 6.59 and 6.23, respectively. Only Bumgarner is keeping the Giants from the cellar of this statistic, with a sparkling 1.87 ERA.
Back to Mr. Game Face’s statistical breakdown:
Vogelsong has a .303 batting average against and has allowed 10 BB and 7 HR in 30.1 IP, while his WHIP is almost as high as my cholesterol at 1.55. He gave up 17 HR ALL SEASON last year in 189.2 IP and only 8 HR by the all star break when he had 110.2 IP.
Why so many big flys?
Clearly when batters start hitting the ball out of the park with more frequency than a Kardashian getting fat, they are not being fooled. Hitters are making contact more often with pitches in the strike zone, and more alarming, is the BABIP has skyrocketed into 2012 Timmy territory from .284 to .330. Homeruns per nine IP is a video-game like 2.08, almost triple what he allowed last year, and approximately 1 out of 5 fly balls have traveled over the fence, just a bewildering statistic. Most of the other metrics (K%, BB% and pitch selection) have not changed dramatically, and the problem seems to be isolated in not being able to fool opposing hitters as often with balls in the strike zone. This may be correlated with a drop in the timing differential between his fastball and changeup, two pitches that make up 60% of his pitches delivered. His fastball is 1.4 MPH slower this year (89.4 vs 90.8), and the change up, ironically, is slightly faster by 0.4 MPH, which makes the timing differential an average 1.8 MPH smaller, which is a sizeable 23% difference. The lowered chance of throwing opposing hitters’ timing off will only serve to hurt Vogelsong in the long run.
I’m not hitting the panic button yet, and neither should Giants fans; it’s only 5 starts, for crying out loud. He did tail off for the last 2 months of the regular season last year, but we can’t say it’s the start of his decline connected to this year, as he had a stellar playoff run. If tossing bowls of cereal across his kitchen gets him motivated, then lets all hope he has stock in Crate and Barrel and a good maid service.
– Chad
Stats that will alleviate your panic:
Giants are only 2 games back of AZ/COL
After 25 games last year, the Giants were 2 games worse at 12-13 and 5 GB of LAD.
The Giants have lost all 5 of Cain’s starts; surely that will turnaround (right?)
Giants are second in batting average in the NL at .267
Giants are second in batting average in the NL with runners in scoring position
It’s been a while, but the boys are back with the first podcast of the 2013 regular season.
Talking Points
Giants return with 21 of 25 members from the 2012 WS team
Surprise guys who made the team, Nick Noonan and Guillermo Quiroz
We talk a bit about our amazing experience at Media Day in February, and the opportunity to interview many of the Giants players. (if you missed it, go to our YouTube channel for the treasure trove of video interviews with Posey, Lincecum, Belt, Crawford, Zito, Romo, Bochy)
The Week in Review
Giants first week of the 2013 season and they go 4-3, taking 2 of 3 from LA and losing the last 2 to StL, and winning the first one from Colorado.
Pence is HAWT: 3 HRs in the first 7 games, .292
Lots of cold hitters: Scutaro, Posey, Belt, Torres all under .200
The Big Question
Any concern about Cain or Vogelsong or Lincecum? Nahhhh
Armchair Manager
Would you have pulled Cain earlier on Sunday?
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Chad: “Bay Area Sports Guy @BASportsGuy Get me some shots of sad cheerleaders, stat! AND Wendy Thurm @hangingsliders: Obligatory sad cheerleader photo dot tumblr”
Willie: @Nicolevolgelsong is now following us, we win
Our New Favorite Guy
Willie: Chad Gaudin – great pickup, really good stuff and looks like he’ll be a fixture in the pen this year
Chad: The designer for the Giants WS Gold jerseys…SF logo on a HOME jersey?
Willie: Clayton Kershaw
Ben: Jose Castillo
Why We Will Win It All
Chad: Because they have home gold jerseys with the SF on the chest
Willie: This team should be better with no Huff, Torres back and Lincecum should at least be better than last year, full season of Pence and Zito having a resurgence
So today didn’t go quite as we all would have liked, and no, it was not an April Fools’ joke. Take solace in the fact that Clayton Kershaw beat the Giants, with his masterful pitching, and of course, his first career MLB home run off of Kontos in the bottom of the eighth to break a scoreless tie. Entering today’s game, Kershaw owned a 1.37 career ERA versus the Giants, and obviously lowered it by pitching a complete game shutout today.
Who knows what would have happened if Bochy had brought in Affeldt in the 8th instead of sticking with Kontos (Affeldt was warming up in the 7th, and the Dodgers had 2 lefties to lead off the eighth). I bring this up because I saw some buzz on Twitter (clearly full of even-tempered Giants fans) already chastising Bochy’s first non-move of the season. Kontos was solid in the 7th, and hey, shit happens. Yeah, Kershaw ain’t Don Robinson, Matt Cain, or Babe Ruth with the lumber, but every dog has his day, even at the plate.
The bullpen effort was a bit of a comedy show in the eighth, with a wild pitch, a walk, a botched bunt coverage, a hit batsman, extra base hits, and of course, the Kershaw home run, all leading to 4 runs, but they’ll be fine. There’s always more focus on the results of the first day of the season. It’s like a new toy you unwrapped as a kid at Christmas. You love it, caress it, play the hell out of it for the first hour or two before it usually ends up lost or in the toy bin to only get a little attention from time-to-time.
I mean, both the Astros and Dodgers are in first place right now. That won’t last long, right?
How to comfort the black and orange faithful out there:
The first game of the season is the equivalent to the first 18 SECONDS of an NBA game
The D’backs swept the Giants to open the 2012 season (and look what happened)
The Giants lost their first game against the Dodgers in 2012 (9-1) and lost 2 of 3 in that first series (and look what happened)
Panda went 2-4 and played good defense today (elbow, elbow, elbow)
Posey cut down a speedy Crawford attempting to steal third
Pence hit one to the left field wall
Posey lined out hard to third base that would have set up second and third with one out
Despite a tough first inning (29 pitches), Matt Cain looked solid out there, delivering 6 innings of shut out ball
I nice stiff rum and coke (or three)
Let’s hope the G-men can get back on track tomorrow.
Posey can buy lots of jerseys for us, probably every fan to walk through the gates of AT&T.
Yesterday the Giants made sure that my Buster Posey jersey will not go out of date until the year 2021. Who cares about the money? It’s financially the equivalent to me as earning the Nobel Peace Prize; it’s out of the realm of possibility and into fantasy.
(view our interview with Buster Posey in February below)
Inevitably people will know the value of this deal, but I’ve had a completely opposite visceral reaction that I had to the Zito signing in 2006. At that time, I assumed Zito was on the downtrend of his career, and the Giants were overpaying for a “former” Cy Young award winner. However, even though Posey’s contract is bigger that Zito’s, I completely approve of it, as do many Giants fans and national baseball writers. How can you say no to the reigning MVP, batting title winner, Comeback Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. This often used stat really rings true, the SF Giants are 2 for 2 in World Series championship years with Posey and 0 for 53 without him.
I’m sure that later in his tenure with the Giants, he’ll be playing first base and DH in interleague games, and perhaps he won’t be today’s Posey in year 9 of this deal. However, even if the Giants don’t win another World Series while Posey is here, and even if he performs under our expectations in the second half of his deal, it’s still a worthy payment to a man who has helped bring 2 championships to the great city of San Francisco. That’s worth something, isn’t it?
Chad and Willie talk to San Francisco Giants first baseman, Brandon Belt at Giants’ “Media Day” about the Olive Garden, his nickname “Sparky,” the sight of all the baby giraffe hats in the stands, staying consistently calm, and the influence of Will Clark and JT Snow in the clubhouse.
The TortureCast 