Tag Archives: baseball

Episode 105: Timmy the Angel

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Hey, look at that. Brandon Belt getting hit on by a giraffe.

 

Download the episode here, or stream it below!

Chad and Eric are giddy about the Giants’ 6-game winning streak that is buoyed by the team’s pitching, with an ERA of 1.86 over that stretch. Cain has two consecutive great starts, and even Peavy wasn’t bad. The top three continue to dominate, all with sub-3 ERAs, and the 3 run homeruns by Peavy and Crawford were huge game-deciders.

Of course, there’s Timmy, who decided to sign with the Angels. Bochy said that he might look good in red, but we’re not so sure (*cough* 2002 *cough*).

Let’s keep this “first place” thing a thing.

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Episode 104: Warriors are Better than Everyone Else

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

Or, play it directly from Podomatic

Eric and Chad record episode 104 to discuss the recent series split against Colorado, and the first loss of the 3 game series against Toronto. The fact that we’re HAPPY that Peavy ONLY gave up 3 runs in 5 innings tonight is a bit sad. The back end of the rotation is now 1-8, while the first three are 12-5. Timmy isn’t necessarily the answer, but we’re not sure the Giants have many other options.

Oh, and Steph Curry is a god.

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Episode 103: They’re in First?

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Download the episode here, or stream it below

Play it on Podomatic

Chad goes solo in this short 103rd episode to talk about the latest homestand and road trip, who’s hot, and who’s not (*cough* Jake Peavy *cough*), and what to do about the struggles from the back end of the rotation.

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The Friday Five: Hello Big Apple

Johnny Cueto and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants

AP Photo

Guess what? The San Francisco Giants are tied for first place again. The Dodgers just lost 4 straight to the Marlins (thanks secret agent Bonds), and both teams now have identical 12-11 records. After being swept by Arizona to open a 10-game homestand, the Giants responded by going 5-1 the rest of the way to bring their record back above .500.

Let’s dive right in to this week’s Friday Five.

1) The Giants start a 3-game series in New York against the reigning NL champion Mets this weekend. The Mets are 13-7, have won 6 straight games, and 9 of their last 10. The last 3 teams they played were the Phillies, Braves, and Reds, so the Mets did their job beating up on the bottom of the NL. Somehow, Neil Walker leads the Mets with 9 home runs but Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto are the hitters to be most worried about this weekend. Continue reading

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by | April 29, 2016 · 11:37 AM

The Friday Five: Beat LA, Again

Samardzija

AP Photo

 

We’re through 10 games of the 2016 San Francisco Giants season and the team currently sits at 6-4. Right now it’s a tie atop the NL West with the Dodgers, who share the same 6-4 record. Although we all know that 3 of those 4 losses came at the hands of our guys in orange and black.

So let’s look ahead to the weekend and recap another week that was in The Friday Five.

1) It’s time for Giants-Dodgers part 2. The series kicks off with Madison Bumgarner vs Clayton Kershaw tonight at Dodger Stadium. Let’s hope this time Bumgarner and the bats don’t leave it up to the bullpen. Saturday night has Johnny Cueto vs Scott Kazmir. It appears that Cueto is all right after taking a tumble during the comeback victory over the Dodgers last week. Continue reading

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Episode 101: First Week of 2016

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Download the episode here, or stream it below:

The Giants started the season 5-2, taking 2 of 3 in Milwaukee and 3 of 4 from LA. All 5 wins were from the comeback variety. The Giants also hit 14 homeruns and for the first time since 2003, hit homeruns in their first 7 games. Chad and Eric discuss the details of the week in episode 101 of the TortureCast!

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The Friday Five: Beat LA Edition

 

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Getty Images

Wow! What a week to start the season for the San Francisco Giants. We all expected that they could hit and score runs in Miller Park, but to score 12 runs against the Dodgers in the AT&T Park opener? Nobody saw that coming. Let’s hope these guys stay healthy because this team is fun to watch. Now, onto The Friday Five.

1) The Giants have 3 more games at home against the Dodgers before their first off day of the season on Monday. All 3 pitching matchups for the rest of the weekend have some intrigue. Friday night it’s Matt Cain returning to the hill in what we all hope is the beginning of a return to glory. Some guy named Ross Stripling is starting for LA. He’s never pitched above double-A and is making his MLB debut because the Dodgers lost all their starters to injury this spring.  Continue reading

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Episode 100 – 2016 Season Preview

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Download the episode here, or stream it below!

Although this is audio recording 145 (or thereabouts), we’re celebrating the 100th episode of the TortureCast! No big cake. No confetti. Just us.

Ben, Eric and Chad gather around the proverbial campfire to talk about their expectations for the 2016 season, including their predictions for the number of wins for the Giants. Now, Chad has something at stake, as he’s predicted the EXACT number of wins for 3 of the last 4 years: 84 last year, 88 in 2014, and 92 in 2012. The only year he was off was 2013, but he predicted his low of 82, which corresponded with the low bar of 76 wins, the lowest since 2008.

The year’s predictions:

Chad: 90 first place
Ben: 86 first place
Eric: 94 first place
Willie: 93, f

We also discuss our favorite episode, the coolest thing we’ve done as a part of this podcast, and our predictions for most HR, lowest ERA and best batting average.

Come join us for our centennial!

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The Friday Five: April 1, 2016

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Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

As the 2016 San Francisco Giants season is about to get under way it’s time roll out what I hope is a regular feature here on TortureCast. Welcome to “The Friday Five”. Each week I’ll take a look at a few different things going on with the Giants. It’s a chance to look ahead to the weekend as well as catch up on anything that you might have missed during the previous few days.

  1. The long, cold void of winter is over. Monday morning at 11 am the Giants open their regular season in Milwaukee. Madison Bumgarner (career: 85-58, 3.04 ERA) gets the ball for his 3rd straight Opening Day start. In the previous two openers Bumgarner has allowed 1 earned run in 11 innings of work. The Brewers send RHP Wily Peralta (35-37, 4.04 ERA) to the hill for his 1st career Opening Day start. The current Giants roster is batting .361 against Peralta so we may see lots of scoring in tiny MIller Park to start 2016.
  2. In case you missed it, earlier this week Andrew Susac was optioned to Sacramento. With that move Trevor Brown won the backup catcher role to start the season. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of Susac as the season moves along, if he can stay healthy. I poked around the Giants 25-man roster this past Monday.
  3. In ex-Giants news, the former lovable panda known as Pablo Sandoval has lost his job as the starting 3rd baseman in Boston. The 29-year old will begin the second season of a 5-year/$95 million contract on the bench. Feels like the Giants dodged a bullet when Pablo decided to leave town.
  4. Tweet of the week, make sure you check out this Brandon Crawford piece:

     

  5. To finish off “The Friday Five” every week I’ll link to various Giants and baseball related stories that caught my eye during the previous 7 days. Here’s a few to get us going.
  • We’re recording our 100th episode of TortureCast this weekend. Submit your questions to be answered on the show. See if you can stump us with trivia, share a favorite moment from the show, or just drop a line about the 2016 team.
  • In the SB Nation season preview, Grant Brisbee looked at what teams would look like without trades or free agents. It’s fun to see which teams some of today’s stars originally signed with.
  • The Giants were picked to lose the Wild Card game in that SB Nation preview.
  • Over on ESPN, two of their “experts” pick the Giants to win it all. To be fair, most have them in the playoffs and 5 of 31 analysts have the Giants winning the NL.
  • Sticking with the prediction theme, Sports Illustrated’s panel loves the Cubs and no one picks the Giants to win it all.
  • Finally for the predictions, Fox Sports checks in with theirs. Once again the Giants don’t get much love.
  • Make sure to head over to r/SFGiants. It’s fun place to interact with Giants fans from all over the world.

It’s great to be back for another season of talking about Giants baseball. You can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe to our podcast on Stitcher and iTunes.

Don’t forget, our season preview is coming in our 100th episode this weekend. Thanks for all of the downloads, listens, and shares. It’s going to be another interesting Giants season.

-Eric

@2outhits

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Are you Concerned About the Pitching?

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Let’s take a quick glimpse into the Giants spring training stats as of today. Ok, we all know that some players just “tinker” in the spring and settle down once the regular season starts, and this IS a small sample size, but it’s worth noting that the Giants have some new players that may be giving Giants fans a little indigestion.

 1. Jeff Samardzija

8.31 ERA in 13 IP, .382 BAA, 1.92 WHIP, 3 HR, 21 H

Maybe he took a little of the American League with him in his luggage. Hey, and I spelled his name correctly!

2. Jake Peavy

8.53 ERA in 12.2 IP, .450 BAA, 2.37 WHIP, 4 HR, 27 H

He always starts slow?

3. Madison Bumgarner

10.57 ERA in 7.2 IP, .371 BAA, 1.70 WHIP, 13 H 

Ok, we’re not really concerned, right? (about his sore foot, obliques, maybe his shaven beard that supplied him strength?)

4. Johnny Cueto

16.62 ERA in 4.1 IP, .409 BAA, 2.54 WHIP, 9 H

So, he used the word “testiculos” yesterday. So, there’s that.

5. Matt Cain

10.12 ERA in 2.2 IP, .538 BAA, 3.75 WHIP, 7 H

I want this guy to do well this year….so badly. Really. He’s such a nice guy.

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Honestly, he and Samardzija give me the most concern. Jeff is a horse like Matt used to be, but Cain is just an injury factory at this point, and his career is definitely on the downward trend.

I listed all five of these pitchers, despite their low inning totals, because, well, THEY’RE THE STARTING FIVE! Combined they are:

9.82 ERA in 40.1 IP, 13 HR, 77 H

I’m pretty sure I could’ve pitched to 3 batters without significantly raising these numbers much. Thirteen! homeruns in 40.1 innings? 77 hits?! Egad, it’s batting practice, or they are helping some minor leaguers out.

Now, this could be just a bad week for starters in the regular season, and certainly they won’t have this line during the year, but does it give you cause for concern?

 

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