Heliot Ramos (80) of the San Francisco Giants homered twice against the Chicago White Sox at Scottsdale stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Thursday, March 4, 2021. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle
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The Giants have a small power surge going in their lineup this week with two bombs by young phenom Heliot Ramos and solo shots coming from six other players. Jose Alvarez also signed with the Giants this week, further bolstering their pen with yet another lefty. Eric and Chad talk about how the Giants are building their roster with depth as a strength, since they lack some of the talent that lurks on rosters in LA and San Diego. We also look at another top 5: this time our top 5 Giants pitchers in our own lifetimes. Obviously, Bum and Timmy made our lists, but perhaps we’re old enough to sneak on pitchers from the 80’s? Look for us to regularly record every Monday throughout the rest of the season. We streamed this episode on Facebook Live and the video is accessible below.
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Buster Posey walks to the clubhouse during the San Francisco Giants spring training opening game against the Los Angeles Angels at Scottsdale Stadium on February 28, 2021 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
(John Medina/Correspondent)
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The annual feeling that hope springs eternal when you hear the crack of the bat is upon us! Spring training has started and Chad and Eric are here to talk about it. On the table for this episode is the top of the lineup, new pitching acquisitions Aaron Sanchez and Scott Kazmir, Belt’s mysterious illness, names are being added to the Giants’ home jerseys and we reminisce about our top 5 Giants’ seasons of all time…that was a fun and nostalgic discussion. Look for us to regularly record every Monday throughout the rest of the season. We streamed this episode on Facebook Live and the video is accessible below.
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Infielder Tommy LaStella frontlines a series of acquisitions the Giants have made over the past several weeks. Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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Farhan Zaidi has been at it over the past four weeks, signing pitchers Alex Wood and Jake McGee and infielder Tommy LaStella, and trading pitcher Shaun Anderson to the Twins for outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. All of these acquisitions certainly makes the Giants incrementally stronger via depth, role, and situationally. Chad and Eric discuss the impact of these moves, the possible starting rotation, where the Giants’ farm system is nationally ranked, our top five Oracle Park moments, the Super Bowl and more.
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The Giants’ most recent signing was catcher Curt Casali. Not a big splash, but he’ll be a serviceable backup to Buster Posey and will compete with Chadwick Tromp. Earlier signings included a returning Kevin Gausman and RHP Anthony DeSclafani.
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Happy New Year! We’re back! Eric and Chad hop aboard the first podcast train of 2021 to discuss the players that the Giants have signed so far this offseason, what their needs are, and what free agents are left to pursue to fill the holes. Boy, the Padres certainly loaded up with Darvish and Snell, eh? Egad. That said, we do think there is a good chance the Giants could sneak into the playoffs with an expanded playoff schedule like last year, but those details have not been settled, yet. With the demonstration of the NFL finishing its regular season during the pandemic along with last year’s MLB and NBA seasons, it seems likely that MLB will proceed with its regularly-scheduled spring training and season. However, the owners will push to delay the season to offset the financial losses of not having fans in most parks for the first couple months. The players won’t let that happen. We talk about this and more on episode 212 of the TortureCast, the podcast by and for fans of the San Francisco Giants.
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Our old friend Pablo Sandoval and the Atlanta Braves had a 2-0 and 3-1 lead over the hated Dodgers, but couldn’t manage to win just one out of the remaining three games of the NLCS. Yes, the hated (did I say that) Dodgers are in the World Series…again. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
You can download the episode here, or stream it below (video a bit more down)!
The boys streamed episode #211 over on Facebook, but are bringing it to you on YouTube as well. We review the Division and Championship Series and preview the World Series. Braves, WTF, you had ONE JOB! We also talk about potential Giants’ All-Stars, Belt’s surgery, Ramos’ injury, a 10% reduction in Giants baseball operations and more. You can follow us on Twitter @torturecast and like us on Facebook, where we stream our episodes live. You can also get our audio-only podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
SportsHosts is the world’s first global community of fans, built by fans for fans. We’re going to be working together with them to create better experiences, better content and better events for passionate fans like you to be part of.
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The Wild Card Round is finished. The Division Series awaits.
You can download the episode here, or stream it below (video a bit more down)!
We streamed episode #210 on Facebook tonight, reviewing the wild card round and previewing the division series. We review Zaidi’s end of year comments and watch the Giants’ fan “thank you” video. Horrible, bad, regretful predictions of the DS and CS winners are also made by Chad and Eric. We hope they don’t come true. www.torturecast.com@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecast
SportsHosts is the world’s first global community of fans, built by fans for fans. We’re going to be working together with them to create better experiences, better content and better events for passionate fans like you to be part of.
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Hunter Pence shared this meme on social media after last night’s gaffe ended Johnny Cueto’s no-hit bid.
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Somehow the baseball season is still pushing forward, despite the Cardinals are now the “infected” team. In fact, although the Giants have played 16 games, which is more than a quarter of the way through the season, the Cards have only played 5 games….FIVE.
The Giants went 3-5 since our last recording, but the main hurdle was Colorado, where they lost three of four, despite having late inning leads in two of those losses. They’ve split so far in LA, but Donnie Barrels (aka Donovan Solano) leads the league in hitting, and Yaz leads the majors in wins above replacement. The veterans of Pence, Pablo, and Crawford have not played well at all, and their pitching staff has a 5th worst ERA at 5.05. Surprisingly, their batting average is fifth. At 7-9, the Giants are barely out of the expanded playoff picture, and if they can survive the last 4 games of this hellacious 10 game roadie, they may not be in horrible shape. Eric and Chad chat about all of this and more in a brief episode 202.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Johnny Cueto #47 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the game at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
On paper, we knew the Giants probably wouldn’t make the playoffs, and the Dodgers may run away with the division. But, shortly before tonight’s season opener in Dodger Stadium, the league announced that the playoffs have been expanded to 16 teams total, adding 3 teams to each league. Eight teams EACH from the AL and NL. This is great news for the Giants. But, they still have to be in the top 8 of 15 teams in the NL, a pinnacle they haven’t reached since 2016. But, it’s 60 games, so a little streak here or there, and they could sneak in.
Tonight, the news even got better as Clayton Kershaw was scratched from the start with back issues and placed on the IL. Dustin May was called up as his replacement. Everything started to look a bit more rosey for the Giants. After they had a minimal 1-0 lead (after squandering opportunities to score much more), the Dodgers finally broke through with a 2-out rally to tie the game off Cueto in the 4th. Overall, Cueto looked good until giving up two consecutive singles, a walk, and another single to tie the game.
With expanded rosters, and a young corp to try and battle these monoliths of baseball, Gabe Kapler has an extreme challenge, but he has some depth in numbers (as do all teams, of course). He quickly brought in Drew Smyly and Rico Garcia in the 5th and 6th to toss zeros. But, everything unraveled in the 7th when Tyler Rogers, who only gave up two earned runs in 17.2 innings last year was tagged for three earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. He was also the victim of questionable defense, including his own. With runners on the corners and one out, there was a comebacker to Rogers. He appeared to have enough time to start the 1-6-3 double play, but opted to go for the runner stranded off third. Unfortunately, instead of just running him back to third (the runner from first was able to make it all the way to third, like you’re supposed to), a long pickle ensued, which also allowed the hitter to get to second. So, yes, they got the second out of the inning, but now TWO runners were in scoring position instead of the end of the inning. Enrique Hernandez quickly doubled the Dodgers’ run total with a two out, two run knock to right to put the Dodgers up 4-1, and that was the end of it. They tacked on four more runs throughout the night, and the Giants didn’t put up much of a fight, offensively. But, the game was still tied going to the bottom of the 7th.
Joe McCarthy and Dany Jimenez made their (forgettable) MLB debuts tonight. Let’s be honest, the Giants roster is full of unknowns, castaways, rookies and retreads. Much like when the GM in “Major League” tried to fill the roster with such players to tank the season, but the team has been boxed in by over-inflated “thank you” contracts, bad trades, and a lack of draft depth. If they don’t make the playoffs in this “easy” year, it may be a few more until they crack the top.
Framegrab from the KPIX helicopter flying over Oracle Park, showing the new bullpens nearing completion.
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Things are tough in the nation right now. From the pandemic to civil unrest, there are many more important things happening than a podcast about baseball and the Giants. Yet, Eric and I decided to go ahead with our recording, as we only do so every two weeks at this point. Perhaps our conversation can be a distraction from these troubling times.
There have been a few developments in the negotiations between the owners and players, but both sides seem to have their feet planted firmly. The owners want to pay the players much less than previously agreed to, with fewer games played, and the players want a prorated salary and more games. They are currently very far apart, and the chances of having a season seem to dwindle with every passing day. But, there is some hope that we’ll see baseball some time this year. We also chat about Vegas reopening, bullpen completion and new dimensions at Oracle Park and more!
Oracle Park may not have fans in July, but could it have baseball? (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)
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Do we think this is likely? Not really. But, that is the latest bit of news coming out of the baseball world. Last week, MLB owners sent the players association a proposal that would start an 82 game season in July. Some of the main points of how the season would work include the DH for the NL, an expanded 14-team playoff, games restricted to mainly geographic opponents to reduce travel, and a myriad of COVID-19 related guidelines for on-field play (no spitting, chewing tobacco, fist bumps, etc.). They also proposed a 50/50 revenue split with the players, but that would result in lower salaries than the players already agreed to on March 26, when they agreed to a pro-rated salary based on the number of games played. Additionally, California Governor Newsom indicated that pro sports may be able to return by June, without spectators.
All of these issues are massive hurdles, which makes the prospect of a season starting in July seem unlikely. However, baseball fans around the nation would be ecstatic to see their team playing on their home field (on TV) sometime this year.
We also talk about Blake Snell’s unwillingness to play for less, the Giants are paying their non-baseball staff through September, and the OOTP Baseball dream bracket #2 will send in the 1954 and 2012 Giants as part of the field of 64 historic teams.
The TortureCast 