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[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2015-03-24T00_10_18-07_00.mp3]or, download it here
Spring Training has not been kind to the Giants. They own the worst record, by far, in all of MLB. Hunter Pence got broke, and Bochy is actually worried about his team’s performance.
Chad, Ben and Eric try and talk each other down from the ledge, and bring some levity to the foreboding results from the Giants’ practice games thus far.
Hey, it’s an odd year, afterall.
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Three rings in five years and currently the longest-tenured general manager in MLB, and he still can’t win over some Giants fans this offseason.
Many Giants fans have not been satisfied with the lack of moves for the San Francisco Giants this winter. Actually, they’ve made moves, just not “sexy” moves. No Lester, no Panda, no Scherzer, no big names.
But, is that necessarily a bad thing? Clearly we’re heading into an odd-numbered year, so if the mystical powers have their way, the Giants will find themselves out of the playoffs and tuning up for another magical ride in 2016. Let’s review, by the numbers, if the Giants will actually be worse off than they were in 2014.
Let’s remember that the Giants WON THE WORLD SERIES with a team that, credit to getting off to a historic start of 41-20, rode through tremendous slumps catalyzed by a series of injuries. Brandon Belt could find no luck, breaking his hand and then getting his coconut smacked by a fellow player who was already on the DL. Of course, that player is Marco Scutaro, and his comeback lasted all of 11 at bats in 2014, which brings us to the horrendous situation on second base for the better part of the year, in which the Hicks/Uggla/Adrianza experiment failed miserably. Then you have Pagan in center, who couldn’t avoid another string of injuries, Morse, who was out for most of the last two months, Cain’s bone chips finally caught up with him…Jesus as I write this, how the hell did they even finish above .500?!
Many critics point out that Aoiki had only one homerun last year and Casey McGehee only four. Granted those power numbers undoubtedly will not go up playing at AT&T Park. But do they need to? The Royals came within a run or two of winning the World Series with the fewest home runs in the league, remember. Although those power numbers are down over the Giants corresponding position totals from last year, both Aoki and McGehee got on base at a much higher clip, and as a result, could score more runs (dependent on the lineup behind you, different for every team). Yes, McGehee is a downgrade from Panda, but the contract money saved has been spread in other areas, specifically Aoki, Peavy, Romo and Vogelsong. We also have to consider what the Giants could get back for close to a full season in 2015. Granted, this all relies on the bastard variable called “health,” but IF Cain and Belt can stay healthy, that means more production from first base and a starter, not to mention Peavy is in for a whole season. These in combination with a full season from Joe Panik at second base, to me, more than offsets the losses in left field and third base. Take a look at the projected numbers for Aoki, Belt and Panik, based on a projection of 550 at bats. McGehee is static at the 616 at bats he had last year:
Yes, please yell at me as you note the RED all over the power department, with dips in the 20 to 40 percent range. However, this can be tempered, to a degree with all the GREEN showing a projected rise in on base percentage, batting average and stolen bases. Runs are dependent on who’s hitting behind them, so I’d throw out the projected 8% drop in run production.
Bottom line, the redistribution of salary may have cost power, but that investment could potentially be reaped in other areas, such as men on base and contact percentage.
I know, but chicks still dig the long ball, right?
Chad
PS – We’ll be covering “Media Day” at AT&T Park on February 6, 2015. Be sure to look out for video and audio interviews with many of your SF Giants. If you have any specific questions for the players that you’d like to send in, email to chad AT torturecast DOT com.
You can view past video interviews from Media Day 2013 and 2014.
That jean shirt is sweet
Click the play button below to stream Episode 66
[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-07-21T23_32_58-07_00.mp3]We’re running out of jersey numbers, so “Doug Mirabelli” it is!
In episode #66, Chad and Ben are joined by Eric Nathanson of 2outhits to discuss the flurry of activity surround the San Francisco Giants including Belt and Cain to the DL, Scutaro’s return, Hicks DFA, signing Dan Uggla to a minor league deal, and Ben’s trip to Minnesota for the All Star Game.
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Machi ain’t stinkin’ it up like last year.
Start streaming our latest episode, or download it here:
[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-05-26T23_20_40-07_00.mp3]
In the first solo TortureCast, Chad attempts to substitute rum and coke and brevity for the lack of conversation. Hey, the Giants have the BEST RECORD IN ALL OF BASEBALL, and we, er, Chad, needs to talk about it, as it may go south at any time. Also, Panda’s hot, Posey’s not, and MLB.com gives the Giants an 88.6% chance of making the postseason.
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Yep, this ex-Dodger held this trophy. We’re running out of numbers.
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Wille, Ben and Chad record the first 2014 regular season episode of TortureCast, reviewing the Giants’ fantastic 5-2 start, Belt’s 4 HRs, the Giants lead MLB in HR, taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers, MadBum, Cain, Hudson’s first start, and who we hate this week (insert Puig).
And, did anyone notice that this new Buster Posey commercial shows an infielder, who receives the throw from Posey, THAT IS WEARING BILL TERRY’S RETIRED NUMBER 3?! C’mon man! Under Armour, do your research! Oh, and Buster is totally throwing out a Barry Larkin look-alike.
All three of us will be at AT&T on Thursday when the Giants host the D’backs. Tweet us, come by, and say hi! We’ll also be recording our traditional “Bonusode” after the game at Zeke’s if you want to hang out.
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@itsallyduhh mesmerized us with this fantastic photo of Andres Torres last night when we recorded at Zeke’s. It’s burned into the back of our skulls, and now yours, too.
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All three of us watched the Reds dismantle the Giants man-parts on Monday night from the press box. Thank god we didn’t pay to watch this travesty of a game.
You can read our post-game notes here.
We did take a trip to Zeke’s afterwards with Ally Williams (@itsallyduhh) and Jen Cosgriff (@jencosgriff) to record our thoughts on the game, the second half, fans running on the field and Bud Norris?
We’ll be back in the press box on August 5 when the Giants take on the Braun-less Brewers.
Don’t forget to follow us @TortureCast, or individually: @williedills, @friedduck @chadk21
Chad
I’m not entirely sure why Javier Lopez is applying sunscreen in a SF Giants media photo shoot…but I can’t look away….
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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.
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We also have a new TortureCast Mug for sale on Zazzle!
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This dude is inspirational and will forever be a Giant
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We welcome in the new year with our first TortureCast of 2013. Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t make tonight’s recording, but Willie and Chad discussed the recent deals to avoid arbitration for Posey, Pence, Blanco, Arias, and Mijares. We also bitch about the BBWAA and the injustice of not a single player being voted into the Hall of Fame, as well as pimping FanFest on Feb 9, the excitement of pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb 12, a banana in an unfortunate hole, and we dream about the possibility of Bruce Bochy driving Jim Harbaugh down Market Street with another championship trophy for THE City.
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We also have a new TortureCast Mug for sale on Zazzle!
it burns…like a Brian Wilson non-tender
We shake off the World Series hangover with an episode to review the Giants’ moves in the offseason thus far, and we even challenged ourselves with listening to our season preview episode that we recorded at The Public House (at AT&T Park) with Thomas and Danny from Two Guys, a Glove and a Coke Bottle.
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This video was brought to our attention by @10032Martin. Thanks!
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The TortureCast 