Right elbow surgery seems to be in the cards for Manny Machado, and the star third baseman shed a bit more light on his injury situation when speaking with The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and other reporters Friday. According to his doctors, Machado said he’ll need 5-7 months of recovery time before he is able to both hit and field, meaning he’ll be limited in some capacity heading into Spring Training and potentially for the start of the Padres’ 2024 season. This timeline is still pretty fluid since the nature of Machado’s surgery (for lateral epicondylitis or “tennis elbow”) is very rare among baseball players and among athletes in general, yet the procedure seems like the best method of correcting Machado’s longstanding injury. Since Machado hits and throws from the right side, the elbow issue is keeping him from properly throwing, though he can still manage to hit, albeit with discomfort.
Rookies Eguy Rosario and Matthew Batten have been handling third base while Machado has been limited to DH duty for the last three weeks, and it seems possible the Padres will look for some infield help (whether a short-term veteran third baseman or a more versatile utility type) this winter as a fill-in while Machado recovers. The good news is that Machado has been adjusting well to a designated hitter role, hitting .302/.343/.571 with five home runs over 67 September plate appearances. This includes four hits and two homers in yesterday’s 4-2 win over the Cardinals, which extended San Diego’s winning streak to eight games. With the Padres still in the wild card picture, Machado has said he’ll try to keep playing through the pain unless the club is mathematically eliminated from the playoff race.
More from the NL West….
- Speaking of playing through pain, Dodgers catcher Will Smith told 570 AM radio’s David Vassegh last weekend that he suffered “a broken rib and some oblique strain stuff” after being hit by a Jake Woodford pitch on April 30. Smith didn’t miss any time and was still as productive as ever for the next few months, but he has struggled since the All-Star break, possibly due to lingering swing effects even though the healing process is now more complete. “There was probably a little bit of guarding [the injury] initially after. And then when you’re talking about the rib, the oblique, that sort of dovetails into some changed mechanics,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris and other reporters. Smith has been doing extra work with the team’s hitting coaches to try and fix the problem before the postseason begins, since beyond just the lack of production, he probably won’t have the benefit of DH days in the playoffs as the Dodgers will try to field their first-choice lineup in every game.
- The Giants’ heavy use of openers/bulk pitchers and platoons around the diamond is meant to maximize production, with the club’s 107-win season in 2021 serving as an example of how smoothly these tactics work. However, San Francisco had a .500 record last season and is an even 77-77 this year, which also shows the drawbacks of the strategy. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, the Giants’ usage of many of their players “seems almost designed to demonstrate a lack of faith in them,” which has caught the notice of scouts and other personnel from around baseball. “Psychologically, you’re telling players they’re not good enough. So why would free agents want to go there?,” one source rhetorically asked. Slusser figures some changes will be made to the coaching staff this winter, though manager Gabe Kapler and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi are likely to be retained, as team chairman Greg Johnson said just last week. Kapler’s hands-off managerial style is discussed by a few Giants players (named and unnamed) within Slusser’s piece, and one unnamed veteran player felt the front office should’ve shown more trust in the club by being more active at the trade deadline.
Let’s be real manny is happy now, he knows the team ain’t makin it in and he got his 30 bombs. The best thing to do for the team now is to expedite your recovery by getting surgery sooner
Why is Manny happy? He’s already getting paid. Why would he not want the team to make the playoffs. Makes no sense.
They make bonus money in the playoffs too. They should aim for the playoffs just so they can get that extra pocket money
For players making the league min., the playoffs shares if the team makes a deep run can double their annual income. Clubhouse attendants/personnel also get a bonus. If I’m a vet who has already banked large, that’s enough motivation for me to keep pushing while hurt to help other guys get paid.
Players only get a WS share if they are in the WS. They get paid squat for paying in the playoffs.
“They get paid squat for paying in the playoffs.”
That’s false. Guys get paid incentives in contracts based on playoffs.
Plus
Since 2022, the World Series winner gets 36%, the World Series runner-up, 24%, two League Championship Series losers, 12% each, the four Division Series losers, 3.25% each, and the four Wild Card playoff losers 0.75% each.
Let’s be real. Machado has never been, and never will be, a “team” guy.
You obviously don’t watch Padres baseball
MP, His teammates don’t think that. Everywhere he has played his teammates have said the exact opposite.
Only BH fans have ever said differently.
He should get the surgery as soon as they are eliminated for sure. He’s not playing for stats, he’s playing to win. Manny is a team leader and he’s playing through a ton of pain to stay on the field and help.
GVO, That is exactly what Machado said. He will get the surgery if they are eliminated.
Because of his hitting that has not happened yet.
Manny Machado has always feared greatness,
Oh really, please explain.
Must be terrified then because he’s already a sure fire hall of famer.
The Padres, to get into the wild card, would need other teams to totally collapse… Just like they themselves did a couple of years ago.
Hahaha. There is a numerical possibility, then there is the snowball in hell possibility.
I would be remiss to fail to mention Brian Tuohy’s book *The Fix Is In*… With the league, anything is possible.
Crikes – if you just look at the last 10 games for all teams involved, all it takes is a repeat of those same % and the Padres are in. It isn’t quite the “total collapse” that you describe. Marlins, Reds and Cubs have already collapsed- they were just spotted a large lead.
Now, look at who Cubs play the last 6.
Giants have dodgers, padres dodgers – they are toast either way and not a factor.
Pads have easiest schedule of all of them.
They are on win streak while others are not.
Win out and I think they get in.
If they can’t win at least 7 of last 8, their horrid August is the culprit as to why they will be short, not September and not the other teams.
Padres win
They probably need all 8. AZ figures for 84-86 wins. They are a very strong favorite. The Cubs, Cincy & Miami all figure for 82-84 wins. Cincy & Miami are .500 over the past ten games. The Cubs are 3-7, but they will have Steele and Steele, Stroman & Hendricks going twice, and Taillon once more. It’s doubtful that they win less than 83 games.
And SD has won 9-10, but that includes 4 at home against the Rox & StL, and 3 at Oakland. Like I said at the time, the Padres should have been buyers at the deadline. It makes no sense to me to spend almost $300M and not go the extra 5%.
Joe – all 8 probably.
Steele –
Check out his last 2 starts and get back to me.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in two games. In one game, it was 4 good innings book-ended by two 3-run HRs. In the other, he legit lost it, but the RP still allowed two of the runs to score.
The teams that you are looking to lose went 3-0 today. Your problem isn’t playing well enough to catch someone. This issue is catching three different teams.
Correction-They went 2-1. Who’d have thought the Reds would blow the 8-run lead they had when I made that statement.
Padres need the Cubs, Marlins, and Reds to be one game under .500 and the Padres to only lose 1 game. Since all 3 of those teams have been playing worse than that the last month, its not a collapse, just a continuation. Its the Padres that have to do something they haven’t been able to do all season.
Great article on it on CBS Sports.
Baseball – really, the Padres don’t need to do something that they haven’t done all year long.
They need to win 8 straight and well, they just did that in the last 8.
They had won 3 in a row once before this stretch so they have to do something they haven’t done all season.
Come on now – they have won 8 straight even if just this past 8 so no, they don’t have to do something that they haven’t done “all season”.
Your comment worked until yesterday and now it has expired. Don’t make it worse but sticking with it.
If the Padres are exactly a 2-1 favorite in their remaining 8 games, and they won’t be, the chances of winning 8 in a row is 3.9%.
This is why you should listen to me instead of CBS Sports:). No matter how many SD won in a row, that doesn’t change the odds of future games that much. They are better than the WS, but still have to beat Cease & Clevinger at Chicago. Snell is having a great season, but still has to beat Webb at SF.
And no matter how Miami and the Cubs are playing, they still have SPs which will make them favored Again, you can occasionally make up a good deal of ground against one team, but seldom against multiple teams.
Joe – I never disagreed with you on the minimal probabilities of SD making the playoffs. I was merely pointing out that the most recent trends of all of the teams involved, as a basis for predicting the next 10 games – and their opponents- made it it possible. If SD won their next 8 which they had at the time just won 8; if the other teams did what they had just done – SD would make it.
I never set down odds of that happening.
I never read / listened to CBS. I was just looking at the schedules and the past 10 games of each team – which I presume they is what CBS did.
You are kind of making this an apples to oranges thing.
I’m not / didn’t disagree with you on the odds of it actually happening.
Mostly, I just like playing around with numbers. And I also find that most writers, particularly BB writers, have an awful intuitive feel for numbers. Red Sox writers most of all. Almost any posting for guys like Schwarber will mention the HRs, and almost never mention average or fielding or baserunning.
There is no point in posting the numbers if one does not post all the relevant numbers.
Just the other day, one of the writers mentioned Bogaerts and his fWAR of about 5. Except his fWAR is closer to 4 than to 5. But I guess he needed to save space on his PC by posting “about 5”, instead of the normal posting of 4.4.
Or the writer that was conjecturing if Bloom’s outcome would’ve been different had they taken Graterol instead of Wong. The fWAR is a difference of 0.2 and Wong has 2 more years of control.
I just don’t see the point of posting these things that can be enhanced or corrected with two minutes of research. You only have one article a day. Spend five minutes making it better (if you actually want to be accurate).
/end of rant/
Thank you for posting the Brian Tuohy book. Looks very informative, I’m going to pick it up
When will the Gabe/Farhan are the smartest guys in the room conversation be over forever? These dudes over manage more than any other organization in baseball. Slusser is right, 100 percent. They tell their players, we are smarter than you are good. Farhan might be the most overrated exec in baseball, and Kapler is most certainly the most overrated manager in baseball. If you’re one of the people speaking of their genius, go ahead and slap yourself, because you’ve been wrong the whole time.
Lots of fans love the analytics game, until they see it played.
Almost every team, including Philadelphia which was mentioned in the article, play an analytics based game. Why do you think the Phillips have a guy who can’t hit for average or steal a base to save his life hitting leadoff?
The teams that don’t, like the White Sox and Royals, don’t win many games.
Baseballislife please don’t bring facts into this discussion. Roy and BlueSkies are too busy yelling at the younger generations to get off their lawn.
Imagine being so reactionary, you act like one coach or GM is an indictment on analytics. They also conveniently ignore how every team has embraced analytics and the teams who have used it the most have usually won more often. I guess these guys wish the rest of baseball was more like the Royals and White Sox.
I definitely don’t agree with all of Zaidi moves but he’s improved the team since he showed up.
They are 93 games behind LA since Farhan took over.
@BaseballisLife
I believe that all 30 teams play some sort of analytics game, to one degree or another. Have you ever looked at an application for a job in baseball development departments in MLB? Basically all of them require some form of Q/Python/C+ knowledge and knowledge how to develop databases and knowledge of how to develop statistical models. At the very least, you need to know how to sort Microsoft Excel, know how to navigate it, create formulas, and analyze statistical data through it.
Basically every team probably has some statistical model of how they value their players, how they project their players, so on and so forth. Things that us fans see as more advanced like wOBA, wRC+, OPS+, WAR, and even deeper more advanced numbers like DRC+ (Baseball Prospectus’ version of OPS+/wRC+), DRA (BP’s ERA estimator), are probably all relatively basic when compared to how MLB teams use their numbers.
Lots of doctorate degrees in math on most MLB teams.
Every team in history used analytics. It amazes me when folks think that, just because just because laptops and high-speed recordings weren’t available, that managers didn’t keep track of who couldn’t hit lefties, or who couldn’t cover a bunt, or who was a dead-pull hitter.
To repeat, everyone know all the same stuff 100 years ago. 50 years ago, even without having laptops, my friends and I could all make rudimentary projections on what out opponents would do.
Where did you cut and paste this response from, exactly? Because you couldn’t have possibly gotten it more backwards if you tried, and it’s clear you really did try.
I see lots of people yelling… for the heads of managers when they’re only implementing the analytics game plans of their front offices. How I feel one way or another about the analytics game is completely, totally, immaterial to the point. To put it another way, of zero relevance.
Which, you would have understood if you weren’t yelling.
Exactly. Whenever I hear someone complain, “why did they pull him in the 5th inning” (or, why didn’t they?), you can be sure the answer is in the numbers. Whether you love or hate the numbers game is immaterial — because this is the game all the teams are playing, to a greater or lesser degree. So trying to evaluate a manager’s decisions completely apart from the front office’s data gathering and analysis is just plain ignorant. And it always adds a bit of strangeness to the griping when it comes from lovers of the analytics game, because that’s exactly what they are seeing played. You’ve got the game you want. So stop complaining already. As if.
thanks @JoeBrady – this is 100% accurate. Connie Mack & John McGraw could slide into today’s game pretty effortlessly.
It’s all theoretical of course, but based on the different styles of play then and now, I doubt it. The mountains of data being ingested and analyzed by teams today dwarfs the amount available in their day. Managers back then, and until quite recently, managed mostly by feel, in a way no manager could today and keep their job. Players then didn’t carry cards in their back pockets directing them how to reposition defensively on every pitch, for example. The data for it simply didn’t exist.
Mack was fired from one of his managing jobs for telling ownership that he was right and they were wrong. No manager would even consider telling off ownership today. McGraw ran his teams like Napoleon. His style didn’t always go over well with the players, even then, and it would never fly now.
Managers today are glorified HR managers and front office game plan implementers.
Just for fun, watch a clip of Mantle’s 500th HR. Until he actually hits the HR, the SS & 2B aren’t even in the picture, on any pitch.
video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&…
How do you figure they came up with the idea of an extreme shift?
I remember that home run. It was on a gopher pitch. Not sure what point you’re trying to make here.
The point is that teams used extreme shifts long before they used laptops. And as a general rule, most of the stuff that you see today is not really new. They are mostly just improvements of stuff created a long time ago.
When I first started creating consolidation programs, I had to put my PC on manual re-calc, then hit F9 and go make a pot of coffee because it took so long. The same stuff takes a couple of seconds today. The speed is great, but the concept pre-dated the speed.
And it is the same with baseball.
Of course shifting has always been used. Fielders have also always played deep or shallow depending on the game situation. But this was not in any way shape or form driven by the amount of data that is behind it now. Teams now know the precise probabilities of where a batted ball will go for every batter in every count. This data simply did not exist until recently. Players now carry cards in their back pockets for a reason.
So, what you are arguing is unclear to me. Are you saying advanced metrics either don’t exist or aren’t relevant t0 today’s game? If not, then what?
BTW, my mistake on Mantle. The gopher pitch was on his 535th HR, which put him in third place on the all-time list behind Ruth and Mays. Thrown by Denny McLain in 1968.
What I am saying is that automation has sped up a process that already existed. 50-60 years ago, we knew which players would choke up with two strikes and often went the other way. And we adjusted our positioning accordingly. We didn’t have radar guns, could reasonably project the pitchers in order of velocity.
Back to one of your earlier statements, “Lots of fans love the analytics game, until they see it played.”, it isn’t a matter of loving it or hating it. The numbers exist, and the game has to be played that way. And it is the same in every sport.
I believe it’s changed a lot more than you suggest. Not many years ago before sabermetrics and moneyball it was radical thinking to value players by OBP. This stat was around from the beginning but based on data analysis began to be interpreted differently. The teams now spend millions hiring data warriors to gather and crunch data. So by all means refer back to my original point, which is the lovers of the data driven game have the game they want. So maybe they should stop calling for the heads of managers when they make in-game decisions based on the data. Because these days, like it or not, managers are the front office with a number on their backs.
I don’t know anyone who thinks Kapler is a good manager.
Zaidi does. Johnson does. Do you know how I know? He has a job.
A nepo baby and a nerd who hasn’t ever won anything in his life. They players feel different.
Players all say they love him. You are the one who feels different. Why is that? Why so much hatred? Who peed in your cornflakes?
Quote from Susan Slusser article above: “Psychologically, you’re telling players they’re not good enough. So why would free agents want to go there?”
You can bet players (potential FA), Boras and other agents will advise their clients to NOT CONSIDER the Giants this offseason unless they are willing to buy into Zaidi’s philosophy.
In addition, agents representing their clients (who may be considered by Zaidi as platoon players/openers/bulk pitchers) will seek more $$$ and longer contracts.
Until Zaidi is fired his philosophy will continue to hinder the Giants from attracting significant impact players and other FA. Expect more Tier 2&3/DFA/waiver/recovering from injuries/platoon/opener/bulk pitchers/dumpster diving players.
How players are used is normally the manager’s call, not the GM’s.
Not when you are a puppet like Gabe and Farthands is Gepeto
Are you 10 years old?
Yes if the manager is really in control of his players. In Kapler’s case, he’s Zaidi’s puppet & does whatever Zaidi wants. Kapler’s just trying to keep his job & hoping Zaidi isn’t fired.
“Psychologically, you’re telling players they’re not good enough. So why would free agents want to go there?”
==============================
That’s complete nonsense.
If SF signs guys like Yamamoto, Lee, Ohtani, Monty, etc., they will be fulltime players. If they sign second-tier guys, they won’t. be.
The reason why SF plays mix & match is only because:
1-most of the players aren’t that good.
2-Pedersen, Crawford, Conforto, and Yaz can’t hit lefties.
3-Injuries.
Is it entirely possible that the SF philosophy includes a lot of platoons, but most teams do that.
And the idea that Ohtani won’t come because he fears a platoon, is beyond laughable.
Agreed, Joe.
I mean if the Giants had somehow landed Judge or Harper or any of the other stars they’ve been after, does anyone really think they’d be platooning those guys? It should be noted that Conforto, Haniger, Manaea and Stripling were all given the opportunity to play everyday (or every regular start) and in all cases either injury or poor performance (or both) necessitated a change.
I do give the Giants credit for making changes when something is clearly not working, even if those changes are head-scratching at times.
Agree Chris!
Thank you for being a voice of reason JoeBrady!
It’s not all that hard. Slusser;s comment was stupid on several layers.
Fire Kapler and Farhan. Hire Ron Wotus as manager and Ned Colletti as President of Baseball Operations. Let’s get back to playing real baseball
All the money in the world was not enough to entice Stanton, Harper or Judge to come to SF, all of whom expressed little to no interest in SF beyond using the club as a means of leverage to command a better deal elsewhere. Ohtani will do the same.
Oracle had its dimensions altered, so it’s not the pitcher friendly park it had been in the past. Additionally, an unwillingness to sign pitchers for more than a one or two year deal turns away the brightest aces and limits SF to injury bounceback gambits, many of which will be busts.
Even with the dimensions having changed, no one has hit 30 HR in a season there since Bonds, and now the club has a reputation as the platoon-kings of MLB. That has and will continue to turn off FA hitters.
Lots of rookies came up this year, but Bailey was the only one who really looked MLB ready. Much harder to tell what the Giants really have in guys like Matos or Harrison.
It was frustrating but predictable, watching the team lose morale and collapse at the end. By the time the season closes, they might well finish at or under .500, 4th place in the NL West, which is exactly the kind of mediocrity most people expected from a faceless, starless, analytically composed team that did little it nothing in the offseason or trade deadline.
Ryan Walker. 56 IP. 3.2 era. 3.63 FIP
Tristan Beck. 75 IP. 4.0 era. 4.0 FIP
Keaton Winn. 37 IP. 3.9 era. 3.7 FIP
MLB average is about 4 ?
Not good enough to get an MLB ready tag applied to those rookies ?
Blake Sabol. Rocking a very close to MLB average 97 WRC+. Not an MLB ready performance in his first year ?
I think at a minimum Bailey had 4 friends.
4.35 ERA is MLB average.
Totally agree Scott59c. Biased Giants media won’t ask Zaidi & Kapler the tough questions so they can maintain their relationships. Verducci ruffled some feathers when he said Giants baseball was boring. Some Giants players have started voicing their concerns, questions & dissatisfaction; even suggesting lack of effort, morale & clubhouse problems.
Verducci used the Giants as an example of a baseball wide trend. Did you not pick that up ?
What tough, apparently career limiting, questions do you want asked ?
What players are voicing concerns ?
You mean that gimmick baseball doesn’t work? Openers cause psychological damage to the club’s morale? No way!
Only bargain-mart teams (Rays) would employ such a strategy. It’s not savvy, it’s dubious.
Got nothing to do with payroll. It’s a useful strategy because it maximizes flexibility, so you can match up with the team in the other dugout instead of rigidly going 1 thru 5 in your rotation no matter who the other team is. However, it depends completely on having a very pitcher friendly home stadium and a deep staff, because one dumpster fire appearance when you have to remove a guy in his first inning and you’re screwed for days. There’s a reason the three teams known for it (throw in the A’s) play in extreme pitcher stadiums.
bpt
I don’t know if EVERY team does it. I’d bet that most do, to some degree.
The Dodgers do it. They aren’t exactly bargain bin
I respect Machado playing Preller like a fool (that he is).
Kapler is a good manager with a bad team. It is amazing this SFG team is .500 with basically no good position players. I don’t buy that the opener/platoon strategy is psychologically damaging. FA signees are not going into platoon roles and SFG does not WANT to have a team full of platoons. It isn’t a strategy you willingly deploy, you do it because you must and it burns up roster spots you’d probably rather use on pitchers. The main problem I can see is that they suck at acquiring and developing young talent internally.
How are they supposed to acquire young talent if you’ve already acknowledged they have no good players? The players from their first drafts and IFA period are finally beginning to trickle into the bigs. Seems like an unfair characterization and more of an indictment of the previous Jurassic regime than anything else
EXACTLY GMoney2850!
Zaidi arrived with a barren farm from the previous regime. He’s been trying to build up the farm and keep a somewhat competitive team on the field while doing it (not tanking), that isn’t easy. He has said numerous times that he wants everyday players and to not platoon but they don’t grow on trees! You have to draft and develop them or pay a crapload of money to them in free agency and that often doesn’t work (see Mets and Padres). It’s stupid to mortgage your future. He’s being safe.
Everyone needs to be patient, Zaidi’s kids are just arriving. Let him build depth in the minors to trade from. It’s going to happen but takes time!
Stop making excuses. Only losers make excuses. You can’t have everyday players when the guys you bring up are immediately platooned. Tell me that Meckler, Matos, Schmitt, etc… have not been pulled when they are having a good game in favor of matchups. And what kind of mortgage is there when no one wants our prospects for Juan Soto – Juan Soto. We’re not even talking Ohtani level.
TGF
I’m curious about your levels
In my mind, Ohtani is on a level all to himself. Perhaps unmatched in baseball history
Soto, yes, is a level below that.
True Giants Fan7 hours ago
Stop making excuses. …..And what kind of mortgage is there when no one wants our prospects for Juan Soto
=============================
You seem to be arguing with yourself. Agnes said that the farm was bare. You said that was just an excuse. But then said that they didn’t have any prospects to trade for Soto.
I’m talking about their farm. Maybe my comment was harsh and I know it takes time after the Jurassic regime. It’s not an empty cupboard, it just doesn’t contain much impact talent IMO. Luciano and a few others should be solid everyday regulars (and soon) but most scouts have dropped him from a future 70 (all star) to a 60 grade (1st division regular) player moving down the defensive spectrum. I hope I’m wrong and I probably am about them as a whole, but other orgs develop talent far more consistently. On top of that, this half-in/half-out sort of competitive mode Fairhan has them in means they are mediocre at both. Trading for Bryant was dumb. Judge would not have made them better than the Dodgers. If Shohei signs here, it’ll be the same sad situation as the Angels. If they just commit to a rebuild I bet they could do it in 2-3 years and sustain the results for much longer than whatever plan they are working right now.
Pitcher and position player rosters are separate and each limited in size (13 each almost universally). You cannot flip a position player for a pitcher on your active roster, unless you were carrying only 12 pitchers, which no one does.
Ah, good point. Didnt realize that.
Finally! Yes, the Giants’ platoon system is a joke. Every player on the roster is a competitor. They had to be to make it up to the big club. And then you tell them, you are not good enough to hit lefties. You are not good to pitch 5 innings. BS. Every players wants to go up against Goliath and slay him. That’s the competitive nature of a ballplayer. The problem is that you have so many SF fans who have never played the game, who have never been competitive at anything, who lack self esteem and carry that to worshipping Zaidi. Go back to eating your brie, sipping your wine, roasting your veggies and supporting a filth laden cess pool city. It’s time to bring back a new philosophy and let Webb finish games if that is what he wants. Otherwise, we will always be a .500 time with the loser fan mentality to tellling us to wait two years for the kids.
Hey True, how about you visit SF instead of reading social media and believing the false narratives being peddled. I LOVE it here, it’s gorgeous. So happy to wake up each day here.
Kapler let Cobb go 130 pitches in his no hit bid and now Cobb is injured. So don’t say he always pulls guys. That’s false too
Maybe you are part of the SF problem. Refusing to acknowlege that SF is a cess pool.
SF is beautiful and has the highest average income in the nation. Try visiting there when you get a job better than McDonalds on Flatbush.
Pro athletes are not more competitive than the average male American. And they didn’t make the majors because they “wanted it more” or were super competitive. They’re just more talented. One of the biggest myths in American sports culture.
Damn you really brought brie into this. Vicious.
True Giants Fan10 mins ago
And then you tell them, you are not good enough to hit lefties.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ROTFLMAO!
Everyone knows that Pederson, Crawford, Yaz and Conforto don’t do well against lefties. Do you know who else knows that? Pederson, Crawford, Yaz and Conforto.
Furthermore, you act like these are some emerging prospects that the SFG are destroying by platooning them. Those guys are in their 30s. They know what the story is. They ain’t going to start suddenly hitting lefties.
Hey Joe, when you sign the above people you mentioned, you have no choice but to be cute. If they spent real money and signed Judge for example, there would be no platoon.
So what’s your point then? Good players play fulltime, and weaker players, or players with bad splits get platooned?
That been going since the beginning of time.
Joe, he has no point other than the one at the top of his head.
@true – “If they spent real money and signed Judge for example”
How do you suppose they do that when Judge himself said he wanted to stay with the Yankees? Some direct quotes:
“I knew in my heart that I wanted to re-sign with the Yankees.”
“If all I was doing was chasing money, I could’ve gone to another team who had a higher offer, but New York is where I wanted to finish my career.”
So please stop pretending like the Giants did not get Judge because they are not trying to spend.
Also, where do you live? I really want to know, because I rather enjoy sipping wine, and eating my brie with roasted veggies. To be able to do it with a panoramic ocean view with good people is icing on the cake. So if you’re unwilling to put your city up against SF, I’m starting to think this is all lip service you can’t back up.
TGF
Let me get this straight
You believe, and want us to believe these two things simultaneously:
1) that athletes are competitors. Ready to take on any challenge. Ready to face Goliath.
2) that they are so weak-minded that their souls are crushed because teams use strategies to put them into situations where they are most likely to be successful?
How do you square that in your own mind?
Of course it’s a lack of faith in them. There’s no hiding in baseball. If you are below average at something, there’s a number highlighting it. So she is right, if you are going to play for the Giants, you need to have your big boy pants on. Chances are you are going to be pulled from a situation in which available teammate A has a better track record. If that’s an unrecoverable confidence zapper for a player, they don’t belong there. It’s no great revelation. They seem to recruit accordingly. Players that belong there are honest about their shortcomings and work with the Giants at getting better at it. Can’t see the problem.
That’s the problem. Farhan is signing below average players and expecting above average results by platooning. The money paid to Hanniger and Conforto would have bought a decent everyday player, and one who does not have the Brandon Belt injury bug.
Who ?
Fop, True only comments in platitudes not specifics. If he knew any facts he wouldn’t be commenting at all.
Yes True, and as we all remember that money was ready to go to Aaron Judge, but he chose another team. And then that money was ready to go to Correa, and then the Giants smartly passed. Haniger and Conforto were never Plan A, but they certainly had the potential to be productive this year. That potential, of course, was not realized, but it’s not like they just picked a couple of AAAA scrubs and expected them to play like stars.
The money paid to Hanniger and Conforto would have bought a decent everyday player,
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Do you actually follow the Giants? Haniger is not a true platoon candidates. Haniger has a career .779/.843. Conforto has been somewhat platooned, but still has 21.4% of his PAs against lefties against the SFG 29.3%.
Padres will pass Giants in standings — shows how much Giants players got fed up and quit on the season
Datashark18 mins ago
Padres will pass Giants in standings — shows how much Giants players got fed up and quit on the season
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The Padres are twice as talented as the Giants. It is not even remotely close.
The Padres are better at every field position except maybe DH.
And Webb is the only SP that would make the SD rotation.
That the Giants are ahead is a testament of how well the system works. SD should be 15+ games better than the Giants.
Giants were up at least 5-8 games on padres throughout most of the season since trade deadline and all they got was a washed up old hack — team turned into subpar with losing – winnable games against below .500 teams showed their lack of juice to win
The fact remains that it should never have been a contest. SD is much, much better.
Giants the glorious 2012,2014 chapters will close at seasons end with retirement of Crawford..
Free Agency will need to be huge for SF to compete again their farm has little left
Luciano, Matos, Bailey, Harrison, Whisenhunt, Eldridge, R. Crawford, even Walker Martin is getting plenty of buzz….
Good post tho
There is very little available “huge” outside of Ohtani.
I’m sensing months of unrest. Running it back with the rookies is a very real possibility.
Then run with them and stop telling Matos, Meckler and the other rookies that they can’t hit pitchers who throw curves, who throw from the same side, whose astrological sign dictates pinch hitting. Let them play EVERYDAY. They will either fail or succeed. But that is how you find everyday players.
Yes. Ive noticed you have written off Schmidt and that other guy….you referred to him as the “one pitch clown”….oh yeah, that’s right… Kyle Harrison. Fair enough though. Sink or swim is a bit too 1970’s for me. Happy with a slightly more modern, scientific approach to better human performance.
I’m not going to claim to know what the psychology of MLB players is.
I probably wouldn’t want to know.
I do think it’s funny that on one hand professional athletes are thought to be “tough, gritty super hero role models” and on the other hand they are fragile egos who throw things at each other when they get their feelings hurt and can’t handle any type of change.
Saying “they aren’t good enough” is a…way…to frame it.
Another way is “this strategy will make you even more effective”.
Giants – With Manaea pitching well last night, The question did come to me. Why would they Not have him in the rotation all season. To hide him from doing well enough to stick around for year two. ? What is the thinking there. Also I also believe the mental aspect of not having a set rotation hurts the team. Working for any business, You want to feel somewhat comfortable knowing who’s going to be out there, What day it is. Whose in the lineup and where. Everyday it’s changed all over. A few innings here and there. Guys up and down. Guys cut and come back. Then cut again. The roundabout way players are being used and utilized definitely brings up questions.
No doubt the Giants are overachieving with what they have. I believe it. And I root for them to win. I think it’s great they can get what they’re getting. But it’s unwatchable at times. No more Timmy day. Cain day. Voggy day. Sanchez when we had him. Different mindsets for different days and different forms of defense to go along with it. Which, The Current Giants have one of the worst defenses in the Game.
Also the Minors has produced Bailey and some role players. But these are minimal players at best. And they don’t play them anyway because they’re chasing wins. I get that too.
The Org feels like caught in the middle. Play to win every game no matter what. Having some success. But certainly not as good as the Braves or Dodgers or at least 4-5 other teams in the NL.
Personel improvement needs to happen. But they love having tons of options to switch and move guys around. And these are guys who are injury prone anyway. That’s why they got them. It’s like trying to fool the system more than what everybody wants to do. This is moneyball. Cheap gets. And when they have success let them walk. Same stuff.
I’m not sure Farhan is the right guy. He still has another year to figure it out. And I’ll give it another year. Not many complaints. 2024 was always my year to contend into 2025 where they really become something special. It’s here now. Big off-season. This is it for Both Kap and Farhan.
Manaea had starts in the first month of the season and had a 7.96 ERA on the 10th of May. He got straightened out in the ‘pen and is now back starting.
I don’t know what the guy’s ceiling is – maybe a #3 or #4 starter? If he finishes with enough momentum to seek a contract elsewhere, he’ll be doing the Giants a favor, provided they don’t go right out and sign another injury-bouceback-lottery-ticket and end up with the same fate, ala DeScalfani, Stripling, Wood, etc.
Folks spin conspiracy theories out of every day stuff that is usually easy explined.
Machado is an ass clown.
Machado is a butt hole.