Updating my report from yesterday, it now appears likely that Pablo Sandoval will return from the DL next Tuesday. He suffered some weakness in his surgically repaired wrist, so the Giants thought they would give him a few more days before recalling him to the big league club. The team did announce that when Pablo is back next week that Brandon Crawford will be the regular shortstop thanks to his strong defense and timely hitting. “I’ll say this: He’ll be out there quite a bit,” manager Bruce Bochy said. As predicted yesterday in Roster Moves Coming, Miguel Tejada will soon become nothing more than a bit player, especially when Mike Fontenot returns from his groin issue.
Matt Cain dominated the Nationals Wednesday tossing a complete game that including 11 strikeouts and just one walk. The last time Cain had that many punchouts was June 14, 2008. With the effort Cain lowered his ERA to 3.36 an upped his K/9 mark to 7.77. Those totals are hardly surprising given that Cain’s career marks in those two categories are 3.44 and 7.47. It’s as simple as this – there are few hurlers in the game who are more consistent than Cain.
The team hasn’t missed a beat on the hill with the loss of Buster Posey as Eli Whiteside has been what everyone knew he would be – an excellent receiver. No one doubts Eli’s defensive acumen, but how long can the Giants go with a catcher who is hitting .190 with a .577 OPS? On a team that needs offense they shouldn’t be satisfied with a spot in their batting order pretty much being a sure out.
Aubrey Huff hit four homers with seven RBI in back-to-back games on June 1st and 2nd. Since then he has zero homers, only two RBI, and is batting .125 in six games. So much for him snapping out of his season long funk.
Just checking in with Sergio Romo. Yep, he’s still one of the best setup men in baseball even though he’s allowed runs in three of his last 10 outings. He’s still got a 0.76 WHIP, a .167 BAA, and a set of dominating ratios – 14.24 K/9 and 9.67 KBB. I’m telling you, the guy is one of the best bullpen arms in the game, even if no one outside of San Francisco is aware of it.
Speaking of the bullpen, the unit has tossed 17 scoreless innings on the current home stand. Only once this year has the group had a longer scoreless streak, and that was the 22 innings they racked up from May 3rd through May 12th.
Only two of the five teams in the NL West have a winning record in the division. The Padres are 10-9 and the Giants are 18-10. The Giants also sport a 17-10 mark at home while being a game over .500 on the road (18-17). The G-men lead the NL west by two games over the D’backs, and don’t look now, but the defending World Champs have pushed their winning percentage up to .565. They finished last year at .568.
You can read more of Ray Flowers’ work at BaseballGuys.com and you can follow his random musings on the baseball universe at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter account.
Tags: Aubrey Huff, Brandon Crawford, Eli Whiteside, Matt Cain, Miguel Tejada, Mike Fontenot, Pablo Sandoval, Sergio Romo
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