The Rays did a great job of torching my "2 out of 3" strategy to get back in the race this weekend, winning games using the same model the Giants used to win championships -- timely hitting and just enough of it and great pitching both starting and bullpen -- and lots of it.
On the back of that series, now Hunter Pence wants to lead-off to throw a spark into the spark-less Giants.
Although he would be a rather unconventional lead-off hitter due to his lack of patience, I think I would rather see him moved than have Scutaro move up one slot and have to replace him in the #2 spot, where I think he is perfectly suited for this team.
from Yahoo Sports:
San Francisco Giants - Team Report - MLB - Yahoo! Sports:
Bruce Bochy is tired of losing, tired of seeing the same old hapless performance at the top of his lineup.
Tired of watching Gregor Blanco and Andres Torres make outs.
The Giants manager is going in another direction in the leadoff position.
And why not? Blanco is batting .077 (3-for-39) since the All-Star break, Torres .182 (6-for-33).
Bochy said either Marco Scutaro or Hunter Pence will be leading off sooner rather than later, filling the spot vacated by Angel Pagan, who has been shelved with a hamstring problem that warranted surgery.
"We're not getting any production from our leadoff hitters. They're going through a tough time," said Bochy, whose Giants lost to the Rays 4-3 Sunday.
Scutaro is known as a contact hitter and has ample leadoff experience, 359 games worth. Pence has batted .393 (24-for-61) since the All-Star break and is 15-for-15 in stolen-base attempts on the season.'via Blog this'
The problem Bochy faces here really highlights the effect that the loss of Angel Pagan has had on the Giants offense. After Pagan's last game, a loss to Toronto on May 15th the Giants fell to 23-17 (.575 pace) for the season. Since then they have limper to a 26-44 (.371 pace) mark to close at 49-61 as of yesterday.
Granted that five days later Ryan Vogelsong pitched his final game for the season to date for the Giants. The rearranging of the deck chairs that Vogie's injury precipitated changed the Giants starting rotation for the worse and as a result the bullpen mix was weakened as well.
The Giants have limped at a .370 pace since then which, in case you haven't noticed is approximately a 100 loss season. Two injuries ( albeit significant ) and the team falls from a 90+ win team to a 100 loss team.
The record clearly demonstrates the value both players ( especially Pagan's value to the offense ) brought to the team.
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