Giants Hitting Stats at a glance

Longoria OPS is .738, barely above Panik at .729. I guess I never realized what a windmill he was. He swings at everything, anything close. McCutchen at .761 is close. He doesn't expand the strike zone that much, if at all. The umpires do a pretty good job at expanding it for Andrew. 

Longoria reportedly got a bit touchy when a reporter brought up how his OBA is almost equal to his AVG, ie: he doesn't walk much and he said "Who cares about walks?" I guess he missed the whole Moneyball, Brad Pitt bro-mance that baseball has had with OBA and walks recently. Or perhaps he's more a "launch angle" guy. 

Austin Jackson OPS @ 0.622 Yuck!!

from thescore.com (app link)
https://thescore.app.link/ntEzyCn6pA

Finding one stat to represent each Giants hitter - McCovey Chronicles

I'm not sure Giants fans needed a fancy computer to confirm this stat, but....He probably leads the majors in toppers back to the mound. Those two stats are probably highly correlated.

from McCovey Chronicles.com
Finding one stat to represent each Giants hitter - McCovey Chronicles:

Hunter Pence: 0 barrels
According to Statcast, in his 61 plate appearances in the majors so far this year, Hunter Pence has not barrelled up a single ball. Barrelling up a ball is a key part of hitting it hard, which Pence has had trouble with this year. This is the thing that you can see from home on TV. He’s just not hitting the ball like he used to.

'via Blog this'

Also, it's good to see the numbers confirm that Brandon Crawford is back to hitting the ball hard, Andrew McCutchen is really, really hitting the ball hard and often and Evan Longoria maybe should mix in a walk every now and again. And Belt, while he might not be Freddie Freeman, is still pretty darn good.

Also, not news that Kelby Tomlinson has no ISO. He's still pretty productive with his AB's. Buster Posey, only 2 HR's...really? Yeah, I guess I can believe that. He goes through this and then he'll go on a 2-3 week tear and gets back on pace for around 15 HR's. Not too worry....yet.

Giants' Joe Panik homers off Kenley Jansen (and Kershaw)

The historic first two games (and the entire series) had so many good things to like, especially since they happened to the Dodgers. 

Positives:

• Panik 2 HR's in the first two games to propel the good guys to a 2-0 record.
• Ty Blach working the magic againt Kershaw yet again.
• Cueto looking like an ace in his first start
• Strickland making Melancon's boo-boo look like addition by subtraction
• The bullpen overall looking pretty stout
• Would have rather seen Stratton than Holland in 3rd game, but 3 LHP vs. Dodgers is OK

Negatives:

1. Giants continue to prove, like many sabermetricians, that clutch hitting doesn't exist.
2. Two runs in three games is a recipe for a repeat of last year. 
3. Posey and Longoria where are you?

OTOH, they did win two out of three with the negatives and are the negatives likely to recur or do they regress UPWARDS to the mean? We'll see. It's the first series and I'm very happy with 2-3 on the road against the Dodgers.  

from mlb.com

https://www.mlb.com/news/giants-joe-panik-homers-off-kenley-jansen/c-270230822

2 games, 2 Panik HRs, 2 1-0 wins for Giants

4:06 AM ETLOS ANGELES -- Joe Panik won't hit 162 home runs that account for the scoring in each game. He doesn't have to. His accomplishments in two such games are rare enough.
For the second game in a row, Panik was the only player on either team to touch home plate without kicking it in frustration. His ninth-inning home run Friday off Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers' formidable closer, gave the Giants a 1-0 victory that was nothing short of precedent-setting.
View Full Game Coverage
According to STATS, Panik, who went deep off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in Tuesday's season opener, is the first Major Leaguer to hit back-to-back solo homers at any juncture of the season to win 1-0 games for his team. The Giants are also the first team since the 1943 Reds to open a season with consecutive 1-0 victories.
"It's a good feeling to be in the situation to make those hits happen," said Panik, who made sure to add, "It all stems from pitching. I said it yesterday -- without [them], I wouldn't be standing here."
This game cornered the early-season market on drama. Giants starter Johnny Cueto retired the first 18 batters he faced before Chris Taylor punched a soft single to right field. That would be the Dodgers' lone hit for the entire game.
• Cueto flirts with perfection in first startThe Giants mustered only two hits as pitching continued to dominate this season-opening series. San Francisco is batting .154 (10-for-65); Los Angeles is batting .121 (7-for-58). Only Panik has provided meaningful offense with his power.
"That's not his game," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "But the guys he's hit 'em off, that's pretty remarkable. Couldn't have come at a better time."
Teaming with relievers Tony Watson and Hunter Strickland, who recorded his second consecutive save, Cueto helped San Francisco doom the Dodgers to their second shutout defeat in the season's first two games for the first time in 50 years and second time in history.
Dodgers starter Alex Wood lost his perfect game on the first of three Logan Forsythe errors in the top of the fourth inning. Wood lost the no-hitter on an infield single by Brandon Crawford to fellow shortstop Corey Seager with two out in the top of the fifth inning. Wood struck out five and made 90 pitches.
MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDCan't cash in: The Giants had their best early chance after Forsythe's fourth-inning error. Panik bunted Austin Jackson to second base, but Andrew McCutchen struck out and Buster Posey grounded to shortstop.
Still got it: Left fielder Matt Kemp, whose defense has been the Dodgers' biggest area of concern, made a long run to flag down Jackson's towering fly on the warning track in the corner to end the top of the eighth inning.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDSJansen's pickoff of McCutchen at first base in the ninth inning, which required a Dodgers challenge and video review to overturn the original safe call, was the first one of Jansen's career.
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAYThe Giants achieved what for them was nearly impossible -- creating a baserunner against Wood -- with the help of replay. With one out in the fifth inning, Hunter Pence tapped a grounder to Dodgers third baseman Forsythe, who briefly lost control of the ball. As usual, Pence hustled to first base. He initially was called out, but replays demonstrated otherwise, and the call was overturned.
WHAT'S NEXTLeft-hander Derek Holland will make his first National League appearance Saturday when he starts for the Giants in a 6:10 p.m. PT contest at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles will counter with righty Kenta Maeda in its effort to secure its first victory of the season.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.
Chris Haft has covered the Giants since 2005, and for MLB.com since 2007. Follow him on Twitter at @sfgiantsbeat and listen to his podcast.
Read more: Johnny Cueto, Kenley Jansen, Joe Panik, Alex Wood

Sent from my iPhone

Giants get Longo in a bittersweet deal (on both sides)

My initial reaction was "Oh, no!! The Rays snookered us again" but this is a "face of the franchise" kind of guy and has been for the Rays. Described as a "winning player" on a team that has been a symbol of losing, almost since inception. 

He has been through a lot with the Rays and hopefully he regroups and rededicates himself to perform at an All-Star level. He slipped to 3.6 WAR, which would be only behind Posey on the Giants last year.   

To me, Span is addition by subtraction (-1.1 WAR last season) but a local Tampa product, who could also be revitalized by a change off scenery. Arroyo is a scrappy competitor, fan favorite type of guy and also a local product (Pasco-Hernando HS). Of the two minor league pitchers, Krook was one of the more highly regarded LHP's to start his senior year, but slipped somewhat by the end of the season. If he clicks, he makes this deal swing to the Rays side of the ledger. Woods is a favorite of some of the SFG "prospect mafia", who want to trade Bumgarner for three or four prospects they can circle-jerk over. So a long-shot, but who knows?.....Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

The Giants receiving CA$H in the deal, from the Rays must be some sort of baseball insider cruel joke on the state of the game economically. Like me donating money to Mitt Romney or Donald Trump. 

Glad to have Longo, I didn't think it would happen this soon, if at all. Hopefully, Tampa sends him off the way they should, which is like the champion he is. He deserves no less, he gave them everything he had. 

Good luck to Christian Arroyo, the Giants will miss his fight. I didn't want to lose Panik and I didn't want to lose Arroyo. You just can't keep 'em all. 

from thescore.com:
Rays trade franchise stalwart Longoria to Giants

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1450680

It's the end of an era in Tampa Bay.

The Rays traded third baseman Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday in exchange for outfielder Denard Span, top-prospect infielder Christian Arroyo, left-hander Matt Krook, and right-hander Stephen Woods Jr., the clubs announced.

San Francisco will also receive cash in the deal, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

"Evan is our greatest Ray," Tampa Bay owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement, via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. "For a decade, he's been at the center of all of our successes, and it's a very emotional parting for us all."

Sent from my iPhone

Longoria weighs in on Maddon Successor

If this is the shopping list, Martinez would be the front-runner for me as well, from a continuity standpoint. So I agree with Longoria. The buzz is that Manny Acta would be a better choice, having made his rookie mistakes with another franchise, and there is something to that theory. Some of the better managers in baseball were fired once before they figured things out. Montoyo give the Rays continuity, especially with the players younger than Longoria.

from Yahoo Sports:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/evan-longoria-says-dave-martinez-is-the--obvious-pick--for-rays-new-manager-015716638.html

However, if the decision belonged to the face of the franchise, three-time All-Star Evan Longoria, it sounds like there wouldn't be much of a decision to make. During an appearance on the MLB Network program MLB Now on Friday afternoon, Longoria didn't hesitate to tab Dave Martinez as the clear choice for the job, citing his familiarity with the situation and perhaps some personal hope that the team does in fact stay the course. 

If Martinez doesn't get the job, there's a chance he too would move on, meaning a whole new regime would take charge. That's not lost on Longoria, either, and wholesale changes understandably don't sound very appealing.  

Ron Wotus would be my second choice and while I don't want to see the Giants lose him, he suffers from a similar knock that comes Martinez' way in that most feel if he was that good a candidate, he would have been hired by now. He does have three rings though and there is something to that.

Martinez suffers the same fate in Tampa, except who was going to let Maddon go to make room for him? Wakamatsu has been in the pipeline for some time as well, he may be in the same coaches purgatory as Wotus. Kevin Cash gives you some "local hero" flair being an ex-Tampa Gaither HS product, but if you're looking for an extra ticket sales kicker, listen to Al Davis and "just win, baby".

The recent trend to hiring ex-players and ex-marquee players at that would lean you towards Ibanez, but there seem to be better candidates who have paid their dues as base coaches or assistants. Too soon for Ibanez, Cash and Counsell IMO.

Bottom line, and I don't know how any of these guys interview, I would focus on:

• Martinez
• Wotus
• Montoya 
• Acta
• Wakamatsu
• Cash, Counsell and Ibanez are also-rans 

Eight is a big list, the Rays need to focus on qualtity here, not quantity.

FIRE UP THE HOT STOVE LEAGUE!!