2016 WORLD SERIES OR BUST: The 2015 San Francisco Giants

The work they did together in the winter was intense and occasionally combative, so much so that Lincecum said that his dad occasionally “had to take a smoke break.”

v nice thread name man

Thanks. I figure it's easier to obsess over even-year nonsense than to quantitatively assess the team this year.

who did they lose aside from panda? anybody? bc if not it's mostly the same team and can prob get almost as far

btw this reminds me that @LOLKNBR blocked me during the world series

(by "almost" i mean win totals, if they made the playoffs i wouldnt expect anything past a wildcard spot)

Other player departures include Marclol Scutarlol (DFA'ed! Which I somehow missed) and Michael Morse.

they lost morse, acquired aoki and mcgee.
3rd base coach/awesome dude tim flannery retired.

cain is back

hopefully we'll get a full season of belt, pagan, and panic.

but yeah the rest of the division is looking stronger. padres-wise i'm praying for a 2012 marlins/2013 jays style epic collapse

But beyond the sudden lack of power, the big concern is going to be the front end of the rotation: Does Bum still have an arm left, how's Cain coming off of multiple surgeries, Hudson's surgery and lol old, Peavy kinda lol old, the ongoing Lincecum-grasping-at-straws saga, etc.

yeah starting rotation is most worrying. they're gonna burn that bullpen out if they even make it to the playoffs

aw marco, i remember you, you were aight on the chicken and beer 2011 red sox

surprised they didnt put hudson in the pen and start petit

Bochy has the occasional Veteran's Manager streak that crops up, like his insistence on starting Vogelsong last year (who's pretty much guaranteed to be a long man in the bullpen this year though). Plus he sez he likes using Petit as a secret weapon, and IIRC he was hit or miss (pun!) as a starter last year -- only 12 starts, though.

The Giants have resigned Romo also, bullpen still awesome in general.

It will be interesting to see if Tim Lincecum is able to find a way to be effective. I think the big thing for him to have that second wave would be learning how to change speeds well and work counts with batters. I think the goal is to be a 200+ inning eater type starter, just pitch smart and keep your club in games. I'd think Bronson Arroyo is a recent starter with a funky delivery that was pretty much by being able to change speeds and pitch with guile that had that kind of success. Orel Hershiser also had kind of a funky delivery and was able to reinvent himself as a junkballer. I'd think the funky delivery is kind of a positive for Lincecum in developing that type of pitching style.

I don't think anyone has started a 2015 Oaktown thread, I'm also curious to see what will become of Barry Zito's walk-on in Oakland. I figure if he pitches in spring training he'll make the club since they have had so much turnover.

Apparently Zito is going back to his Oakland delivery. Not a good sign that he keeps changing up his technique.

Bochy's back after the angioplasty. He's not supposed to do anything strenuous, good thing he's just a baseball manager.

Also I just realized that we really missed out on Zito going to the NYYs, where people could've talked about Zeets and Jeets.

hit by pitch on Pence's forearm not looking good, most likely a fracture.

D:

It's all on Belt for power now.

Confirmed, 6/8 weeks out.

shit. he was one of the three giants I liked.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_bbpJAWQAAUpA8.png

aww

at least you have jay mariotti

http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_27743954/giants-angel-pagan-gets-injection-back-stiffness

Damn, this is starting to sound serious.

how the Giants use metrics on defense

http://espn.go.com/blog/spring-training/post/_/id/2692/talk-to-me-the-giants-use-metrics-on-d

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBr6n5cUEAAxxEQ.jpg

Posey has started more opening days as a world champ than otherwise.

oh ffs

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2015/4/6/8357343/matt-cain-injury-giants-mri-elbow-forearm

Just got swept at home. Everything going according to plan so far!

you'll have the NL west right where you want it in 12 months

just don't tell madbum about the plan, he might be like kobe and not understand tanking

He barfed his last start (3IP, 5ER), so I think he's on board.

idk man he appears to be taking this too personally to be tanking https://twitter.com/mlbgifs/status/588904897371774976

the real question is will he start cursing out trumbo from the mound the way he does every time puig does like anything

yeah odd year etc.

taken from Brisbee: at the moment, we have no Pence, no Belt.

Well the one good surprise has been Chris Heston!

ok can mr. "i'm a millionaire who rides tractors & works with my hands & shit in commercials" red-assed tradition-humping madison fuckin bumgarner maybe like...never talk
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/04/27/madison-bumgarner-takes-a-big-swing-at-max-scherzer-over-comments-about-dh-rule/

What if he gets hurt washing his truck?

i mean he wouldnt be so snippy then maybe...eh he prob would

god, i hate baseball so much sometimes

god, i love it so much tho

how many pitchers get hurt batting per year?

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--VI8qbcNf--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1230212400113151522.gif

"you're not that fucking good, man"

lol DIS SHIT DONT STOP

glad the giants have their very own online hardman

who is the object of Madbum's correction?

alex guerrero, who had a completely routine pop flyout, did not do any of the stuff that usually gets his unwritten-rule-loving ass hot under the tractor

<3 madbum i don't care

i mean he fills the "asshole but he's our asshole" role that almost every team needs, not to mention pretty good at the whole pitching thing

oh God:

http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2015/4/29/8514889/madison-bumgarner-alex-guerrero

Deadspin helpfully points out through their lip-reading expertise that Bumgarner said, "You're not that fucking good, man. You're not that fucking good," apparently taking offense to Guerrero pirouetting as if he just missed a 450-foot homer.

One of my self-appointed specialties is grading unwritten rules. This falls under that jurisdiction. What we have here is a Dodgers player acting like he should have crushed a pitch that wasn't exactly down the middle, but one that he did just miss. We have some truths, here...

I totally understand where Bum is coming from (although I get why some people don't care for it.) Basically this rookie who hasn't earned anything yet, is trying to act like Bumgarner just got away with a pitch that he should be hitting into the bullpen. I guess I am old school but rookies shouldn't be doing that.

nope still not coming back but wanted to fix what happened.

Yeah, not really believing in Vogelsong this season.

xp the article is so much more measured! i think it's more of an "ahhhh, shit" move that guerrero made but w/e to each his/her own

Keep getting them out and chuckle quietly to yourself. There are so many bat flips in this world, so many actual slights. You don't need to look for perceived slights. It's a long season. Your blood pressure, Madison. Think about your blood pressure.

bat flips aren't slights AT ALL but i think that's brisbee being silly to make a point. the last graph is prob the best way to look at it.

Bumgarner doesn't suffer fools lightly. Another way to say that is that he is a Grade-A redass, probably the red-assiest player we've seen since Jeff Kent. It makes me roll my eyes. It makes me smile.

tbh MadBum is kinda embarrassing.

fuck him and the horse he rode in on

Yeah he really embarrassed the Giants last October.

it's okay we have Hunter Pence, the ying to madbum's yang.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/4/29/8518935/hunter-pence-celebrate-international-dance-day-video-shake-booty

polyphonic otm

After much deliberation, I have decided to unveil my new DN.

An enemy or home team player's personality is generally a nonissue for me, unless we're talking a mouthy princess like Cole Hamels.

i enjoy the "odious" personalities when they upset fans/media for not having "class" or whatever.

madbum's transformation into (roid?) raging hulkamaniac is pretty awesome

lol the lacking class part is nbd as far as im concerned - the issue is the unwritten rule horseshit, that's so petty, not to mention if you're trying to be macho pettiness sort of cuts that right down

(not that you /should/ try and be ubermacho but like if that's his goal idk seems like doing it wrong)

wait people hate madbum now?

haha not hate he's just been going 0 to 100 real quick in baseball redass mode in a couple of back to back incidents

i don't hate him i just wanted to say the horse thing

hot heads are fun!

haha poly, fine

Don't walk back that horse, man.

It's called dressage, leee

is that Charlton Heston pitching tnite? talk abt a redass.

can't wait to see the bottom of our rotation (everyone not Madison) against Trout. time to pad your stats bud.

Guerrero been in the league like 10 days and he can do a 360 because he can't hit Bums ball out of the ball park? fuck him!

http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/krukow-tells-dodgers-guerrero-grab-some-pine-meat

On a 3-2 pitch, he flied out to right field. And upon making contact, was visibly frustrated with himself.

Madison Bumgarner did not take kindly to this, and as Guerrero ran past Bumgarner on his way back to the dugout, replays show the 2014 World Series MVP tell Guerrero, "You're not that (expletive) good, man. You're not that (expletive good)."

Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow weighed in on the situation Wednesday morning.

[PAVLOVIC: Rewind: Bumgarner finds his form as Giants top Dodgers]

"He (Guerrero) does kind of a 360 out of the box and that ticked off Bumgarner," Krukow explained on KNBR 680-AM. "Number one: he ain't been here that long to be doing stuff like that. And he basically told him, 'You ain't good enough to start doing this.' He told him twice. And the response from Guerrero was, 'head down, yes sir, thank you, thank you sir, yes sir.' He was very respectful and humble, which he should have been.

"You don't have any time up here, and here's a guy who's a legend out there on the hill, you don't do anything that shows him up. And in Bumgarner's mind, he did ... he became humbled quite quickly and the thing was forgotten, but Bumgarner let him know...

yeah, maybe feeling do get hurt way too much but Bum was right, earn your stripes.

and yeah, fuck the Dodgers! yeah i'm drunk

you will miss me this year =-)

just feel like i need to step away....................................

...this is the sort of stuff that almost makes me want to give up on baseball full stop, like what even is this unwritten rule right way crap

w/e though I guess it is what it is

so we can say it: Lincecum is having a good season so far.

Better trade him while he's hot!

@SFGiants
Tim Hudson is the first #SFGiants pitcher to allow 15 or more hits in a game since Gaylord Perry gave up 16 on Sept. 28, 1968 vs. CIN

Another pretty good game by Timmy.

And McGee finally homered.

Ichiro is with the Marlins now?!??

yea one year deal

is the New Lincecum for real?

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/tim-lincecum-san-francisco-giants-groundball-home-rate-surprising-start-freak-051215

Welcome back Hunter Pence.

http://mlb.mlb.com/assets/images/0/7/8/125338078/cuts/penceu2_4w7v3sm6_dplqoqxu.jpg

Timmy still walks a lot and doesn't strikeout as much as he did during the xFIP unlucky year. I'd wait a bit to make any conclusion about his form.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12876146

a documentary about the crazy crab

(you can study being a mime in Berkeley?)

Sounds like a Decal (i.e. student-led) class for 1 unit.

I'm going to the game tomorrow, first time I'll be at a game since the Bonds era, and the first time I've watched 9 innings since 2012.

looks like a prime pitching matchups 2015

Matt Duffy has taken over third, i love this move.

WOW at this team, might not be able to stay silent for very much longer...

right now have the same amount of wins as the Dodgers who have spent 100 million more this year.

amazing that the giants keep chipping away with only a 175 mil payroll, very scrappy

lol, true but your Padres are not that far behind.

see i live in Los Angeles, so i have to deal with Dodgers fan all the time. so sometimes i get defensive.

actually we are about 170 mil behind the doyers

yeah i work in sf

https://goo.gl/photos/xo1DrGj9urn68Fjd9

that didn't work:

San Francisco 30 20 .600 -
LA Dodgers 28 19 .596 0.5

Huh I guess I should start paying attention to baseball again.

questionable choice imo (he said, knowing sadly he would watch the majority of another pathetic red sox loss tonight)

wtf is up with Joe Panik? how could PECOTA be so wrong?

It doesn't measure HEART, duh.

http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr03/2013/8/17/1/anigif_enhanced-buzz-3260-1376716493-12.gif

hell yeah

haha, mookieproof jinks them. it should have been a sweep but the last game got them.

bullllshit strike 3 call for the 1st out

i recorded the game, so i can't wait to watch it. Chris Heston rookie no hitter in New York City, he will remember that.

keep your eyes glued to the strike box in the 9th

hardly have access to the webs and i missed the game but yaaaaah 5 no hitters in 7 seasons.

did they all have BS umpiring?

telecasts gen have the Foxbox or whatever, no?

Huh, Heston went 2-4 with 2 RBI, not a bad game.

starting to really like this team, sorry Mets.

this team needs to jump in the bay, fuck 3 trophies

it is something where we could lose the Panda and are probably better for it.

and now it's over, having a excellent road trip. should not have lost the one that they did lose.

blanco to the DL, underpants about to again? dang

Beat LA, Beat LA, Beat LA

Posey with a Grand Slam.

celebrate good time come on.

let's go Giants.

started off really well but now tied.

Bumgarner 9 Ks throught 4 innings.

how did they lose that game with Bumgarner striking out 14?

Wow, Buster Posey just hit a grand slam! :-)

Buster Posey is the perfect human

we lost Hunter Pence and then Nori Aoki went down. tonight Angel Pagan was in the process of getting an X-ray and an MRI and results should be known later tonight. so the Giants might be down all their starting outfielders, wow.

;_;

goodbye Tm Lincecum it was such an amazing run at the beginning and will never forget.

Posey came out of the game after being hit in the mask in the second inning. the Giants already have two HUGE bats out of the lineup, really can't afford any more injuries.

FUCK

why are the Giants cured at Marlin's park?

fernandez comin for y'all tomorrow, he wants strikeouts

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1770339/tulojose.gif?_ga=1.203418390.606696283.1435803618

...and blood

we have someone named [Matt Cain also coming back after a year off. should be fun.

it was a punch in the gut tonight.

Cain and than Peavy. might be in big trouble. fun because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

.

..

...

tomorrow will bring another aphorism from Bee OK

Can not wait for Cain to be back.

i have had it, .500 club.

brutal

being at .500, I remember that, I think it was like three weeks in april for the sox

but hey captain underpants is back off the DL it can't be that bad for y'all

wow, that is news. didn't think we would see Pence until after the all-star break.

Damn pence welcome back with that play!!

special play.
pence and cain <3

Freak hip

http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/bochy-gives-explanation-lincecums-absence-giants

it was the hip this whole time

#wishfulthinkig

team is starting to roll. not sure about sending down Josh Osich but this time they didn't have to cut someone.

oh RIP Timmy, loved what he did in his prime. the long goodbye has started.

getting schooled by the brewers

Glad the Giants are not really in the Hamels chase anymore.

they almost got him.

The Giants aimed high in their efforts to trade for an ace. Evans confirmed that talks for Cole Hamels got serious enough that the left-hander rescinded his no-trade clause to go to San Francisco before the Texas Rangers made the winning offer. The Giants then engaged the Detroit Tigers about David Price before coming up short.

damn

got Mike Leake. they have seven starters and yes needed another one.

thanks Tim Hudson.

when can we start talking about Matt Duffy?

2015 Season .310 9 HR 51 RBI .347 OBS .467 SLG

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/08/04/giants-matt-dufffy-nl-best-rookie-not-joc-pederson-kris-bryant/31116445/

poor man's jung ho kang

disagree, he has better numbers.

found more stuff, it will be interesting to see how they finish this season:

http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/nl_rookie_of_the_year_no_longer_a_two_horse_race/s1_8637_19293289

so it really was that close: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/report-cole-hamels-accepted-offer-from-giants-but-was-too-late-080715

However, behind closed doors, the Giants nearly landed Hamels, but the timing wasn't right.

According to a report from CBS Sports, Hamels accepted an offer from San Francisco contingent upon the team exercising his option for 2019, but the Phillies told the Giants that Hamels' acceptance came too late.

While the final proposed deal remains unknown, the Giants would have reportedly parted ways with catcher Andrew Susac and pitching prospect Tyler Beede in exchange for the 31-year-old ace.

matt Cain cannot get out of the fourth inning in any of his starts, may need to shut him down and hope for the best next year/

thank god Mattingly is a terrible coach. considering how bad we've been in the past week, can't believe we are just 2.5 games back.

So yeah our schedule for the next few weeks: Nats, Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs and then Cardinals again.

Yikes.

good, make or break

http://m.mlb.com/sf/video/topic/26516880/v31593825/highlighting-how-great-it-is-to-be-a-lefty

the Nationals might get buried this road trip, your welcome Mets fans.

https://amp.twimg.com/v/6ce1ec7d-06e0-418e-b3df-edc5729af154

wow haha i lol'd at the javier frisbee toss

that was fun.

Matt Duffy is having quite a rookie season:

Season PA H 2B 3B HR R RBI AVG OBP SLG WAR
2015 402 116 21 5 10 50 55 .309 .345 .471 3.4

team is starting to roll and starting to believe.

the Nationals might get buried this road trip, your welcome Mets fans.

Thanks for nothing; Mets fans only call clinching "burying."

wow haha i lol'd at the javier frisbee toss

I squeed at the Boch/Affeldt bit.

Bumgarner's line today: 3-hit shutout, 14 K, 1 walk, 112 pitches, GS of 94. Hit a home run, too.

his fourth HR of the year. they are on a roll but now have to play the Cardinals, i say bring it on.

one good thing abut having to go to work earlier is that i get to see these mid-west games live.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

I posited some time ago that Duffy has little chance to win National League Rookie of the Year because he not only had to outplay the Dodgers’ Joc Pederson and the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, he had to outperform their outsized expectations going into the season.

Done.

Duffy should be smack dab in the middle of the conversation. Heck, he should and will get Most Valuable Player votes.

I’m going to remain a little stubborn and say Bryant is still the Rookie of the Year favorite, especially if the Cubs reach the postseason. (Pederson has turned into a one-dimensional hitter who remains a homer threat every time he bats, but a strikeout machine with an average below .220).

However, Duffy is leading NL rookies in several key offensive stats that could resonate with a younger, increasingly diverse writer voting bloc.

Start with OPS+, a way of measuring a hitter’s on-base and slugging averages adjusted to his ballpark. One hundred is league average. Duffy is at 130, Bryant at 125, Pederson and 122 and the Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang at 121.

Duffy leads them all in hitting at .310 , which is seventh in the league. Bryant is at .257, Kang .288. Duffy even has crept within six home runs of Bryant’s 16. Pederson has 22.

If you want old school vs. new school in the same paragraph, Duffy is trailing Bryant in RBIs by seven, but leads him in WAR, 4.1 to 3.7. Kang is at 3.5, Pederson at 2.3.

Duffy has fewer at-bats, thanks to his spot on the bench early in the year, but he should have more than enough by season’s end to dissuade voters from using the difference against him.

Mike Leake is still on the DL so Matt Cain is still in the rotation. sometimes it just doesn't feel like it is going to be your year.

lol, Bochy used Bumgarner as his first pinch hitter off the bench in tonight's game.

yes he did single.

oh yeah he also scored, watching on delay.

i'm back on ILB, bet you all are so happy.

could have won all three games against the Cardinals. they are not at full strength but come to think about it the Giants have a lot of people out as well.

Pence to DL, Aoki activated from concussion list

well i was all happy and now the Giants are losing all these games. i knew it was not going to be easy but they have to at least start splitting series.

nah we good. survive to september is the plan.

still just two games and a half behind the Deaudgeurs.

Eddie Redmayne to play the main role Kelby Tomlinson's biopic imo

Marlon Byrd hits a homer in his first plate appearance for Giants

really? nice i just got home.

needed this win in the worst way. YES, first time to beat the Bucos this year.

pshaw

i knew ILB would be so happy that i'm back.

watching this on DVR. just found out that Bumgarner hit another home run tonight. out of this world.

not happy that the Giants optioned Chris Heston back to Triple-A.

eh i don't see a problem with it, he needs a break.

#stricklanded

I only see that dude in some national games and last year's playoffs but I feel like every time I do he's giving up extrabase hits or dingers. and yet he's only given 3 dingers this season, apparently

kangs teammates arent gesturing like bang a gong are they

for about .00000333 seconds i thought it was out for a three run homer.

breathe

"i took a walk"

Cain = done for the year.

Matt Duffy might be hurt.

NOOOOOOOO

it a start over, nice.

loved that pop double to start the game

what i have been looking for.

Clark Kent

triple, double and double and left a run out there. hope that doesn't come back to haunt them.

blood on the peaves

https://twitter.com/cespedesbbq/status/636754082493915136

A Win

we live in a mad mad madbum world

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/51231442/v418245583/chcsf-madbum-gets-out-at-first-with-a-pirouette

hey, the giants are vaguely useful

Madison Bumgarner's August: 5-0 record, 1.43 ERA, four walks, 53 strikeouts. For good measure, he hit a couple of home runs and didn’t allow one.

Matt Cain to DL, Chris Heston to come back and take his place.

glad the Giants listen to me ;-)

weird game!

yeah i know.

two top teams, has been fun thou

fuck, four nothing and now tied.

i know step away from the computer

more strangness

that ball would have been foul

could not cash in

what a play

drama

on MLB Network

huge win

the Giants needed this, not must win yet but getting close.

haha b ok

weird how i'm kinda bummed out now

only fully available to "insiders" but a big part of his case is pitch framing

http://espn.go.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/13534494/why-buster-posey-national-league-mvp-mlb

https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hBr_Fwh1g2NLPNO9pBPn52DZ2nI=/1600x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4011378/605509.0.jpg

hey, Clark Kent (but he not wearing his glasses)

anyways i hope At Bat doesn't block me tonight for the Giants vs. Dodgers game. being an DirecTv customer they block out most Dodger games, even on-line.

i love this game.

6 innings left Bee

i know, might die by then

so i died

it was Peavy's pitch so it happens.

fucking three runs on two home runs

on a brighter note, it does sound like there are a lot of Giants fans there tonight.

Source: #RedSox finalizing a trade. Presumably De Aza. Not confirmed.

COULD BE A GIANT

this game is so big for the Giants and Bochy blew it by leaving Peavy in too long. i thought at first the pitch was OK but Peavy was on fums and Bochy should have made a move.

so depressed but we got a fifth outfielder i guess...

this game is going to kill me.

Marlon Byrd has been huge in his what 10 games since he has been here.

i should just turn this game off

nite

PREPARE FOR THE ALEJANDRO DE AZA ERA

Duffy with a starred play

this was a dumb challenge

Boch thrown out twice in two games

Lincecum done for the season, I have no idea what is going to happen of him

glue factory

or maybe just someplace where he can smoke doobs and scarf peanuts in peace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPnbxn58Oxo

wow that is legit incredible

I'm guessing the first baseman clipped the ball enough to change its path, and that's why Panik overshot it?

rip

Heck of a play.

one of the strangest games of the year.

RIP

congrats to whoever will be the new champion.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/giants-reliever-jeremy-affeldt-retiring-season-173029098--mlb.html

did y'all troo believerz read his (purportedly) self-penned SI bitchfest about mean people in philly and Playing The Right Way

i like Jeremy Affeldt take on things. i think he is right and that is not because i'm a Giants fan but interesting to hear from a 14-year major leaguer.

though i hate the phrase "taking food off my table." it is shut the fuck up, admit that you just bought less toys. you had no problem eating, hate that so much.

http://www.stack.com/2015/10/29/exclusive-aubrey-huff-mounts-an-mlb-comeback-after-battling-depression-injuries-and-3-years-away-from-the-game/?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral

I feel like Huff said some offensive shit on the radio recently that made me hate him but I can't remember