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| A Justin Christian highlight. This was a good series. |
That combined with the nature of the pennant race, the utter
domination of the Giants in the most recent series, and Shane Victorino’s
existence, and this was a series you were hoping didn’t obliterate the Giants
into 2011 déjà vu. One game would suffice, two would be overly satisfying but a
sweep? I’d bet on Joaquin Arias going 3 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBIs before
that ever happened.
Oh this is just the silliest sport!
*****
Wowza that was just the best wasn’t it? If the Giants want a
blueprint for “being good at baseball”
the rest of the season, just take a long hard look at this series. It was what
the Giants have always dreamed of being. Fantastic starting pitching and timely
hitting with a touch of silky smooth defense. It’s almost like if your good a
pitching, hitting and defense you win baseball games! I did it! I found the
next baseball inefficiency! I choose Jeremy Renner to play me in the movie. We
have similar body types.
Of course, Joaquin Arias isn’t the next coming up Derek
Jeter. There were flukes in the series like anytime you have such an extreme
output of success. But it’s not like this can’t be what the Giants can be the
rest of the season. The pitching hasn’t been quite as dominant as the last few
seasons this year, but is it really that much of a stretch to say Tim Lincecum,
Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong and Madison Bumgarner can’t have a 1.5 to hopefully 2
month stretch of lights out baseball? Maybe a little given Lincecum’s struggles
and Vogelsongs subtle hints at regression. Yet that said, I could see that
happening and a series like this just makes you look to the sky and ponder the
possibility.
The Giants offense wasn’t a machine in this series. Far from
it. It’s not like this was one of those flash in that pants type series though.
Granted, the first game Clayton Kershaw Kershawed them to bed. Nothing to be
ashamed of there though. Lets look at the offensive catalyst in the series:
Angel Pagan (7 for 13) and Marco Scutaro (6 for 13). We know Angel Pagan is a
streaky hitter. Here’s his official month-month hitting analysis:
April: Bad
May: Super duper!
June: Very bad
July: Worse than very bad
August: Hot mama!
If you look throughout his whole career, month to month are
either extreme lows or extreme highs. I think it’s pretty obvious he’s in the middle
of a hot streak right now. It’s safe to say, he’ll be very good and he’ll be very bad for the rest of this season. But
if he can consistently sprinkle, maybe even frost in games like this over the
Giants offensive cake, he’s a valuable piece. Series like this shouldn’t
exactly be expected, but they shouldn’t exactly be unexpected either. Here’s to
hoping there’s more good ones than bad.
Marco Scutaro may have struggled while in Colorado, again,
in 2 out of the last 3 seasons, he’s had an OPS of at least .781. And that was
in the American League. As I continue to assume baseball players age in a
reverse Benjamin Button fashion, Scutaro is definitely declining at age 25. But
if he’s had seasons like that as recent as 2011, he obviously still has tons of
ability left in the tank. His line with the Giants so far: .337/.364/.455. The
average will go down, but it’s not especially unreasonable to think that the on
base and slugging could stay somewhere in that range, perhaps something like
:.300/.355/.420 line, which for a middle infielder is very good.
Remember, all this is happening without the real Hunter
Pence. He may have been overrated by some who thought he could single handedly save the offense when he was brought in. But he's a good hitter, probably the 3rd best hitter behind Sandoval and Posey. He'll find his groove. Maybe the Giants should travel to Disney studios and higher that Lilo girl to counsel Pence. She seems to connect with beings like him.
*****
Let’s be careful not to infer too much this series. But
golly, I’m just the jolliest lil fella right now!
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