Vogelsong is scaring people

Welp. Ryan Vogelsong still isn't right.

It was another one of those starts on Thursday against Atlanta. You know, the one where he seems kinda okay through a few innings and then Bochy leaves him in 3 hitters too long and by that time he's given up 5 or 6 runs, and then he gets chainsaw angry, but it's too late, and we can't come back that one night?

*Big inhale after run-on sentence*

Yeah, it was another one of those starts for Vogey, who is beginning to scare people.

Forget Cain scaring people, and Lincecum doesn't surprise anyone anymore with whatever he does that day. Vogey is a huge part of this rotation, and it's hard to say whether he'll be able to recover.

I don't know whether to blame this on arm fatigue, pitching too many innings in the World Baseball Classic instead of easing into Spring Training, or whether he's just 35 years old and is having trouble locating his pitches. What I know, is that he's floating meatballs up there, and the carnivores in the batter's box are having their way with him.

He's now given up 9 dingers, has the worst ERA of all starting pitchers, and Hank Schulman offered another ugly stat as well:

"For the season, opponents are hitting .500 against him without a single strikeout in the fifth. He has allowed 16 of his 36 runs in that inning."

Sometimes players just get off to slow starts, and it happens to the best of them sometimes. However, Vogey's troubles at the end of last season were forgotten after he managed to get himself together for a nearly perfect postseason. Sad to say, but it's been a downward trend.

We can discount this as a slow start, or we can say, "Hey, something's not right here."

Something is certainly not right, and if I were to guess, it would be some sort of arm trouble-- perhaps arm fatigue due to age and miles, or perhaps something more sinister and latent like an injury of some sort. But that's just speculation by an idiot blogger.

Vogey is the type of competitor that would rather die than admit that something is wrong, and we all know he'll fight to the end, like the dogged gladiator he is. His story of perseverance is part of the reason he's so endeared himself to the Giants faithful.

Don't look at this table if you don't want to puke/cry. (Click to enlarge)

But alas, we're in this to win games and win championships, and despite the fact Lincecum and Cain have been inconsistent thus far, Vogelsong remains the number one concern of the rotation. His 70 baserunners in 39.1 innings and only 1 quality start out of 7 outings stick out like two sore thumbs. It's also scary that opponents are hitting nearly .370 on balls hit in play.

That .370 number is so high, that it suggests some degree of bad luck at play, but when you actually watch the hits being allowed, most are no doubters. It's very disheartening.

Should he have a start skipped? Probably.

But if we know Bruce Bochy (and we do), he's going to give his veterans enough rope to hang themselves (Lincecum anyone?), with enough left over to take the remaining rope and wrap it around their entire bodies so they can keep warm.

We'll see how it all shakes out, but with few (if any) rotational options in Fresno or in the bullpen, Vogelsong will need to dig himself out of this hole as soon as possible and begin to locate his pitches. If he can't, more drastic moves may need to be taken, and none of us want it to come to that.

Get well soon, Vogelstrong.

Time for Giants to talk contract with Hunter Pence

Hunter Belushi

 You hear it all the time. You'll never see a guy do things quite like Hunter Pence. Hell, even Hunter himself said as much after being traded to the Giants at the deadline last season.

“I have to be honest. Every now and then, I do things that you don’t see very often.”

Everything from his lumber-chopping practice swings, to his fidgety wiggling in the batter's box, to his crazy eyes and spirit-inspiring speeches; Hunter Pence is one of a kind.

Like Pence, the Giants themselves are one of a kind. Their maddening style of play and uniqueness is a reflection of the city they play in-- a place I'd certainly call maddening and unique in its own right.

Nothing against Houston and Philadelphia, but Hunter Pence belongs here.

He belongs here because of his crazy ways and his crazy eyes. The fact that he rides a go-ped to the ballpark just seals the deal. Oh yeah, and he's a good baseball player.

"He's all out, and he's contagious." as Bruce Bochy put it after Wednesday's walkoff win against Philly in which Pence clubbed his 7th HR.


Last season after being traded, Pence struggled with his stroke a bit, but made up for it in a myriad of ways-- the aforementioned inspirational speeches and timeless weirdness like that triple hit broken bat Texas leaguer against St. Louis.

This year is another story. He's been arguably the team's best hitter this year, if not a close second to the .320 hitting Pablo Sandoval.

There's something very timely about Pence's hitting this year. It's not always situational success or crazy clutch, but if no one else is doing much of
anything, he seems to be the guy to rely on.

Obviously, it's early May, so there's no guarantees, but you have to be thrilled with Pence's 7 HRs and 22 RBIs to go along with an average hovering around .290 and an OPS around .825. Not just that, but he has increased his percentage of line drives by 5%, he's playing a righteous right field and is 5 for 5 in stolen base attempts (which equals his 2012 total).

The man once heckled by a Giants fan as "Bird Legs" as a member of the opposition, Pence's defense has perhaps entertained and impressed me most. As with everything else we see from Pence, his throwing motion is a bizarre, side-winding body heave that people just don't run on. He covers a ton of ground for a guy his size, and has learned to properly play balls off the right field archways and how to safely pursue foul balls near the bullpen mounds.

For you Saberjerks out there that need some sort of bizarre, contrived formula to satisfy your question about Pence's defense other than his 1 error or .988 fielding %, he's got a career high +3.7 UZR going. OKAY? 3.7!

To me, it's safe to give "Ol' Bird Legs" the ultra rare label of Five Tool Player.

Long story short is that Hunter Pence needs to remain a Giant for the foreseeable future. Not just for his personality, well-documented and impressive work ethic, and hot start. It's a significant factor in this situation that he genuinely loves it here. He feels like he can be himself, he loves the fans, and for God's sake, he hits well at AT&T Park. He's hitting a full 60 points higher in San Francisco (.318 vs.258 ) with 4 dongs (vs. 3) in San Francisco this season.

As for money, you have to expect that he's not going to be taking any paycuts-- as he shouldn't. The notion of a "hometown discount" won't exist here, but since the guy wants to stay here and buy some real estate, I don't think an in-season contract extension is out of the question.

It seems to be the new trend that guys don't want to "negotiate in season" to "avoid distraction". That to me is BS, and it's a politically correct excuse to be wined & dined following the year to get the biggest offer from the other 29 teams. That's fine, but for guys like Pence, that's not going to be an issue.

Just so we know where we are with Pence, the talks probably have to start at 4yr/$60MM and could go up a bit from there. If you look at the deal Pagan got (4yr/$40MM), you'd have to say Hunter is worth more than that. Keep in mind as well that he's making $13.8MM this year in the final year of arbitration.

As far as potential OF competition for Pence in free agency next year, the crop is deeper than usual.The likes of Nelson Cruz, Curtis Granderson, Jason Kubel, Shin-Soo Choo, and Carlos Beltran are all expected to be available. This will likely play in the Giants' favor, and if the conversation begins at that 4yr/$60MM figure, Pence would be remiss if he didn't try to get a deal done.

Let's hope we see UnderPence's googly eyes under that black Giants hat for years to come. Godspeed Sabean.

Demoting Hector Sanchez clearly the right move for Giants

I really need to start writing these posts when the ideas pop into my head. If I had, maybe I'd have beaten the Giants to the punch when they sent Hector Sanchez down to Fresno. Luckily, I use Twitter as an extension of my brain's thoughts. Unlike my brain, Twitter comes with a time and date stamp:

I wonder sometimes if Hector Sanchez should go back to Fresno to get regular ABs. He's just not realizing his potential.
— Dan Pera (@TheDodgerhater) May 2, 2013

But in all seriousness, "Hacktor" as he was beginning to be called, had to go.

You don't ask for a ton out of your backup catchers, you really don't. You're expected to catch once a week, hit .225, and play good defense. Sometimes, give the team a good AB in a pinch hit role. The Giants just weren't getting that out of Sanchy, and this team needed more than they were getting.

Sanchez started 48 games behind the dish in 2012-- primarily serving as Tim Lincecum's battered battery mate. He served a purpose, spelling Buster from the abuse once a week. But there was something about Sanchez's general lame performance in particular that seemed to go unnoticed by most fans-- including your's truly.

How his lack of production, and shaky defense managed to stay out from under the microscope as much as it did is just beyond me.But it did.

I guess you see the numbers and just don't think much of them, because "Oh he's a backup" and "Oh he'll get it going eventually". But... he never has.

Wanna hear my theory? I think Sanchez escaped the scrutiny that so many other Giants' players receive because he DID catch Lincecum in nearly every start. If Lincecum is starting, no one is paying attention to the guy in the mask trying to block balls in the dirt. Furthermore, when Lincecum, the spectacle that he is, started to give up his inevitable runs as he did in 2012, that was the story-- not your young backup catcher taking bad situational at bats. Nice distraction huh?

This isn't meant to be a piece tearing down a young player or ripping a guy beyond recognition, it's simply a long overdue acknowledgement of poor performance.

Look, Hector Sanchez has talent. He's only 23 years old, he's a switch hitter, and he does have some potential with the bat. We've seen small, random flashes of it from him, but they were just too few and far between.

It's unfortunate for Sanchy, because he was probably promoted too soon in retrospect. He clearly needs to play every day and get regular at bats, and it just isn't going to happen with the Giants... period. His best hope in all honesty is to take this kick in the ass of a demotion, work hard in AAA and become a desirable trade piece for the Giants in July for a team looking for young catching capable of playing for cheap in the majors.

He has his work cut out for him, because everything but his batting average was just plain mediocre. Somehow he managed to carve out a .280 average last year, which is clearly good, but sometimes average doesn't tell the story.

In 227 plate appearances last year, Hacktor managed only 18 extra base hits (3 HR, 15 2B), and struck out a crazy 52 times compared to only 5 walks. Yes, 52:5 ratio. It all adds up to a .685 OPS, which is just plain lame for anyone, let alone a guy somehow pumped up to be more. His slow start this year was just kind of the last straw.

With the emergence of Guillermo Quiroz, whom I lovingly refer to as "Quiznos", Sanchez has become expendable in more ways than one.

And how can you not love Quiznos? That walkoff HR against LA was just amazing, and his interview with Amy G afterward was just beyond endearing (I know, I know, I'm getting soft). But seriously...

"I get here early every day... I work hard. I do my weights. I my hitting... just ready for that opportunity, and try to take advantage of it any way I can. I feel humble to be here." -- Quiznos

Now THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is a class act, and a guy I want on my team.




He's obviously well-liked, and he obviously cares more than a lot of the guys in the league that have infinitely more ability. It's a good story, and it will buy him a lot of good will from Giants fans-- even if he only hits that .225 and plays once a week expected a backup catcher.

Hey, in the end Quiznos is better than Subway anyway...

Giants dying to put it together

It's pretty clear to this guy that the 2013 Giants are another crazy squad full of comebacks and torture. There's just something in the water over at the Cove that makes this team simultaneously maddening and magical.

We're still in April, so that's why no one should be freaking out. We've seen this team go through pretty bad stretches of baseball en route to World Series Championships, and this is certainly close to being one of them.

Is it a frustrating stretch? Oh yeah. Blowing leads, coming back, and blowing them again really grinds everyones' gears. WTF is up with the bullpen? The Giants could and should be another 4 or 5 games up in the win column by my count, but you just have to remember that they have another 5 months to make the playoffs and get their shit together.

What I've learned after years of baseball is that you want your team to peak at the right time, because it means everything. I look at a team like the Atlanta Braves right now, who look pretty good... but it's April 29th, and we've won two championships peaking in late October. That's what it's about.


Cainer and Vogey. What's up?

Bafflingly bad performances by guys like Cain and Vogelsong are starting to concern a lot of people. I don't think it's time to freak out on Cain... I'm resisting the urge.

He's got an ERA damn near 7.00, but a truly respectable WHIP at 1.26, he's striking out guys at a higher rate than ever, and he's got the lowest BB/9 rate going of his career in the early going. So what's the problem?

Well, you know already... it's the longball.

Cain has already given up 6 HR this season (Vogelsong 7), and you've gotta hope that this trend slows down, or it's going to be a tough season.

While Vogelsong looks like he's in deeper mechanical trouble than Cain, he only gave up 17 roundtrippers in 2012, while Cain gave up 21. Disturbing about that 21 is that it was an increase of 12 (!!!) over 2011 when Cain only allowed 9 longballs.

Cain's fastball velocity isn't down, and the only real variance between '13 and '12 is that he's relying on his fastball a little bit more than his change and curve. 

The big numbers that jump out at you are Cain's HR/flyball ratio, which is double the 2012 value at 16.2%. It's a scary number, but it's probably something that he can correct as the season moves along. His velocity and overall pitching approach haven't changed, he's just thrown some lousy pitches up there that have gotten crushed. Correct that somehow, and he's back to the good Cain. Easier said that done.

Vogey on the other hand, is a bit more concerning. He'll look great for stretches of games, and then he just gets bombed a couple times. Unlike Cain, Vogey has seen an average drop of about one mile/hr on his fastball and slider.

His K/9 BB/9 and K/BB ratios are all in line with his career averages, but just like Cainer, that HR/Flyball ratio is absolutely brutal at 19.4% (+11% over '12).

Gentlemen? Keep the ball down.


Crawdaddy the All-Star?    

It could happen.

Remember the crazy all-star balloting last year when Giants fans went nuts (within the rules!) and nearly voted in the entire starting lineup? Well as I recall, Brandon Crawford came in 2nd or 3rd in the balloting. Obviously nuts, and anyone that considers themselves a true baseball fan shouldn't have voted for him once last season. He should've gotten 2 votes: one from his mother, and one from his wife. His own dad probably wouldn't have voted for him.

This year however, he's absolutely tearing it up. 

Along with gold glove caliber defense, we're getting an unreal slash line of .291/.361/.547 (OPS .907). Just so you can see how awesome that is, let me show you some other guys' OPS numbers:

Miguel Cabrera      .992
Paul Goldschmidt   .922 
Brandon Crawford .907 
Matt Kemp            .668 (ahahahhahahahahah)

So look, he's not just off to a good start, he's off to an amazing start. For a guy we begged to hit better than his weight for an average (.215+), he's showing us all that he is capable of great things.

Will he continue this tear? Unlikely. But he is clearly developing the elusive power stroke that we've seen random flashes of. He's maturing and becoming more disciplined. He's walking more, swinging at balls outside the strike zone less, and when he does swing at strikes, he's crushing them.

He has basically been the 2nd/3rd best NL shortstop thus far (behind Tulowitzki and Jean Segura... matter of opinion), and if he keeps this up, our crazy fan voters won't be wrong if he wins.


Marco! Marco??? Hey, why isn't he saying Scutaro??? 

Some people just get off to lousy starts, and I'm inclined to believe that this is the case with ol' Scoots. He's too good a hitter to scrap for that much longer.

You had to know you weren't getting the .362 hitter we saw last year after the trade. You tell yourself that and try not to get excited, but hey, we expected .300 or something, right?

There's rumblings that his back is bothering him, but we haven't really gotten a good answer. He's been a little dinged up since Spring, but we were led to believe he's healthy.

Whether he's in a funk or he's hurt, it's time for him to A) Get days off and let Nick Noonan play or B) Switch with Brandon Crawford in the order, so we can have a productive bat hitting in the no. 2 hole. This whole hitting .215 thing isn't going to fly.    
   

Drawn out ceremonies, Timmy & Hector, St. Louis, & other early observations

Well, it's been a few games now, and we've gotten to know our 2013 Giants a little better. Sure, they're almost the same team as last year, but every year is different. Guys get better, guys regress, and you just never know how things will shake out. Here's what I've seen so far:

-- Starting pitching has been a little up and down. Cain had one great start against LA, then gave up a historic 9 ER against St. Louis. Timmy won a game while walking 7. Bumgarner was a monster against the Dodgers and was a little shaky against Colorado. Vogelsong got lit up pretty badly.

The only guy with an unblemished statline thus far is Barry Zito, who apparently now owns the Cardinals. Let's hope this dominant Zito sticks around all year.

...Speaking of the Cardinals and our home opening series...

-- They got a little revenge for last season's NLCS. Believe me, these fans and that team are still bitter at their collapse, and they immediately got subjected to a three game, pre-game lovefest the likes unseen by Major League Baseball.

There's been some talk about the three ceremonies and how they were a little much. I agree.

Three days of flag raising, Buster, and an extended ring ceremony is deserved, but a little much when they last 20-30 minutes apiece and delay the beginning of the game. Again, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy every second of  it and that I didn't tear up when they raised that championship flag, but I wouldn't want the Giants to get stuck with another team's home opening series and 3 extravagant ceremonies in a row.

I feel like the flag-raising and the ring ceremony could've all been on the same day (Friday) and that Buster's MVP ceremony could've been pushed back to the Rockies series or on Sunday. Just my opinion.

-- Interesting factoid: The Cardinals also were at AT&T Park in 2011 for the Giants home opening series in which they watched the Giants ring ceremony. And then won the WS themselves in '11.

-- The Dodgers still suck. They've got all kinds of fancy toys that will cost them an arm and a leg for years, and the only one worth a damn is Clayton Kershaw, who they haven't even paid yet. Pathetic.

-- I like Chad Gaudin. He's looked good thus far. Andres Torres on the other hand...

-- There's still a "thing" between Timmy and Buster, whether anyone in the Giants' clubhouse wants to admit it or not. Sanchez caught Lincecum in his 1st two starts, and this brilliant Baseball Prospectus article (which you need to read) basically breaks down how and why Hector Sanchez is an unacceptable catcher thus far in his young career, especially for Lincecum. A lot of it has to do with framing, but the thing that gets me is that Buster has to sit or displace Belty in order for this to happen.

All this why there's a 3rd catcher named Quiznos sitting on the bench, useless.to the world and to himself. He should be getting reps in the minors.

Whether Bochy just wants to avoid Buster getting beaten up by crazy breaking pitches in the dirt, or whether Lincecum just can't handle being told what to do, this thing is detrimental to both the Giants' offense and defense.

I think a lot of us have this feeling that Hector Sanchez can hit, and he's still just a baby, but the fact remains that he hit .280 last year, but had a .685 OPS to go along with it. That's like backup middle infielder territory...

-- Brian Wilson didn't respond to the Giants' invitation to be included in the ring ceremony. That was the final nail in the coffin to his career in with the Orange & Black. It was immature and unacceptable. We loved that weirdo and he'll never be as happy with anyone else as he was here. If he wasn't so obsessed with himself, he'd have signed a minor league deal with the Giants and pitched his way back into a setup role. Instead, he made it about him, and still thinks that despite the fact he isn't capable of pitching, that he should be offered guaranteed millions. Good luck Wilson. I won't even call you Weez anymore.

It was nice while it lasted... all two years of it.

-- Speaking of which, where was Barry Bonds on Buster's MVP Day? For as much controversy as his name conjures up, he should've still been there. Jeff Kent, might have been a great Giant,but he also played for the effing Dodgers willingly-- Bonds never did that. Who better to give a keynote MVP speech to Buster than a guy who won 7 of them and lost an 8th to Jeff Kent.

I know he's a salty bastard and he has outstanding legal issues, but the Giants give rings to Kruk and Kuip and bring back Gaylord Perry all the time. Bonds deserves to be there. He built that ballpark and paved the way for these two Championships.

-- The Giants need to start their own division of eBay for highly sought-after giveaways like the Buster bobblehead. Nevermind the fact that they were giving away 40k of them, there will still morons lined up for LITERALLY a mile down the Embarcadero before the gates were opened. All for a bobblehead.

Crazier still was that there were sleaze merchants with garbage bags waiting inside the gates offering everyone $15-$20 for their bobbleheads. Last time I checked, they were going for $40-$50 on eBay. Just crazy.

Buster is protecting my flavored booze section now.

-- Stay hot Hunter Pence, catch fire Marco Scutaro... pretty self-explanatory, Pence has been a monst, and Scoots doesn't look comfortable at all. Also, Pagan is off to a hot start, giving me plenty of opportunities to use my #PaganWorship hashtag on Twitter.

Remember to read this Baseball Prospectus article about Timmy and Hector.

Lincecum... oh Lincecum, what do we do with you?

If there's one thing I love about our fans is that they're loyal. Case and point, our undying love for Barry Bonds amid a sea of hatred by the rest of America.

We love our role players, our bullpen guys, and everyone in between (unless they're terrible of course).

Even me, The Dodgerhater, the mean guy that I am, feel pangs of sadness to see guys like Eli Whiteside leave our organization and bounce around.

If I feel that way about a light-hitting backup catcher whose highlights were his HR off Roy Halladay off the foul pole that one time, his eagerness to fight the Dodgers, his gray hair, and his Led Zeppelin entrance song, imagine how hard it is for me to watch our former ace, Tim Lincecum struggle so badly.

The tide is beginning to shift a bit when it comes to Timmeh.

More and more fans are losing confidence in our once unstoppable whirling dervish-- despite his past success and his forever-cemented place in our hearts.

The truth of the matter is that he was the worst starting pitcher in baseball in 2012. Barry Zito was better... and that is crazy.

Believe me, I remember his incredible performance out of the 'pen in the 2012 Playoffs en route to our second title in three years. It's hard to forget.

But the fact remains that he is not the same pitcher he was pre 2012, and I don't think he ever will be.

You can talk about the lost velocity, you can talk about dope smoking, his small frame, and everything in between. The fact remains that he has just not adjusted adequately to his diminished abilities and learned how to pitch. Sounds crazy, but he could learn a lot from Zito.

He still has swing and miss breaking stuff, and that really hasn't dissipated. It's the fact that now his fastball and changeup are too similar in velocity and that he hasn't learned yet how to pitch to contact and to keep the ball down.

The percentage of line drives allowed in 2012 was the 7th highest in the league last year, almost 24% of all contact, and of that contact, hitters were taking home a robust .309 average.

That sort of thing is going to get runs scored against you more times than not.

I can't help but be overly concerned about Timmy because of all this, especially because he's had an awful spring-- just as he did last spring. He's just not showing me many signs of improvement, and it scares me.

With all that said, I truly hope as a fan of the Giants and of Timmy, that he figures out how to locate and to pitch to "good" contact. If he doesn't, I fear that we can expect more of the same from Timmy in 2013, and that the talk radio circuit will have plenty to discuss.

We managed to win another title in spite of Timmy's regular season performance last year, but with his bullpen performance in the playoffs. If he struggles badly this year well into May and June, it's absolutely time to put him back in the bullpen and find a body to plug into the rotation. There's also the remote possibility that he could be dealt at the trade deadline. His contract is up, and he's pitching for his livelihood. If there's one year people have career years, it's usually in a walk year.

All this crap is purely speculation on my part, but we'd all be remiss if we didn't consider these outcomes. Unfortunately, all signs point to another poor season. Let's hope I'm wrong, because I'd love to see The Freak back to good form, just like you do.

Posey's new deal a bargain

A day later, it's sinking in. I almost feel relieved and at peace, as if the news of Buster's new megadeal somehow alleviated some of life's other stresses.

It also renews the faith that I have in the Giants organization. They're clearly committed to winning, have drafted and developed quality players with quality character, and those players want to continue winning in front of the best fans in baseball (sorry Cardinals fans...).

Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it won't hamstring the Giants into the future. Cain and Bumgarner are locked up for years and years, and while all three of our core Southerners are going to be accounting for a large chunk of cash moving forward, the dead/half-dead money of Lincecum and Zito respectively will be coming off the books after this year.

There's that, and the fact that we've won 2 in 3, in addition to AT&T Park being paid off soon. The Giants are making money hand over fist, and there's nothing to worry about.

Things are good in Giantland, that's for sure.

If you look at the next 9 years, Buster will be making an average of $18.55MM a year. A lot of money for any position player, but as we know, this isn't just any position player. If you're reading this, I don't need to sell you on Buster Posey and what he means to this lineup, this pitching staff, and this city.

The closest example to what I just mentioned is Joe Mauer, who signed his own megadeal a few years ago. Just to compare:

Mauer: 8 years, $184MM ($23MM/yr)
Posey: 9 years, $167MM ($18.5MM/yr)

I love Joe Mauer, who was also an MVP in his own right, but he's not worth close to what he's making. To be fair, the Twins locked up their St. Paul hometown hero with the Yankees and Red Sox lurking in impending free agency, so that upped the ante a bit. Still, Mauer may never have another 20 HR season again, and I'm pretty sure we can consider 20-30 dingers for Buster a lock.

As for the issue that seems to constantly come up: how long until Buster isn't a catcher anymore?

I honestly don't understand why this is constantly coming up. He's 26, not 34. He wasn't a catcher until like 5 years ago, so despite his injury a couple years ago, he's still built to last.

Couple that with the fact that he only started 111 games at catcher in 2012 (29 at 1B, the rest at DH), I feel like the Giants are taking care of their golden goose pretty well.

Now, with the potential emergence of Brandon Belt, there may not be as many opportunities to play 1B as there were in 2012 for Buster to "take days off". That may be an issue. However, the sprinkling in of AL roadtrips throughout the season allows for Buster to take some DH days to stay fresh at seemingly random times.

I think at some point, the Giants should look into making Buster into a 3B, but let's wait on it people. We're not talking about someone who's breaking down or has 10 years of catching on his knee odometer. This isn't frickin Albert Pujols. He's still a spring chicken, and we need not worry about such things right now.

Just relax and enjoy another season with one of the game's best talents-- another season of many to come.