Recap: San Francisco opened the season looking just as much of a contender as anyone else, the veteran presence in an NL West race with two young clubs also duking it out. Then August hit - a 7-24 month that them all the way to 64-69 and in 4th place as of September 1. Somehow they kept on losing, finishing the season 9-21. As an aside, as an OOTPer I am pretty positive that I've never seen a divebomb like this in my life. Like, I've seen bad teams have consecutive terrible months but if I saw a contender go 16-45 in its final two months I think I'd remember it, and I do not. I don't even know of a single reason why they just started to suck, although in fairness maybe we'll figure it out during the recap. One thing I see immediately: in spite of finishing 5th in the NL in overall ERA (3.66), they were 2nd-worst in HRs allowed (167) and it seems like all they did in August especially was give up dingers.
History: Tne Giants came into the season as the NL bridesmaids to the rival Dodgers. Unlike LA, they seemed not quite ready to rebuild, finishing 91-71 and 87-75 in the last two seasons (I guess the Dodgers were/are unwilling to rebuild either; rebuilding just kind of happened to them). The last time they were under .500 was 1963 and the last time they finished worse than this was... never. They're percentage points away from the difference (they were 70-84 in 1959, also their 2nd year in San Francisco) but in fact this was the Giants organization's worst year in modern history.
Outlook: Well, they're probably not going to continue at that last-two-months pace and finish with 110 losses. They're way too talented for that. It's kind of hard to see them climbing out of this and winning 85+ again, however.
Rotation
Code:
Pitching Age BT W L WL % ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9
Stuckey, Mike 29 RR 13 18 .419 3.31 37 37 0 12 3 0 285.2 268 112 105 22 68 3 201 1.176 8.4 0.7 2.1 6.3
Rivera, Robert 30 LL 12 19 .387 3.37 35 35 0 14 4 0 267.0 255 114 100 32 45 1 192 1.124 8.6 1.1 1.5 6.5
Holm, Roy 34 LL 7 10 .000 3.77 22 22 0 3 1 0 162.1 146 83 68 18 71 2 165 1.0 3.9 9.1
Williams, Sam 26 LL 7 11 .389 5.21 25 18 4 1 0 0 124.1 120 76 72 28 63 2 93 1.472 8.7 2.0 4.6 6.7
Ballard, Dan 35 LL 8 5 .615 3.01 14 14 0 5 1 0 98.2 86 38 33 9 28 1 59 1.155 7.8 0.8 2.6 5.4
Sanders, Jason 30 RR 6 3 .667 3.07 10 10 0 2 1 0 76.1 70 28 26 3 29 0 56 1.297 8.3 0.4 3.4 6.6
Mike Stuckey led the league in ERA in 1968 but that number has climbed each of the last two seasons as hasn't been able to keep the ball down the last two years nearly as well as he did during the Year of the Pitcher. Still, that 13-18 record isn't all his fault; he had 8 tough losses mixed in there and the team rallied late to win 5 of his 6 no-decisions, so there's some kind of bad luck mojo mixed in there. On the other hand, he tried to carry the team on his back and wound up doing the opposite during that August/September swoon, finishing the year 0-11, 4.53. Clearly out of gas in the final month, his K rate dipped to 4.1/9.
Dan Ballard, as the prospective #2, came from the Yankees just after the All-Star Break in a trade of broken starters. San Francisco had grown tired of Roy Holm'a all or nothing approach and decided to take their chances with Ballard instead. He rewarded them by being just about the only pitcher to not fall apart down the stretch, cutting his ERA almost in half in SF (from a 5.01 mark in New York). Ballard was never a strikeout guy even in his prime but he showed signs of being the same pitcher he was from 1967-8, when he went 27-19 with a sub-3 ERA for a World Series contender.
Robert Rivera was so good as of mid-July - 9-7, 2.65 - that he won his 4th trip to the All-Star Game. Then he had an even worse 2nd half than Stuckey - 1-5, 5.82 in August, 2-4, 3.66 in September/October - that he led all of baseball in losses. The prime culprint in August was homers: he gave up 8 over 38.2 innings in that month alone. However, even after he got the gophers under control, he just kept on losing and now might be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
Whether the Giants go in with a 4 man rotation really depends on what they think of their own chances. Mexican League vet
Bill Wilson is probably their surest thing in terms of talent, but he's 33 years old and had an underwater BB/K ratio last season and like so many other pitchers on this roster struggled with the longball. Speaking of problems iwth the longball,
Scott Morelli does a lot of things that scouts love: his always fine control was really on point last year (well, kind of) and he had a K/BB ratio of better than 4:1. On the other hand... he gave up 16 HRs in only 51.2 innings, including 10 in 29.2 as a starter. He's still only 25 so those issues could conceivably be fixable.
Randy Nixon is a dark horse whose chances at making the rotation revolve around the fact that, whatever his other issues with wildness (10 WPs and 4.2 BB/9 in AAA Phoenix), homeruns are not among them, as he allowed a relatively tame 12 in 226.2 minor league innings in the Arizona sun.
Bullpen
Code:
Pitching Age BT W L WL % ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9
Booth, John 34 LL 4 6 .400 2.50 53 0 47 0 0 21 72.0 58 24 20 6 25 1 32 1.153 7.3 0.7 3.1 4.0
Roman, Henry 27 LL 4 1 .800 2.34 49 1 28 0 0 5 69.1 61 18 18 6 32 1 44 1.341 7.9 0.8 4.2 5.7
Paucar, Cesar 35 RR 1 2 .333 4.08 36 0 13 0 0 0 46.1 50 23 21 2 18 0 25 1.468 9.7 0.4 3.5 4.9
Wilson, Bill 34 LL 5 7 .417 3.82 29 11 9 2 2 0 101.1 107 50 43 15 49 0 47 1.539 9.5 1.3 4.4 4.2
Morelli, Scott 25 RR 3 3 .500 6.27 17 6 4 1 1 0 51.2 62 36 36 16 7 0 30 1.335 10.8 2.8 1.2 5.2
Cummings, Andy 26 RR 1 1 .500 5.03 7 5 1 0 0 0 34.0 40 19 19 2 14 0 16 1.588 10.6 0.5 3.7 4.2
Thompson, A.J. 21 RR 0 2 .000 5.68 3 3 0 0 0 0 19.0 26 12 12 1 15 1 7 2.158 12.3 0.5 7.1 3.3
Goltry, Mike 28 RR 0 0 .000 4.30 11 0 5 0 0 0 14.2 15 9 7 3 9 0 8 1.636 9.2 1.8 5.5 4.9
Bailey, Matt 24 RR 0 1 .000 1.88 10 0 3 0 0 1 14.1 10 3 3 1 9 0 9 1.326 6.3 0.6 5.7 5.7
Sandoval, Jordan 29 RR 1 0 1.000 6.23 7 0 2 0 0 1 8.2 13 7 6 3 2 0 8 1.731 13.5 3.1 2.1 8.3
Nies, Chad 26 LL 1 0 1.000 3.00 5 0 5 0 0 1 6.0 2 2 2 0 6 0 4 1.333 3.0 0.0 9.0 6.0
Jordan, David 24 LL 0 0 .000 0.00 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.0
John Booth, aka the Assassin, is one point of evidence as to why the team faltered. Not Booth himself; he was great. It's that when he went down with shoulder inflammation in early August, it left the Giants with a massive hole in the bullpen.
Henry Roman, the former Padres stopper, was at least superficially good, although his peripheral numbers suggest he was more or less average, but it seemed like the entire rest of the bullpen was unable to hold leads. Virtually everyone, then, is on notice going into 1971, from lefty
Sam Williams, who, counter to the "better in relief than as a starter" mantra you so commonly hear, gave up HRs at the same rate out of the bullpen (1.8 HR/9) as he did as a starter (1.9), to journeyman
Cesar Paucar, who proved to be good at not giving up HRs and practically nothing else.
Catcher
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Campbell, Chris 31 RR 112 356 40 83 8 2 4 30 60 84 0 0 10 .233 .340 .301 2*
Adame, Edwin 35 SR 53 141 11 27 7 0 3 12 12 27 0 0 5 .191 .253 .305 2
Ronchetti, Felipe 26 RR 11 39 7 11 2 0 0 1 7 5 0 0 0 .282 .404 .333 2
Eveler, John 24 SR 9 15 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 4 0 0 1 .133 .316 .133 /2
Chris Campbell went from part-time starter in AA Pittsfield (which I guess TBF was the Red Sox' highest level at the time) (on the other hand, that stadium is semi-famous for home plate facing the wrong direction) to a full-timer in San Francisco over the course of 2 years. He did... fine, probably better than expected, really, although the lack of power doesn't inspire a lot of enthusiasm. Still, he's a capable receiver and that has a lot of value. Late in the year the Giants DFA'd
Edwin Adame to give
Felipe Ronchetti a chance to show his worth. He's likely not the COTF but, like Campbell, he's more or less good enough for now.
Infield
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Everhart, John 35 RR 123 433 66 113 19 2 23 80 88 75 0 0 10 .261 .384 .473 37
Seek, Chris 26 RR 90 276 23 79 13 1 3 38 22 39 0 0 10 .286 .343 .373 3
Turner, Bobby 24 LL 65 137 18 37 4 2 4 20 18 18 0 1 4 .270 .350 .416 3/7
Castillo, Ignacio 39 LR 46 50 6 7 2 0 1 4 7 4 0 0 1 .140 .250 .240 /39
Heyen, Bill 27 RR 144 589 75 151 16 8 0 40 44 84 10 8 10 .256 .313 .311 4*
Juarez, Rodrigo 23 RR 15 57 5 11 2 0 4 10 14 14 0 1 2 .193 .347 .439 4
Mock, Tim 29 RR 124 487 45 126 21 0 10 74 21 63 8 2 13 .259 .285 .363 5*
Jersey, Ryan 25 RR 57 158 15 40 13 0 3 19 22 30 1 1 10 .253 .341 .392 5/3
Krupenski, Armando 25 RR 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 .000 .286 .000 /5
Villafana, Marco 24 RR 3 6 3 4 1 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 .667 .667 1.333 /5
Kojima, Masayuki 32 LR 51 157 11 30 7 1 2 14 27 31 0 0 2 .191 .316 .287 6/4
Guevara, Mario 39 RR 58 176 20 41 4 1 6 25 11 41 0 0 4 .233 .277 .369 6/4
Sanchez, Mario 22 RR 37 133 13 32 5 2 2 9 15 25 0 0 1 .241 .318 .353 6/4
Dowler, Ben 32 RR 37 111 7 25 4 0 0 4 8 27 1 0 5 .225 .277 .261 6
Luper, Jimmy 27 RR 7 8 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 .375 .375 .375 /6
At this point in his career
John Everhart should probably just play first base but nevertheless the Giants shuttled him between there and left field all season long. He can still move just enough to play first but, while he's not quite a statue in left, his lack of speed out there is beginning to become evident. One of the guys who split time there,
Bobby Turner, looks significantly more adequate in left, although he's more of a "prospect" prospect who looks like he'll mature into... .270/10/71, which are numbers he put up in AA in 1969, look about right. There's also the question of where to put
Chris Seek, who followed up a .334/7/47 half-season in Phoenix last year with some timely hits in the major leagues. He was also on the staff while the Giants melted down and his lack of power plays a whole lot better when you think he's a .330 hitter than if you think he's a .280 guy. For now, he looks more like a pinch-hitting specialist if not the AAA first baseman but we'll see.
Bill Heyen is in the lineup every day (his 144 games last year was his lowest total since his rookie year in 1966 but that's because San Francisco sat him for much of September in favor of trying out
Rodrigo Juarez) and is a fine second baseman, good enough to win the Gold Glove in 1969. The Giants are still sour on him because he hits in the .250s and it's an empty .250ish average at that - no power, not a lot of walks or bat control, and even when he gets on base he steals at barely over a 50% clip. One can see why they want someone new. Juarez is as likely as anyone in the organization to be that guy. He rose 3 levels last year, including a 190 at-bat stretch in AAA where he hit .289 with nice power (7 HRs) and all in all belted 22 HRs on the season.
Last off-season the Giants traded long-time 3B Nick Hawkinson to the Mets in exchange for
Tim Mock, hoping that the 29 year old would become their new long-time 3B. For a while, Mock looked like that guy, opening with a .308/5/21 April. The power looked nice; what the Giants didn't know was that he'd already hit half of his HRs for the season. By the end of the year, they were disillusioned enough with the lack of hitting and bad hands (22 errors for a .928 FA) to give
Ryan Jersey an extended trial. He wasn't exactly a world-beater himself but he's young enough to mature into a league average third sacker.
Shortstop was a big mess. The man listed as the primary starter,
Masayuki Kojima, was all kinds of bad, not only as a hitter but as a fielder, he proved to be merely adequate. The 1969 6th round pick
Mario Sanchez seems to have the inside track for the job in 1971. He's a converted second baseman and although his arm looks fine, it's unlikely he'll ever be a defensive wizard himself. He can at least hit like something close to major league level. Another factor here is
Ben Dowler. Dowler's too old to get the job - right? - but out of all of these guys, he's the one with the plus defense.
Outfield
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Cooper, Barry 27 LR 158 653 95 208 35 7 8 62 45 39 29 21 3 .319 .361 .430 79
Augspurger, Kenny 28 LL 16 17 2 3 1 0 0 2 5 3 0 1 0 .176 .364 .235 /7
Seligman, Danny 29 RR 95 407 53 116 15 4 5 39 28 75 12 4 7 .285 .330 .378 8
Park, Chae-hwi 26 RR 49 147 15 38 5 0 3 11 12 30 6 1 3 .259 .315 .354 8
Lammers, Scott 28 SR 73 218 27 46 8 1 8 31 48 59 0 0 6 .211 .353 .367 9/7
Hartmann, Will 24 RR 104 374 44 112 18 5 6 53 23 35 4 5 8 .299 .340 .422 98/7
Maldonado, Jose 26 RR 7 11 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 .091 .286 .364 /9
Barry Cooper, a 1970 All-Star, split time between left and right last year and will likely be the full-time RF in '71. Scouts think his arm is fine if not amazing but the numbers seem to say otherwise: Cooper had just one baserunner kill all season long and that came in left. In over 500 innings in right last year he failed to throw out a single runner. Hopefully this won't become a distraction for him at the plate, as he was the team's best hitter, night in and night out in 1970. He even had a good September (.322/1/7), albeit one with his signature lack of power.
It's really hard to see how
Danny "The Phantom" Seligman doesn't have a Gold Glove yet, as he is an exemplary center fielder, one of the best in the business (actually I know why: he was a 2 way player until I turned 2 way playering off). He might get one this year but ironically his penchant for crashing into walls once more robbed him of playing time, although even with the 2 months off his 95 games was his highest total since 1967. Seligman isn't bad at the plate either, though he's clearly a defense-first guy.
Will Hartmann did a nice job himself filling in in center and right last year and is a nice piece to grow on or trade.
Scott Lammers was the incumbent in right with a seemingly lock on the job going into 1970. He'd hit a solid if unspectacular .267/22/74 and the Giants sorely needed his power in the middle of their lineup. That power failed to show up and by midseason he was out of a job. As noted, Cooper figures to play here in 1971; should he just wind up allowing the entire league go from 1st to 3rd all year, Lammers is still around as of this writing, although he seems like a great candidate for a change of scenery to me.