Ramp Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 By Jayson Stark ESPN.com 1. How much will Barry Bonds get pitched to? The Braves, Cardinals and Angels walked Bonds 27 times in last year's postseason. He ought to consider it a good week if he isn't walked 27 times in this series. Bonds walked in 44 percent of his plate appearances (8 of 18) against the Marlins during the regular season. The only left-hander in the Marlins' bullpen, Michael Tejara, let left-handed hitters bat .397 against him this year. And when asked which reliever he planned to use to pitch against Bonds, Florida manager Jack McKeon replied by holding up four fingers. The Marlins' left-handed starters -- Dontrelle Willis (.216, 1 HR to LHs) and Mark Redman (.200, 4 HR to LHs) -- are more effective against left-handed hitters. But as one scout says, "The key to this series will be: Is somebody going to get hot hitting behind Barry?" 2. The Giants went 5-1 against Florida this season. Were they really that dominant? Not really. Of the Giants' five wins, three were by one run, and the other two were by two runs. The first three wins came in Florida -- and actually prompted the Marlins to fire Jeff Torborg as manager two days later. Josh Beckett went 0-2 against the Giants this year, but hurt his elbow in the first inning of the first start and pitched great in the second start. Brad Penny gave up only four hits in seven innings in a start the bullpen eventually lost. Redman never faced the Giants. And Willis actually left his only start with a 2-1 lead, but the bullpen coughed that up. Jason Schmidt (6 IP, 3 H, 8 K) had a dominating start against Florida in a no-decision. But the only member of the Giants' playoff rotation to beat the Marlins this year was Sidney Ponson, who won an August start (8 IP, 6 H, 2 R) for his first win as a Giant. 3. The Marlins were only 63-60 when facing a right-handed starter this year. How big a problem is that against the Giants? That ought to be the Marlins' biggest concern. All their left-handed hitters combined hit seven home runs this season (one of the seven by Dontrelle Willis). So they can be shut down by right-handed power pitchers, and that's the strength of the Giants' staff. Schmidt is unbeaten (5-0) in 12 career starts against the Marlins. Ponson "has the same kind of stuff as Schmidt when he's right," says one scout. Jerome Williams (who has never faced Florida) throws 95 mph. And in the bullpen, Tim Worrell, Felix Rodriguez and Joe Nathan combined for a 2.45 ERA, 10 strikeouts and only seven hits allowed in 11 innings against Florida. The Giants plan to start left-hander Kirk Rueter in Game 3. But while Rueter has had trouble with the Marlins (1-3, 5.70 the last three years), "he's a good October pitcher," says one scout, "because he's such an experienced guy. In the playoffs, the hitters are all jacked up. And he's great at keeping them off balance." 4. Can the Giants stop the Marlins' running game? The only way to beat the Marlins, says one NL pitcher, "is to stop those two guys at the top of the order" -- i.e., Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo. Well, the Giants did a tremendous job on Pierre (.231 avg., .259 on-base pct., just 2 SB in 6 games) -- and almost as well against Castillo (.261 avg., 0 SB, but .370 on-base pct.). Opposing base-stealers were successful in 69.5 percent of their stolen-base attempts against the Giants this year -- almost identical to the league average (69.2). But of the four scheduled Giants starters, only Rueter (who allowed just two steals in only three attempts) holds runners on well. Base stealers went 17 for 17 vs. Schmidt, 12 for 16 vs. Ponson and 9 for 13 vs. Williams. So the key is to keep Pierre and Castillo off base in the first place. "I'm not so sure they can," says one scout. "The kind of baseball those guys play is the kind of baseball that wins in the playoffs." [5. How susceptible are the Giants to a first-round upset? The Giants won't be happy to learn that teams with the better regular-season record are 1-10 in the division series over the last three years. On the other hand, teams that won at least nine more regular-season games than their opponents, as the Giants did, are 6-3 in the first round all-time. And the more you see of the Giants, the more they remind you of the Yankees of the late '90s -- a bunch of veteran professionals who fit together, do all the little things and get it. "They're a classic case of a team where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," one scout says. "They know how to play. They have tough at-bats. They're very unselfish. They've got depth in the bullpen. They catch the ball. And it doesn't hurt that they have the best player in baseball." Prediction: Giants in five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geemoney Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 As a matter of fact, only two of the 13 ESPN.com personalities polled think the Marlins will be the Giants- Buster Olney and Eric Karabell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotcorner Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 same with the Boston-Oakland seires & Yanks-Twins. Pretty one-sided. Fair enough, the Fish have been underdogs all season, no reason to stop now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshFish Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 Being the underdogs make winning very dramatic. We are going to stun the baseball world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMillan Marlins Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 marlins got a 5 tool team. they got everytyhing to beat the giants. pitching, speed, defense, power and bullpen. giants without bonds getting chance to hit will be weak. harodl raynolds said giants will win. id ont think so!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnylons Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 I think this article focused on possible weaknesses of the Marlins too much - but still came away with nothing. Look, at JRS it is hard to hit homeruns. But at Pac Bell, it is much easier. If our team struggles getting on base, we got 2 guys with 30+ homeruns (Giants only have one...guess who). And we have a bunch of guys with 15-20HRs (Conine, Pudge, Encarnacion, Gonzalez). We also have guys with power on the bench (Castro, Banks, Hollandsworth?). I dont think they really looked at the hitters on the Giants side though. If you keep the top of the Giants off base, you limit the effectiveness of Bonds - and you can pitch to him. Also, you kill any big inning possibility for the bottom half of the lineup. I mean, come on - Alfonzo, Santiago, and Cruz? I dont mean to sound cocky, but what is so special about that 3-some? Certainly nothing more than Cabrera/Conine, Gonzalez, Encarnacion. Is Lowell going to play this series? Is he going to be up to par? I dont think it is necessary for him to play right now, we got Conine and Cabs filling in nicely and if Lee keeps it going we can generate offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamrock Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Thats the huge advantage of our lineup vs most other lineups...no weak links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 pitching, speed, defense, power and bullpen. Since when was bullpen a tool? :lol Wouldn;t that fall under PITCHING? And we are more of a contact team than a pwer team, and those both would fall under offense. harodl raynolds said giants will win. id ont think so!!! No, he said we would. Bobby V. Said San Fran. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Juanky Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 No, he said we would. Bobby V. Said San Fran. Does it really matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Does it really matter? Good point. At least someone picked them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLCL00 Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Seems that article had valid points. Though as someone mentioned in an earlier post, they seemed to have focused on the marlins flaws more than the giants. True the Giants are better on paper, but when we faced them this season we were a different team than now. So i believe both teams are even, now its all up to on who wants it more. So its anyones series... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blinky blink Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Since when was bullpen a tool? :lol Wouldn;t that fall under PITCHING? And we are more of a contact team than a pwer team, and those both would fall under offense. No, he said we would. Bobby V. Said San Fran. i think he meant starting pitching... oh and Harold said this afternoon on sports center that he picks san fran over the fish. He changed his mind from yesterday. dont jump on McMillan so harsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Card Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 oh and Harold said this afternoon on sports center that he picks san fran over the fish. He changed his mind from yesterday. How do you go on National TV and say you pick Florida, and the next day, do the same thing but pick San Fran? That's just idiotic. How do you change your mind in the course of one day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishFan24 Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 The Marlins weren't expected to be at this point! So of course everyone is going to be going against them in the playoffs. And opinions are great because when they are proven wrong, they all have to get on their hands and knees and scream "we were wrong and you were right"! :mischief2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.