The Giants won in walk-off fashion yesterday, moving to 36-28 on the season and extending their lead in the NL West to 2 games. But their loss in the game might be more relevant, as Freddy Sanchez dislocated his shoulder and was placed on the disabled list. San Francisco has had pretty terrible luck with injuries this year:
Sanchez was doing a nice job as the second-baseman (.289/.332/.397) before going down.
The team’s best position player this year has maybe been Pablo Sandoval (.313/.374/.530). He’s played in only 24 games, and is currently on the DL with a fractured hand.
Or perhaps it was actually Buster Posey (.284/.368/.389). We know what happened to him, and he’ll miss the rest of the season.
Mike Fontenot wasn’t hitting all the much, but seemed to be handling shortstop well enough. He strained his groin.
Brandon Belt looked like an exciting rookie, despite his struggles. Fractured his wrist.
Darren Ford was mostly a defensive replacement, but that’s a useful thing to have when you’re running Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell out there. Can’t track down flyballs with a sprained ankle.
Mark DeRose hasn’t hit much – or played much – since 2009, but he’s got a history of having a decent bat with a solid glove. Torn wrist tendon.
And to top it all off, Barry Zito sprained his foot and hasn’t pitched in two months (though he’s making his way back now).
So the Giants had one of the major’s worst offenses, and right now they’re missing some of their best hitters. Luckily Adres Torres (.254/.351/.403) and Cody Ross (/267/.348/.432) are around, because after that you’ve got Burrell as around league average (.219/.340/.372) and everyone else as below average to well below average – including the team’s 1-2 hitters, Emmanuel Burriss and Miguel Tejada, who have OBPs of .271 and .257 respectively.
Wth a starting rotation having Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Jonathan Sanchez, and the surprisingly effective Ryan Vogelsong, the Giants should be able to hang around well enough in what is not a particularly tough division until they start getting guys back. But it wouldn’t be surprising if a team with the benefit of all of their players passes them sooner or later.
Also last night: Chris Narveson shuts down the Cardinals, depriving Tony La Russa a win in his 5,000th career game; top prospect Mike Moustakas makes his major eague debut, helping the Royals beat the Angels; Placido Polanco hit a grand slam in helping Roy Halladay become the major’s first 9 game winner. Last night’s full results here.
On tonight’s schedule: Matt Garza and Cliff Lee – who are each striking out better than 10 batters per nine this year – face off in Philly; right-handers with opposite records on the mound in Milwaukee, as Chris Carpenter (1-5) battles Zack Greinke (5-1); young hard-throwers Michael Pineda and Max Scherzer go in Detroit. Full slate of action here.
