NLCS Q&A With A Giants Fan

With the 2010 NLCS looming between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants, Phillies fan JFein and Giants fan 49er16 thought it would be a good idea to exchange questions about each other's team. Below are 49er16's answers to JFein's questions about the Giants. For JFein's answers to 49er16's about the Giants, click here

Q.  No secret:  The San Francisco Giants have not been known for great offense the past few years.  No secret:  The San Francisco Giants have one of the best line-up of pitchers, both starting and bullpen, in the NL.  But just how good are the Giants defensively?

On paper this team looks like they should be one of the worst defensive teams in the majors. Then you look at the numbers and they are actually one of the best defensive teams in the majors. They committed the fourth fewest errors on the year and this is with clunkers like Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, and Pablo Sandoval out in the field. Then you look at the advance stats and see they have one of the best UZR ratings, one of the best ErrR which compares how many errors a team makes compared to other teams, and one of the best RngR which surprisingly says the Giants do have range in the field.

Now do all these numbers rate so high because of the ballpark the Giants play in? Probably. Nonetheless though those are some pretty surprising numbers considering that Burrell and Huff played the majority of the year in corner outfield spots and Sandoval is at third base.

Q.  What’s the deal with Matt Cain?  The numbers say he is unlucky with run support, but his BABIP is below the league average and his HR/FB ratio is unusually low as well.  Everybody knows about how great Tim Lincecum is, but is Matt Cain someone the Phillies should fear?

Matt Cain might be the most unluckiest pitcher in the major leagues. It's been a running joke on McCovey Chronicles for at least two years that Matt Cain doesn't know how to win. I don't know what is it with the Giants offense when Cain is pitching. It's like they go into hibernation mode and forget how to provide him runs. And if the Giants do score runs for Cain, the bullpen blows the lead (See: Game 2 of the 2010 NLDS). 

As for Cain, yes the Phillies should fear him. He's actually more like Halladay than Lincecum. He won't strike people out at such a high rate like Lincecum, but he stays in the zone better and doesn't walk as many people. He'll also eat innings at a higher frequency than Lincecum. His best pitches are his changeup and slider and when he's locating both pitches, he can become unhittable. Cain as of now, is expected to start game 3 at home where he's a better pitcher.

Q.  Who is the x-factor on this Giants team?

Buster Posey without question. The offense revolves around his hitting and his ability to get on base. If the table setters like Torres and Sanchez get on base, he needs to drive them in. Posey also needs to reach base for guys like Burrell and Uribe. His defense is also very important for the Giants. Lincecum isn't exactly the best at holding people at 1st base so Posey's ability to throw people out at 2nd. The Giants will only go as far on offense as far as Posey takes them.

Q.  Brian Wilson’s beard is fake, right?

A. Fake, no. Dyed, yes. Admit it. You have to love a guy who rocks a beard like that and pulls out a gimp mask on a ESPN talk show.

Q.  Timothy Leroy Lincecum or Harry Leroy Halladay III?  Okay, so your answer to that one is obvious.  Giants bullpen question:  Brian Wilson is a very good closer, but although solid through the end of the season, the Giants bullpen looked shaky in the NLDS against Atlanta.  Is this a concern for you or Giants fans?

I'm more concerned about Sergio Romo than Wilson. Brian Wilson should have never entered the game during the game 2 Giants implosion and last night was the norm for Wilson. He walks the tight wire, but normally gets out of those situations. Romo is the pitcher I'm worried about. If the Giants had the lead in the 8th inning the past month, the game was over with Romo setting up Wilson in the eighth inning. 

The rest of the Giants bullpen has been solid. Javier Lopez is their left-handed specialist who's been unhittable facing left-handed batters. Jairo Casilla impressed against the Braves in relief. Guillermo Mota and Jeremy Affeldt are both solid. If the Giants have a lead late in the game and they go to their bullpen, I'm usually pretty confident the Giants will win the game. 

Q.  Last year Pablo Sandoval was a stud rookie.  This year he is benched and not even the 1^st off the bench to pinch hit.  For goodness sakes, Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria got in Monday’s Game 5 against the Braves while Kung Fu Panda did not.  What happened to Sandoval this year?

Sandoval is a mystery to everyone. There has been a million excuses made for the guy. He's overweight, his divorce is weighing on him (no pun intended), he's worried about custody of his daughter. While I do think his weight is a problem in his declining defense at third base. (He was never spectacular at third, but serviceable.)

His plate discipline is what has worried me the most. He's always been a hacker, but this season has been over the top wildly swinging at pitches over his head. Last season Sandoval was a hacker, but he would at least work the count and occasionally draw a walk. I have a crazy conspiracy theory about his lack of plate discipline. He bought into his own hype. He bought into the hype last season that he could hit pitches over his head. Which clearly isn't the case. Pitchers this year don't even throw strikes at Sandoval because they know he swings at everything. Why throw Sandoval a strike when he will swing at everything?

Q.  Brooks Conrad has been ruled out of the NLCS with a broken spirit.  How will this impact the Giants?

A. The Giants will become lost and somehow end up in a swamp in Jersey.