Thanks to the magic of MLB.tv, this transplanted California boy gets to watch just about every Giants game, albeit much to the chagrin of my beautiful wife. Love you honey!

Anyway, here are a few quick observations I had while watching the Giants spurn another chance to sweep an opponent and pick up another game in the standings.

Timmy, Semi-Freakish

Perhaps the only topic surrounding the Giants these days that gets more ink than Brandon Belt is the continuing struggles of everyone’s favorite tiny Cy Young Winner, Tim Lincecum.

Last night marked only the second time in 11 starts that Lincecum was able to get through at least 7 innings, however he also tied his season-high for walks with 5. Watching the game I couldn’t help but notice how annoyed Lincecum seemed with himself and his inability to consistently execute his pitches. Equally as annoyed had to be Buster Posey who put on an absolute clinic on how to block balls in the dirt as Lincecum threw several pitches about 55-feet.

Some will look at the box score and declare progress, and certainly there were some good things to take from the start, namely the 91-93 mph fastball which at least seemed consistent on the TV radar gun. However the uneasiness that now hangs over every Lincecum start has not gone away as it seems he’s always right on the edge of giving up the big inning thanks to mediocre command and control as well as diminished stuff. No one outside of Lincecum himself can say for sure, but something is just not right with him. Whether it’s his weight (or lack thereof), his mechanics or an injury outside of the reported blister problem, he needs to figure it out quick if the Giants want to have any chance in the NL West.

#freeBelt Hits a Snag

Not the best night for the Baby Giraffe who struck out twice in three at-bats vs. DBacks starter Ian Kennedy. Kennedy pitched right to the current scouting report on Belt, which is that he can’t catch up to the fastball, even one as average as Kennedy’s.

During the broadcast, Kruk and Kuip both harped on the fact that Belt has struggled hitting the fastball and it made me wonder why this is the case right now. I don’t buy the idea that he suddenly has a slider-speed bat and cannot catch up to a quality fastball, but something is off with his timing.

My theory, and that is all it is, is that Belt is pressing and trying too hard to be the “power hitter” that Bochy and the organization wants him to be. Belt swung at the first pitch in all four of his at-bats last night which to me is a sure sign that he’s simply trying to do too much. He seems very concerned with trying to spin on the ball inside and has seemed to lose the all-fields approach that made him successful in the minors.

Bruce Bochy, S-M-R-T

Those of you who spend time on Twitter and follow ESPN baseball writer Keith Law know all about the #smrtbaseball movement which has cropped up thanks in large part to the snarky analyst’s disdain inept managing.

Last night Bochy made his own contribution to the S-M-R-T cause in the sixth inning last night and it may have cost the Giants a chance at the win. With the score 2-1 in favor of Arizona, Kennedy found himself in trouble having just walked Lincecum and Gregor Blanco to lead off the inning. Bochy then made the decision to have #2 hitter Ryan Theriot bunt on the first pitch. The bunt was not a good one, Kennedy pounced on it and threw a strike to third base gunning down Lincecum. Two strikeouts later the inning was over and the Dbacks never looked back.

So many things were wrong about this decision, I’m not really sure where to start. First off, Theriot was having a pretty good night against Kennedy and seemed to be one of the few Giants able to muster a balanced swing off him. Having already delivered an RBI single in the fourth, Theriot would eventually pick up a second hit against the Kennedy in the 8th that knocked him out of the game. That’s not to imply that Theriot would have for sure gotten another hit in the 6th, but if you don’t have enough faith in your #2 hitter to put the ball in play and hopefully drive in a run, what is that guy doing atop the lineup to begin with?

Let’s assume he gets a good bunt down and advances the runners to second and third with only one out. He would have done so in front of the hottest hitter on the planet, Melky Cabrera, who almost certainly would have been walked intentionally by equally S-M-R-T manager Kirk Gibson thus taking the bat out of the Giants’ best hitter’s hands. Sure, Posey would have had a chance with the bases loaded, but everything about having Theriot bunt in that situation stinks of playing not to lose, an all too common theme in the Bochy era.

Gregor Blanco = Andres Torres 2.0

Honestly, how good is this guy? Understanding that we’re talking about a very small sample size since he pushed Nate Schierholtz to the bench permanently, Blanco has been nothing short of the picture perfect lead off man. He makes the pitcher work, puts pressure on the defense with his speed, has extra base pop and isn’t afraid to hit with two strikes. Sound familiar?

He may not be quite the unreal defender that Torres was, but he really should be playing center field over Angel Pagan and is certainly above-average with the leather. Funny that fans and broadcasters are quick to praise Blanco for his patient approach but can’t seem to stand it when Belt does the same. Just saying…

No game tonight but back at it tomorrow vs. the Cubs with a lefty on the hill for the Cubbies and we all know what that means, #freeBelt will be grounded yet again.