Offense Spiraling Downward

The Giants were shut out in the series finale in Atlanta Thursday, and were once again held scoreless in Houston Friday night, as their offense continues a tailspin of epic proportions.



How this team is still 2.5 games out of first in the West with the way they've played since the calendar turned to August is beyond me. Perhaps the worst game of the stretch came Friday night, as the Giants rolled into Houston to take on the worst team in baseball, and had their rear-ends handed to them in a 6-0 loss. Within 24 hours of being shut down by Braves rookie left-hander Mike Minor, the Giants went up against another quality left-hander in Wandy Rodriguez, and were once again held scoreless. The batting order Bruce Bochy trotted out was one of the worst I've seen the Giants use in a couple of seasons at least, featuring a top-3 of Aaron Rowand, Mark DeRosa and Cody Ross. No Beltran, no Pablo and no Keppinger. In fact, Nate Schierholtz was the only hitter in Friday nights starting lineup with an average better than .244, so it really shouldn't surprise anyone that the Giants were held scoreless. There are some PCL lineups that would have had a better go of it than what the Giants showed Friday night, but that's what happens when your squad is banged up late in the year. The Giants had to put another player on the DL Friday after Eli Whiteside suffered a concussion, prompting the re-call of Hector Sanchez and I wouldn't mind seeing him get some at bats this time around. He was briefly called up earlier in the year, but had only a handful of at-bats before being sent back down to Fresno.



As far as the other injured Giants go, the Giants are desperately hoping to get their big fish, Carlos Beltran, back into the lineup when he's eligible to return from the DL Tuesday in San Francisco. Seeing that the wrist was supposedly barely bad enough to warrant the DL stint, I would expect him to be back Tuesday, or shortly thereafter. Hopefully by that time Pablo Sandoval and Jeff Keppinger will each be feeling a lot better too, and can resume their everyday roles, cause we're seeing what this offense is like without those guys in there and it's not pretty. I'm still very curious to see what's going to happen at the leadoff spot. Bochy has tried Rowand, he's tried Ross and he tried and re-tried Andres Torres, but they just can't seem to get anything consistently going in that spot. Torres is starting his rehab assignment in AAA and is eligible to return in 10 days, but he may not be returning to his starting center field spot. With the waiver-trade deadline approaching, and the Giants desperate for a spark for their offense, primarily in the form of a leadoff hitting center fielder, I wouldn't put it past Sabean to go out and grab someone. We talked before about Coco Crisp and Angel Pagan each going through waivers, and I really think either of those guys would help. If they can't get someone via waivers, it's time for Bochy and Sabes to consider giving Darren Ford a look see.



Catching Situation: With Whiteside now shelved for at least a week, it could prompt Sabean's search for a backstop on waivers. Chris Stewart is a fine defender and OK getting a start per week, but he's one of the worst hitters in the big leagues in an offense that's been putrid. 21 year-old Hector Sanchez should get another brief look, but Bochy probably won't give him too much time (Boch likes experience in pennant races). If the Giants weren't desperate for a catcher 2 weeks ago, they sure are getting there now and the guys I'm looking at are Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Doumit. I have no idea if either will go through waivers, but if they do, the Giants should kick the door down to obtain one.