This is the 2nd installment that takes a look at the Giants offense. Click HERE to check out the first part of my preview, which covers the top of their lineup. The top half of the Giants lineup is actually pretty solid, and we'll need to keep them under control if we hope to win. Now onto the bottom half...
5. Pat Burrell - #9 - LF
vs. Lefties - .213/.324/.371
vs. Righties - .264/.356/.500
September Stat Line - .243/.349/.514
After two poor seasons in the American League, Pat The Bat came out to San Francisco and has been a great find. The right-handed Burrell was 3rd on the Giants in HRs, and gave both Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey protection in the 5-hole. The former-Phillie doesn't have any speed to speak of and his defense leaves something to be desired, but the 34-year old veteran can still swing the bat. One thing I found interesting were his L/R splits. Against righties, he's one of the better hitting left fielders in baseball. But against lefties, he's one of the worst hitting left fielders in baseball. That's odd. Burrell has a bit of an under-cut in his swing, and you'd think he would feast on left-handed pitching. It'll be interesting to see if Bobby tries to exploit this, or if he plays the match-up and brings in the righty regardless of the splits.
6. Juan Uribe - #5 - SS
vs. Lefties - .231/.331/.352
vs. Righties - .252/.304/.462
September Stat Line - .200/.273/.463
I feel like I'm reviewing Alex Gonzalez here! Uribe is a right-handed, veteran shortstop who has quite a bit of pop in his bat, but doesn't walk one bit. Heck, out of all of Uribe's hits this season, nearly 38% of them went for extra bases. That's impressive for a shortstop. Similar to most of his teammates, Uribe doesn't have much speed, and doesn't strike out much considering his all-or-nothing approach at the plate. The 33-year old also follows Pat Burrell's trend of hitting right-handed pitchers better, even though he hits from the right side of the plate. It won't be an easy task, but as long as we can get Uribe to hit the ball on the ground, we should have no problem getting him out.
7. Pablo Sandoval - #48 - 3B
vs. Lefties - .227/.284/.305
vs. Righties - .282/.336/.443
September Stat Line - .207/.266/.310
The Kung Fu Panda had an absolutely awful 2010 season, and it's really not that surprising. He has no plate discipline to speak of, and swings at nearly everything. Sandoval checks in at 280 pounds or so, and he's anything but an athlete. I'm not trying to be too rough on the guy, but there's something about him that I've never liked. Looking at the stats, he's been a non-factor against lefties (.589OPS. Ouch.) and is decent-at-best against righties. Sandoval had a pretty solid last week of the season, but the rest of his September was horrid. The Panda also hit into a league-worst 26 double plays, so he should see a steady diet of sinkers for the entire series.
8. Cody Ross - #13 - RF
vs. Lefties - .287/.340/.543
vs. Righties - .263/.315/.371
September Stat Line - .250/.339/.462
Cody Ross, the former Marlin, came over to the Giants at the trade deadline to give them yet another outfielder. (sound familiar?) Ross has shared time in right field with Jose Guillen, (stats HERE) but it looks like Guillen was actually left off the Giants roster. Ross is a right-handed hitter, and his splits actually make sense for once. He doesn't hit righties for anything, but he's a solid hitter against southpaws. He, like a few other Giants, experienced a bit of a power surge in the last month of the season and can hit a ball or two out of the park. Still though, with a wOBA of .324 and his struggles against right-handed pitchers, Cody Ross shouldn't give us too many problems.
Giants Bench -
C - Eli Whiteside
IF - Mike Fontenot, Travis Ishikawa, Edgar Renteria
OF - Aaron Rowand, Nate Schierholtz
So there it is. First pitch tonight is at 9:37. Let's go.