All Giants fans have seen this season why having a solid, reliable backup catcher is so important for any team. When Buster Posey went down, the Giants had to rely on Eli Whiteside. Whiteside knew the pitching staff well, but showed some serious flaws in other areas of his game. He wasn’t physically fit enough to catch everyday. His throwing ability and therefore his ability to control the running game, was horrible, and he can’t hit to save his life. He has the occasional home run every few months, but that’s it. Having him in the 8th spot of the lineup is almost too high for him, which is pretty disgraceful.

For a backup catcher, do you need them to have a strong, fast throw to 2nd base? Not necessarily. However, many teams started to see our pitchers’ and catchers’ weaknesses in controlling the run game, so they took advantage of it. For example, when the Giants played the Astros on August 25th, Whiteside started and caught for Vogelsong. Whiteside was unable to throw out 4 baserunners in 6 innings. Thankfully, only one of those baserunners was able to score because of the mistake, but regardless, this should never happen. To allow 4 baserunners to steal second easily is unacceptable even if you are just the backup catcher.

Whiteside’s offensive contributions are nothing to be proud of either. This season he is hitting .212 with 4 home runs, 17 RBI’s, and a .282 OBP in 78 games. He’s hitting .167 this September. Whiteside was supposed to be our main catcher when Posey went down. I understand that Whiteside is normally a backup catcher, so when thrust into a starting role, his game might not be suitable for that. However, even as a backup catcher, his numbers are still insufficient. David Ross, the backup catcher for the Atlanta Braves, doesn’t play a lot of games because he’s backing up NL All-Star Brian McCann. However, this year, he still has managed to hit a .255 average with 6 home runs, 23 RBI’s, and a .323 OBP and has played in only 50 games. Whiteside’s starter numbers are not even as good as a backup catcher who hasn’t played in as many games this season.

Because of Whiteside’s ineffectiveness in any part of the game, Chris Stewart has to be the backup catcher next year. He has his fair share of offensive troubles, but he knows the pitching staff as well or better and has a much more accurate throwing arm. He has become Lincecum’s primary catcher this season, because Whiteside has never been able to effectively catch him. Whiteside has played in 20 more games this season than Stewart and has allowed 21 more stolen bases. When Chris Stewart catches, the pitching staff has a collective 2.58 ERA. When Eli Whiteside catches, the pitching staff has a collective 3.36 ERA. Chris Stewart not only has a faster, more accurate throw, but he handles this pitching staff better, especially the ace of the staff, Tim Lincecum.

Hector Sanchez has been the 3rd catcher for the Giants for parts of this season, but he doesn’t have enough experience to be the backup catcher yet. If he played a full season in AAA this upcoming season, then he could compete to be the backup catcher in the 2013 season. If for some reason the Giants chose to play Posey more at first base and not have him catch anymore because of how serious his injury was, then he could added to the roster as the backup catcher behind Chris Stewart in the 2012 season.

With some Whiteside injuries, Stewart had begun to start the bulk of the games earlier in the season. When Whiteside came back, he continued to start the bulk of the games because he was playing much better than Whiteside on offense and defense. Stewart was more physically able to be an everyday catcher, and handled the pitching staff beautifully. If anything were to happen to Buster Posey next season, I would trust that Chris Stewart could handle his newfound starting role very well. Chris Stewart needs to replace Eli Whiteside next year as the backup catcher.

Brandon, the real baby giraffe, is now available for limited public viewing at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Brandon is now about 2 weeks old and is already 6 feet 5 inches tall, the same height as Brandon Belt. Brandon, the giraffe, is expected to grow about an inch every day. Animal care director Michael Muraco said, “At this point, he is two weeks old and is strong, healthy and solid. Since we’ve been experiencing warm weather lately, he’s been venturing outside to a separate side yard with mom Makali and, in the coming weeks, he’ll be able go out to the main yard for limited hours each day.”

Brandon is residing on the southeast side of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, which is mostly open on weekends and some select dates the rest of the year. If you want to go visit Brandon, the baby giraffe, vist the Six Flags website or their Facebook page for more information.

Buster Posey was finally able to do baseball activities today after many months of being limited to just ankle rehab and physical therapy. Posey is working hard to regain both strength and range of motion in his left ankle, and he is right on schedule. Posey was able to play catch for about 7 minutes from about 60 feet away. Posey said, “I never thought I’d be so excited driving to the field today just to play catch for seven minutes. It’s a big confidence boost, even something as simple as playing catch. It’s so nice.” In addition to improving the strength and the range of motion in his left ankle, Posey is also working on balance and coordination to improve his weight transfer while throwing and catching. Although the front office and some of the coaches are hesitant, Posey is determined to be the starting catcher again and not have to change positions. Since weight transfer is so imperative to your safety as a catcher, Posey is making this part of his rehab a priority. Posey said, “It hurts, but I’m doing it. The last two weeks, it’s loosened up a lot. It’s encouraging. … I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far. Once I’m able to do all the functional stuff, it’ll get better and better.”

Posey will leave for Arizona in about a week to continue his rehab there. He will be there for about 6 weeks before he goes back to Georgia for the offseason. Posey plans to hit off a tee in about a week, and then also plans on catching some bullpen sessions in instructional leagues. Posey has had trouble accepting the fact that he couldn’t help his team defend their World Series title. Posey, “feels as disappointed as everybody else in here. Having said that, there are 18 games left. You don’t want to say it’s over until it’s all played out.” It must feel good for Posey that his rehab is going according to plan, and that he could start catching, even if it’s just in the bullpen, very soon.

There were several updates coming today for the Giants. Here is a list:

1) Jeremy Affeldt is going to miss the remainder of the season with a hand injury. He cut his right hand and suffered a deep gash that required surgery because of possible nerve damage. Affeldt was apparently trying to separate frozen hamburger patties and the knife slipped. Affeldt hasn’t been really effective this year, so this isn’t a huge loss, but the Giants are left with very little left-handed reliever options. Barry Zito is scheduled to take fielding practice today, and if all goes well, then he will activated from the DL tomorrow and take Affeldt’s place. Jonathan Sanchez isn’t an option to replace Affeldt, because every time he throws, his ankle swells up, so they’ll check him in a few days.

2) Brian Wilson threw 25 pitches off a mound today and plans to throw again on Monday. Wilson is making steady progress, and he wants to pitch even if the Giants aren’t in contention. Bochy and the other team officials haven’t decided yet if they’ll activate him before the season is over.

3) The best news of all is that Ryan Vogelsong won the Willie Mac Award for this year. This award is voted upon by the players and is given to the most inspirational player on the team. Vogelsong currently has a 2.62 ERA with 118 strikeouts and 55 walks. However, he is so much more than great stats. He’s a great story, and he’s a true Giant. Especially since, after winning the award, he told the story of how the Dodgers approached him when he was pitching in the Venezuelan winter league and how he rejected them. He immediately passed and told his catcher, former Giant Guillermo Rodriguez, to ask the Giants if they’d match the offer. Vogelsong said, “I said, `Tell the Giants, because I don’t want to wear Dodger blue.’ I didn’t make that up. I couldn’t see myself as a Dodger.” Smart man.

The Giants beat the Diamondbacks last night 6-2, and this one was definitely fun to watch. The Giants are pretty much playing must-win games all the time now, but last night’s game was one of the most important must-win games of the season so far. The Diamondbacks came into town 6 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West race and were also riding a 9-game winning streak. The Giants, on the other hand, had a horrible August full with injuries, roster moves, and stress. They had a nice, convincing 4-0 win against the Cubs on the last day of August, so they were hoping to carry this momentum into the upcoming series against the Dbacks.

Usually when the opponent scores first, the Giants struggle to come back. However, in this game, this was not the case at all. In the third inning and down 1-0, the Giants tied the game up on a Jeff Keppinger double, which scored Cody Ross. Carlos Beltran then got his second hit of the night (the first was a triple in the 1st inning), which was a 2-run home run that brought the score to 3-1 Giants. With Matt Cain pitching beautifully last night, I’m sure many thought that a 2-run difference was enough and that we’d be able to easily pull away with a win. With these Dbacks hitting so well recently though, the Giants knew they had to continue to pile on the runs. Matt Cain gave up only 2 runs and really limited the Dbacks’ powerful offense. Later on, in the 5th inning, Beltran struck again with a single to score Matt Cain and bring the score to 4-2. Then in the 7th inning, Cody Ross hit a 2-run home run to get to the final score of 6-2. Beltran finished the night 4-4 with a triple, home run, and 2 singles.

This game brought life back into AT&T Park, and, more importantly, it brought life back into the clubhouse. This was a critical win for the Giants and it brought them to 5 games back in the NL West race. The Giants need to continue to take it one game at a time and not try to rush anything. The Giants had great luck in September last year and hopefully that trend continues.

Top 3 plays from the game:
(click on each picture to see video replay)

1. Cody’s Amazing Catch in the 8th Inning

 

 

 

 

2. Beltran’s 2-Run Home Run in the 3rd Inning

 

 

 

 

3. Cody Ross’ 2-run Home Run in the 7th Inning

Mark Derosa has had a rough time with the Giants. He’s been injured almost all of the 2 years he’s been with them, but he’s a solid veteran presence, a very smart guy, and really understands clubhouse dynamics. He was asked the other day to write a blog post in “The Veteran and the Rook” blog to describe the feeling in the clubhouse after management cut Rowand and Tejada. Derosa also writes optimistically about the rest of the season and the expansion of the roster that occurred yesterday. Although some fans might not like his lack of contribution the past 2 seasons, but I believe he’s a good guy to have around and he has recently started to help this team out a lot; on and off the field.

Read Mark Derosa’s great blog post here. Enjoy!