(03-17-2017 11:38 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  Kazmir's fastball sat at 82 in a simulated game yesterday. I know we've been through this before and he's always ended up ok, but this has to be at least a minor concern, right? But as you said the other day, he was probably not going to open the season in the starting 5 anyway. Dodgers have done a good job building their SP depth, so they're uniquely positioned to weather something like this.

I was serious earlier when I said Kazmir is not a concern for me. He was serviceable last year, but just barely - he had issues. And I had/have no faith that he'll be even that useful this year but I've been afraid Dodgers would send him out there just because his salary is big enough they wouldn't want to sit him. I think McCarthy will be no worse than Kazmir and it looks like Wood has had a nice spring. I think we've got at least 6 solid starters w/o Kazmir.

But to your point about Kershaw and Hill, I think you're right but with Kershaw's back and Hill's injury history it's easy to be nervous about durability this year. Having Kazmir ready to go helps that *maybe* but my feeling is that if we need somebody to fill in for Kershaw and/or Hill, the season may be shot anyway.

Quote:Giants right now are healthy and I don't have many complaints. I don't have much faith in the lineup, but a healthy Nunez at 3rd, as well as a platoon of Williamson and Parker (over Pagan), should at least help a bit. Assuming they can sort out the 5th starter spot, I'd say they'll be in decent shape to compete for a playoff spot and maybe even the division. A full season of Moore, along with Melancon added to the pen should make the staff one of the best in the league. A pen of Melancon, Smith, Strickland, Law and Okert is much better than what we had for most of last season when the pen featured platoon guys like Romo, Lopez and even Casilla (at times).

One thing Bochy needs to commit to is keeping Pence healthy. He's a huge key to the lineup (despite his declining play in the OF) and Bochy needs to make sure he gets plenty of rest. With Williamson/Parker and Hernandez as the backup OF, I'm confident that Pence and Span can get a lot of rest without sacrificing a ton of WAR. I also like the idea of Aaron Hill as a utility IF. Overall I'd predict 87-90 wins, which probably means a wild card spot. I think that's a pretty reasonable projection.

Deadspin said this about them, which made me snicker:

Lindsey Adler Wrote:Fangraphs projects the Giants to go 87-75 this year, which is the exact record they finished with last year. No matter, this season will end familiarly: with them half-dozen games behind the Dodgers, who still won’t win ****. I can sleep easy with that outcome.

And also this, which cracked me up:

Quote:Everyone is sick of the Giants, except Giants fans, who seem to still be wound up about every plate appearance, as if a single loss can undo the three recent championships and plunge the team back into the darkness of 1985.

Quote:If I had to rank the NL teams I'd probably go:
Cubs
Nats
Dodgers
Giants
Cardinals
Mets
Pirates
Rockies
Marlins

I know I'm biased but I'd switch Nats and Dodgers. The Dodgers offense is going to be significantly better than last year. They'll be healthy from the start (knock wood) and the replacement of Utley with Forsythe is significant. And Nats still don't have a real closer. I expect they'll do everything they can to rectify that mid-season but until they do I think lack of a shut down closer is a real handicap.

I don't think the Cards will be that good. You may be right about the Rockies but most "experts" I've read think the NL West is crap. Hard to argue - Padres alone make it pretty bad.