San Francisco Giants: Top 10 Maddening Statistics from 2011

Matt Cain perfectly exemplifies the way that every Giants fan feels about a team with the most maddeningly terrible offense in the history of Bay Area sports.  I'm sure it takes all of the Tennessee "Big Sugar" left in Cain to not scream at the pathetic offense that supposedly backed him every time he hit the hill in 2011. It's no junior high secret that Matt Cain gets awful run support: it's been that way since he entered the league in 2005. 

This is the time of year that it's most difficult to watch other teams play and feel that sense of detachment.  Unfortunately, I can't stay away.  There's no sense in crying about the failure of a season that the Giants had. The best thing the team can do is stand up, dust itself off, and look ahead to Fall Leagues, Winter Ball in Venezuela, and Spring Training in February.  There were some pretty clear bright spots to the season although almost none of them were on offense. Had at least one of them been offensive, I may not be sitting here feeling sorry for myself. Instead, I'd be watching the Giants play Game 5 of the NLDS against the Phillies, hoping for another infamous uppercut strike three call from umpire Tom Hallion. Fine, let's move on...

I just can't help it. Here are the top 6 completely insane statistics from the 2011 season, ranging from the abhorrent (offensive) to the absolutely phenomenal (pitching). 

Aubrey Huff's Astoundingly Bad Follow-Up to 2010

Too much has been written about Huff's terrible season so I don't want to dwell on it. Except that I'm going to. Disclaimer here: in no way do I blame Huff for this. He had an absolutely explosive 2010 and I still like the guy. Unfortunately for him, that doesn't change how poorly he did. 

Huff played 150 games, 29 more than the next guy (Cody Ross). Huff had almost 100 more AB than Pablo Sandoval and played in 33 more games and somehow managed to trail him 235 to 193 in total bases. In homage to Moneyball (both the book which I re-read and the recently released film), Huff's OBP was a measly .306. At least he hit 12 HRs (oh wait, 3 of those came in ONE GAME).

My best memory of Huff will always be the snapshot I have in my mind of him and Burrell holding Bud Lights during the parade last November. Maybe that's why he had such an abysmal season.   

Nate Schierholtz Finished Fourth in HR/RBI with 9/41

My man crush aside, it is abundantly clear that Nate Schierholtz is the most exciting offensive player on the Giants.  

Of players who finished the season with 300 or more ABs, Schierholtz finished second in average behind only Sandoval, who had a resurgence after falling off his perch in 2010. Late in the season Nate injured his foot and finished playing just 115 games.

Most alarmingly, "Nate the Great" hit 9 HRs and drove in 41 runs (his towering upper decker at Coors Field was eclipsed by very few this season), putting him at 4th best on the team. (Speaking of HRs, Brandon "Giraffe" Belt also hit nine bombs but had just 18 RBI. This is how terrible the Giants are at getting men on base.) 9 HRs and 41 RBI was fourth best on the team? Read that again and tell me you don't choke a little bit wondering how this team came within a few games of making the playoffs.

The San Diego Padres, who finished 71-91 and dead last in the NL West, have similar numbers. Their fourth place man, Nick Hundley, finished with 9/29. And he had 60 fewer AB. 

Schierholtz's speed, combined with his rifle of an arm, will surely give him substantial playing time next year. Although you never know, the Giants seem to have a love affair with aging veterans and mammoth contracts. 

Aaron Rowand Just Didn't Cut It...

...so they cut him. Again, I don't blame Rowand here. He was a serious victim of unrealistically high expectations due to a moronic contract, similar to Aubrey Huff and Barry Zito.

The only stat you need to know: Freddy Sanchez was 69-239 in his injury-shortened season. Rowand barely eclipsed Freddy's hit total with 77 in 331 AB. That statistic alone makes me want to find Will Smith in "Men in Black" and have him shoot me with that memory erasing device. 

General Manager Brian Sabean seems to have "corrected" this mistake by taking Rowand's contract as a sunk cost (which it was as soon as they signed him anyways) and letting him loose. He did the same with Miguel Tejada, thank the baseball Gods. 

Amazingly Low Run Support for Stellar Starters

Ryan Vogelsong's face says it all: An offense that finished 29th (of 30 MLB teams) overall is not a happy one. Four combined starters (Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, and Vogelsong) finished 51-45 with a 2.88 ERA and a very solid 1.19 WHIP. 

Some things to consider are AT&T's pitcher-friendly atmosphere, Sabean's plan to grow pitching talent from the inside, and a weaker offensive National League (especially considering pitchers get 2-3 ABs/game). 

Confidence in your pitching staff is one thing but the ultimate is for the offense and the defense to have mutual respect for one another. 

Sergio Romo's Historic Season

The fact that the Giants nearly made the playoffs with injuries to Posey, Sanchez, Schierholtz, Wilson, and Sandoval speaks volumes about what their pitching staff did. Sergio Romo is a perfect case study for 2011.

I'm a firm believer that numbers for most relievers are skewed and in theory at least, their monetary value can be burned as fire wood, similar to German hyperinflation in the 1920s.  On the other hand, Romo's 2011 numbers fly off the page: 48 IP, 29 H, 8 ER, 5 BB, 70 K. That comes out to a 1.5 ERA and an astonishing 0.71 WHIP.

As mentioned above, it's not like Romo would have maintained giving up 0.71 walks and K's per inning if he had carried a Matt Cain-like IP load (221). Although isn't that why guys like Romo exist? They're specialists. Like Javier "Night Train" Lopez, Romo is in MLB for one reason: to throw that nasty, biting frisbee slider and get guys out late in innings.

He's the perfect pitcher for a team like the Giants: When they get late in a game and the offense still can't muster 2 or 3 runs, they send him out to the mound to rescue the clearly frustrated starting rotation.  

Aug 28-Sept 25: Giants Playing at Cardiac-Arrest Levels

For much of the season, the Giants were in first place in the NL West, enjoying the downfalls of the Rockies, Padres, and Dodgers due to injuries and financial train wrecks. The Diamondbacks sunk an already failing ship as they roared back in the final six weeks of the season to give the Giants a real taste of torture. 

The final crushing blow came in the last month of the season; beginning August 28, the Giants were 71-63 and 4 games out of first place. With 28 games left, the playoffs were easily obtainable. 

This is how they finished the season (L = Loss, W = Win): 

3L, 2W, 2L, 2W, 3L, 8W, 1L, 1W, 4L, 2W, 1L. 

Like a roller coaster, the Giants couldn't put together regular winning streaks. Aside from the monstrous run where they won 9 of 11, it was simply not enough. For most Giants fans, that 8 game win streak was just a tease, leaving us to wonder why Brett Pill and Brandon Belt weren't playing more, earlier in the season. 

The Giants shot themselves in the foot, cut themselves with knives, and disappointed a fan base with (probably) unrealistic expectations. Overall, the Giants are improving and we're all pleased with their progress. Team wins and playoff results since Matt Cain joined the team:

2005: 75-87, no playoffs. 

2006: 76-85, no playoffs. 

2007: 71-91, no playoffs (a guy named Barry Zito won the last game of the season). 

2008: 72-90, no playoffs. 

2009: 88-74, no playoffs.  

2010: 92-70 (11-4 in playoffs), WS Champs. 

2011: 86-76, no playoffs.