Progress Report # 2

In late March I invited a group of friends to voice their opinions on a series of predictions pertaining to the San Francisco Giants 2011season. This took the form of responding to a series of statements with one of three opinions, “under,” “the same” or “over.” On August 6th, I published a post that gave the results of four of those statements. Here are the remaining statements, and the final standings of the players.

The Giants will win 94 games. In my opinion, the picture to the left best summarizes the Giants season. Without their best hitter, the Giants weren’t able to generate enough offense to effectively compete against the rejuvenated Arizona Diamondbacks. Going into the night of May 25th, when Posey’s season ending injury occurred, the Giants record stood at 27 wins against 20 losses, for a winning percentage of .574. If somehow we could turn back the clock and Posey wasn’t injured, and the Giants had continued to win games at this winning percentage, they would have won 93 games.

Matt Cain will have a 3.29 ERA. Matt Cain did much better than this, posting an ERA of 2.88, which was his best since he became a full-time starter

Brian Wilson will save 41 games. Wilson spent time on the disabled list, which took away several opportunities for saves. His year wasn’t a complete loss, however. His 36 saves this past season was very respectable. His fame as a national personality grew when a series of product endorsements hit the screens. He was an all-star. He led the league in destroying water coolers, too.

The Beard Unleashes A Fastball

The Beard Vents His Frustration

The Giants will have an eight-game winning streak. The team’s longest winning streak came in late September, when the division was all but lost to the Diamondbacks. However, winning exactly eight straight games showed they still had some life left in them. Only one person, Jeff, wrote “same” on his ballot to this one. Nice going, Jeff.

The Giants will have a six-game losing streak. They didn’t. The team had two losing streaks of five games each. Eight out of the ten players got this one correct.

The Giants will win 10 of their 18 games against the Dodgers. The teams split their season series, with each squad winning nine games. Only Neal and Juanita got this one correct.

Brandon Belt will hit 18 home runs. Maybe next year.

Barry Zito will lose 11 games. The former American League Cy Young Award Winner lost 57 games in his first four years with the Giants, an average of 14¼ losses per season. With the emergence of Ryan Vogelsong as an effective everyday starting pitcher, Zito became the odd man out. The “sixth” pitcher on a highly effective, five-man starting pitcher rotation didn’t get enough starts to lose this many, so lack of opportunity and injuries kept his losses down to a career low of four.

Pablo Sandoval will bat .291. After hitting a disappointing .268 during the 2010 campaign, in 2011 the “Kung Fu Panda” returned to form, hitting .315. It should be noted that Sandoval played in only 117 games due to injuries. If he stays healthy, and keeps his weight in check, Sandoval can wreak havoc on National League pitchers.

Giants pitchers will throw two no-hitters. Eight of us said this wouldn’t happen.

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Final Standings Of The Participants

Player	Wins	Losses	Pct.	GB
Neal	13	3	.813	–
Juanita	12	4	.750	.5
Steve	9	7	.563	4
David	9	7	.563	4
Al	8	8	.500	5
Jeff	8	8	.500	5
John P.	6	10	.375	7
John G.	5	11	.313	8
Grubby Glove	4	12	.250	9
Ricky	3	13	.186	10

And there you have it. For 2012, Team Grubby will expand the scope of this fun exercise to include other teams and players. If any of my readers would like to participate, please let me know.