Machi the Machine

"If it Bleeds....We Can Kill it...." Butch from Predator.

Just a little Jean "Don't Call Me Ralph Machio" Machi analysis.  Why? Because I am pretty gosh darn sure I'm the only person on the planet talking about the filth that is Jean Machi.  He went viral when he farted in the dugout (literally), but we want to give dude props that aren't due to flatulence.




Look at the nasty swinging strike nearly three feet off of the plate:

Then in the 8th, he totallt freezes Jordy Mercer & Gaby Sanchez with the change after bringing the 4-seamer at 93/94 MPH:

    Machi is my new favorite player....Today.

Kickham's Pitch F/X

How Much was Kickham to Blame Last Night?

I commented during the game last night that Buster needed to do a better job framing Kickham's pitches.  What I saw from Kickham was really not much different than I anticipated, and to put it simply, he looks like he will fit right in with the rotation.  He nibbled the corners, and the two biggest pitches were the two called balls that were clearly also strikes. The kid was hitting his spots, the ump wasn't calling them. Ben Lindbergh at Baseball Prospectus talks in great length about the importance of framing as a catcher, and I use his GIF from Lucroy as examples because to me he just jumps out as a backstop who "gets it".


That right there, is about as close as we can get to Kickham's called balls.  According to BP and Lindbergh, that pitch was 0.351 feet off the strike zone, and is exactly whay I am referring to when I talk about the catcher framing the pitch for the ump. Below is a pitch chart of Kickham's start from last night.  I count six pitches that were borderline strikes, but were called balls with only one pitch that was outside the zone called in Kickham's favor.

Now here is the pitch he threw to Derek Norris: It actually wasn't as "up in the zone", and Norris just went down and smacked a four-seamer 379 feet. Which can be seen RIGHT HERE

Bottom line is I liked what I saw from Kickham. The Giants don't have an arm that can bring it 94 MPH, and as proven by his 25% Whiff rate when he threw his slider, he has the offspeed stuff of a big league arm.  With a week of grooming, maybe we can get a better start from the Rook.

Kickham Where It Hurts

So Mike Kickham makes his MLB debut Tuesday. Doesn't it feel like we've never won in Oakland? Let's check out what the scouting report says on the LHP:

Selected by the Giants in the sixth round of the 2010 draft, the lefthander enjoyed a breakout season in 2012. Pitching for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Kickham posted a 3.05 ERA and struck out 137 batters in 150.2 innings. His impressive performance earned him Eastern League Postseason All-Star honors.

Kickham has above-average arm strength for a left-handed pitcher. His fastball often sits in the low 90's, and his two-seamer has heavy sink. He also throws two solid offspeed pitches--a plus 84 MPH changeup and a late-breaking power-curve in the low 80's. If he can harness his command and straighten-out his mechanics, Kickham could develop in to a rock-solid mid rotation starter in the big leagues.

Best Game Ever

Totally saw that coming.

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