The McCovey Chroncast

The Giants avenge getting swept at home by the Diamondbacks in a 4-game series last month by sweeping the Diamondbacks in Arizona this past week, led by a dominant turn through the Giants' 40%-beleaguered rotation.  Does Matt Cain's recent success mean he's back? Did Jake Peavy not bursting into flames in either of his past two starts mean he's become slightly less flammable going forward? Are either of these questions as relevant as the still-questionable performance of the large bullpen? We attempt to answer all these questions as best we can and then I sort of spin us off into a tangent about Jose Bautists, Rougned Odor, and A.J. Pierzynski getting punched in the face. We also answer some of your Twitter questions.  

The Giants won 4 and lost 4, and the way they lost those 4 were bad enough to make you forget about those 4 wins. But that's why we're here: to remind you of the good times. Want more good times? We talk about Willie Mays! He's great. He's nothing but a basket of good memories. Less great but worth discussing is the possible return of Tim Lincecum. Remember him? We also answer your Twitter questions and wonder if the Giants should make a trade long before the deadline just to beef up that backend of the rotation. And in this week's game, we play a little Civil War. Whose side are you on? Angel Pagan or the disabled list's? Jake Peavy or Matt Cain's?      

The Giants end a 4-2 week on a high note by snapping the Mets' winning streak, but there are definitely some questions about the back of the rotation and the bullpen. Maybe the organization doesn't want to focus on that too much, but the near-traumatic impact of a Jake Peavy or Matt Cain start makes it difficult for us here at the ol' Chroncast to focus on anything else about the team. Just how long a leash do you think the team should give these two going forward? But we do manage to focus a lot of our attention on the truly great elements on the roster: Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Madison Bumgarner, and Matt Duffy. And we spend some time kicking ourselves for not talking up Santiago Casilla enough over the years. We also answer your Twitter questions. Did you know the Chroncast is now available on Stitcher? We're also available on iTunes and directly through our RSS feed. Like, rate, comment, and share! As always, you can listen on this page through the player below.

The second week of the season didn't hit the highs of week one but man oh man did the Giants get hit hard in week two. But there are some things worth talking about, like... Jeff Samardzija! And Johnny Cueto! And... and, um... uh... Derek Law! And very little else. EXCEPT, joining us this week for an overview of the Giants' minor league system is our own Roger. You know him from Minor Lines right here on this very site! We try to pick some players of the week, the best and worst games of the week, answer your Twitter questions and play a game where we pretend the Sunday Night Baseball version of the Giants is MLB's 31st team and proceed to review that organization top to bottom. Its strengths, its weaknesses, its weaknesses... and its weaknesses. Because man oh man do the Giants really, really, truly, genuinely suck on Sunday Night Baseball.

It's the regular season now, and that means I am going to start looking really, really stupid as all my really, really stupid predictions start to be really, really disproven.  Doug and I look back on a 5-2 week that featured two near-sweeps and an historically great Giants-Dodgers game. Like, an all-timer. And it was nearly a top-10 Caining.  We also examine Brandon Belt's contract extension (and deftly avoid making Belt-related jokes at Pablo Sandoval's expense), pick our player of the week (and an honorable mention), and focus on Matt Duffy a little bit more than you'd expect given everything else that happened in week 1 of the regular season. But the big news is that I talk positively about the Giants for five solid minutes. You won't believe your ears. All in all, a pretty amazing week of Giants baseball and a near-best case scenario to start off the 2016 season.  

Last week's excellent Chroncast with Bryan Srabian went so well that it was over two hours! So, I cut this section in hopes of saving it for a day like today.  Listen to us go through the Giants' schedule week by week and guess their W-L record. It's April Fool's Day, so it's up to you, dear listener, to figure out if Doug's sensible measure of the Giants' Spring Training results and Bryan's illogical assessment of the Giants' chances for the season are genuine or simply playing to the crowd.  Oh! And because we don't know anyone associated with the Padres or the few Padres blogs in existence, Doug and I hastily do a "Know Your Foe" about this year's San Diego squadron.  The Chroncast will return with a new episode on April 11th, and we'll shift to looking back at the week that was. 

Doug is back! I give him an overview of everything he's missed, Giants-wise, over the past three weeks. And then we try to figure out exactly what the Giants' Spring Training *means* for the upcoming season and if it's time to start panicking. Sure, they're just Spring Training numbers... but what if they're not? In this week's "Know Your Foe" segment, we talk to Eric Stephen of SB Nation's Dodgers blog, True Blue LA, to get a better sense of the Giants' primary NL West foe. And then we spend a good chunk of time talking to the Giants' own Vice President of Brand Development and Digital Media, Bryan Srabian! He's kind enough to stop by and talk about what he does every day as well as the Giants' approach to social media. We'll be going dark for a couple of weeks, so this is our last Twitter Q&A and the game of the week. When we return, we'll be shifting the format to review the regular seasons games of the week.

Grant Brisbee takes a moment out of his busy schedule to talk about the present state of the Giants. Sure, it's Spring Training, and only just last week did Bryan talk about how much he "doesn't care" about Spring Training results, but the Giants haven't really lit the world on fire and neither of their huge offseason investments have yet to show much of anything positive... so is it time too care?  And, we decide to steer this podcast ship right into baseball's latest controversy: kids in the clubhouse! What's the deal with almost-Giant Adam LaRoche? And do those Giants who side against LaRoche in this instance really have a leg to stand on?  We also answer a Twitter question or two and for this week's game we steer into another controversy: the present vacancy on the Supreme Court? Which Giant do we think could capably fill the position? It's a quick, fun 'cast that'll pump you up for the weekend. Maybe. At the very least, Grant's smooth podcast voice will give you funny feelings. Finally, a heads up: we're experimenting with limited ads through our hosting platform, BlogTalkRadio.   

If you're looking for an escape from the Madison Bumgarner injury news, then you've come to the right place. Reuben and I had so much content from last week's episode that we needed to split it in two.  There's a lot of #synergy with upcoming pop culture releases, too. We try to put together All-Star teams managed by Batman and Superman as well as play a Game of Thrones-related game where we decide which Giants are best-suited for the Kingsguard.  Unrelated, but related: isn't it absurd how grown-ass men where baseball uniforms? Like, really old men, even? And, if you like what you're hearing, rate and review us on iTunes!     

This week's co-host is our own Reuben Poling. He and Bryan talk about Spring Training, Sergio Romo developing a beef with Bryce Harper, and bring in special guest Mike Ferrin from MLB Network Radio and the Arizona Diamondbacks to discuss the Arizona Diamondbacks. How will Paul Goldschmidt devastate the Giants this season? Download and listen.

Jen Mac Ramos fills in for Doug as we look back at the totally forgettable and somewhat regrettable 2006 Giants team. It's that team's 10-year anniversary, you know. And who wouldn't want to celebrate the 60 games of Shea Hillenbrand, Steve Finley's last full season, and Armando Benitez? Oh, you wouldn't? Well... that's okay!  There's a new segment called "Know Your Foe", where we breakdown the NL West opponents before the start of the season. This week it's the Colorado Rockies. What's up with Dinger? How will they defeat the Giants? Will raising the outfield walls at Coors Field do any good?  And then we answer your Twitter questions and try to figure out the pathology of the Hank the Dog conspiracy before playing a quick 90s sitcom game.   

Baseball Prospectus editor and ESPN Sweet Spot network writer... and... YOOOGE A's fan Jason Wojciechowski (@jlwoj) Skypes in to talk about the joy and pain of statistical projections, the fun parts of baseball even when the odds are against your favorite squadron, the possibility of a better labor deal, and the edibility of stadium sushi. Now, the official position of The Chroncast is that there's nothing wrong with someone being an A's fan. All points of view are welcome here. Doug does give Jason the radio equivalent of stink eye and Jason does gets out some of his angst regarding a last place team by taking some potshots at our favorite team, but in the end we all have a good time.  We also answer your Twitter questions and play a new game: SCOTUS / POTUS, wherein we nominate Giants for either SCOTUS or POTUS. 

You know Carmen Kiew from her many .gifs and "The Social Media Minute" on KNBR and now from this week's McCovey Chroncast. Among the many topics covered: Spring Training and the many golf carts in Arizona, last weekend's Fan Fest, Madison Bumgarner's contract, Brandon Belt's friendship with Carmen, Willie Mays and mortality, and Kurt Manwaring for some reason. Trust me: it will all makes sense when you listen.  We also try to guess the names of Bumgarner's horses, answer your Twitter questions, and play a new game that ties the Giants to the Grammy Awards. There is singing. And, yes, you can hear this all without an echo.

DISCLAIMER: I (Bryan) really, really blew it with our record this week. I didn't use headphones meaning the computer mic captured the audio from the speakers, which in this case the sounds were the wonderful voices of our own groug and our own Jen Mac Ramos. An attempt was made to repair the audio but, alas, I wasn't able to improve it very much. No excuses: I suck. Truly sorry about this, but if you can get through it, you'll hear some good stuff in this one. Also, there's a tangent on Mike Broadway. Really, REALLY sorry about that, too. * * * One of McCovey Chronicles' own, Jen Mac Ramos, joins us on the Chroncast to talk about prospects, Brandon Belt, the San Diego Padres, and Batman vs. Superman (which comes up in this week's game Belt / Barry / Thrill).   Come for Jen and Doug, consider leaving because of the echo, but stay for the Tyler Walker reference.

Is Hunter Pence going to leave the Giants to become a professional gamer? What is Hearthstone and is it contagious? Dan Szymborski answers the important questions for us. This week's Chroncast chronicles everything from baseball to trolling to Skynet to Bill Murray-led heists and to Star Trek. Perhaps a smidge too much about Star Trek, in fact, as we play a game where we try to figure out which Star Trek crew fits a particular Giant best and what role that player might have on that particular ship. But only you, fair listener, can be the judge of that. Dan manages to troll Bryan, affirm Matt Duffy, denigrate the Giants for daring to wear orange & black, and pitch a revolutionary method for resuscitating old TV shows that have long since left syndication. There's also a heady discussion of mortality that might be a great conversation starter here, even: "Who was the first great baseball player younger than you to make you realize your own mortality?"