
SAN FRANCISCO -- Bruce Bochy has typically used off days to get extra rest for his starting pitchers, and in recent years it was Don Mattingly who shifted rotations for the rivalry games. But this is a desperate time for a team that is now in second place, and the Giants are considering changes.
Bochy said the staff will discuss altering the rotation and skipping Matt Cain's next start. That would line up Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Matt Moore against the Dodgers next week in Los Angeles. Bumgarner and Cueto will face them either way, but throwing a second lefty against the Dodgers could be big. Most of their best hitters -- Cory Seager, Chase Utley, Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson -- hit from the left side.
Of course, Cain could alter the thinking with a good start today. He'll face the Pirates in a series that is already lost after last night's failed comeback.
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Bochy met with a few players today, including Hunter Strickland, who was steamed after being pulled with two outs in the seventh last night. What's the plan going forward?
"We better find a way to get out of this pretty soon," Bochy said. "We know that."
Bochy reiterated that he's seen better swings and pitches the last couple days, but at some point that's not enough. The Giants have been noting the small victories every night, but those aren't adding up. Can it help with the urgency factor to wake up and see that you're in second place?
"It could," Bochy said. "I know that's been talked about a little but now that we're in second. We've got some baseball left, six weeks and there's time to figure this out or get on track."
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--- Buster Posey said last night that running is the only thing that bothers his stiff lower back, so the Giants have told him to take it easy on the bases. No more stealing, apparently. Bochy said he has gotten no indication that Posey's back issues will linger the rest of the season.
"I can't run him out there every day from this point, but we will as much as we can," Bochy said.
--- Ryan Vogelsong was my latest podcast guest, and as always he was open and honest. You can stream it online here or download on iTunes here. We talked about facing Giants hitters, his emotional walk off the mound, watching the Giants from a hospital bed, his success this season, talking to teammates about Madison Bumgarner, and much more. Also, I asked him about his future.
"I’m 100 percent committed to playing next year," he said. "If next year is my last year I don’t want it to be the way this one was. I want to play the whole season and make a determination on how I feel and how I am physically at the end of the full season, not getting hurt and sitting out."
Vogelsong doesn't know if he'll be a Pirates, but the well-traveled right-hander knows one thing.
"I know it’ll be in North America," he said, smiling.