Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
The Giants are hosting Los Angeles for three games this week and Bill Plunkett from the Orange County Register gives us an inside look at the Dodgers.
Photos courtesy of Ryan Leong
Plunkett gave his impression of the Giants early season struggles: “It looks like a mess right now… So many injuries, so many pieces of their plan that are just not there. I think Christian Arroyo’s arrival is a big plus, but everything else you see is just minuses and subtractions. Maybe the depth is just not there in the same way as it is with the Dodgers. Blame it on the payroll or whatever you want to blame it on but they have not been able to absorb all the hits that they’re taking.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti joined us Friday before the Giants opened their series with the Dodgers in part 1 of a 2 part conversation.
Righetti talked to The Sports Virus about Matt Cain reinventing himself: …“He was going to get hit this spring (training) but I didn’t care. I didn’t want him walking people, I wanted him get used to his 2-seamer…(After Arizona spring training) where the ball won’t move at all, his stuff was going to be a little bit better once we hit San Francisco, I knew that for sure. You still need success when you’re trying something, in his mind it was new. You still want to see something positive out of it so he can build on that and he did…It’s really a different touch. A slower curveball, more separation in his speeds, movement on his fastball on both sides of the plate. He’s giving these guys a little bit different look.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Our regular guest John Shea from the San Francisco Chronicle joins us to talk about his interview with Giants General Manager Bobby Evans in part 2 of our conversation.
Shea revealed to The Sports Virus what he learned from an interview with Bobby Evans on the recent road trip: “The answers basically came down to listen, it’s May, there’s plenty of time, we have core players in both the lineup and the rotation that got us multiple championships and the anticipation is these people who might have started slowly, their numbers are eventually going to hit their career norms and that will get them from an also-ran to a team that could get to .500 and then from there, who knows.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea is our guest. In part 1 of our conversation we chat about the Giants road trip including the Wednesday win over the Mets in New York.
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about Christian Arroyo’s game-winning three-run double in the 9th inning on Wednesday that beat the Mets: …“Arroyo is the real deal. Yeah his average is low (.242 after he went 2 for 5 in Wednesday’s game), but he always seems to get the right hit at the right time…He does things that help a team win. As his teammates said, the best compliment you can give him is he’s a ballplayer. He’s a smart, intelligent, wise man of 21 going on 28. He does all the right things on the field as if he’s been playing the game at this level for a long, long time.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
NBC Sports Radio talk show host and baseball insider Seth Everett joined us Friday to talk about the state of the Giants and look ahead to their series next week in New York against the Mets.
Everett talked to The Sports Virus about Madison Bumgarner’s situation: …“He took full responsibility. I wouldn’t punish him. It’s not that he shouldn’t get paid, because that’s what they have a player’s union for. Sometimes the player’s union protects a player who did something stupid.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea is our guest. In part 2 of our conversation we chat about the Giants outfield situation, replacing Madison Bumgarner and the All Giants/Dodgers team.
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about Madison Bumgarner’s prognosis: …“This is all a guess that he’ll be ok after the All Star break. A month from now maybe his shoulder will be ok, but maybe his ribs won’t. Maybe his ribs are fine, but his shoulder is still bugging him and he’ll have to be pushed back. So, you can’t really rely on him for sure in mid-July if that’s the timetable because it’s really a guess at this point.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
The Giants are in LA taking on the Dodgers and John Shea from the San Francisco Chronicle discusses the state of the team after game one of the series. In part 1 of a 2 part conversation we talk at length about newcomer Christian Arroyo who learned the game in a very unique way.
Shea explains to The Sports Virus how Christian Arroyo’s mother Kim Drummond taught him how to play baseball and how to hit: “…Christian said she went out and got a copy of the Ted Williams book – The Science of Hitting – and ‘read a page taught it to me, read another page, taught it to me.’ I said, who does that? He said, ‘well, my mom does.’ Super mom.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
KNBR talk show host Ray Woodson joined us from AT&T Park before the Giants faced the Dodgers.
Woodson talked to The Sports Virus about Madison Bumgarner’s injury: …“As Bumgarner said, not the most responsible decision. You’re such an important guy to your team and they’re off to a bad start and then this happens?…He let his team down. But, he was honest about it, as opposed to (Jeff) Kent (wrist injury in 2002) and I think (the Giants) appreciated that. I doubted that they were going to penalize him in any way except for he had to talk to the media. I think that was his penance.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
SF 3B Christian Arroyo made his Major League debut this week against the Dodgers and picked up his first hit off Clayton Kershaw. He joins us from inside the Giants clubhouse along with RHP Derek Law.
Arroyo talked to The Sports Virus about getting his first Major League hit off Clayton Kershaw: …“He’s got pretty good stuff. He’s a good competitor. It was a good moment for me I think in my career. To say that you got your first hit off Kershaw it’s one of those things I’ll never forget.”
Law talked to The Sports Virus about Arroyo’s impact this week: …“It kinda sparks the team. You see that and you get excited and you want to rally behind him. He’s such a young guy and there’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders…He’s so mature for his age. The way he handles himself and goes about his business is bar none.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
The Giants are using neuroscience to improve training for players throughout the organization. Today we learn more about it with Kane Russell the Head of Partnerships for Halo Neuroscience.
Russell explains to The Sports Virus the benefits of Halo Neuroscience: “…There’s been an explosion of wearable tech in both Major League Baseball and other professional sports. These wearables for the most part are just providing trainers and coaches with data. But, we’re a different kind of wearable, we’re actually applying neuro stimulation to accelerate the rate of improvement from training…(Giants prospect) Tyler Beede has been using Halo Sport to not only improve his strength and athleticism, but also the skill of being an incredible pitcher. The motor cortex of the brain actually governs four skills: strength, explosiveness, endurance and muscle memory. These are the areas where we can really have an impact.”
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how to play baseball and how to hit: “…Christian said she went out and got a copy of the Ted Williams book – The 
Science of Hitting – and ‘read a page taught it to me, read another page, taught it to me.’ I said, who does that? He said, ‘well, my mom does.’ Super mom.”
most part are just providing trainers and coaches with data. But, we’re a different kind of wearable, we’re actually applying neuro stimulation to accelerate the rate of improvement from training…(Giants prospect) 
Tyler Beede has been using Halo Sport to not only improve his strength and athleticism, but also the skill of being an incredible pitcher. The motor cortex of the brain actually governs four skills: strength, explosiveness, endurance and muscle memory. These are the areas where we can really have an impact.”