Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated twice a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Injuries derailed the Giants 2018 season. 2B Joe Panik was one of the walking wounded last year, but now he’s healthy and has been tearing up the Cactus League hitting over .400. Bench Coach Hensley Meulens is optimistic about this season, especially because Buster Posey should be back to his All Star form.
Unlike many hitters in the Major Leagues, Panik is not concerned with launch angle :
“Everybody wants to hit home runs, but the 
moment I start thinking about that, that’s when I go bad. I’ve been really trying to focus on contact point. If I hit the ball in the right contact point that’s when the ball will go. Don’t think about lifting the ball because that’s when bad things will happen.”
Meulens talked about Posey coming off hip surgery:
“Hitting wise it restrained him (last season) from being at his best, powerful and driving balls. Catching as well he wasn’t feeling like himself…I’m hoping he can get back to where he was the year before (hit .320 with .400 on base percentage).”
Listen To Panik and Meulens
Join us again next week when we hear from Giants 3rd Base Coach Ron Wotus.
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The Giants pitching staff looks good so far in spring training. Two members of the staff who are hoping to be more consistent this season join us today. Chris 
Stratton is vying for a spot in the rotation or as a long man in the bullpen. Mark Melancon is finally healthy and wants to retain his spot as the closer.
“I had some really good games and some really bad games. Boch (Bruce Bochy) wants to know what he’s getting every day and that’s what I want every day is I need to know what I’m going to go out there and be capable of. I need to work on being a little bit more consistent and being better.”
really well. Will (Smith) did a great job and he’s very capable of doing it, likewise Tony Watson and some other guys. That’s the good thing and I think it’s a real staple on our club right now is the bullpen. I think we have a lot of really good arms. Whatever happens it’s going to shake out well.”
The Gold Glove left side of the Giants infield is back healthy and ready for a productive season. After injuries derailed SS Brandon Crawford and 3B Evan Longoria 
in 2018, they are poised to produce at previous career levels both at the plate and in the field.
“The biggest thing was swinging at good pitches…When you’re going through a little bit of a dry spell you start getting a little more anxious and you’re swinging at pitches that you that you don’t necessarily want to be swinging at and getting yourself out because of it.”
It is a tough ballpark to leave the yard and it’s just an overall more difficult ballpark to hit in with the weather. I think it’s more about trying to grind through at bats here and hit line drives. It took me probably three quarters of the year to get into that mind set…I’m positive that I’ll be more comfortable stepping into the box in game one this year than I was last year and I think that will translate into some better production.”
Giants catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Mac Williamson join us for our first Inside China Basin podcast of 2019. Both players are trying to get back to normalcy. Posey underwent hip surgery and is getting back to 
100%, while Williamson feels great after dealing with concussion symptoms for much of the 2018 season.
“I think mechanically I wasn’t able to swing the way that I always had and I’m sure that had something to do with it overall, but I was kind of having to tweak things to change my mechanics which I hadn’t had to do in the past.”
times, but I wouldn’t change it. I was going after a ball, trying to catch a ball in foul territory that was a meaningful out in our game…What are you going to do, let it drop? Pack my bags to Triple-A? It’s an unfortunate series of events…I just need to be more athletic and not trip (over the bullpen mound).”
It was a season of many injuries and much disappointment. A second straight losing season with no post season berth cost GM Bobby Evans his job. But, the future is bright for some of the young Giants. Shaw blasted 24 home runs for AAA Sacramento and Garcia has been producing in San Francisco while playing catcher and first base.
putting it in play pretty hard. If I can come out next year and cut down my strikeouts by 30 strikeouts on the year, that could be 50 extra points on the slugging percentage, that could be 5 more home runs. I think that big guys, we just have to put an emphasis on just putting the ball forward…That’s ultimately my goal.”
Giants RHP Chris Stratton and Hitting Coach Alonzo Powell joined us from AT&T Park on Monday afternoon.
Evans will not return as Giants General Manager, we hear from Chief Executive Officer Larry Baer and Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Brian Sabean.
is going to immerse himself or herself in the baseball operation and is going to be fully accountable for the results and putting together the blueprint of the future, sort of the Next Gen for the Giants.”
Larry Krueger from KNBR joins us to talk about what changes should and should not occur in Major League Baseball in part 2 of our conversation.
be officiated by people and it’s watched by people. If you start doing it any other way it loses an awful lot of spontaneity maybe. To me, maybe I’m old school, but I think a sport that goes back to 1870 to make overwhelming, sweeping changes to a sport that’s that old is kind of disrespecting the sport…It was a great, great sport and it doesn’t need massive alterations.”
rotation, the same bullpen and the same infield, I think most people would be pleased with that. Their success or failure in 2019 is going to be predicated on who comes back and plays that outfield…Can you count on (Steven) Duggar? He’s a very good defensive player, but I think if he’s in your lineup, you’re hitting him 8th. He’s not a foundation piece outfielder at this point until he proves he’s a Major League hitter.”
Then Bob Nightengale from USA Today joins us to take a peek into the Giants future. Will it include Madison Bumgarner?:
value as he once did. He’s not that same guy. He’s still a very good pitcher, but not a bona fide ace type guy that he was…I think they hang onto him, then see where they are next July at the trade deadline.”
what the ball club should do to improve in 2019. Our special guest is Boston Red Sox scout Gary Hughes, who is a Bay Area native. Here’s what he told The Sports Virus on Inside China Basin about Pablo Sandoval:
work. To our credit we ate the whole (contract) and that was a big meal. That’s why we are where we are now. We didn’t sit and hold onto that contract and keep 
hoping something would happen. We just went out and made something else happen.