The dice continue to roll the Giants’ way. After 105 contests, they are 45 games above .500 (75-30), 14 wins ahead of their real-life pace. If they keep up their .714 winning percentage, it would put them into the top-10 teams of all-time (and tied with the 1927 New York Yankees).
The Giants went 14-12 in July in reality, while the sim Giants posted a 16-10 mark.
The team batting average inched closer to reality, going from a .017 difference after June to .009 today. Both Giants teams hit 90 home runs after 105 games, so that’s spot on. And. the total number of runs scored is only off by nine. Pretty accurate stuff! Brett Butler is the only hitter doing noticeably better than what he did in real life.
Of course, it’s the pitching that has been out of whack the entire time. The team ERA went up a little bit in July, but the difference is still close to a full run from where it ought to be.
How to explain the Giants’ success? I’ve started tracking some new numbers. It seems to me that pitching ratings — A, B, C, or D — are having an oversized impact. As an A starter, Scott Garrelts erases so many singles, and teams can’t score against him without an extra-base hit. The B and C pitchers are also helped by this.
Through 105 games, the Giants have started a higher-rated pitcher in 57 games. They’ve only started a lesser-rated pitcher than the opponent 17 times. That’s a difference of 40 times that the Giants have begun the game with a pitching advantage! Thirty-one times, the opposing starters have had the same ratings.
Also, the San Francisco hitters have faced a D starter 46 times in 105 games, while the Giants have only started a D pitcher 22 times. When you’re starting A or B pitchers — often against lesser pitchers — as the Giants do three out of every four or five starts, that is having an out-sized effect on things.
| Batting | G | AVG | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO |
| Sim | 105 | .245 | 452 | 156 | 31 | 90 | 432 | 46 | 297 | 736 |
| Actual | 105 | .254 | 461 | 158 | 28 | 90 | 422 | 54 | 347 | 658 |
| Pitching | G | W-L | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Sim | 105 | 75-30 | 2.43 | 20 | 17 | 35 | 947.7 | 725 | 288 | 256 | 244 | 546 |
| Actual | 105 | 61-44 | 3.20 | 5 | 1 | 36 | 946.7 | 871 | 378 | 337 | 315 | 523 |
| Batters | Sim Through July | Actual Through July |
| Will Clark | .321, 84 R, 131 H, 18 HR, 69 RBI | .332, 69 R, 128 H, 16 HR, 75 RBI |
| Brett Butler | .305, 64 R, 123 H, 21 RBI, 17 SB | .279, 61 R, 106 H, 24 RBI, 16 SB |
| Kevin Mitchell | .273, 63 R, 96 H, 34 HR, 99 RBI | .294, 67 R, 104 H, 33 HR, 89 RBI |
| Ernest Riles | .264, 25 R, 62 H, 4 HR, 24 RBI | .276, 30 R, 61 H, 5 HR, 28 RBI |
| Candy Maldonado | .241, 27 R, 64 H, 4 HR, 37 RBI | .232, 34 R, 63 H, 7 HR, 34 RBI |
| Greg Litton | .236, 10 R, 21 H, 2 HR, 12 RBI | .296, 9 R, 24 H, 3 HR, 12 RBI |
| Robby Thompson | .231, 64 R, 87 H, 10 HR, 44 RBI | .252, 66 R, 94 H, 11 HR, 35 RBI |
| Kirt Manwaring | .216, 11 R, 33 H, 0 HR, 14 RBI | .221, 12 R, 33 H, 0 HR, 15 RBI |
| Terry Kennedy | .211, 19 R, 50 H, 3 HR, 22 RBI | .222, 16 R, 51 H, 4 HR, 24 RBI |
| Donell Nixon | .208, 11 R, 21 H, 0 HR, 8 RBI | .255, 15 R, 27 H, 0 HR, 11 RBI |
| Jose Uribe | .207, 23 R, 78 H, 1 HR, 30 RBI | .235, 27 R, 79 H, 1 HR, 24 RBI |
| Matt Williams | .151, 9 R, 13 H, 3 HR, 8 RBI | .169, 7 R, 13 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI |
| Pitchers | Sim Through July | Actual Through July |
| Goose Gossage | 2-0, 0.89 ERA, 30.3 IP, 18 K, 11 SV | 2-1, 2.55 ERA, 42.3 IP, 24 K, 4 SV |
| Scott Garrelts | 17-2, 1.04 ERA, 164.7 IP, 106 K | 8-3, 2.38 ERA, 128.7 IP, 80 K |
| Rick Reuschel | 13-4, 1.88 ERA, 177.7 IP, 92 K | 13-5, 2.47 ERA, 153.3 IP, 80 K |
| Don Robinson | 14-8, 2.63 ERA, 164.3 IP, 76 K | 9-7, 2.81 ERA, 176.3 IP, 73 K |
| Mike LaCoss | 11-4, 2.68 ERA, 124.3 IP, 70 K | 5-7, 3.22 ERA, 86.7 IP, 49 K |
| Atlee Hammaker | 6-2, 2.76 ERA, 88.0 IP, 42 K | 6-6, 3.77 ERA, 71.7 IP, 26 K |
| Craig Lefferts | 6-2, 3.04 ERA, 47.3 IP, 26 K, 11 SV | 2-3, 2.23 ERA, 72.7 IP, 50 K, 18 SV |
| Jeff Brantley | 2-0, 3.16 ERA, 26.7 IP, 23 K | 6-0, 4.08 ERA, 64.0 IP, 40 K |
| Steve Bedrosian | 0-1, 3.65 ERA, 12.3 IP, 10 K, 11 SV | 0-2, 4.43 ERA, 20.3 IP, 14 K, 8 SV |
| Kelly Downs | 3-4, 4.62 ERA, 50.7 IP, 40 K | 2-3, 5.46 ERA, 28.0 IP, 18 K |
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 