October Confidential: Giants

How do you beat the Giants? MLB.com asked rival players from around Major League Baseball to offer an inside look at how best to face the NL Wild Card.
Madison Bumgarner
"Big-time competitor who loves pitching in big games. For a lefty, it's tough, because he comes from that first-base side and it's a different angle that you never see. It's tough to get used to and a little uncomfortable. The thing about him is, he is going to pitch to his gameplan and you know he's not going to go away from that."
-- NL West infielder

Johnny Cueto
"What's impressive about him is the way he mixes up his quick-pitch and pause in his delivery and is still able to throw strikes. He does a really good job of keeping you off balance."
-- NL West infielder
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"He is pretty much an any-pitch-in-any-count guy, so you can't really sit on a pitch. His stuff is probably slightly above average but plays better than that because he does it with the turn, the quick-pitch and he's got plus command. So he knows how to pitch really well."
-- NL West infielder
Jeff Samardzija
"When he gets that good sinker (and cutter) going, he's tough because he's 94-95. He tries to get the sinker in on your hands, and then he will go to the cutter away to get you off that. So you really have to try to see it out of his hand early, because when he's pitching in effectively is when he's really tough, because it's hard and has some late sink. You want to see him out over the plate, but if he can locate in on you it's probably going to be a long day for the offense."
-- NL West infielder
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Santiago Casilla
"He attacks you. He has a few pitches that he can attack you with, and everything is moving with him -- nothing is straight. He keeps the ball down for the most part."
-- NL West infielder
"Good run and sink on the heater. You've got to try and see it up. Good cutter/slider and then the curveball. I think you just have to try and see him out over (the plate) and take everything in because he's got the good run in. You want to try and see him up because the curveball, with two strikes, he likes to bury that in the dirt and get some chases on it. When he does struggle it's more because of command rather than stuff."
-- NL West infielder
Sergio Romo
"Sliders. I didn't realize how good his changeup was and how much movement he gets. If you're a lefty everything is moving away, moving away and then he'll throw that slider and lock you up."
-- NL West infielder

"He's, like, 75 percent sliders so everybody knows it and everybody sits on it -- and they don't get hits off it, so it's a good pitch. He does a good job mixing in that two-seamer just enough where you can't completely forget about it. You have to try and hit that slider, the one that starts at you and breaks over. It's such a good pitch you almost have to sit on it."
-- NL West infielder
Buster Posey
"I don't even know that there is a scouting report. I think the biggest thing is not to get into patterns with him. I mean, you can go down and away and be pretty safe, but you can't live there because he'll just start peppering the ball to right-center. So you have to show him something in as well, but he's pretty quick inside as well so you can't live there either."
-- NL West relief pitcher

"It's hard because he hits everything. If you look at the numbers, he hits like .296 on fastballs in and he hits .290 on fastballs away. I think probably his only weakness may be up, but if you don't get it high enough he's going to hit it. He's pretty good on the low pitch, too. He's a tough at-bat if you're not coming with your 'A' stuff. I don't know the numbers on sliders or changeups, but I would say probably best-case scenario is you go above the zone and then bury below the zone, and that's really your one shot. He's fairly patient unless guys are on base -- then he gets a little more aggressive, but it's still selectively aggressive."
-- NL West starting pitcher
Brandon Crawford
"He's a good hitter, but he's also a guy you can elevate above the zone with and then just go below his swing. He's pretty aggressive, so you can take advantage of that aggressiveness and make good pitches. As long as you're making really good pitches and they're pitcher's pitches I think you're going to be fine, but the second you make a mistake he's going to make you pay for it."
-- NL West starting pitcher
Hunter Pence
"He is a good bad-ball hitter. If you're in the zone, I think you're fine, but the second you go above the zone or below the zone it's amazing how well he hits bad pitches. You can elevate on him, but it's got to be eyes or above -- it's got to be way out of the zone. I've seen him hit balls off the ground for homers, not just base hits. I feel like as long as you get ahead of him and then expand -- but when you expand it has to be way, way off."
-- NL West starting pitcher