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 champions.

Madison Bumgarner
"He's unique in that his delivery is sort of crossfire, coming across his body. He's able to throw his cutter back across his body that comes in on righties, that's very good. That's hard to pickup as a hitter because he hides it behind his back very well. Anytime you can do that, and also have plus stuff, that makes it tough on hitters."
-- NL West hitter

Yusmeiro Petit
"He's a guy who is not going to stand out with his stuff, but he's got great command and is able to use that well to his advantage. He's a guy who hitters get frustrated with because they feel like they're comfortable in the box against him but before you know it, you're 0-for-4 with a punch out. He knows how to make pitches and is able to make you get yourself out."
-- NL West hitter

Sergio Romo
"His plus-pitch is his slider. My guess is he hasn't has as great a year as he's had because the slider hasn't been as good as it's been in the past. That was his bread-and-butter for years. It's sort of a Frisbee, late, hard-moving slider. A guy you got to get up and out over the plate. You got to hope that he hangs a slider. He's a guy who wants to be out there."
-- NL West hitter

Buster Posey
"He's got that catcher's mentality. He'll call the game in his mind as you pitch to him. He's a hard guy to fool because he's thinking along with you as a pitcher. It's key to not get into patterns with him, you've got to mix things up with him, so staying away from any regular patterns is very important."
-- NL West pitcher

Hunter Pence
"Hunter is a difficult guy to pitch to. He's a guy who is able to hit bad pitches or what I call pitchers' pitches, pitches you shouldn't be able to drive. He reminds me a little of Vladimir Guerrero. You bounce a ball and he can still dig it out. I've thrown a fastball at his head and he's hit a home run off me. I think he's a guy you just got to execute your pitches and hope he gets himself out."
-- NL West pitcher

Pablo Sandoval
"He swings at a lot of pitches. You can throw him balls, strikes. He's a bad-ball hitter. If you throw him a curveball, it has to bounce. Watching him in the World Series, it seems he steps up in the big games. He's a hard out. He'll strike out a bunch but he'll have solid contact. You can make him chase. You have to keep mixing. He will barrel a ball. He'll hit opposite-field home runs.
-- NL West pitcher

Michael Morse
"Like Sandoval, he covers the plate really well. I don't know if he barely holds onto the bat or what, but it looks like the bat is four-feet long. He's another guy you have to keep mixing. You can't sit in one area because he can extend and has serious power the other way. You can beat him in sometimes but if you miss, it's going to go a long ways if he puts the barrel on it."
-- NL West pitcher