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Is Cain the Real Deal?
2008-09-13 01:40:00
Matt Cain has been one of the Giants' premiere pitching prospects to come up in the new millennium and has been dubbed a future ace after being taken with the teams first pick in the 2002 draft. And before I get started, I just wanted to reassure that I am not down on Matt Cain, and I still do believe he has a bright birthday yet, but again, Matt Cain has been as unpredictable of pitcher as any this season. Last years' 16-loss season was due mainly to the fact that he was getting less than 2 runs per game as run support, but this year, that hasn't necessary been the case. Cain is getting hit hard, when he used to be one of the tougher pitchers in the league to hit, and he's walking a lot of guys as well. It also has some people concerned that his fastball has dropped down to the low 90's rather than the 94-96 mph heater he was bringing over the last 2 1/2 seasons. Also, not saying that Cain is on the level that Tim future as a #2 starter in this league, but he's just not maki...
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Giants Bring up Gillaspie
2008-09-10 03:35:00
It's been less than 3 months since the Giants drafted Connor Gillaspie with their supplemental pick back in June, but they feel he's ready to be thrown into the fire. The Giants have really begun a full on youth movement over the last couple weeks, but the Gillaspie call-up was definitely not on the radar. Gillaspie didn't even sign his deal until about 6 weeks ago, so I don't think anyone was really expecting too much from him at even them minor league level. He was only hitting .268 with 8 RBI and only 4 extra base hits in 84 at-bats in low-A ball. However, the Giants' brass obviously feel that he's close enough to at least get his feet wet in the bigs. The 21 year-old third basemen had great success last summer in the 2007 Cape Cod league, winning MVP honors while hitting close to .400 playing against the best amateurs in the nation and excelling with the wood bat. Part of the reason the Giants feel he can ascend through the system so quickly is because he has hit so well ...

Lincecum for Cy Young?
2008-09-03 22:57:00
With the way he's been throwing the ball lately, it is becoming more and more clear that Tim Lincecum deserves the NL Cy Young Award as much, or more, than anyone else. He did get roughed up in Colorado in his most recent outing, but I don't think it's going to hurt his chance as long as he just finishes out the year with quality starts. Right now, Lincecum's numbers for the season are significantly better than the next tear of Cy Young hopefuls. His era is the lowest among all NL starters at 2.60 and he leads the league in strikeouts by a large margin. He also sports the lowest BAA amongst Cy hopefuls which I always look at as a biggest indication to a pitchers dominance. Brandon Webb, the guy who's been everyone's favorite for the award since his ridiculous start to the season, has seen his era go from 2.74 to 3.19 over his last two starts, and even though he leads the league with 19 wins, his other numbers pale in comparison to Lincecum's. C.C. Sabathia has been the best p...

September Auditions On Horrizon
2008-08-30 01:17:00
We have officially hit the dog days of the major league baseball season, which means that the September call-ups are right around the corner. Unfortunately, the Giants haven't been able to deal off any of their veterans before the August 31st waiver-deadline. And although Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia and Dave Roberts are still going to steal some at-bats away from the likes of Nate Schierholtz, Jon Bowker and Ryan Rohlinger, this is going to be an important September as far as analyzing some of the Giants' young talent. As the team stands now, the whole infield could have a different look come opening day 2009. The outfield seems pretty set as Aaron Rowand, Winn and Roberts are all under contract through next season and none of them are likely to go anywhere. The Giants also have Fred Lewis, who has entrenched himself as the teams' everyday left fielder and should be a cog in the Giants outfield for years to come. Outside of the outfield and the starting rotation though, the Giants w...
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Giants Winning With The Youngsters
2008-08-25 21:11:00
The general consensus was that when the Giants called up Travis Ishikawa and Pablo Sandoval a couple weeks ago, it was the beginning of the Giants youth movement and that this team was definitely on it's way to a 100 loss season. However, that has not been the case. The Giants have actually been a winning ball club since the arrival of the rookie catcher and first basemen and both of them have been a big part of it. Sandoval, who has been raking the ball everywhere he's been since spring training this year, hasn't missed a beat since he's arrived in the major leagues. Sandoval was hitting nearly .340 in the minors this season, and although it's only been a small sample, he's looked even better since his promotion. The 21 year-old catcher/1st basemen/3rd baseman has gone 14-32 so far and has helped the Giants to a 8-4 record since he joined the team on August 13th. Ishikawa hasn't been quite as impressive as Sandoval, but has still looked good at times. He isn't hitting for t...
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Linceucm Brilliant vs. Atlanta
2008-08-18 23:27:00
Tim Lincecum alleviated any concerns there were for his left knee after taking a line drive directly off of it in his last start. There was some question as to whether or not he would even make the start, but it's a good thing he did. Lincecum reassured everyone that he's alright by going 7 2/3 giving up only 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 10 batters. He did walk 4 batters and his control looked off at times, but dominated when he had too and improved his record to 13-3. Over the second half of the year him and Matt Cain, especially, have begun to gel into the two top end starters that they are. Since the all-star break, Cain is 3-2 with a 2.11 era and 32 k's in 42 innings pitched (6 starts). Cain has been very good since the calendar hit July and a lot of it has to do with the fact that he's finally starting to get some run support. He may actually finish the year with winning record after pitching through horrible luck and run support in last years 7-16 campaign. Yes, the...
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Roster Overhaul Underway
2008-08-16 01:57:00
The Giants called up a few of their best minor league players earlier this week, in a move that shows they are indeed ready to look towards the future. Pablo Sandoval, Travis Ishikawa and Ryan Rohlinger were all brought up prior to the Houston series, and although the Giants looked bad in the series, it was good to see the Giants finally shift gears. I just talked pretty in-depth about Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa a few posts back in the minor league report and mentioned how both were on the verge of being called up. With Bowker out of the picture, Ishikawa should get the bulk of the at-bats at first with Sandoval getting time both behind the plate and at first base. Rohlinger spent time in both Connecticut and Fresno this year and though he wasn't really tearing the cover off the ball in the minors, he has swung a steady bat all season, and really had a decent spring training before the season which put some eyes on him early. He looks to get the majority of the time at thir...
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Giants Suffering Through Power Outage
2008-08-13 06:16:00
It was no secret coming into the year that the 2008 San Francisco Giants were going to have to beat you with small ball, pitching and defense. However, as we approach mid-August, I don't think anyone expected the Giants to be quite as much of a soft hitting club they've been. Through Tuesday, the Giants sit dead last in all of baseball in home runs, and it's not even close. The Giants have hit only 64 home runs through the seasons first 118 games which is 16 below the next lowest team (Blue Jays). I'm not trying to say that if you don't hit home runs, you won't win games, but I am trying to point out that it's tough to generate runs when your team has substantially less power than every other team in the league. Two guys who have been in a huge power drought this season are Randy Winn and Bengie Molina. Neither are your prototypical number 3 or 4 hitter, but Winn, who's averaged about 14 homers a year over the last 5 seasons, has only 5 this year. Molina, who had 19 in each ...
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Giants Sign Gillaspie
2008-08-09 23:39:00
The Giants signed their second overall pick from June's amateur draft Friday. The signing comes exactly a week before the August 15th deadline, and will allow Conor Gillaspie to partake in some minor league ball this season. He will start off in the Arizona rookie league and then should be moved to either Salem Keizer or Augusta shortly thereafter. The un-official number being put next to Gillaspie's deal is $975,000 which would be right in line with what other supplemental picks receive. I am definitely excited to see Gillaspie get going. The 21 year-old has had a lot of experience in the amateur ranks and his polished bat could allow him to breeze through the Giants' system. The only question about him is where exactly to play him. He's played 3rd base throughout his collegiate career, but his contact bat and average arm strength may have him better suited for second base in the major leagues. Now all we can do is hope that Buster Posey miraculously signs in the next 24 hours ...
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Giants Minor League Report
2008-08-05 00:12:00
I didn't get a chance to touch much on the minors last month and with the Giants starting to commit to a full on youth movement, now is a good time to take a look at what some of the future Giants have been doing.Travis Ishikawa, a guy who's had expectations after a pretty big 2005 season in San Jose, hasn't really been heard of since then, until now. Ishikawa is quietly putting together his best season as a professional and has been on fire since being called up to Fresno. In 377 at-bats split between AA and AAA, the 24 year-old first basemen has 21 home runs and 86 RBI's while carrying a .292 average. However, since his arrival in Fresno, he has hit 13 bombs and driven in 38 runs in only 140 at-bats. Talk about a huge rebound from a horrible '07 season in which he hit .243 with only 16 home runs and 59 RBI's between High A, and AA ball. The only problem for Ishikawa, as with Nate Schieholtz, is that they have guys blocking them at the major league level. The Giants are commi...
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Giants Stay Quiet at the Deadline
2008-08-01 00:56:00
As many expected, the Giants stayed very quiet during the final hours of the non-waiver trade deadline Thursday. In fact, most of baseball was pretty quiet outside of the Ken Griffey deal and Manny Ramirez getting shipped to LA. I am a little disappointed the Giants couldn't unload Randy Winn and get something halfway decent in return, but not at all surprised. Winn seemed like the one logical piece the Giants have that could have made sense for a team like the Mets. As far as trade targets, there was an article out of the San Jose Mercury yesterday that confirmed that the Giants and Rangers were discussing a potential Hank Blalock deal as the Giants had scouts in Texas watching him over the last week. However, Blalock was just placed on the DL after getting injured a few days ago, which killed any potential trade in the works. The name that was mentioned regarding who the Rangers were targeting from the Giants was Jonathon Sanchez. If that was the case, I'm glad no deal was made....
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Giants Rebound In LA
2008-07-29 21:36:00
After sweeping the Washington Nationals for their first home series win since mid-May, the Giants again slumped back into their losing ways getting swept at home by the Diamondbacks, before rebounding in LA on Monday night. That's pretty much the Giants season in a nutshell there: play good for a few games, then look horrible for a few and vice versa. Last nights game in LA could have been disastrous, as the Giants defense fell apart behind Kevin Corriea in the fifth inning after staking a 7-0 lead. Corriea had one of his better starts of the year, carrying a no hitter and not allowing a base runner into the 5th inning, but the team got sloppy behind him and it almost cost him the game. It was good to see "KC" throw well as he has had a tough year battling injuries. His line doesn't look great, but if you saw the game you'll know that he pitched a whole lot better than the box score shows. He was also helped out by the bullpen as they came through in getting the final 11 outs of ...

Giants Win a Home Series
2008-07-25 22:45:00
For the first time in 2 months, the Giants won a series at home vs. the Nationals, and like always, it was the pitching that lead the way. Barry Zito made his first start of the second half and it was a success. I know I shouldn't be saying that when your so called ace scrapes out a quality start, you shouldn't be praising him, but that's become the case with Zito. Matt Cain did a little more of good ol' fashion dominating in his start yesterday. Cain's sea saw year continues as he seems to keep following up sub-par starts with dominant ones. As a matter of fact, over his last 5 games, Cain has gone shutout, loss, shutout, loss and shutout again, in that order. If only he could start stinging together some of these dominant starts like Tim Lincecum did in the first half of the year, he'd really start coming into his own. Cain's era is falling though and he's almost back to .500, a place he hasn't seen much of over the last 2 seasons.However, Cain and Zito weren't the only ...
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Durham Sent to Millwaukee
2008-07-22 02:12:00
We're a little less than 2 weeks before the July 31st trade deadline and the Giants have made their first of what hopes to be a string of moves in order to rid their roster of their veteran players. Ray Durham had been scouted by the Brewers for the last 2+ weeks and on Sunday night after they finished their 3 game series, the Giants and Brewers agreed on a deal that sent Durham to the Brew Crew for a couple of minor leaguers. The guys the Giants got in exchange for Durham aren't 4 or 5 star prospects, but I am at least little bit intrigued by 22 year-old Darren Ford who was playing for the Brewers high-A affiliate. Ford was ranked as the best defensive outfielder and base runner in a Brewers' system that featured some big time talent before the year. He is only hitting .237, but has 48 stolen bases which ranks second in all of minor league baseball. He also has scored 57 runs which isn't bad and made the FSL all-star team in June. Ford's bat looks like it has the potential to ...

Giants Stagger Into Break
2008-07-14 18:16:00
Heading into this month, the Giants were probably playing their best ball of the year. They were still 8-10 games below .500 at the time, but they were only 3.5 games out of first place at one point in early July. However, they lost 7 of their last 9 leading up to the break and the pitching is starting to look tired. The bullpen hasn't been great, but it hasn't been bad either over the first half of the year, but everyone in that pen could use a few days rest and the break couldn't have come at a better time. The offense has been tailing off over the last 2 weeks as well, mainly the run producers in the middle of the order. Aaron Rowand hit only .225 in June after tearing it up and leading all NL outfielders in batting average over the first two months of the year. The teams' cleanup hitter, Bengie Molina, has hit only .234 since June 1st and hasn't homered since May 27th, not quite the numbers you look for from your cleanup spot. The team's number 3 hitter, Randy Winn, has pe...
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NL West Again NL's Worst
2008-07-10 15:18:00
Back in 2005-2006, the NL West was widely regarded as one of the weaker divisions in the game. Then 2007 came around and 2 teams from the West made the playoffs and all of the sudden the NL West was starting to look like the class of the National League. However, As we sit in mid-July in the 2008 season, not a single team in the division is sporting a record higher than .500. In fact both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are tied for first place, both at 45-46 and even though the Giants are over 10 games below .500, they sit only 6 games back of first. In a way it makes it exciting to watch games knowing your team is only a handful of games out of contention, but I think it could be hurting the Giants a little in this case. It would still take a small miracle for this team to work itself into a position to make the playoffs but right now, Bochy and Co. are taking that approach. I'd hate to see the Giants hold onto their veterans come the July 31st trade deadline just for the simple fac...

Lincecum and Wilson All-Stars
2008-07-07 19:34:00
The all-star selections were made official on Sunday, and surprisingly to some, two San Francisco Giants were selected. Everybody across the nation has heard of Tim Lincecum and is recognizing his dominance this season, so he was a lock to make the team. At this point, he has as good a shot at starting the game for the NL as anybody. The other Giant selected to the team was closer Brian Wilson . This selection came as a surprise to a lot of baseball fans as Wilson does lead the league in saves, but his 4.37 era and 1.40 whip is nowhere near the other elite closers in the league. One guy who some felt should have gotten the node over Wilson was the Dodgers' Takashi Saito. The Dodgers closer is marginally better than Wilson in every statistical category this year except for saves. Other than that, I am glad to see Wilson get the nod. Young closers can never have too much confidence and Wilson should feel like he's officially arrived as one of the games better closers with this select...
More About: Stars , All-Stars

All-Star Picks
2008-07-03 20:49:00
With voting for the all-star game over with and official selections right around the corner, I wanted to pick my own version of how the all-star teams should play out, based purely on performance with no popularity taken into consideration.NATIONAL LEAGUEStar ting Lineup:SS Hanley Ramirez Fla.2B Chase Utley Phi.3B Chipper Jones Atl.1B Lance Berkman Hou.DH Albert Pujols Stl.RF Ryan Braun Mil.LF Carlos Lee Hou.C Russel Martin LACF Nate McLouth Pit.P Tim Lincecum SFBench:3B David Wright NYM1B Adrian Gonzalez SDSS Jose Reyes NYM2B Brandon Phillips Cin.2B Dan Uggla.OF Ryan Ludwick Stl.OF Matt Holliday Col.C Brian McCann Atl.OF Corey Hart Mil.3B Aramis Ramirez ChC.OF Carlos Beltran NYMPitchers:RH Edison Volquez Cin.RH Ben Sheets Mil.RH Brandon Webb AZRH Kerry Wood ChCRH Dan Haren AZRH Brad Lidge Phi.LH Cole Hammels Phi.LH Billy Wagner NYMLH Johan Santana NYMRH Jon Rauch Was.RH Jake Peavey SDThe toughest choice here seems to be who's going to start on the mound for the NL. They've been ne...
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First Half Review
2008-06-30 18:34:00
We are about to hit July and the season is officially halfway over. I thought now would be a good time to do a mid-season review on the first half of the season.THE GOOD: Tim Lincecum was the subject of trade talks over the winter, but the Giants eventually took him off the table and it was definitely the right thing to do. The 24 year-old right hander has been borderline dominant over the season's first 12 weeks as he sits at 9-1 with a 2.38 era and 114 k's in 109 innings. He's almost guaranteed to make his first All-Star team in couple of weeks and there is a decent chance he could start the game for the national league. The Giants' new closer, Brian Wilson, has also stepped up big time this year and has cemented himself into the Giants closer role, a role he may fill for them well into the next decade. As far as the position players go, nobody is having a real standout year. Fred Lewis has had a nice first half as full-time player for the first time. Lewis quietly leads the t...
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Zito Dominates
2008-06-26 15:55:00
Barry Zito had arguably his best start of the season for the Giants on Wednesday going 6 2/3 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits with 4 k's and no walks. The big stat here was the zero walks allowed. It was the first start all season in which Zito didn't allow a runner via base on balls and the result was nearly 7 shut-out innings. The win moved the Giants within 5.5 games of the first place D-Backs and with the Backs idle tonight, the Giants can move to within 5 with a win in Cleveland. Not that I expect the Giants to make a serious move in the division, and I fully expect to see the Dodgers and D-Backs start playing better in the second half but we've all seen crazier things. You'd think the D-Backs rotation alone wouldn't allow them to struggle like this, but Randy Johnson and Doug Davis aren't that great while Brandon Webb and Micah Owings have been average or below over the last month. The Dodgers have been nailed with injuries, so I really do think it's only a matter...

Notes: Lincecum Looks Human
2008-06-23 17:47:00
It took over 2 1/2 months, but Tim Lincecum finally turned in a rough outing Sunday, his first of the season. He made his first "non" quality start of the year last week vs. the Detroit Tigers, but was still effective enough to go 7+ innings and allow the Giants to get the victory. He only lasted 5 innings Sunday, and although he had 8 strikeouts over the 5 innings, he allowed too many big hits with runners on base. The "Franchise" has now raised his era from a ridiculous 1.99 to 2.54. He's still in line to make the NL all-star squad, but what little chance he had of starting the game for the NL appears to be diminishing after his last 2 outings, coupled with the fact that Edison Volquez just won't slow down. I think it's probably in the Giants best interest that Lincecum doesn't start that game. It seems like every time a young pitcher goes out and starts an all-star game, it's not out of the ordinary for injuries or ineffectiveness to take hold after the game. As a matter of...
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Zito, Giants Looking Into Peterson
2008-06-20 14:34:00
The Giants have recently shown interest in fired Mets' pitching coach, Rick Peterson , the same pitching coach that helped Barry Zito during his most successful seasons in Oakland. The team has apparently inquired about bringing Peterson aboard as someone who may be able to give Barry Zito some pointers as he tries to break out of his season long slump. Zito has been the cog holding back the rotation all year long. Tim Lincecum has been Cy Young like while Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez have been very effective. Even the number 5 guy, Kevin Corriea is back and pitching solidly. I don't see any reason why the Giants shouldn't be trying anything in their power to right Zito, so hiring Peterson would be a good step in that direction in my opinion. The Mets were one of the other teams in pursuit of Zito back when the Giants signed him in December 2006 while Peterson was still with the club. I don't expect Peterson to work magic with Zito, but he was way more effective pitching in Oa...

Home Woes Continue
2008-06-16 15:16:00
The Giants now sit alone as the team with the worst home record in baseball as their early June surge has died out here in the middle of the month. If they were just a .500 home team, they would be within a game or two of the first place D-Backs. After their last road trip, the team looked like it was making some progress, but they got home to AT&T Park and got swept by their cross-bay rival, Oakland Athletics. They have now lost their last 5 series' at home The bats once again went into hibernation for the three game set against Oakland as they couldn't come up with any clutch hits and only scored 4 runs in the series. They now site at 13-22 at home for the year and after getting within 5 games of the first place D-Backs, the Giants are once again 7 back and 10 games below .500. One positive was getting Kevin Corriea back into the rotation. Although he didn't pitch particularly well in his first start since returning from the disabled list, I am expecting good things from K...
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Giants Within 6
2008-06-11 15:52:00
1The Giants most recent surge of winning baseball has moved them within 6 games of the first place Arizona Diamondbacks. If you would have told me the Giants would have only been a handful of games out of first come mid-season, I would have laughed at you, but here we are, in mid-June, and the Giants are making a little bit of noise. Most of the reason the Giants have moved back within striking distance is because of the way the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have been struggling this month. However, you can't take away the fact that the Giants are 6-3 in June and playing better than they have all season long. No, they aren't going to be making any playoff push, or even finish at .500, but you have to like the way the team has played over the last few weeks if you a Giants fan. They've gotten terrific starting pitching over the last 10 days as well as some clutch hitting by some of their most recent call-ups. Travis Denker and Brian Horwitz are the 2 latest Fresnoians to be brought up ...

Draft Interview
2008-06-09 13:54:00
After the draft, I had a chance to talk to the writer at thecollegebaseballblog.com, Brian Foley, and ask him a couple questions regarding the Giants' draft:Q: What are your thoughts on Buster Posey? Did he go lower than you expected?A: I know several places around the Internet predicated that Posey would go first overall to the Devil Rays but I never saw Posey as dominate to be the first overall pick. I think Posey is going to be a 12-14 year MLB player with a .275 avg and 15 homers.Q: Many Giants fans wanted the team to draft a big time power hitter like Justin Smoak or Yonder Alonso. Gordon Beckham was another guy who was on Giants radar as well. Do you think Posey will end up being a better major league hitter than those guys?A: Justin Smoak is the best player that was drafted. In my opinion, He is the next Mark Textiera with his switch hitting ability and he also hits for power from both sides of the plate. He is a very good defensive first baseman who could possibly win a gol...
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Giants Go Offensive In Draft
2008-06-06 23:52:00
The Giants 2008 draft could end up being one of the better ones in the club's last few decades. The Giants got two premium collegiate bats with their first two picks, then stole a few more potential first rounders with their 3rd and 4th choices. All the talk around draft day though surrounded NCAA Player of the Year and All-American catcher, Gerard "Buster" Posey out of Florida State. Posey was arguably the best all-around player in the draft and if it weren't for his high signing bonus demand ($12 million), some feel he would have been the number 1 overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays. I have had a chance to watch Posey play a few games and watch some video on him and he looks as good, if not better than advertised. The day after getting picked 5th overall, he hit a majestic, 420+ foot shot against Wichita State in the NCAA Regionals. He kind of reminds me of the Derick Jeter of catchers as he looks like he can do everything well and is comfortable as a leader of a team. Scouts pro...
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Minor League Report
2008-06-04 21:57:00
In April, most the hype around the Giants farm system surrounded the Giants High A affiliate in San Jose. This month the spotlight has to be on Madison Bumgarner. The month that Bumgarner put together in low-A Augusta has to have Giants fans optimistic about the young lefty's future. Bumgarner followed up a mediocre April by going 3-0 in May with 34 strikeouts and 23 hits allowed in 29.1 innings pitched. He only allowed 2 earned runs in May which led to a 0.23 era as well. Now sitting at 5-2 with a cool 2.10 era, Bumgarner is starting to look worthy of the number 10 pick he was taken at last June. The Giants aren't going to rush Bumgarner, so even if he continues to dominate the way he has over the last 5 weeks, don't expect to see him make any advancements any time soon. As for the other 2007 top draftees, Nick Noonan has been the best at the plate hitting .275 with 3 home runs and 27 rbi. Wendall Fairley was the draft pick with the most offensive upside but the outfielder is s...
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Lincecum and Lewis Beat Padres
2008-06-02 22:01:00
The Giants sea saw season continued over the home stand as they keep beating the good teams and losing to the weaker teams. After sweeping the Diamondbacks, the Giants lost 2 straight to San Diego and barely avoided getting swept by a team that they should beat. Fred Lewis ' pinch hit triple off the deteriorating Trevor Hoffman, and another stellar outing from Tim Lincecum helped the Giants Sunday as the Giants' brightest young arm and bat continue to have a successful 2008 season. It was good to see Lewis get his stroke back with the 420 foot triple to the deepest part of the ballpark. Lewis struggled a bit in May hitting only .204 and got on base at a .282 clip after hitting .341 with a .423 OBP in April. Obviously Lewis is not as good as he showed in April, but he's not as bad as he showed in May either. I would expect him to be somewhere in the middle. One thing Bochy should consider is swapping Lewis and Randy Winn in the batting order. There are some inside the organization ...
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Molina's Bat Carrying Giants
2008-05-29 21:26:00
Bengie Molina has almost single handedly carried the Giants over the last 2 weeks and his hot bat may find it's way onto the NL All Star team if he keeps raking like this. Molina has raised his average nearly 80 points over the last 10 games and has carried the Giants to a 5-2 record over the last 7 games. Molina normally gets a rest every 3 or 4 games, but has started every game over the last week, including both games of a double header. Bruce Bochy cannot afford to keep his cleanup hitter out of the lineup with him swinging the bat like he is. Aaron Rowand has also stayed solid at the plate over the first 2 months of the season as he has his average up at .337. These two as well as Jose Castillo have held up their end of the bargain offensively and providing just enough offense to support the solid starting pitching the team has gotten recently. Coming into the year, I would have thought there was no way a Giants positional player would be able to earn an all-star spot playing i...
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Zito Gets First Win
2008-05-24 22:50:00
It took nearly 8 weeks of regular season action but after 10 starts, Barry Zito is finally in the win column. The Giants 126 million dollar man got his first win since last September and the Giants have now won three in a row. Zito has definitely turned things around in the month of May. He still isn't where he needs to be, but after a horrific April, he's gone 1-2 with a 2.79 era and 16 k's in 22.1 innings pitched during May. He's still walking more batters than he should, but he's done a very good job at stranding runners on base and pitching out of trouble. I think the few starts that Zito took off have helped him refocus. He looks like a different pitcher now than he did in April. Zito also finally got some offensive support as the Giants scored more than 3 runs for just the second time in Zito's 10 starts. Getting win number one will certainly ease Zito's mind, and now with the monkey somewhat off of his back, I'd expect to see him continue pitching more like he has in...