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Giants Find Value In Day 2
2009-06-11 00:01:00
After grabbing the top prep arm in the draft, and a couple of power bats on day one of 2009 MLB Amateur draft, the Giants entered day two looking for the best possible value they could find. They grabbed one of the best closers from the collegiate level over the last few years, a high school power arm that could develop into another hard-throwing, elite starting pitching prospect and a few big bats that could inject the organization with some pop.With their first pick in day two, the Giants took RHP Jason Stoffel, a hard-throwing closer out of Arizona. Stoffel was considered a possible first-round pick coming into the year, but he wasn't as effective this year as he was the last few which was why he fell to the Giants in the fourth. Stoffel throws 91-94 MPH with good command and a decent, hard curveball. He's pitched in some big games and chaotic atmosphere's over his years at Arizona and he's shined in those situations, which should translate well into late relief in the major ...
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Giants Take Zach Wheeler At 6
2009-06-10 00:56:00
Well, the 2009 MLB Amateur draft has officially begun, and the Giants first pick is in the books. I think they were really hoping that either Tyler Matzek or Zach Wheeler ended up falling to them at 6, and when the Orioles surprised by taking Matt Hobgood at 5, the Giants then had their choice as to which prep arm to take. Goes to show you just how unpredictable this MLB draft can be.I talked a little about Zack Wheeler a few posts back here but I really thought they were leaning towards Tyler Matzek, especially after the lefty from Capistrano, California touched 99 mph on the gun in a recent high school playoff game. However, Wheeler was generally considered to be the slightly better arm of the two, and I think the Giants may have been leaning toward Matzek thinking that Wheeler would be taken between picks 3-5. Wheeler is a big, power arm from Georgia who was widely thought of as the best high school pitcher in this draft (and there's about 6 of them that are all really close). T...

Lincecum/Giants Shine Through Rain
2009-06-08 22:32:00
Today's going to be a little unique here at the Giants Baseball Blog. Since the Giants have been on a roll, I wanted to definitely get a post out discussing what's been going on with them this weekend. However, since the draft takes place tomorrow, this is my last chance to get my final take in on that, so I will post a mini-mock draft post in addition to this one, so be sure to scroll down and check that out.The Giants took the third game of the Giants/Marlins 4-game set on Sunday, waiting out an hour long rain-delay and getting a gutsy outing from "The Franchise". Tim Lincecum went 7 1/3 innings on Sunday, allowing two runs in the eighth inning on a rare mistake to Chris Coghlan hit out of the yard. Lincecum didn't necessarily have his best stuff on Sunday, as he walked 4 and only struck out 4, but he figured out a way to get out of trouble when he had to and really was cruising until Coghlan ran into that hanging breaking ball. Timmy's recent outing finally got his era where ...
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Giants Mini-Mock Draft
2009-06-08 21:12:00
The MLB Amateur draft starts Tuesday afternoon, and this will be the last chance I get to touch on the draft before the Giants take their first pick tomorrow. Since I'm not too familiar with all the prospects entering the draft, and really only have seen stuff on the top 200 or so prospects, I can only project out the early part of the draft. And since we're a Giants blog, I'm going to stick with strictly Giants picks, so here we go:Giants Early-Round Mock Draft :Pick #6: LHP Tyler Matzek, Capistrano HS, California: There's a chance both Alex White and Matzek will both be available here, but after seeing how high-schooler's Tim Alderson and Madison Bumgarner responded after being taken early in 2007, the Giants may want to go that route again. Matzek is clearly the best high school arm available in the draft. He's got picture perfect mechanics and already throws 93 mph with consistency. Ohh yeah, he's got a nasy curve to go along with it. He's another control freak, just like...
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A Look Beyond Round 1: MLB Draft Talk
2009-06-06 22:31:00
The MLB draft is quickly approaching, as there are only three full days left for teams and a scouts to finalize their respective draft boards and start putting their plans in motion. I talked a couple posts back about a few guys who very well could end up with the Giants at pick number 6, so in this post we were going to look beyond round one of the draft look at some guys outside of the consensus top-30.OF's Kent Matthes and Marc Krauss: These two are a couple of the biggest college power hitters in the draft and both are coming off of big seasons. Matthes, from Alabama, hit 28 bombs in 2009, to go along with 81 RBI and a .365 average in just 197 at-bats. He was widely thought to be the SEC's most dangerous hitter in '09. I know it's only college, but his HR ratio translates out to nearly a home run every 6 at-bats, which is ridiculously good no matter what level your at. Baseball America has Matthes ranked 63rd in the overall draft pool, so if he were still around when the Gia...
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Johnson Goes For 300
2009-06-04 23:01:00
The only thing that's holding The Big Unit back from getting that elusive 300th victory was some wet weather in the Nation's capital, but it looks like they will get the games in on Thursday.Now, I'm writing this post just before the first game of that double header is starting, so I will probably add a foot note to this post, or maybe add another quick post with the results of the Johnson game when it finishes, so check back after the game. However, I did want to touch on Johnson here just a little bit since I haven't really discussed him much in recent posts. Johnson has been very inconsistent in his brief Giants' career so far, but he's turned in a couple of gems his last 2 times out. Over his last 2 starts, The Unit has pitched 11.1 innings, allowing just 9 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 12 batters. Randy Johnson is 45 years-old, so he's not going to pitch into the 8th and 9th innings any longer. I think he's starting to realize that and is starting to pitch accord...

Prospect Discussion
2009-06-02 22:15:00
FantasyBaseballHotStove caught up with me yesterday and had some questions about some young Giants' farmhands. Here is a transcript below:FBHS: What are the chances of Tim Alderson getting called up this season? What about Madison Bumgarner? How excited are you for the point in time where the name "Madison Bumgarner" is a household name? TC: There is a very slight chance they come up in September when the rosters expand, but I wouldn't hold my breath. With the Giants' current starting pitching depth, there is really no reason to rush them either. If I had to guess as far as when they'd make their major league debuts, I'd say we're probably looking at June 2010. That said, they've been doing all they possibly can to fast-track themselves at the minor league level. Bumgarner's gone 4-0 in four outings since his promotion to AA Connecticuit. He's also striking out over a batter an inning, good for a 4:1strikeout/walk ratio, while carrying an era of 0.78. Alderson is 2-0 in hi...
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First Look At the MLB '09 Draft
2009-05-30 23:42:00
This is our first of many draft coverage posts that will be sprinkled in here over the next 2 weeks as we preview, cover and review the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft . In this posts, I just wanted to break down a few of the p who are expected to be available when the Giants select number 6 overall.RHP Aaron Crow: The first player I wanted to look at is the big right-hander from Missouri, Aaron Crow. It's pretty clear that San Diego State phenom Steven Strasburg will go number one. North Carolina's .400 hitting Dustin Ackely, arguably the top hitter in the draft should also be gone before the Giants select at number 6, but then things could go a number of different ways. Crow, the former Tigers' ace, is widely considered the 2nd best arm in the draft behind Strasburg. As a junior in 2008, Crow went 13-0 while striking out 127 batters in just 107 innings pitched. He was drafted number 10 overall in last years draft by the Nationals, but never came to an agreement on a contract and has play...

Bats Come Alive Back Home
2009-05-28 00:14:00
The Giants ended a forgettable road trip over the weekend, a trip in which they went just 1-5 and struggled badly to score runs. However, in their two games since returning back to AT&T Park, their offense has come alive.The Giants have scored 12 runs in the first two games of the three game set with Atlanta and won both of the games with ease. In those two contests, the Giants received solid outings from Jonathan Sanchez (who had been struggling a bit) and Tim Lincecum, but it was the offense that really provide the spark the team needed. Travis Ishikawa was likely on the border of being demoted, as he just wasn't producing offensively. However, Ishikawa may have bought himself some more time with a breakout, 4-4 game on Monday night. The Giants 25 year-old first basemen hit his first home run of the season while both driving in and scoring 3 runs. It looks like the promotion of Jesus Guzman definitely lit a fire under Ishikawa but he's not out of the woods yet. He's still j...
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Trade Winds Swirling
2009-05-25 23:08:00
The Giants have been a hot topic on the MLB rumor mill lately, as they've been mentioned as having interest in a few hitters that may become available over the next 8 weeks. There was also a rumor started this weekend that had the Giants shopping Matt Cain in order to find that bat they desperately need.Giants fans can take a breath of fresh air, because Matt Cain isn't going anywhere anytime soon. A Giants executive shot down the notion of shopping Cain immediately and said the story had no merit to it. I didn't really see any logic in shopping Cain anyway. He'e arguably been the teams most consistent starter this season (sorry Tim Lincecum) and at 24 years of age, hasn't come close to peaking. Cain isn't going anywhere and even with guys like Alderson and Bumgarner a year or 2 away, the Giants aren't quite as deep with starting pitchers as some make them out to be. They're comfortable, but to say they have an abundance of young starting pitching wouldn't be accurate. Whil...
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Minor League Report: May
2009-05-23 23:12:00
The Giants have struggled mightily to score runs over the last 10 days, and they've gone 1-8 over their last 9 to prove it. If you want to know why they've been struggling so bad, take a look at my last couple of posts, cause not much has changed. And since they're still sputtering and there isn't much new to report on, I figured now would be a good time to take our monthly look at what's happening in the minors.The Giants made a couple of organizational moves at the beginning of the month, promoting a few 2007 draftees that had been doing more than their fair share in San Jose to AA Connecticut. Those three guys; Brandon Crawford, Tim Alderson and Madison Bumgarner have hit the ground running in the great Northeast and have done as good or better there than they were doing in San Jose. Bumgarner has been especially impressive, as he's gone 3-0 over his first 3 starts in AA. During those 3 outings, MadBum has pitched 18 innings, allowing only 10 hits and 4 walks while striking...
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Offense Goes South, Literally
2009-05-21 22:56:00
The Giants just can't seem to figure out Petco Park in 2009. After getting swept their in mid-April, the Giants look like they're ready to repeat that outcome after only scoring 2 runs in the first 2 games in San Diego and dropping their record to 0-5 in San Diego this season.The Giants offense has once again hit a cold stretch, and when this happens, it can get very frustrating. Nobody expected this team to be a power-house at the plate, but they showed throughout the first half of this month (albeit vs. some lesser pitching) that their offense could score enough to support their starting pitchers, but the South ern California air has sent the team into a semi-meltdown once again. It's prompted Bruce Bochy to do some things differently though, as he put Aaron Rowand up at the top of the order in the lead-off spot for the first time in his Giants-tenure. Rowand is a guy who has been on a steep slide since the opening week of season. In that first week Rowand hit 2 home runs and dr...
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Giants Salvage Finale, Back to the Road
2009-05-18 22:04:00
The Giants avoided getting swept by taking Sunday's game vs. the Mets. They finally got a starting pitching performance like they're used to as Matt Cain won his fourth game of year and dropped his era to 2.65.Cain didn't just get it done on the mound either. He helped his own cause by driving in the Giants second and final run of the game with a single in the fifth. In addition to throwing 6 shutout innings, while allowing only 2 hits (although he did surrender 5 walks), Matty C was on base twice with that RBI single and a walk of his own. Cain's WHIP is still a tad high at 1.38 as he's walked at least 4 batters in 4 of his last 5 starts. Once Cain can get more consistent with his command, he's going to take another stride forward, but he's still showing the ability to get outs and keep runners off the board, amazingly, regardless of the amount of free passes he's allowing. five walks in 6 innings pitched is a high number, and you need to have pretty darn good stuff to be a...
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Unit, Wilson Hammered By Mets
2009-05-16 23:32:00
The Giants haven't quite figured out the Mets yet, or how to pitch David Wright for that matter. The Mets have rolled into San Francisco and taken the first three games of a four game set vs. the Giants, including laying a flat-out beating on the 45-year old Randy Johnson, and twice beating all-star closer Brian Wilson .In the last post, I touched on how The Unit 's season has been pretty much hit or miss so far. He is either on it and gives opposing hitters a tough match-up, or he has gone the other route and been absolutely pounded. In Saturday's match-up vs. the Mets, he got pounded. RJ gave up 11 hits in 4+ innings of work along with 7 earned runs and wasted a winnable opportunity vs. the NL's current best pitcher. The Giants got to Johan Santana for 3 un-earned runs, but Johnson couldn't keep the Mets off the board, something that has been an issue through the first three games of the series. The Mets scored 8 runs on Friday night, in a game which their ace, Tim Lincecum, pi...
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Giants Take Another Series
2009-05-13 23:46:00
Despite losing to the Nationals at AT&T Park on Wednesday, the Giants ended up taking two of three games from Washington and won yet another series. The team has been playing very good baseball of late and surprisingly, haven't lost a series since their first road trip to Southern California in mid-April.The main reason why the Giants have gone 16-7 over their last 23 ballgames is because of their pitching, both starting and relief, but the offense really came alive in the first two games of the Nationals series. The offense combined to score 20 runs in the first two games, despite getting shutout in the third. Not only were the 20 runs the most the Giants have scored in back-to-back games this season, it's the most they've scored in a series this year, period. The two guys who really carried the Giants offense in the series were Randy Winn and Pablo Sandoval. The Giants young third basemen had 6 hits (3 for extra bases) along with 5 RBI and a huge walk-off home run that won ...
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Giants Beat LA, Again
2009-05-11 00:15:00
The Giants have come a long way since their first road-series of the seaosn, in which they were swept by these Dodgers in LA. With Tim Lincecum on the mound, the Giants completed their second straight series victory over the Dodgers, and indeed, have shown that they are a much different team than the one that started the season.It's no secret that the Giants struggle to score consistently. They're ranked last in the NL in runs scored, despite the fact that they're 2 games above .500. The reason why they are where they are is simple; they can flat out pitch, as evident by another series win, despite scoring just 6 runs in 3 games. Tim Lincecum didn't have his best stuff Sunday, but his 6 innings pitched, 8 k's and 3 earned runs on 6 hits marked his fifth straight quality start and certainly good enough to win. Lincecum left the game with the Giants down a run in the seventh, and the pressure was on the Giants' bats in order for him to avoid an L and the bats answered the bell. ...
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Manny's Suspension Boosts Giants' Hopes
2009-05-08 22:34:00
I can't deny that the Manny Ramirez 50-game suspension bodes well for the Giants . Ramirez was arguably the National League's most valuable player through the month of April and early May. However, it's certainly no ticket to the postseason for this team, and they shouldn't be treating it as such.Most of the Bay Area sports media beat the Ramirez story to a pulp on Thursday, but every single one of them were sending the same message; This now opens a door for the Giants in the division. I agree with this to an extent, but let's not forget, Ramirez is only going to be gone until July 3rd, so the Dodgers will have him back in plenty of time (3 months to be exact) to get back to where they are now. Also, the Dodgers were really taking off and kind of separating themselves from the rest of the National League, and they aren't sitting at 21-9 just because of the mercurial Ramirez. The team has talent up and down the roster. They still have Andre Eithier, Matt Kemp, Russel Martin, Ja...
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Giants' Bullpen Thriving
2009-05-06 23:43:00
The season is officially a month old, and one unit that has been rock solid for the Giants , and hasn't gotten much pub, has been their bullpen. Brian Wilson is nailing things down in the ninth, and pretty much everyone who gets him the ball has done their job's so far.The two newest additions to the Giants bullpen, Jeremy Affeldt and Bob Howry, have both done what the Giants have asked of them early on in the season. Affeldt is carrying a 3.18 era on 11.1 innings this year and striking out a batter an inning. Howry is at 4.35, but has really only had one bad outing in his 12 appearances. Merkin Valdez also looks completely healthy and is throwing the ball the way the Giants were hoping he would after missing most of last season with elbow issues. Those three, along with Brian Wilson, are doing their job, which is kind of what was expected of them coming in. What wasn't really expected though was that Brandon Medders and Justin Miller, two minor league invites to spring training, ...
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Zito Returning to Form?
2009-05-04 22:38:00
Barry Zito has been a different pitcher over the first month of 2009 than he was in '07 and '08. The Giants' high-priced lefty is in a groove that Giants' fans haven't yet seen from him while dawning the orange and black.After his first two starts of the season, a lot of people were thinking "here we go again". In those first two outings, Zito was charged with 10 earned runs, on 11 hits and 6 walks in 9 innings. However, if you watched those starts closely, you'll know that Zito pitched better than his line showed in both instances. He was victimized by a lot of misplayed balls and it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong for Zito, did. Now, the defense is starting to catch the ball behind him and things are starting to fall into place. He's still not getting any run support, as evident by his 0-2 record, but practically every other statistical category has been improved for Zito so far in 2009. Through his first 29 innings pitched, he holds a 3.99 era and surpris...
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Giants Get Back At Dodgers
2009-05-01 01:43:00
Like they did to San Diego during their last home stand, the Giants got some revenge on their other southern California foe LA Dodgers at AT&T Park this week. The Giants didn't sweep the Dodgers, but they took 2 out of 3 in the series and looked much more capable of matching up with the NL West's elite team than they did in their showing in Los Angeles in the season's opening week.Tim Lincecum made his 3rd straight dominant outing, carrying a shutout into the seventh before surrendering a few hits and couple of runs. Lincecum's line for the day didn't look quite as good as he was throwing the ball, but he still got the win while going 7+ innings and striking out 8. "The Freak" has hit his grove after starting out slowly, and looks completely back on track now. In fact, the whole Giants rotation is really throwing the ball well, kind of like everybody expected them to coming into the year. Even Barry Zito has put together back-to-back quality outings and looks confident and ...
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Sandoval Returns in Arizona
2009-04-28 02:42:00
Through most of the fist 2+ weeks of the regular season, many Giants fans where wondering if young Pablo Sandoval may be a bit overwhelmed. It was the first time in the 22 year-old's career that he started a season on a big league roster and he was doing at a position he hadn't played in years. However, after the ups and downs, mostly downs, of the first couple of weeks, Sandoval has steadied out and has hit a grove.The Giants' third basemen arrived in Arizona hitting .245, but had been showing signs of heating up in the latest home stand. Sandoval left Arizona with his average up where the Giants expect it to be, .292, and he also collected his first home run of the season in the process. Sandoval went 6 for 12 in the Arizona and tripled his RBI total for the year with three in Sunday's game. Sandoval has also looked a little more comfortable in the field as his bat is coming around. He made a nice snag on a line-drive Sunday in which he turned into a 6-3 double play. He's sho...

Down On The Farm
2009-04-25 01:12:00
I wanted to take some time today to discuss some of the things that have been going on in the Giants' minor league system in our monthly minor league report.The organizational spotlight has been on the Giants high-A affiliate, the San Jose Giants. On that roster, the Giants currently have a plethora of former high round picks, including the teams top 4 prospects; Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Angel Villalona and Tim Alderson. As a matter of fact, of the Giants top-10 prospects, according to baseball America, 7 of them are playing in San Jose. Because of all the talent, it's shouldn't be a surprise to any that the San Jose Giants currently have the 2nd best record in the California League.Leading the team in hitting is the #5 overall pick from last June's amateur draft, as Buster Posey sits at .389 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI. The teams #2 rated offensive prospect, Angel Villalona, is also turning some heads with the way he's swinging the bat. The 18 year-old first basemen is...
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Giants Return Favor To Padres
2009-04-23 00:32:00
After getting swept by the Padres on their visit just last week, the Giants got a chance to redeem themselves vs. their foes from Southern California, and they did just that.The Giants swept the Padres in their short two-game set in San Francisco and once again, got lights-out performances out of their starting pitchers, but their offense actually showed up on Tuesday night as well. Well, not the whole offense, but one guy in particular who had looked sluggish in the early going and is already drawing criticism. That guy is Edgar Renteria. The shortstop officially arrived for the Giants in Tuesday nights game, providing his first multi-hit game in a Giants uni, along with his first home run. Renteria went 3 for 4 with a grand-slam and 5 RBI, leading the Giants to a 8-3 victory over the Padres. It's no secret that the majority of the baseball scouting world didn't agree with the contract Brian Sabean gave Renteria over the winter, and early on there, it was looking like they were r...
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Home Sweet Home
2009-04-20 20:24:00
The difference between the Giants at home and the Giants on the road so far in 2009 has been night and day. After going win-less on their first 6-game trip of the season, the Giants returned home and shut down the D-Backs, taking 2 of 3 games and pitching terrifically in the process.As a matter of fact, the three pitching performances the Giants got over the weekend showed people why their rotation was so highly thought of coming into the year. Jonathon Sanchez, the newly dubbed stopper of the Giants (not really, but he did end the 6 game skid right) got it started by throwing 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball and beat the 'snakes 2-0 Friday night. Unfortunately, the Giants offense couldn't do anything against Doug Davis on Saturday to support Tim Lincecum's masterpiece. Lincecum righted himself after a rough couple of starts, going 8 strong, matching a career-high with 13 strikeouts while not allowing a walk or a run. Lincecum was hit with the no-decision, but gave Giants fans w...
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Giants Go Winless on Road-Trip
2009-04-18 00:48:00
The first road trip of the 2009 season couldn't have gone much worse for the Giants . They got swept in San Diego by a surprising Padres squad that is playing way better than they were expected too. Then they traveled an hour north to LA for three and things didn't get any better.The defense and starting pitching were both horrendous throughout the trip. Barry Zito threw better than his line showed in Thursday's finale at Dodger Stadium, but once again, defensive blunders put the Giants in an early deficit, and the offense couldn't make up for it. And it was another misplay by Fred Lewis in left-field that did Zito in. Lewis had a terrible road trip defensively, misplaying various fly-balls and costing the Giants numerous runs. Those mistakes rest solely on Fred Lewis. Now, I'm not saying Lewis was the reason the Giants lost the games, because that's not entirely the case. In order to win ballgames, you need to score runs, and the Giants really struggled to do that on the trip....
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Slumping in SoCal
2009-04-14 23:30:00
The Giants got off to a quick start at home vs. the Brewers. Taking 2 of 3 games and pitching brilliantly in the process. However, since they've travelled south after that first set, they have hit a wall, as they aren't hitting, throwing or picking up the ball the way they were for most of the spring and that opening series.I'm not too the surprised that some of the hitters have slumped over the past few days. In 3 of the teams last 4 games, they've gone up against some of the better arms in the National League (Chad Billingsley, Jake Peavy and Chris Young). The offense has mustered only 8 runs in the 4 games so far on the road trip, 6 of those runs coming in the first two. Randy Winn and Fred Lewis seem like the only batters who are seeing the ball well right now. Everybody else is scuffling. Defensively, things have been a nightmare on the trip as well. Lewis made repeated mistakes in the finale in San Diego, costing the Giants and Tim Lincecum 3 runs and ultimately the ballga...

Giants Take Opening Series
2009-04-10 23:16:00
The Giants certainly looked like a rejuvenated ball-club in this first series of the 2009 season vs. the Brewers. Take away that one fastball Randy Johnson threw Yovanni Gallardo in Wednesday nights game and the Giants would have been looking at a 3-0 start. Nonetheless, they sit atop the NL West with the Rockies at 2-1 heading into play Friday.Matt Cain turned in the best performance of the three starting pitchers to throw so far on Thursday, throwing 7 innings of 4 hit ball while striking out 5. As good as Cain was on Thursday and Johnson was Wednesday, the talk of the series' surrounded the bullpen and offense. Both units look much better than the versions the Giants were trotting out there in 2008, already. Jeremy Affeldt and Bob Howry look like steady additions and Brandon Medders and Joe Martinez (get well soon!) have pulled their weight so far. The same can be said for the offense. The veterans are starting the year red hot and the youngsters have been doing their part as we...
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Offense Explodes in Opener
2009-04-08 03:10:00
It almost looked as if Tuesday's opener was going to get rained out and Tim Lincecum and co. would have to wait until Wednesday to open up the 2009 season. The weather prevailed and so did the Giants bats, as they opened the season with a 10-6 beating of the Milwaukee Brewers in their first opening day win since 2005. I mentioned in my game preview post that the Giants had to take advantage of the Lincecum/Suppan match-up and they did so, even without getting a great effort out of their ace.2008 NL Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum, struggled through his first opening day assignment as the 24 year-old lasted just 3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 walks and 4 hits while striking out 5. Lincecum threw 74 pitches through 3, and Bochy felt like it was a little too much too soon and didn't want to overwork the youngster on the very first day of a 6-month marathon. The one at bat that I look back at that really ended up hurting Lincecum was the at-bat in which he threw a 1-2 change-up t...

Opening Day Preview
2009-04-06 00:52:00
The 2009 Major League Baseball season gets underway Sunday night, as the reigning world champion Philadelphia Phillies take on the Atlanta Braves in Philadelphia Sunday. Most of the rest of the baseball world starts Monday, with a handful of teams christening their season on Tuesday, including our San Francisco Giants.It's been a long winter and spring, but on Tuesday, at or around 1:30 pacific time, Tim Lincecum will throw the first pitch of the '09 season to Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks and another 6-month journey begins. I won't be in attendance on Tuesday, as I have some scholastic obligations that will run into the early afternoon, but I will be there Wednesday night when the 'Unit takes the mound for the first time as a Giant. The Giants have the clear advantage in the pitching match-up for their opening series vs. the Brewers, but they are going to have to keep their powerful lineup (Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Corey Hart) in the ballpark if they are going to tak...
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MLB Playoff and Award Predictions
2009-04-03 20:49:00
AMERICAN LEAGUEAL MVP: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays (The 2008 AL Rookie of the year should expand big time on his 27 hr, 85 RBI rookie campaign in his first full season in the bigs' and once again lead the Rays' to success in '09)AL CY YOUNG: Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins (Liriano returned to dominance in the second half of '08 after getting back on track in the minors and will probably sport a sub-3 era and win 18+ games if healthy for 32 starts this season.)ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles (Wieters will start off in AAA, but will be up a few weeks into the season, like Longoria did in '08. He probably will put up similar numbers to what Longoria did, but probably hit for a better average. Keep an eye on Tampa's David Price for this award as well.)MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins (The Twins never have quite the same talent as some of the other teams in the league, but Gardy always has them winning. He should get his first M.O.Y. aw...
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