Other than Keiichi Yabu
slingshotting himself in the eye with his rubber tubing, all went according to plan this weekend: utter domination by the Brewers. (At least the Giants are better than those no-good lousy bums from
Detroit.) Barry Zito had nice things to say about his own outing (5 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, three earned) and can't wait to build upon it. If one were generous, one might point out that after two starts last year, his ERA was over 8. He's nearly two runs better this year! I am nothing if not generous.
The offensive tally for week one: 12 runs, an average of two a game. Brian Sabean says he wants a lefty-hitting first baseman.
Nick Johnson? Scott Thorman? Dan Johnson? Dan Ortmeier might be irredeemable from the left side, but would it really hurt to play him every day for two weeks straight just to make sure?
And if you hadn't noticed, neither Tyler Walker nor Brian Wilson got into a game this weekend. Note to Bruce Bochy: you're not going to have many leads in the late innings this year. Let them pitch when you're behind, too.
Player of the week: Merkin Valdez.
Well, he did pitch Wilson and then was forced to use Walker in today's game, but I'm OK with the wait to use them. With Chulk coming back off the DL soon, and Lowry later in the month (hopefully), there will be changes happening to the bullpen and they need to figure out who is going and who is staying.
I know, easy answer is that Yabu is going, keep the young guys, but you know the Giants don't do that. So you pitch the other guys so that you can better evaluate how they are doing.
I think Valdez and Taschner don't have to worry, but Threets might have to and Hennessey probably would be on the edge if it wasn't for Threets poor performance thus far.