Dave Roberts is probably out for months with A.G.E. in his knee. It’s probably the best news the Giants have had all year. I never wish injuries upon anyone, but if this is the way Fred Lewis gets his full season’s worth of at-bats, with some Rajai Davis and Ort-Ort sprinkled in — if this is the way the golf pencil is ripped out of Bruce Bochy’s hands before he can write “Roberts LF” on the lineup card — so be it.
Clay Timpner is Roberts’ replacement for now because Nate Schierholtz has hurt his leg. But when Schierholtz is healthy, what to do? Bring up Nate to compete with Lewis and Winn for at-bats? If he’s not going to play every day in the majors, I prefer to see him stay in AAA.
There might be roster room sooner than we think, given how awful Aaron Rowand has looked with his bruised ribs: a dropped fly ball last night, four Ks the night before. The Giants still haven’t found worse damage, but you have to wonder if a DL trip is in Rowand’s near future.
If that happens, Winn should become the everyday CF, Lewis and Davis platoon in LF, and — ta da! — Schierholtz comes up to take RF. Against tough lefties Ort could platoon, but it would be more or less Nate’s lineup spot while Rowand is out. Again, I don’t wish the DL upon anyone, but…
Next roster conundrum: With the Padres getting dirty-sanchez’d last night, we can start thinking seriously about the consequences of Noah Lowry’s return. No word on his progress, but the talk back in camp was May, I think. No one will trade for Lowry until they see him pitch and pitch well. If Sanchez keeps throwing like last night, anything but a big-league rotation slot for him is foolish. Will Kevin Correia be odd man out? Moved back to the bullpen even though he’s proven far more worthy as a starter?
My suggestion: Send Barry Zito to the minors to spend a month on his new mechanics. He knows he’s lost his stuff; everyone knows he’s lost his stuff. Until he regains a few miles on his fastball or learns to pitch like Kirk Rueter — that’s Dave Righetti’s suggestion, not mine — he’s going to get pounded. He might as well figure it out in a lower pressure environment. When you are nearly the highest-paid pitcher in the world, and your coach’s best hope is that you can learn to pitch like Kirk Rueter, it’s time for drastic measures.
I doubt the brass would resort to such a plan, and I doubt Zito would agree to it. (I’m pretty sure a demotion would require his approval.) But with current trends — Zito downward, Correia and Sanchez upward — Zito could soon be the team’s 6th best starter. And 6th best starters either bide their time in triple-A or keep the back end of the bullpen warm. Yabu and Zito, the last resorts: alphabetically it makes sense.
