When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

04.13.2008
Weekend Wrap-up

It's Sunday night, the Giants just won 7-4 and with one better bullpen inning Saturday would have won a second straight series against a good team. Without the implosion Saturday from The Big Sweaty, we're talking a 5-2 homestand. No recriminations against Walker; it's one bad outing against six perfect ones so far.

I liked a lot of things I saw this weekend. John Bowker, of course; but how about Walker's bounce-back effort today? Or Brian Wilson starting the ninth with two hits, then striking out two hot bats (Ludwick and Duncan) to quell the threat? It's only fair to give Barry Zito a nod for pitching darn well Friday night. A little less Ray Durham butchery, and Zito probably would have thrown six innings with only one run scoring.

But my player of the weekend -- indeed, of the week, a.k.a. the PLODAW -- is FreddieLoo! He went 9-for-17 against St. Louis, with at least one extra-base hit in each game. I'm quite curious to see if Bochy lets him start against The Large Ugly tomorrow night or plays the lefty-righty matchups by the book and starts Rajai Davis or Daniel Ortmeier, who homered off Johnson last year. Beware: Rich Aurilia is almost certain to play, as he's 16-for-47 with three home runs against Johnson. That's some VSC (Veteran Savvy Clutchness) Bochy won't be able to resist.

The runner-up for PLODAW is Lincecum, who threw two solid ballgames this week. It's nitpicky to say that his pitch counts are getting too high, too fast, and preventing him from going deeper into games. But I'd love to see him go into the seventh and eighth to spare us the bullpen drama.

See, Boch and Sabes? Isn't it fun when the young guys get to play? 
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[April 14, 2008 12:33 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Elliot said

Lefty, just wanted to tell you that I am enjoying reading your wrap-ups. So keep up the good work for as long as you can - I know this season has the potential to become very frustrating...

So, Bowker... Rowand will be ready to play tomorrow, Lil' Freddie is red-hot, and Winn is an expensive vet who we needs to play so we can trade his expensive-ass. Where does Bowker fit in. 1B? He worked out there during Spring Training, but hasn't played in Fresno.

My pick? I don't care if he makes 2 errors a game, I would rather see him at 1B than Aurillimier.

[April 14, 2008 1:17 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Bayside Baller said

It is a lot of fun seeing the young kids play, even when they struggle. Lewis and Bowker better be in the lineup tomorrow. I just wish I would have gone today instead of Fri+Sat.

Zito looked great on Friday. Too bad the team behind him couldn't help him out. Same for Cainer. What does that guy need to do to get a win? Even hitting a home run when he is pitching a no-hitter isn't enough. He is my PLODAW, no offense to ELM, or Lincecum.

I like Winn, but he does not fit into this team. Neither does Rowand for that matter...

[April 14, 2008 1:33 AM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

I don't think Bowker will start Monday night against Randy Johnson. Longer term, he could start seeing time at 1B, though he hasn't had much time there. I could see him going back to AAA and playing a lot of 1B there in preparation for a later call-up.

[April 14, 2008 2:06 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Cyrus said

Haven't had the opportunities to watch much of these games-- just following on GameDay. But what's the scouting report on Bowker's defensive ability, and how has he looked thus far? I'm sure he'll be out of the lineup against Johnson tomorrow, but I'd like to put Winn on the bench and see if this guy can have a good series against AZ.

[April 14, 2008 10:28 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris said

Zito's velocity was still poor in his outing. The TV gun looked a little hot, it actually had him touching 90mph, something I don't think Zito has done in 2 years now.

PITCHf/x had him working in the low-to-mid 80's again. It WAS an improvement for him though, so I'll take it.

I think I heard that Boch is already sitting Lewis and Bowker tonight against the Unit. That should mean that Davis or Ort should get the remaining OF spot between Winn and Rowand. I'd probably take Ort.

[April 14, 2008 12:35 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to Chris

Re. Zito's velocity: unless he has an injury that miraculously heals, or he fixes a previously-undiscovered huge mechanical flaw, Zito's velocity isn't coming back overnight. Or ever. He must learn to pitch with an 85 MPH fastball. He has no room for error.

Dave Righetti's Kirk Rueter analogy was ominous. Rueter was pretty good for a couple years, pretty lucky for a while, and held on as long as he did because he could induce tons of ground balls. Still, he was toast by the age of 33 and retired at 34.

Zito is not a ground-ball pitcher.

[April 14, 2008 1:16 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris replied to ELM

I can't tell you how hard I cringed when I heard the coaches stating that Zito would have to be more like Kirk Rueter.

Kirk was a great guy and a very solid pitcher, just not a $126M great guy solid pitcher.

[April 14, 2008 1:17 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris replied to Chris

Oh, and a interesting thought: Zito is throwing as hard as Reuter did in his last season before he left the majors. I know that there's more than velocity to being a good pitcher but it's still frightening.

[April 14, 2008 10:49 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Cardinal70 said

I had no idea that Fred Lewis was an extra-base machine. However the Cards had noted to pitch him, they really need to rework it before the rematch this weekend.

And it might not have made much difference, but that last strike to Duncan yesterday was obviously a ball that got pulled back in. Like I say, probably didn't make a difference in the final, but you never know.

[April 14, 2008 12:25 PM]  |  link  |  reply
reeky said

This is going to get interesting...and probably extremely annoying. With the adrenaline running, the kids are tearing up the pea patch. First question: how much will Bochy/Sabean play them? They're doing OK...here at the ABs from the StL series, with ages:

Player Age ABs
Winn 33 16
Castillo 27 16
Bocock 23 15
Lewis 27 14
Molina 33 13
Aurilia 36 12
Velez 25 10
Durham 36 10
Davis 27 8
Bowker 24 6
Rowand 30 5
Ortmeier 26 4
Holm 28 3

I'm reminded that these are mid-to-late-20s guys...not a Beane team. But if you get rid of Durham and Aurilia and squint a bit, it's a young lineup.

Second question: what happens when the adrenaline wears off, Mom and the cousins stop coming to the games, and Captain "C" (curve) starts doing its thing? Kids need to learn by doing, even when they fail (write that down, Papa Lefty!). Will B/S leave them in? Sabean likes his players to go thru the learning curve on some other team...can he stomach watching the failures on his team? My guess is "no" but time will tell...

Just for reference, here are the ages of the rest of the 40-man roster:

Alfonzo 29
Rodriguez 29
Denker 22
Frandsen 25
Ishikawa 24
Vizquel 40
Roberts 35
Schierholtz 24
Timpner 24