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

06.23.2008
What You Don't See or Hear Can't Permanently Scar Your Psyche

All thanks to the baseball gods that I was out of earshot of yesterday’s game from the fourth inning onward. I turned off the radio when it was 6–3 Giants, and though it was obvious Tim Lincecum wasn’t feeling his freshest, I figured the Giants would be OK if they could scratch out a couple more runs. The Royals, after all, were the worst offense in the majors. Lincecum and the bullpen could hold them down for five more innings.

Somehow hearing the sad tale of pitching woe only hours later — Lincecum gave up two more, then Yabu and Taschner and Chulk gave up five to tie the game — gave me a zen-like quality of detachment. This too shall pass. Yabu was the main culprit, and he was due for a really bad day at the office. Plus Henry Schulman jinxed him. Let’s cut him slack. See? Detachment. Cool-headedness. Perspective. 

AAAAUUURRGHGHGHGGGRHGHGGRRGHHHH!!!! A seven-run lead, gone! To the worst offense in the majors! It’s a travesty! It’s Brian Sabean’s fault! Fire everyone!

So it got me thinking: Lincecum has now given up nine earned runs in his last two games. He’s at the 100 inning mark, still well shy of last year’s total (177 IP in Fresno and S.F. combined), but could he be a bit fatigued? I know everyone including Lincecum himself thinks he has a rubber arm. But let’s watch his next couple of starts carefully. Bochy and Rags are smart to keep the rotation intact even though the Giants have their second off-day today in the past week. Instead of skipping, say, Zito’s turn, they decided to give everyone extra days of rest.

* Anyone notice that the Giants have three guys in the National League top-30 in OBP? Winn, Lewis and Rowand are bunched around .370. Durham at .386 would be top-15 if he had a few more qualifying plate appearances. Aurilia is at a respectable .354. Suddenly what was once a team weakness is now a strength. Problem is, two of these guys (Durham, Aurilia) will certainly be gone next year, and a third (Winn) is their best trade chip. I’m eager to see if Manny Burriss’s respectable line (.353 OBP / .352 SLG) can hold up as he gets more playing time, which he likely will as Vizquel continues to slump. Not only could he be the 2009 starting shortstop, he could be a top-of-order guy. As long as we’re fantasizing, how about this for the 2009 opening day lineup?

LF Lewis
SS Burriss
CF Rowand
C Molina
1B Bowker
RF Schierholtz
3B Castillo
2B Frandsen
P Lincecum 

SMALL PRINT UPDATE!

Travis Ishikawa is now in AAA Fresno, a nice reward for his resurgence this year in AA Connecticut. It’s a double-edged sword, as this is probably his last chance to prove he’s a prospect. If he catches fire the rest of the year, the Giants will at least have another option to consider at first base next year.

He’s not on the 40–man roster and thus not listed to the right, but reports say Pablo Sandoval will move from high-A San Jose to Connecticut, but he hasn’t yet appeared on the Defenders roster. There was chatter earlier that Sandoval would jump directly to AAA, so maybe the reports are wrong. I’ll mark him as AA for now.

Another non-roster notable: 25–year-old Mike Mooney just made the jump from high-A to AAA and so far is crushing the ball. Mooney isn’t considered a real prospect, but keep an eye on him.

Are you worried about Timmy? Have the Giants handled him properly this year? If he makes the All-Star team, should the Giants let him appear? Discuss.



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[June 23, 2008 2:14 PM]  |  link  |  reply
PM said

By not pushing Zito back three days, the three starters will get an extra day of rest, but, the bullpen will be overworked again. The bullpen is also showing signs of deteriorating. So, you are saving the starters at the cost of the bullpen. Perhaps Lincecum is a more valuable commodity than Hinshaw and thus this makes sense.

[June 23, 2008 2:34 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

>Perhaps Lincecum is a more valuable commodity than Hinshaw...

Perhaps?!

[June 23, 2008 4:23 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Johnny Disaster said

I thought his stuff looked electric... he didn't look as sharp after getting knocked ass over teakettle, though.

[June 23, 2008 7:22 PM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

Dang, lost my post!!!

Give Lincecum a break, he was run over. Kawakami is at it again, Giants bashing and A's kissing up, seems like that's the company line for the columnists today, luckily Baggarly isn't like that or I would stop my subscription.

For Yabu jinxing, I blame you first. :^)

I think Lincecum has been affected by the heat more than anything else. But, sure, it could be mid-season fatigue. Giving all the starters rest now is probably the best idea, given it's a rebuilding year.

I did notice the OBP but not the top 30 ranking. I would swap Lewis and Burriss, Rowand and Molina, I would rather have the stronger SLG hitting later. I could also see the case for Frandsen hitting 2B and Burriss 8th, as second leadoff hitter plus Frandsen better SLG.

Ishikawa: finally! I could see Schierholtz and Ishikawa sharing RF and 1B, respectively, with Bowker, so that Bowker gets mostly full-time play, and the two significant playing time, plus some games from Lewis and Rowand in LF and CF, plus DH hitting.

I could also see Castillo and Frandsen sharing some time at 3B and 2B with Denker getting significant play.

[June 24, 2008 11:07 AM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive replied to obsessivegiantscompulsive

Oh, and definitely, he goes to ASG, each opportunity is precious, in my mind, to any major leaguer.

[June 24, 2008 1:02 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Ben said

I personally am not worried about Timmy at all. Every pitcher is bound to have a couple bad outings and I just think that these two unfortunately came together. I only got to see the first few innings, but his 8 Ks make me think it was not a lack of stuff, maybe a lack of focus or luck, or the two combined. Its easy to lose a little bit of focus when he looks up at the scoreboard and sees a comfortable lead, especially being as young as he is. I think he will bounce back in his next start and return to form. As far as the all star game I would hope that they do not hold him back from pitching. That is a huge accomplishment, and if he wants to do it I think he deserves to make that decision.