As a parent, I hate to see games like last night. Matt Cain walked five, hit a batter, but still got the win, sending the wrong message to young pitchers everywhere: It's OK to be wild if you throw in the mid-90s.
No, no, no! Cover your eyes, kids! The word for today is "lucky." Cain, on a roll since the All-Star Break, had the great good fortune to face a Braves lineup with no Chipper Jones, no Mark Teixeira, a horrifically slumping Jeff Francoeur, and the fearsome Omar Infante batting sixth. Mark Kotsay was batting third, which is about as bad as Randy Winn batting third -- except that was part of the Giants' grand plan, not a tragedy forced by an injury-cursed season.
(Side note: Bay City Ball takes a look here at how Cain's pitch selection has changed over his career. Last night he moved away from this year's pattern and threw a high number of curveballs, something he hasn't done since his rookie year.)
Back to the lineup: Winn and Freddie Lewis have now officially flip-flopped, with Winn leading off and Lewis in the third spot. As long as Winn continues to get three hits a game, it makes perfect sense. That old axiom about putting your best hitter third? Sad though it is, Lewis is exactly that. His .351 OBP and .446 SLG are both team highs among starters. Let's hope they fix his bunion problem over the winter; if Lewis isn't at full speed or full power next year, the Giants will have trouble making a big step forward.
As for Winn in the leadoff spot, we can only assume it could happen next year, too. I'm not putting much hope behind a Winn trade this winter, what with his big salary, his no-trade conditions, his dwindling power, and the Giants' conservative approach to letting rookies crack the lineup. Best-case scenario in my forecast is that Schierholtz comes on strong, forces at least a platoon situation in RF next year, and Winn becomes an expensive fourth OF, playing RF against tough lefties and giving Lewis and Rowand the occasional day off.
Problem is, Winn doesn't have true leadoff pedigree. His .345 OBP this year is just about his career average, and he doesn't walk much or make pitchers work very hard. The silver lining is he's improving as a base stealer as he gets older. He's 22 for 23 this year and 37 for 41 the past two years. Hooray for silver linings!
