The Giants got a terrific pitching performance from Ryan Vogelsong, who took a perfect game into the 6'th inning, and Cody Ross brought back memories of last year's post-season. The Giants completed their first sweep of the season and it came at a great time against the NL West leading Colorado Rockies. Key Lines:
Cody Ross- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .240. Ross drove in all 3 Giants runs with a single to drive in Burrell who had doubled ahead of him in the 4'th inning and the 2 run blast to bring home Buster Posey who had walked.
Ryan Vogelsong- 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.05. This was not a fluke. Vogelsong had great looking stuff, a crisp low 90's FB with movement and a nasty breaking pitch he was getting over for strikes. I think the Giants would be just as happy to have Zito take his time coming back from the foot sprain.
Javier Lopez- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.64. Lopez came in after Vogelsong gave up a leadoff walk and then Fontenot muffed a potential DP grounder. He got the next batter to hit a grounder to Posey who made a nice play to get the lead runner and then Lopez made a big league stretch covering 1B to complete the DP on the throwback from Fonty.
Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(11). ERA= 4.70. Wilson's stuff was nasty. CarGo managed to ground one up the middle for a single but the other 3 batters were completely overmatched.
The Win upped the Giants record to 18-16, 1 game behind the Rockies. The Dodgers won in NY and Arizona lost to San Diego leaving the Dodgers and D'Backs tied for 3'rd place 3.5 games off the pace.
The Giants get a day off and then take on the Dangerous D'Backs in a 3 game home series. The Giants will send the top of their rotation against the D'Backs, Timmy, Sanchez and Cainer.
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Vogelsong was on it today. Be real interesting if he has another solid start. Just really torques the pressure up on Zito. Zito will get his slot back when he returns, but if he continues with his crappy ways, how long does he get to continue? Zito can't go to the bullpen. Giants won't cut him. DL him with a phantom injury? 7 years...just a long, long, long time.
ReplyDeleteIs that Rag's cash register tinging? If Vogelsong is a product of Rag's tutoring, maybe I underestimated his power. Between TJ and on a contant loser,which apparently did nothing to his confidence,this is a MLB fairly tale.
ReplyDeleteRemembering what Vogelsong looked like as a young pitcher coming up with the Giants and seeing what he looks like now, one has to wonder what all happened during the years in between.
ReplyDeletewhy should zito get his spot back? just cuz he is making 126 mil??? has zito taken a perfect game into the 6th.....ever???
ReplyDeleteeff him
Zito has pitched some good games. I don't think he should even start a rehab assignment until he proves he can get his fastball up to at least 88 MPH in extended spring training
ReplyDeleteI think we have a much better chance of winning with Vogelsong. He has been really great this year and I think he feels confident enough to handle the job. When Zito is pitching his facial expressions tell it all. He knows he lost his edge from 6-7 years ago and he is just trying hard enough to not embarrass himself. It was not very surprising to hear he was out of shape in spring training. He just doesn't take the responsibility of a 126 million dollar seriously.
ReplyDeleteI think Zito should be released. This way we can tell any other players that we will not tolerate this kind of performance or lack of effort. I am wishing that we could come up with a settlement (something in the 50 million range) and just send him packing. I would much rather take chances with Vogelsong, Surkamp, or Tanner. At least we would get 100%.
song is the kinda player i love to watch
ReplyDeletehe had a nuke lalouche type of interview after the game...but he sounded totally sincere, and was genuinely touched that all the players were honestly rooting for him
i hope he stays solid all year...would be a kick to see him pitch for the giants in the post season
and doc...if zito cant get about 88...think they will put him on the 60 day and just write off the season?
Roger,
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of that. Yet, I read that Zito's teammates respect his work ethic and often go to him for advice. I know I personally witnessed(on TV, of course) Timmy going up to him in the dugout after one of his early exits. Timmy had an absolutely shellshocked, ashen expression on his face and was clearly seeking advice, and Zito talked with him. So, I want to be fair to Zito and not jump to conclusions.
There does seem to be some circumstantial evidence that Zito may not have been as diligent with his conditioning this offseason. For whatever reason, he velocity was significantly down. He is clearly a better pitcher when he can get the FB up to the high 80's with some consistency.
I think Zito needs to prove to the Giants that he is healthy enough and well conditioned enough or has good enough mechanics or whatever it takes to get his velocity back to the the high 80's with some consistency before he is allowed to start the clock ticking on a rehab assignment.
Dr. B, When was the last time Zito had 88 mph on his fastball? Serious question.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you guys. I just don't want to see Zito pitch. It is tedium, and I've had enough. My "favorite" Zito memory: Walking into AT&T for a Giants/Reds game in 2007. Bottom of the 1st when I walk in, look up at the scoreboard, 6-0 Reds.
That's Zito for me, in a nutshell. Game over.
So I'm hoping Zito has lost his spot. But I don't think you lose your spot to injury. Can you lose your spot to a + 6 ERA? I hope so.
Roger, forget a settlement. Union wouldn't allow it. Zito gets paid. All of it. No matter what. That contract is not his fault.
Players association does not allow for settlements where the player gets full value of contract. Best you can hope for is NPV of future salary paid now, that would reduce it by maybe 2-3% per annum. In other words, not that much, maybe $3M total, but that would require paying $64M or so now. Not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteBest case scenario that I can see is if Zito continues to throw at 83 MPH when he is healthy, the Giants could say that there must be something physically wrong and try to DL him all season. Though I suppose that if he continues to throw that low, they could try to send him to the minors and he would easily pass through waivers. But then he could refuse assignment and go free agent. Just some thought.
Zito has been in the 88 MPH range for about 2.5 seasons now, until his accident. If people could just get over his contract, they would see that he has actually been a good pitcher for those 2.5 years, just not $20M good, but still pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Zito get it up to 89 on several occasions last 2 years. When he velocity is 86-89, he can be pretty tough on the other team out there. 83-86? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the Giants are going to do with him, but it was pretty obvious they couldn't wait to DL him when he sprained the ankle.
Sorry. I thought that settlements could be done. I thought the Dodgers did something creative in the Andruw Jones last 2 years. Guess not. Anyways, I don't think the reason why Zito should come back is because of his salary. The best players should take the field regardless of salary. He should have at least 3 quality starts in Fresno before we see that early 80's pornstar mustache again.
ReplyDelete